new studio record

[QUOTE] [b]anniestu44b wrote:[/b]

Ale Solan, How sad are you? Is that the best reply you could think of? Actually I'm quite happily married and get laid
Quite regularly actually, maybe you should try it sometime.[/QUOTE]

Married? Wow, quite stomach your hubbie.

Unless you're a hottie, then I could take it back.

Cosmos Rocks wasn't their finest hour, but neither was Hot Space.

Give them a chance to see what they come up with, then we can decide if it's good or bad.

Adam Lambert has a better relationship with Brian and Roger than Paul Rodgers had, and the public have welcomed them with open arms, so you just don't know what could happen. It doesn't matter what they call the band on the record - most likely it will be Queen + Adam Lambert on the cover. I would imagine that with Adam Lambert on board rather than Paul Rodgers, it will be a very Queen sounding album.

It would be a brave thing for Adam Lambert to do - it's one thing to tour with them because they don't have a singer, but it's quite another to make a complete record with them with original material. If the album flops it could be the end of Adam Lambert's career in the UK for a few years, so everyone knows that this time the stakes are higher than with PR.

There were some decent songs on the Cosmos Rocks it's true, I mean, competent, that is. I thought Time to Shine could have been a good song if Freddie had sung it and John had played bass, for instance. All things that glitter can't be gold (or was it Once I Loved a Butterfly?) was a lovely song too, but then there was C-Lebrity, and that Call me if you need my love which frankly was torture to listen to (for me, anyway). In the same way I don't really like Las Palabras De Amor, but I prefer it to Call Me....

Bookies have shortened the odds on a Queen+Adam Lambert Bond theme !!!!

[QUOTE] [b]miraclesteinway wrote:[/b] Cosmos Rocks wasn't their finest hour, but neither was Hot Space. Give them a chance to see what they come up with, then we can decide if it's good or bad. Adam Lambert has a better relationship with Brian and Roger than Paul Rodgers had, and the public have welcomed them with open arms, so you just don't know what could happen. It doesn't matter what they call the band on the record - most likely it will be Queen + Adam Lambert on the cover. I would imagine that with Adam Lambert on board rather than Paul Rodgers, it will be a very Queen sounding album. It would be a brave thing for Adam Lambert to do - it's one thing to tour with them because they don't have a singer, but it's quite another to make a complete record with them with original material. If the album flops it could be the end of Adam Lambert's career in the UK for a few years, so everyone knows that this time the stakes are higher than with PR. There were some decent songs on the Cosmos Rocks it's true, I mean, competent, that is. I thought Time to Shine could have been a good song if Freddie had sung it and John had played bass, for instance. All things that glitter can't be gold (or was it Once I Loved a Butterfly?) was a lovely song too, but then there was C-Lebrity, and that Call me if you need my love which frankly was torture to listen to (for me, anyway). In the same way I don't really like Las Palabras De Amor, but I prefer it to Call Me....[/QUOTE] I admire your optimism about a new Queen + project but mind these facts: Freddie Mercury is dead. He was the main source of inspiration for Queen. Adam Lambert it's a Glee-type-of-artist, kinda Broadway-ish, definately not a rockstar. Freddie had an unique personality, person-wise and musical-wise. Brian & Rog seemed to have lost their inspiration and turned out quite repetitive in their solo work. Fun on Earth and Brian's project with Kerry Ellis 'Anthems' are clear examples. (You can also see their lack of inspiration on Cosmos Rocks as well) Cosmos Rocks was a complete failure, no matter how many tracks you like from it.

You're right Cosmos Rocks was a complete failure - all I was saying is that it did have some potential, in the tracks that I mentioned (IMHO), but that the potential was never met.

Freddie was one source of inspiration for Queen, and his voice and what it could do was a huge influence on the way that the others wrote. There is no doubt he was a unique personality and had a unique personality, and there is no doubt that he was an absolute genius as a songwriter and arranger. The things his voice could do were unsurpassed in his day, and even today in the days of comprehensive vocal coaching there are few around who can really sing his music.

