Queen
News Of The World

THE REVIEW

It is 1977 when Queen, mocking the most demanding critics (who - wrongly - had seen "A Day at the Races" as a less personal album and excessively derivative compared to the 1975 monster album) return with an LP less pompous and elaborate than usual, yet undeniably effective.

Ready, go: "We Will Rock You", a structure as simple as it is unconventional, pure triumph live; "We Are The Champions", a masterpiece of positive rock, an overused soundtrack of every sporting success (and not) up to the present day. A sparkling start: 2-0, ball to the center. But the remaining tracks do not disappoint expectations. "Sheer Heart Attack", with a very fast pace (the homonymous title with the 1974 album is no coincidence), mixes almost punk sounds with decidedly aggressive vocals, slightly foreshadowing some clichés of the '80s thrash phenomenon. The tempos slow down with the next "All Dead, All Dead", a touching love story well interpreted by Brian on a piano base, and then with one of the greatest rock ballads of the '70s, namely "Spread Your Wings", a text of social revenge and poignant music at the right point, especially in the beautiful "ad libitum" ending (I don't think it's wrong to believe that U2's One drew something from these parts). With "Fight From The Inside", composed by Taylor, we find the Queen's first experiment in funky territories (the attempts will multiply in the following years): Roger's test behind the microphone is good, with the piece being reasonably successful. Decidedly experimental, but on different coordinates, is also the sensual "Get Down, Make Love", in which among psychedelic atmospheres and Freddie's pure vocal performance, you can also notice the meticulous bass work by Deacon. This is followed by "Sleeping On The Sidewalk", a satire of the music business in which the rock blues sounds dear to the Brian May of the Smile period reappear (the track is unusually -for Queen- recorded live), and the unusual "Who Needs You", characterized by unprecedented Latin sounds with excellent rhythmic-solo work of classical guitar. Towards the end of the album, a distorted arpeggio introduces one of the band's major hard rock masterpieces, "It's Late" (not for nothing recovered in the "Queen Rocks" collection of 1997), endowed with an irresistible choral refrain and compelling passages with a Taylor in a state of grace, while the closure is up to "Melancholy Blues", a classic atmospheric blues slow song with yet another superb performance -even on the piano- by Freddie.

In conclusion, an album that partially detaches itself from the epic baroque style of the 1974/1976 three-year period and reaffirms Queen's rock identity, thus representing the best response to the most demanding music critics of the time without renouncing the usual parade of "classics," which will bring it to no. 1 in numerous European countries and no. 3 in the USA, while at the same time gaining consensus among old and new fans.