Roger Taylor
Strange Frontier

That Roger Taylor is a great tinkerer, in the best sense of the word, becomes apparent when listening to all the songs he wrote for his band. From rock'n'roll to electronic music, he never shied away from anything, often contributing with absolutely valuable tracks like the splendid "Drowse", to the Queen discography. His compositions are always quite interesting, marked by a desire to experiment with new sounds that deserves the sincerest applause, never banal or predictable, except perhaps for the somewhat silly "Radio Ga Ga" and "A Kind Of Magic".

"Strange Frontier" is the second solo LP released in 1984, a few months after the deliberately commercial mediocrities of "The Works" performed with his bandmates. It's an album worth listening to; an eclectic work with many limitations but that proves decidedly better than anything the Queen had done up to that moment since 1980. Taylor plays almost the entire album himself, aided by Rick Parfitt from Status Quo on guitar and John Deacon on bass. The result is an album with typical '80s hues, but in a positive way, without overdoing it with synths and synthetic drums, as in the powerful lead single "Man On Fire" or the beautiful title track, a gritty song that opens with a rarefied atmosphere that anticipates the final acceleration where Roger unleashes his incredible voice. "Killing Time" is the most intriguing track, electronics and orchestration for a highly successful song, while "Beautiful Dreams" is the soft moment that recalls the more inspired Velvet Underground. Two covers, Dylan's "Master Of Wars" and Springsteen's "Racing In The Streets" enrich the album that finds its strength in the balance between acoustic, well-calibrated electronic sounds, moreover, Taylor's voice proves to adapt very well to any type of interpretations, even if pure rock'n'roll remains his strong point.

With this LP, Roger Taylor shows he has found his possible path away from Queen, as the rest of his career will see him as the author of parallel projects and other solo works that won't have a major commercial impact but at least add a few more notes of merit to his career.