Adam Lambert has worked in Glee (or is about to), that's absolutely correct. Glee is big business in the USA, and Adam Lambert has obviously been offered a lucrative deal. Is he a rock star? Well, that's open for debate. Whatever a rock star is these days, I don't know. 25 years ago it could be said that Freddie was the archetypal and ultimate rock star, and in fact he carved out most of that image himself. Because over the years there has been both a convergence of styles in the main stream, it's difficult to look at the music scene today and figure out who is the archetypal rock star in new bands. Personally I like The Killers, but I can't for an instant imagine Brandon Flowers in Queen - his voice is too 'nice', you know, too pure.

What Adam Lambert is, though, is a great singer. He has great technique, phenomenal in fact, and has an unsurpassed range - at least in terms of the well known singers today, and he has a well-honed stage presence and he knows how to connect with an audience. I went to the Wembley show and thought that it was an excellent show, and I thought Adam handled the situation really well (hey, if you were in his shoes, you'd take the job of fronting Queen for a couple of years too!), and he really won the audience over. Whether or not you personally like the sound of Adam Lambert's voice is a different matter, and that's fine if you don't.

All of this though is fairly academic, because we're talking about Adam Lambert making the transition from fronting a back-catalogue band to making an album of original material with that band. If the album does go ahead, and Adam is one of the songwriters on the record, it's going to be quite different from a Freddie-based Queen album. It could be a disaster - of course it could - but it might not. It really depends what happens. I know of course, that there is a difference between commercial success and a good album, and there is also the matter of whether or not an individual actually enjoys the album.

I am optimistic about it because Brian and Roger are still excellent musicians, and Adam is a great singer (whether you feel he is right for Queen or not - again, that's a different matter to whether or not he can sing). The Kerry Ellis album was not really a rock album, it was Brian May producing musical theatre and other cover versions with Kerry Ellis - who is also an excellent singer. It was all very musical theatre, but that's exactly what it set out to be, so from that point of view it was a success. Brian has always been attracted to those kind of projects - look at 'Talking of Love' which is a very similar situation - it's just that in Brian's career at the time it was bookended with A Kind of Magic and The Miracle. Roger's Fun on Earth isn't my favourite album, in fact I haven't bought it yet (I might, it's taken me a long time to soften to Happiness?), and it sort of sounds like, well, it's quite tame and a little pedestrian, you're right.

When I saw the show with Adam Lambert though, I saw something in the band that was reminiscent of the old Queen. It was nothing like what I've seen with Paul Rodgers. It was like they had a young Freddie back, but I mean that in Brian and Roger's reaction to what was going on rather than how Adam was, because Adam is very different from Freddie.

I don't know, all I'm saying is, yes, some of the projects that Brian and Roger have been involved in recently have been substandard, but let's give it a chance and see what happens. If we don't like it, if it's substandard too, then fair enough. If I don't like it I'll come on here and say, yes you were right and my hopes are dashed. I'm willing to give it a try though, because I believe that they are still capable of producing excellent work. I treat every performance and song that I hear as a new fresh chance - that's something I've learned as a musician myself - sometimes we write off people as being not so capable and then they deliver something to you that is of unbelievable quality. Sometimes the reverse happens.

Of course, if you don't actually like Adam Lambert then you certainly won't like a Queen + Adam Lambert LP. Also, I agree with your sentiment that it isn't Queen as we know it, it's not the version of Queen that we all wish could still happen - it can't be because you've got one writer dead and another one retired, and that's very important when considering the sound of a group. John was as important a part of Queen as Freddie was and I think nobody here has forgotten that.

It's hard for Brian and Roger to stop playing though because firstly, they are musicians and the Queen brand is probably the best brand for them to use to get out to the public (cynical of me to call it a brand, but it is, we all know that), and secondly the public on the whole actually want Queen to go out and perform. Whether or not they want another record is, of course, quite a different matter but if they go ahead I wish them luck.

After the Cosmos Rocks it does feel like something that fans will treat with trepidation, but then, for me, the band that produced A Night At The Opera went on to produce Jazz and Hot Space, but people still came back to them. The singer that wrote Bohemian Rhapsody also made the Mr Bad Guy album, but then after that he went on to make Barcelona and record the Innuendo album, which I think are two classics. Let's just wait and see.

