Somebody HAD to say it..........

Another factor that has been overlooked so far is that it's the definitive Queen album in terms of production. Things that were hinted at in the first 3 albums came to fruition due to the fact that they had the studio time and money behind them for the first time. Whether Good Company is a better song than Leroy Brown is arbitrary. The fact that Brian recorded Good Company in 3 weeks to give it the jazzy feel seperates it from Leroy Brown. They got to tap all of their creative juices for the first time on ANATO.

Its not so much that ANATO is overated, more that some other albums are underated, especially NOTW, Jazz and Queen II. SHA and ADATR are equals to ANATO in my mind. Its status has a lot to do with the fact that it was the bands breakthrough album and included BoRap. Queen are not the only band to have their other albums put in the shade by one album. Most people hail Led Zep IV as their best, and it includes the best known Zep track Stairway to Heaven. But Zep II and Physical Graffiti are just as good, PG possibly being their best ever album.

Naaaaaaah

i'm too lazy on a friday afternoon to list all the good points on ANATO, but for my taste and my music standards i really think that ANATO is better than Sheer heart attack and News of the world (also considering that news of the world is very different in sounds and "time")

though we are talking about three amazing albums!

well, the world is interesting cos we have different opinions

ANATO rocks!!

I love every song off that album! Where as the other albums there is at least one song I dont love!

Great thread!

To me, every album Queen have done has their strengths and weaknesses (even the much maligned Hot Space). I personally find it difficult to nominate a favourite, it varies from Innuendo to Jazz to Q2 etc depending on the mood I'm in.

There is no doubt that the inclusion of Bohemian Rhapsody, with the impact that had on Rock music, is the reason ANATO is held in such reverence, but that doesn't mean it doesn't deserve to be.

Rip them all to MP3, load playlist and hit SHUFFLE. It's amazing how fresh the songs sound when you don't know what's coming next.

i'll agree with one of the last post 'alibat,' hit the nail on the head saying 'anato' wasn't overated, but alot of other queen albums were simply way underated. to me to call anato overated is simply not right, do you realize i don't remember anato being mention to offen with the likes of 'nirvana's nevermind' or gun's roses. even bon jovi albums get mentioned before anato on alot of list, so don't give me this shit about anato being overated, it's way underated, a masterpiece in every way. i think what queenzep is trying to say is, the first six queen album's are underated, also innuendo, the game and jazz you could make the case were underated.

I agree with you in some points.

A lot of people complain that the 80s albums had too many "refills", but turns out to be that the 70s album had their share of refills as well.

i agree with the last, but i have to disagree with Mr. jingles a bit. i don't think the first six queen albums had much filler at all, jazz has one or two filler (more of that jazz), but generally speaking anato doesn't have any filler that i could see. some say 'good company,' to me that's a joke, the song is brilliant, i think people say that because it's sandwiched between three of queen's best.

alibat wrote:

Its not so much that ANATO is overated, more that some other albums are underated.

I completely agree. I wasn't really trying to say that ANATO was overrated overall, but to me, Queen had several equally as good albums (probably better) that didn't get as much credit. I in no way meant that ANATO was a "bad" album. It's incredible. But when people are compiling lists or whatever, it's always this one that gets the most credit, and not some of their other works.

And I didn't mean to forget Love Of My Life. It's one of my favorite Queen songs. :(

I wouldn't agree ANATO is overrated. It can't be, it's one of the best albums in rock history, imho. But I totally agree Queen made more albums, just as good, if not better, and for me those are Queen ll and ADATR. But they are all great (i mean first five - six), and it's all matter of taste. I guess my fave is Queen ll. But SHA is also great... Anyway, ANATO is NOT overrated, it's rated high as it should be.

Thunderbolt of God wrote:

I totally agree - my favourite albums are A Day at the Races and Queen II. So many of the songs on ANATO have better predecessors:

Bohemian Rhapsody - March of the Black Queen Death on Two Legs - Flick of the Wrist
Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon - Bring Back That Leroy Brown

The list goes on...

i would agree with this totally - and as a heretic against the Church of the Opera - i will bring my own matches and kindling for my ritual burning

but Races and queen II absolutely blow Opera away - imho

Ive always found 'opera' quite difficult to listen to from start to finish, it seems quite a mish-mash and I personally dont think it flows very well, which is why I am always baffled when Bri goes on about how it was meant to be listened to from start to finish and how well everything flows together.

Out of all of queens albums I would say the three I listen to the least are AKOM, The Game and ANATO.