Hot Space - a little gem

chromant, re:

>I mean please leave Justin Shirley-Smith, Joshua McRae and such outside the studio.

Fairly limited chance of that happening; they are put there by Brian, Roger & QPL and won't deviate from any brief that has been given to them by their employers. I don't think they'd even put it to the powers-that-be that some of the albums need drastic re-mixing (Hot Space, Innuendo, The Works) in order to generate some dynamics.

[QUOTE] [b]chromant wrote:[/b]

I think the problem with Hot Space is its sound. The songs are fairly good, but they sound awful, flat and too trebley.[/QUOTE]

While that may be the case - the reason why Hot Space flopped is because side A had bad songs, end of.

It was completely out of touch with what was happening at the time, and sounded nothing like Queen as people knew it.

Chic's Good Times was popular, and then Dust was popular. It was a thing in 1980. But for Queen it was a pop song on a rock record.

Turning it into an album side was the first big mistake they made.

But hindsight is always 20/20. Easy for us to say now in 2016 :-)

I'm always intrigued by the braveness (or stupidity!?) of Radio Ga Ga being the lead single from 'The Works'....

Off the back of their least commercially and critically acclaimed album in Hot Space, where fans and critics alike bemoaned the move to 'pop' and decried the use of machines rather than 'real' instruments, the band themselves acknowledged that they should return with a strong statement in the true Queen style/sound........

Instead they released Radio Ga Ga;

a looped drum machine pattern - no real drums
No guitar solo to speak of, and little guitar throughout as a prominent part
Synth based - not guitar riff led
A 'euro pop' feel with 'soft, laid back' chord changes
Not many layered Queen-type vocals with the exception of 'standard' chorus harmonies

A 'traditional' heavier Queen track such as Hammer To Fall, Tear It Up, or even a great Freddie track like It's A Hard Life may well have been a safer and more obvious first single.

Despite all the above, the single became a smash hit in most territories - was this largely down to the accompanying video??

If Ga Ga had not done well would that have been the end of the band??

[QUOTE] [b]Mr.QueenFan wrote:[/b]

They were influenced by what they heard in clubs in Munich and maybe Freddie was more into it than others because of the gay scene that was happening in clubs.

[/QUOTE]

As far as I know at around that point in the early 80`s the Gay Bars here had endless Loops with electric Music wich animated people having Sex.

Like this one

[QUOTE] [b]cmsdrums wrote:[/b]

I'm always intrigued by the braveness (or stupidity!?) of Radio Ga Ga being the lead single from 'The Works'....

Off the back of their least commercially and critically acclaimed album in Hot Space, where fans and critics alike bemoaned the move to 'pop' and decried the use of machines rather than 'real' instruments, the band themselves acknowledged that they should return with a strong statement in the true Queen style/sound........

Instead they released Radio Ga Ga;

a looped drum machine pattern - no real drums
No guitar solo to speak of, and little guitar throughout as a prominent part
Synth based - not guitar riff led
A 'euro pop' feel with 'soft, laid back' chord changes
Not many layered Queen-type vocals with the exception of 'standard' chorus harmonies

A 'traditional' heavier Queen track such as Hammer To Fall, Tear It Up, or even a great Freddie track like It's A Hard Life may well have been a safer and more obvious first single.

Despite all the above, the single became a smash hit in most territories - was this largely down to the accompanying video??

If Ga Ga had not done well would that have been the end of the band??

[/QUOTE]

Interesting observations. I remember being underwhelmed and disappointed when I listened to the single for the first time. However, it's a grower and is very radio-friendly. It has the word "radio" in the title, which was almost guaranteed to get it played on the radio, and BBC radio one was very keen to support Queen probably because of the amount of pre-release promotion the band and record company did. Added to that were the rumours spread by the band members in interviews that they might quit if the album failed. It all added up to a fairly cynical, very smart promotional campaign, which resulted in huge commercial success and a kind of rebirth of the band's popularity in the UK & Europe especially.

