They lost their ambition during Flash Gordon, Hot Space and A Kind Of Magic. In my opinion these are their worst records. The rest was/ is very good !!
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I'd have to agree with Sonja from Germany. I've been following them since '77 and I remember the earlier albums and thought how brilliant they were. Lots of information recorded on Queen II. But as I followed them from '77 on, the times had changed during each album. When they started someone wrote that glam was in, then they got through the punk period and made it through that. Uh-oh, here's 1979-80 and here comes new wave. They got through that. Then when the 80's were in high gear, synth music and heavy metal dominated. They may have weakened slightly in the mid-eighties but damn did Freddie leave on a good note with the Innuendo album. Everyone on this topic brought up some great points. At least Queen was willing to take risks and experiment. AC/DC hasn't changed one bit in all the years they've been around. AC/DC isn't just the name of the band, it's also the only chords they know.
(Hello, I am new here and I am 18 years old. Queen were my first favorite band when I was in 5th grade and I love everything they do. With that said...)
I was listening to things like Ogre Battle, March of the Black Queen, Death on Two Legs, and why not, Bohemian Rhapsody and I see that these were awesome compositions. And then I move forward in Queen's timeline and I listen to songs like "It's a Kind of Magic" and even "Body Language" and I think: where did their ambition go? Why did they lose it?
Why did Freddie stop creating these masterpieces? Now that he's gone (RIP) sadly, we cannot know this for sure. But really, I would like to know what happened?
Thanks.
Who turns out masterpieces on a clockwork basis? Who wakes up in the morning and says "Today I will be brilliant"? How many times did Einstein have to develop the theory of relativity or Da Vinci paint the Mona Lisa? To expect anybody to turn out a classic of the caliber of "Bohemian Rhapsody" year in and year out is unrealistic and unfair. They made the music they made when they made it and as the spirit moved them. Some was amazing. Some was crap. Most fell somewhere in the middle. But to say they or Freddie lost their ambition because they didn't turn out a groundbreaking song or album everytime is to misunderstand the nature of talent. Anyone who has listened to "Innuendo" or "Made in Heaven" with an open mind would have to concede that the ambition was there right through to the end. How well that ambition was realized is a matter of subjectivity.
Queen lost their ambition? This is news to me.
Queen were always an ambitious band--consistenly wanting to make things bigger and better. By the late-1980's, this ambition brought them into new, uncharted (to Queen) waters, like that of stadium pop.
I think Queen wanted to incorporate many different styles; in fact, I attribute songs like "A Kind of Magic" as being born of the fact that they were an ambitious band who wanted to do something different then "Tie Your Mother Down" and "Stone Cold Crazy" rehashes their entire career.
This being said, I must agree I enjoy their work from 1973-84 (sans Hot Space and Flash) moreso than 84-91 (sans Innuendo). I also agree that (well, especially with The Miracle) there seemed to be a point where they were just phoning some songs in. I think they could have continued being a more harder-edged rock band for a little longer than they did. I always wonder--would their popularity have wained in the United States had The Works been released in 1982 instead of Hot Space? We'll never know.
(I always found The Works to be the perfect marriage of their rock and pop sides.)
Queen were always an ambitious band--consistenly wanting to make things bigger and better. By the late-1980's, this ambition brought them into new, uncharted (to Queen) waters, like that of stadium pop.
I think Queen wanted to incorporate many different styles; in fact, I attribute songs like "A Kind of Magic" as being born of the fact that they were an ambitious band who wanted to do something different then "Tie Your Mother Down" and "Stone Cold Crazy" rehashes their entire career.
This being said, I must agree I enjoy their work from 1973-84 (sans Hot Space and Flash) moreso than 84-91 (sans Innuendo). I also agree that (well, especially with The Miracle) there seemed to be a point where they were just phoning some songs in. I think they could have continued being a more harder-edged rock band for a little longer than they did. I always wonder--would their popularity have wained in the United States had The Works been released in 1982 instead of Hot Space? We'll never know.
