Yes, Paul McCartney, George Michael and Robbie Williams are the only ones with big successes after their band/group. Can't think of any other real major artists right now... Of course there's stuff like Lionel Richie, but he was only really big in the 80's.
What about Robert Plant, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, David Lee Roth, Annie Lennox...? The list goes on...
"They realeased a single with Freddie Mercury and still no-one cared about them!"
I don't know about a single with Freddie Mercury. Freddie sang HFE on the album version, the single version had Roger on lead vocals.
I was sure that they even released the Freddie version as a single, but I guess I remembered wrong.
Ian R wrote:
"Just take ZZ Top as an example. They don't come even close to The Cross in my opinion, but still they are concidred legends, while no-one has even heard of Roger and the guys."
Now I quite like The Cross, but this is complete and utter bollocks. Have you actually listened to ZZ Top's albums, or are you making a judgement based purely on having heard just a couple of songs?
'Tush', 'La Grange', 'Gimme All Your Loving', 'Sharp Dressed Man', 'Piece' - these tracks, as well as the majority of their output over the last 30 years, is of a very high standard - better than 99% of The Cross' three albums.
Actually, I have listened to their Greatest Hits (that's where the best songs are supposed to be) and didn't hear anything speacial, with the exception of Gimme All Your Lovin'.
I think The Cross fucked it up with their first album, that was the worst album I've ever heard in my whole life. Blue Rock and Mad Bad were EXCELLENT but the band themselves still had this 80's "rough" image and I certainly would have never noticed them at all if it wasn't for the Queen connection.
After all, both Happiness and Electric Fire were excellent too and they didn't sell well at all.
Pros and cons taken, I still have to say that "Liar" was an excellent tune, especially in terms of catchiness. This really could have been a massive hit (for any band !) and this is where I have to agree with those people who wonder why they didn't have more success. In fact, I think its melodies have a sort of timeless quality and thus it could still be a considerable success today, maybe as a cover-version by someones who both does the old version justice and vamps it up a bit to fit into these day's video and radio-schemes.
Shove It is my second favorite (after Fun in Space) of all of Roger's "solo" albums. Rough Justice is the only song of that album that is less than stellar.
I enjoy Shove It as an album, but the songs were better live (I've only heard a couple of bootlegs mind!).
I might be wrong, but I get the impression that Roger had written all the songs and done most of the tracks before he assembled the rest of the band, as if I remember correctly all the songs on it are credited to Roger (maybe Spike got a credit but mainly Roger). It also samples a some of Queen's stuff which I can't decide whether it's a good thing or a bad thing!! Different!
Mad Bad and Blue Rock had input from the others and were better for it I think.
I enjoy Love Lies Bleeding from Shove It. Once you get past the awkward beginning, where Roger does his rapping bit, it picks up steam, thanks to Brian's guitar. And Stand Up For Love has grown on me. I like its Motown-ish feel.
I also heard that Roger played nearly everything on the album, as he did on Fun In Space, except with a little help from Spike. The others didn't fully participate (on record at least) until the second album.
