Is it true what I heard that the Shove It album was performed entirely by Roger (with some keyboards from Spike)? It certainly sounds like it in terms of the simplicity of the guitar work compared to the other two albums.
No, 'Strange Frontier' was performed entirely by Roger.
Was it? I never knew that...
I did know that Fun In Space was by Roger (and David Richards on approx 50% of keyboards).
The As It Began book tells how Roger worked on his third solo album in 1987, and "he wanted the new musicians (ie. The Cross) to change slightly one or two of the mixes and play on some of the tracks".
Perhaps somebody could shed some light on just how much they actually did. :/
Everything on The Cross albums is performed by Roger with the exception of a few songs / parts of songs:
Better Things - Mad Bad and Dangerous To Know - this is all Clayton Moss
Heartland - Life Changes (unreleased single) b-side - Peter Noone sings the verses, Clayton Moss sings the first few words in the bridge and Roger sings the choruses / ending
Put It All Down To Love - Blue Rock - Peter Noone sings the bridge
Life Changes - Blue Rock - Spike Edney / Peter Noone sing the middle eight (which is the best part of the song!!)
I think that should be everything covered there...
There are some live songs that are performed differently - i.e. live versions of Heaven For Everyone on the Shove It tour - Peter Noone sung the middle bits (Take a seat etc) and Manipulator was sung by Clayton Moss (with the exception of the Montreux festival version which was sung by Roger)
I am attempting to obtain all of Roger's solo material (including the Cross material) and I was wondering if someone could list all of his solo albums for me so I know what to look for. Thanks in advance.
good luck!i managed to get his stuff but i believe MBADTK and Blue Rock are no longer being printed therefore are quite hard to get hold of. got mine from ebay. they are definately worth it!
how do you guys think Roger's solo work compares to Brian's?
xxx
good luck!i managed to get his stuff but i believe MBADTK and Blue Rock are no longer being printed therefore are quite hard to get hold of. got mine from ebay. they are definately worth it!
how do you guys think Roger's solo work compares to Brian's?
xxx
Brian's solo stuff is pretty crap really... Roger solo/The Cross are way better than anything Brian has ever done... I just don't like Brian's voice much...
Does Roger only have 4 solo albums? I thought he had about 8.
Is there any particular reason why you thought there were so many albums, or did you just inlcude the ones by Cross into your estimate? :/
No particular reason. Just i had heard of so many things to do with his albums so i thought there may have been more. Sorry for asking but just how many does Brian have as i only have 2 of his solo albums.
Brian's solo albums are:
Star Fleet Project (mini-album)
Back To The Light
Resurrection (which includes Star Fleet Project as well)
Live At Brixton Academy
Furia (soundtrack)
Another World
He has also written the soundtrack to the Amazing Spiderman (I think it's also been released on CD) and there's also a Japanese album called The Red Special mini-album or smth like that (I don't have it).
Why would a member of The Cross compose a song then sit and watch Roger do all the work? Shove It was done by Roger as his 3rd solo album but decided he wanted to tour it (as he couldn't tour with Queen) so he formed the Cross. The second to albums are as follows:
Mad:Bad:And Dangerous To Know
Roger Taylor: lead vocals, guitar and backing vocals
Spike Edney: keyboards, mandolin and backing vocals
Peter Noone: bass and backing vocals
Clayton Moss: lead guitar, lead vocals on Better Things and backing vocals
Josh Macrae: drums, percussion and backing vocals
Blue Rock
Roger Taylor - lead vocals
Clayton Moss - guitars
Peter Noone - bass
Spike Edney - keyboards
Josh Macrae - drums
Kerfuffle-Actually, I managed to find MBADTK and Blue Rock for reasonable prices both on Ebay. I was very surprised. And I agree that Brian May's solo work is not up to par.......
GiantSpider, I think the person who said Roger performed everything on all albums meant the vocals.
So, the Shove It album was recorded before he formed the band then? But they got their photos on the cover because they were the band who was going to be playing it?
Should we consider Shove It a Roger Taylor album??
Kerfuffle-Actually, I managed to find MBADTK and Blue Rock for reasonable prices both on Ebay. I was very surprised. And I agree that Brian May's solo work is not up to par.......
i just cant get into Brian's solo work - i do like Driven By you, but it stops there. Whereas i love the majority of Roger's stuff. :-D xxx
He had already recorded the majority of a new album earlier in the year, and now needed a group to perform the songs live. To recruit members, Roger placed an advert in the British music press, stating "Drummer of a top rock band looking for musicians."
Great to hear from someone else that shares my opinion - Brian has, for some reason, shackled himself to a post that says he will only do things that are expected (ie put out an album with 4 or 5 cover version and a couple of rubbilsh ballads), where as Roger went out and did his own thing frm the start.
The Cross should have been backed by EMI. Blue Rock is better than anything Queen did for the bluk of the 1980's - it has a sharp edge to it where AKOM, Works and Miracle all follow the same, sludgy formula.
When Roger auditioned people for The Cross he already had backing tracks done for the new album that the musicians who replied to the advert had to play along to.
Most of 'Shove It' was done by Roger but there are contributions from Freddie (vocals on Heaven For Everyone), Brian (solo on 'Love Lies Bleeding') and John (but I don't know what he played on).
'Shove It' is very much a Roger Taylor album as he wrote it all and performed a big part of it. The follow up was written mostly by the rest of The Cross due to Roger working on The Miracle, hence the marked shift in style.
And as for Brian, there is also a "Red Special - Japanese Mini Album" CD... with
On My Way Up (Paris live)
Why Don't We Try Again
Maybe Baby
Business (USA Mix uncut)
It's Only Make Believe
Hammer To Fall (Paris live)
Brian Talks
I like the covers best. And full of Cozy Powell Business.
And probably Shove It was said once to be Roger's album as he did all the writing there - he let other Cross members do the writing on the following albums.
Besides the album is really rough, which may suggest it was mostly done by Roger. Take a listen to Cross' and Queen's version of Heaven for Everyone and you'll know what I mean.