(I always found The Works to be the perfect marriage of their rock and pop sides.)
They lost their ambition during Flash Gordon, Hot Space and A Kind Of Magic. In my opinion these are their worst records. The rest was/ is very good !!
A kind Of Magic is a fab album. It is pop, not the rock they usualy do(althought One Vision,Princes and gimme the priceare rockier). But this is fab work. Flah Gordon is a great original soundtrack. Maybe you just don't like soundtracks!
They definately didn't loose anything
Why don't you start by trying to prove your assumption that they lost their ambition at some point?
While you're putting that together, remember that a change of style does NOT constitute a loss of ambition.
In my opinion: Where? Nowhere. Why? Because the sky is blue.
While you're putting that together, remember that a change of style does NOT constitute a loss of ambition.
In my opinion: Where? Nowhere. Why? Because the sky is blue.
Queen never lost his ambition.
Queen was a very eclectic band. 'We don't go out and play hard music, or light music -it's just our kind of music'. This is a quote from Brian May and I dont think what he says here is hard to believe.
At the beginning of their career, in 1973-1974, Queen was in this heavy, lets say 'progressive' style, kind of like Led Zep; later on in the 70's the band was into rock, classical, pop, gospel and jazz style. In the beginning of the 80's they tried some rockabilly, and then they experimented a funk-dance-disco style, which wasn't very well understood by people then. Finally, later in the 80s and beginning of 90's they were in this rock, pop style again. So I think Queen was a very creative band, very open-minded to all kinds of music, and they wanted to try a bit of everything, instead of staying into the same style forever - I RESPECT THAT. For my opinion I love the fact the group have tried different styles and I like all of their albums. I think all of them were artistic in their own ways, in their own style. Some people believe Queen lost their ambition when they released Hot Space - I disagree. I think the group just wanted to EXPERIMENT something else with this album, something different from what the fans expected of Queen. That's it. All the albums are different but I think they are all creative, artistic and rich. It is normal I think, for a band after a few years to want to try some different styles - that doesn't mean the band lost his ambition, it just proves how the band is open minded and eclectic. That was the case for Queen.
Queen was a very eclectic band. 'We don't go out and play hard music, or light music -it's just our kind of music'. This is a quote from Brian May and I dont think what he says here is hard to believe.
At the beginning of their career, in 1973-1974, Queen was in this heavy, lets say 'progressive' style, kind of like Led Zep; later on in the 70's the band was into rock, classical, pop, gospel and jazz style. In the beginning of the 80's they tried some rockabilly, and then they experimented a funk-dance-disco style, which wasn't very well understood by people then. Finally, later in the 80s and beginning of 90's they were in this rock, pop style again. So I think Queen was a very creative band, very open-minded to all kinds of music, and they wanted to try a bit of everything, instead of staying into the same style forever - I RESPECT THAT. For my opinion I love the fact the group have tried different styles and I like all of their albums. I think all of them were artistic in their own ways, in their own style. Some people believe Queen lost their ambition when they released Hot Space - I disagree. I think the group just wanted to EXPERIMENT something else with this album, something different from what the fans expected of Queen. That's it. All the albums are different but I think they are all creative, artistic and rich. It is normal I think, for a band after a few years to want to try some different styles - that doesn't mean the band lost his ambition, it just proves how the band is open minded and eclectic. That was the case for Queen.
queen lost their ambition? when was this? you simply don't like pop. if you liked pop you would love 'magic.' and most of their eighties material. you have to remember when queen recorded 'the works' and magic and the miracle they were much older than 18 years of age (pushing 40) so their ideas of creating music is different than a teenager would be. when i was 18 i would have totally agreed with you, but as i have grown a bit older alot of their eighties music grown on me and now i love most of it. i bet in 10 to 15 years alot of these songs you don't like will grow on you and you will see where queen were comming from when they made those recordings.
"Ambition" is not the right word. Queen were definitely less creative and tended to play it safe musically and with a narrower less adventurous focus.
