Queen
The Game

THE REVIEW

The album that divides Queen fans the most, both now and at the time, is undoubtedly "The Game". Released in 1980 a few years after the musical Grease and a year of new trends, it sees the English band change both in appearance (the members sport very American leather jackets) and in substance, with a musical style that begins to embrace that universe, semi-unknown to the English population, called dance. However, it seems that the four wanted to maintain a connection with the past by offering rock pieces alternated with real earworms aimed at pleasing the average audience.

The self-titled track, "Play The Game", revisits the band's historical sound: guitar riffs and, of course, falsettos that reach very high tones, but what truly surprises is something else: the synthesizer! The band that used to write "no synth" on the back of every album, evidently aware of the new musical trends, would offer from this album onwards very electronic bases. Anyway, this choice would prove to be, for public success (worldwide), a clever one.

"Play The Game" certainly, but let's not forget the rest of the album. "Dragon Attack", from which Deacon’s riff is worth saving, is mediocre and goes unnoticed, but the new Queen makes its presence known with the earworm: "Another One Bites The Dust", the turning point. The extreme simplicity (bass, drums, and a lot of electronics) made the track, albeit slightly copied, the most well-known of the group (at least in the USA), and the credit goes entirely to the person considered until then to be the incapable one of Queen, John Deacon.

This is where the poker begins: the following track "Need Your Loving Tonight" is a good rock, what the album needed; very youthful but at the same time influenced by the '50s sound, as is also "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", composed by Freddie while trying to imitate the voice of his idol Elvis, and "Rock It (Prime Jive)", where for once Freddie introduces Roger. "Sail Away Sweet Sister"; oh dear, Brian, what have you done. That sappy role, in my opinion, doesn’t suit you. Something is missing; great falsetto from Freddie nonetheless. "Don't Try Suicide" in my opinion is a fantastic jazz: "don't try suicide, nobody cares, don't try suicide, you should hate it, don't try suicide, nobody would care." Freddie, you’re a true genius! "Coming Soon" by Taylor goes unnoticed but makes way for the conclusion/masterpiece of the album: the super queen-like "Save Me"; Brian, you're forgiven, promoted!

The album sold a lot, it was the first of Queen’s to enter the charts at number 1 both in Great Britain and the US, bolstered by the radio success of "Another One Bites The Dust", still the band's best-selling single in America, and it brought success to a band in decline (no offense to the fans) after the "ambiguous" Jazz. Great album and great voice, not the creative pinnacle, but if you are beginning to explore Queen, I highly recommend you buy it (or download it).