[QUOTE] [b]Ale Solan wrote:[/b]

Cosmos Rocks was a complete failure, no matter how many tracks you like from it.[/QUOTE]

Huh? If I like EVERY track on it, how is it a failure (to me at least!)???

Not that I do like every track on it, but I think that it gets a bum rap from a lot of people here......

My main problem with it was that it didnt have enough of a "Queen sound" to it.....and I would have liked there to be an actual band on the damn thing.........but there's some good stuff there, I think........

Lovely post, mate, I really enjoyed reading it, cheers! but I singled out this part from your own words, read it again and you'll might have a final look on what I meant: [QUOTE] After the Cosmos Rocks it does feel like something that fans will treat with trepidation, but then, for me, the band that produced A Night At The Opera went on to produce Jazz and Hot Space, but people still came back to them. The singer that wrote Bohemian Rhapsody also made the Mr Bad Guy album, but then after that he went on to make Barcelona and record the Innuendo album, which I think are two classics. Let's just wait and see. [/QUOTE] You're right, the band with Freddie (and his solo career) had their ups and downs but, again, Queen had Freddie, and Freddie was alive -regarding his solo career- so the magic is gone. I wasn't excited back then in 2008 about seeing Queen + PR, just excited to see Brian & Rog live doin' barely what they do. Now I have the same feelin'. Maybe I'll go and see them when they play later this year in Buenos Aires. I'm not excited about AL and I know Brian & Rog are not in the best shape (Brian still kind of is but Rog is not almost 100% like in 2008) He needs help from his son to play. Almost deaf. Many etc's... but I wanna see 'em live for the last time, they won't tour again. Not a rumour or an opinion, a fact.

[QUOTE] [b]The King Of Rhye wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]Ale Solan wrote:[/b]

Cosmos Rocks was a complete failure, no matter how many tracks you like from it.[/QUOTE]

Huh? If I like EVERY track on it, how is it a failure (to me at least!)???

Not that I do like every track on it, but I think that it gets a bum rap from a lot of people here......

My main problem with it was that it didnt have enough of a "Queen sound" to it.....and I would have liked there to be an actual band on the damn thing.........but there's some good stuff there, I think........

[/QUOTE]

I like 3 o 4 songs in it but the album is still a failure, musically/comercially-wise. Not your case maybe but if you liked the whole Cosmos Rocks album maybe you should re-define your musical taste. Or get your ears checked lol. Just kidding ;)

Ale Solan, excuse me but...........do you have a metal plate in your head ?

I know that you feel that the magic of Queen was in Freddie Mercury. You know, you're right - the dynamic front man who could connect with an audience, and who had *that* voice, which is one of the most revered voices in all of popular music and not without good reason. I totally understand that Queen without Freddie is a difficult concept, and for you at least, and others on this forum, it's over. For John Deacon, Queen is over too. For Brian and Roger, they want to go on and make music, and I they clearly feel that using the Queen name is better, from a marketing point of view, than getting into say a Page and Plant type partnership. OK, let's be honest here, it IS a Page and Plant type relationship as two fundamentally important members of the band are missing.

I wonder what we'd be saying if Freddie hadn't died, and the band had, say, split up in 1997, and then Freddie and John went on tour as Queen with Slash on guitar and a session drummer? It would be as odd a situation as we have now, for sure. But that's not the situation we're in. Brian and Roger clearly want to tour (I know, I keep repeating myself) and the public want them to tour as Queen.

I wasn't all that excited by the Cosmos Rocks either. I don't really know any fans of Queen that are, and of course they didn't perform anything from it on this tour - it's clear that they'd rather forget about it. The record was a commercial flop, and largely that's because it was substandard in so many ways. It had some decent moments on it but it was largely, well, I understand some of the folk on this forum like it but most people don't.