[QUOTE] [b]musicland munich wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]Mr.QueenFan wrote:[/b]

They were influenced by what they heard in clubs in Munich and maybe Freddie was more into it than others because of the gay scene that was happening in clubs.

[/QUOTE]

As far as I know at around that point in the early 80`s the Gay Bars here had endless Loops with electric Music wich animated people having Sex.

Like this one


[/QUOTE]

And that´s why i understand where Freddie was coming from!
In that scenario - Sex parties - "Body Language" makes absolute sense. It´s an "experience" kind of song.

"Hot Space" is pretty much a soundratck to an orgy :-)

[QUOTE] [b]cmsdrums wrote:[/b]

Instead they released Radio Ga Ga;

a looped drum machine pattern - no real drums
No guitar solo to speak of, and little guitar throughout as a prominent part
Synth based - not guitar riff led
A 'euro pop' feel with 'soft, laid back' chord changes
Not many layered Queen-type vocals with the exception of 'standard' chorus harmonies

A 'traditional' heavier Queen track such as Hammer To Fall, Tear It Up, or even a great Freddie track like It's A Hard Life may well have been a safer and more obvious first single.

Despite all the above, the single became a smash hit in most territories - was this largely down to the accompanying video??

If Ga Ga had not done well would that have been the end of the band??

[/QUOTE]

Radio GaGa is a fantastic song, beautifully produced and mixed! Freddie´s vocals are excellent, and the instrumentation - perfect! I don´t care if "real" instruments weren´t used. It sounds fantastic! The balance of "Radio GaGa" or "I want to break free" is perfect. Had they changed one little bit it in it, and those songs would lose it´s appeal.

Only in Queenzone people care about the synth solo instead of Brian. Someone listening to this work of art only has one thought - i have to have it! And millions did!

Well said Mr Queen fan. I almost cried with joy when I first heard Radio Ga Ga.

I suppose that goes to show timing plays a big role indeed... but also songwriting quality.

I don't like 'Ga Ga' in terms of its recording (drum machines, etc), but it's a very clever song and its melody is great. The fact it's 'from its time' certainly contributed to its being a massive hit of its time, and being 'vintage' or 'a classic' nowadays.

Radio Ga Ga and I Want To Break Free are skippers in my book. :)

I Want To Break Free is a quite good song which has a staggeringly good lead vocal which lifts it up into something really rather special.

Flash is often overlooked transitional tease..hey only two true songs on the album to speak off but.... that would have to of been such a huge tease for all those who lived that era and those who were expecting something of an 80s Queen II epic album with synth, bass, drums, vocals and guitar to then end up waiting two years for hotspace when I hear "The Hero" all I can think of is how far they could have pushed the boundaries of that type of music and make it a trademark "Queen" sound layered guitars synth and vocal harmonys.

[QUOTE] [b]Mr.QueenFan wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]musicland munich wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]Mr.QueenFan wrote:[/b]
They were influenced by what they heard in clubs in Munich and maybe Freddie was more into it than others because of the gay scene that was happening in clubs.
[/QUOTE]
As far as I know at around that point in the early 80`s the Gay Bars here had endless Loops with electric Music wich animated people having Sex.
Like this one
[/QUOTE]
And that´s why i understand where Freddie was coming from!
In that scenario - Sex parties - "Body Language" makes absolute sense. It´s an "experience" kind of song.
"Hot Space" is pretty much a soundratck to an orgy :-)
[/QUOTE]

it is possible to write about themes like this without dropping a steaming turd of a song...Freddie's effort was piss-poor

Night Games - Graham Bonnet

^ Freddie himself did it a lot better a few years earlier with Don't Stop Me Now. A lot less explicit of course.

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

I Want To Break Free is a quite good song which has a staggeringly good lead vocal which lifts it up into something really rather special.[/QUOTE]

Absolutely right!
In 1983 Freddie´s tone had developed into the most beautifull i´ve heard in his career. Songs like "I want to break free" and "Radio GaGa" are superb and timeless because of Freddie´s vocals.