Some quotes from "Queen in Their Own Words":
Brian - Recently, we've become more selective, I think, and we try to make albums which don't go in so many directions at once - For example, 'The Game ' album was really pruned, and the others refused to include a couple of things I wanted on, because they said they were to far outside the theme of the album, and that we should be trying to make a slightly more coherent album.
Roger - I think people really missed the typical Queen sound on our last few releases. 'The Miracle' includes all of Queen's typical elements in concentrated form.
Brian (on 'Innuendo') - It's quite a complex album. Some of the tracks are more along the lines of the mid-period stuff we did like 'A Night at the Opera', where there's a lot of overdubs and complexity.
Some quotes from "Queen in Their Own Words":
Brian - Recently, we've become more selective, I think, and we try to make albums which don't go in so many directions at once - For example, 'The Game ' album was really pruned, and the others refused to include a couple of things I wanted on, because they said they were to far outside the theme of the album, and that we should be trying to make a slightly more coherent album.
Roger - I think people really missed the typical Queen sound on our last few releases. 'The Miracle' includes all of Queen's typical elements in concentrated form.
Brian (on 'Innuendo') - It's quite a complex album. Some of the tracks are more along the lines of the mid-period stuff we did like 'A Night at the Opera', where there's a lot of overdubs and complexity.
queen lost their ambition? when was this? you simply don't like pop. if you liked pop you would love 'magic.' and most of their eighties material. you have to remember when queen recorded 'the works' and magic and the miracle they were much older than 18 years of age (pushing 40) so their ideas of creating music is different than a teenager would be. when i was 18 i would have totally agreed with you, but as i have grown a bit older alot of their eighties music grown on me and now i love most of it. i bet in 10 to 15 years alot of these songs you don't like will grow on you and you will see where queen were comming from when they made those recordings.
I agree with you on their 80s material, I love it!!!
But it has nothing to do with the fact how old you are! Probably todays teenagers are too narrow-minded to like 80s pop (they are only stuck in the 70s), but when I became a Queen fan in 1991/92 (I was 15), I listened to their 80s material (and WATC) first before I discovered their 70s albums. Already back then I tended to play mostly The Works and A Kind Of Magic. And since 25.11.1991 Radio Ga Ga is my favourite song. Also a lot of 80s teenagers (older then myself) listened to Queen anyway.
that's all i'm saying is sometimes music has to grow on you, when first started listening to queen i was about 16, and i loved all their 70's work, couldn't get enough of it. i then tried some their eighties material and thought it was some kind of sick joke. what happened to stone cold crazy? and all the classics. i wasn't ready for the works or magic, it took a while but thru time i have grown to love it. it's hard for someone whose still a teenager to see where a bunch of forty year olds are comming from. look how different queen were throughout the years they changed alot. their musical taste changed and had more of an open mind to creating music.
I have to agree with everyone's opinion. I think when they first started they really wanted to impress the world with their talent and skill. After they proved themselves, they may have thought "this is too much work for a simple song." The Game album is the perfect Queen example of stripping a song down to it's bare components and it still making it rock. They wanted to stay fresh and experiment with instrumentation and styles. In my opinion, as they grew older they took the attitude of let's make it a simple as possible (for Queen anyway).
Good question!!
I think their last great album is Jazz.
IMHO their weakest in the 70's - "More of That Jazz" - in my Top5 of bad Queen songs -"Fun it" - also kinda lame - "Innuendo" is far ahead in terms of songwriting and innovation
I think they were always career ambitious, but less musically ambitious as time went by. One of the biggest problems for huge groups is "where do we go musically?" That's influenced by the times. The 80s was a less serious decade musically than the 70s. It was dominated for the most part by keyboards and dance sounds. Queen changed with the times to avoid being a dinosaur band, and their playing was fine, but their songwriting was a shadow of what it was in the 70s. Hunger was gone by the mid to late 80s to prove that they were a songwriting force, but that happens to all groups.