What I could see working, rather than an album with 'QUEEN + Adam Lambert' is an Adam Lambert record produced and perhaps co-written by Brian and Roger, without the Queen brand headlining the affair - in fact let Adam Lambert and his team guide it. But that's probably not what is going to happen. It will most likely be billed as a Queen album.

What the Cosmos Rocks proved was that the Queen brand is strong when it comes to live performance, but not necessarily when it comes to a released product. People don't necessarily want to buy an album for repeated listening, and the quality of the record is still very important - especially given the segment of the market they are going for. Music fans in their 30s and above who are into Queen most probably do care about the quality of the music they're listening to, and if a record doesn't live up to it, then it won't sell very well.

I still say, let's wait and see, but I know that for you, without Freddie, it's really not Queen anymore. I agree, the classic Queen is over, but Brian, Roger and Adam are three great musicians, and even if Roger can't play as well (actually he played pretty well at Wembley, yes he gave some over to his son, but Roger can still play), he could still have some excellent ideas about production and arrangement. No matter how many times I say it though, I know it's hard to conceive of this project without Freddie. Adam has his own magic, it lies in the theatrical and his voice is excellent. He isn't Freddie, and Freddie wasn't Adam. Adam is, in many ways, more theatrical than Freddie, and you're absolutely right - Adam Lambert was putting on a West End show in that concert if you like. Freddie was actually more subtle (subtle isn't a word I'd associate with Freddie normally), but for me it worked.

Maybe they've already began working on prev. unreleased material (collab. with Orbit). I'd say that now is the time to act for Queen's PR. The tour was a success, the "Queen" brand drew attention, the general interest in Queen is greater than before so if they want to make more money they should announce a release.

The Cosmos Rocks was frankly embarassing. That a band like Queen would put their name on it is disappointing. I've completely turned around when it comes to doing live shows - I enjoyed the Queen+Lambert show in London in January, and hope they keep up the touring mentality for a while longer. But when it comes to albums - I just don't see them being able to produce anything worthwhile. They're past their writing and creative prime, and that is obvious to all. It's pointless trying to come up with songs. Nobody will give a shit. At this point it's just a question of stroking themselves because they enjoy it - the only reason they have to make music is because they find it rewarding or whatever.

I don't know if it would have been different if Freddie were alive. He was such a creative force that I just might be able to imagine him coming up with maybe one hit single in 2015. But even that's not a certainty.

[QUOTE] [b]Ale Solan wrote:[/b] Lovely post, mate, I really enjoyed reading it, cheers! but I singled out this part from your own words, read it again and you'll might have a final look on what I meant: [QUOTE] After the Cosmos Rocks it does feel like something that fans will treat with trepidation, but then, for me, the band that produced A Night At The Opera went on to produce Jazz and Hot Space, but people still came back to them. The singer that wrote Bohemian Rhapsody also made the Mr Bad Guy album, but then after that he went on to make Barcelona and record the Innuendo album, which I think are two classics. Let's just wait and see. [/QUOTE] You're right, the band with Freddie (and his solo career) had their ups and downs but, again, Queen had Freddie, and Freddie was alive -regarding his solo career- so the magic is gone. I wasn't excited back then in 2008 about seeing Queen + PR, just excited to see Brian & Rog live doin' barely what they do. Now I have the same feelin'. Maybe I'll go and see them when they play later this year in Buenos Aires. I'm not excited about AL and I know Brian & Rog are not in the best shape (Brian still kind of is but Rog is not almost 100% like in 2008) He needs help from his son to play. Almost deaf. Many etc's... but I wanna see 'em live for the last time, they won't tour again. Not a rumour or an opinion, a fact.[/QUOTE]

I like Jazz, Ir's obviously not Opera or Races, but it's still a pretty good récord.

Well, I agree Jazz has some decent moments, Fat Bottomed Girls is a classic rocker, I'm not so fond of Bicycle Race but as a composition it's genius. Jealousy is a beautifully sung piano ballade, which is kind of innocent lyrically, and Dead on Time and Dreamers Ball are really good fun tracks too. Mustapha isn't exactly radio friendly but yet again it's a work of genius as well. It hasn't escaped me that the two works on the LP that I described as genius are both Freddie's.