Could Hot Space be redone in a more traditional Queen style?

Ok, Hot Space was a stylistic departure from the type of music Queen were known for and as a result it didn't sell as well as it might have been expected to. But is that the only reason or are the songs just not as good as on other albums? What if Queen hadn't gone for a radical new style and stuck to something more familiar to them and their audience - the album may have been better but would it have come up to the minimum standard we fans required?

For example I think Dancer is one of the best tracks on the album and had it been done in a more guitar based style it would more than hold its own with much of the Queen cannon. I even think Body Language is salvageable as a rock track and a beefier production on Las Palabras De Amor would have made a world of difference. But I'm not sure the same can be said for Back Chat, Life Is Real, Cool Cat, Calling All Girls, Staying Power, Action This Day. That's the bulk of the album! I'm not saying I hate these songs but they don't feel anything close to Queen's usual standard.

For the record I'd leave Under Pressure as it is of course and would only make minor changes to Put Out The Fire which, whilst a great song, suffers from a tinny sounding production in my view.

I'd actually keep Body Language the way it is, maybe add some guitar to it..........I kinda like that song........I think LPDA and Life Is Real pretty much are done in the 'traditional Queen style'

But, yeah, Action This Day, though......that's the one song I would like to see redone!

Action this Day is actually pretty good. Live of course : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtDmYn27wcM
All of the Hot Space songs are pretty good live.

I always thought Action was a very good song....I just really don't like that synth-horn-thing solo in the middle!! It would have sounded so much better with a proper Brian solo :D......(or indeed any Red Special at all!)

It would have awesome if they had done sort of a 're-take' of that and maybe a few other songs on HS, like the '97 "Rocks re-take" of I Can't Live With You

Interesting topic! I agree with much that has been said above. Also, I think Life Is Real isn't a bad song at all - it even has a small fragment that could optimistically be called a quotation from Grieg. Certainly not when compared to Cool Cat or, may god have mercy on their souls for that one, Soul Brother. I don't think Back Chat is a terrible song (I don't think it's great either), but it's so fundamentally a disco song that I don't really think you could it into a more rock-oriented song without turning it into a completely different song that happens to share the lyrics of the original.

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

don't like that synth-horn-thing solo in the middle!!
[/QUOTE]

once again, another prove of the misteries behind music and the way it hits the listener !

I´ve laways loved (I mean, from day one!) the synth-horn part on that song.

That funky-disco vibe ... yeah; it was made for me ;-P

the thing I love the most about Hot Space is the way they portrayed the songs in the studio and the transformation they "suffered" (for good/for better/just for change) on stage.

For me it's all about the singalong factor. Do I ever find myself singing a particular song to myself. I've found myself singing Dancer, Body Language, Pressure, (which was mortifying once my wife overheard me), and even a few bars of Staying Power. But I've never done Back Chat, Cool Cat, Action etc... They just never grabbed me the way most of Queen's songs have.

I really like Soul Brother, I know it's a throwaway but it's a lot of fun and it too has passed the singalong test. Although I doubt I'd pass any singing test whilst doing it...

The solo on 'Action This Day' is not a synth-horn, it's a real saxophone... two actually: tenor and alto. They were played by uncredited guest musician Dino Solera.

Days of Our Lives Docu (2011) showed that Hot Space was a time when there was a rupture in the band. Roger stated that Paul Prenter pressured everyone into making a music which you'd heard in a gay club but not everyone fall for that. I do not know in what circumstances P. Prenter was appointed as Freddie's PA but how come that he wasn't sacked as soon as it was evident that he is getting in the way and disturbing band during studio work on the album ? How come Mack didn't throw him out of the studio or Jim Beach intervened ?

As an excuse of Hot Space's low sales Mack have always stated that the album needed another 5 months of work.
Try listening to Matt's revision of Hot Space, he really brought sth out of some songs and they sound nth times better than official 82' mix.

With those Freddie's vocals, HS would be a great algum if it was more rock oriented! Maybe some day we'll get a retake on those tracks, because live they were pretty good.

[QUOTE] [b]MercurialFreddie wrote:[/b]

Days of Our Lives Docu (2011) showed that Hot Space was a time when there was a rupture in the band. Roger stated that Paul Prenter pressured everyone into making a music which you'd heard in a gay club but not everyone fall for that. I do not know in what circumstances P. Prenter was appointed as Freddie's PA but how come that he wasn't sacked as soon as it was evident that he is getting in the way and disturbing band during studio work on the album ? How come Mack didn't throw him out of the studio or Jim Beach intervened ?

As an excuse of Hot Space's low sales Mack have always stated that the album needed another 5 months of work.
Try listening to Matt's revision of Hot Space, he really brought sth out of some songs and they sound nth times better than official 82' mix. [/QUOTE]

Sounds interesting - where is that, on this site somewhere??

^ You can find it on Youtube...I can confirm it the way MercurialFreddie wrote it ( more or less).

Mack also had the thesis that half a year later the album would fit better because the success of Jane Fonda`s " Let`s get physical"...After that point it was all about Body and Tone for a while he said.

/ \ / Olivia Newton John.

I prefer hot space to the miracle and made in heaven. Call it what you like, but it had soul.(in the profound sense). Unlike the post Freddie , "Frankenstein" efforts.

[QUOTE] [b]raucousmonster wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]MercurialFreddie wrote:[/b]

Days of Our Lives Docu (2011) showed that Hot Space was a time when there was a rupture in the band. Roger stated that Paul Prenter pressured everyone into making a music which you'd heard in a gay club but not everyone fall for that. I do not know in what circumstances P. Prenter was appointed as Freddie's PA but how come that he wasn't sacked as soon as it was evident that he is getting in the way and disturbing band during studio work on the album ? How come Mack didn't throw him out of the studio or Jim Beach intervened ?

As an excuse of Hot Space's low sales Mack have always stated that the album needed another 5 months of work.
Try listening to Matt's revision of Hot Space, he really brought sth out of some songs and they sound nth times better than official 82' mix. [/QUOTE]

Sounds interesting - where is that, on this site somewhere??[/QUOTE]

The Matt thing? Yeah, it's awesome, find it here:

https://one drive.live.com/?cid=444956C082D185FC&id=444956C082D185FC%21105

(lose the space)

Paul Prenter never told the band what to do. The rest of the band could not stand the prick. Prenter was influencing Freddie to go in that direction, as well as John in his own merits liking the dance music at the time. Freddie and Prenter were the reason why the band was having all sorts of issues. Freddie wanted more disco dance and Roger and Brian did not. There is a quick clip of Roger around a short period of time after Hot Space saying g how parts of the record sucked and he was not proud of their work. 1982 was the decline for Freddie in turns of creativity, which created laziness due to his partying which was at it's peek. Prenter pushed him as well which as I said split the band. After HS, Freddie should have told Prenter to take a hike. In fact, the rest of the band should have made him go.

On the original topic, if you turned the material into a more rock record then it would work. Take Action this Day for example. At MK, it worked perfectly. Heavy rock and a spectacular middle section of blasting synths that made it sound like a giant in your face track. Same with Staying Power. I love Dancer, it has an edge already. POTF has production issues. I believe it is the prefix to the stupidity of their production in the mid 80's. Now for the hell of it I am going to listen to HS now as I have not listened to it in about a year.