The Cross
Shove It

1988, the king is sick. Public appearances are dwindling, concerts a glorious memory. Before the release of the last two albums, the Queen members find something to do: May plays on "Headless Cross" by Black Sabbath, Freddie, after a painful pop/dance parenthesis, will dedicate himself to opera music, and Roger Taylor founds his very own creation, "The Cross".

"Shove it" is the first album, where the blond drummer takes on the role of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist. Roger's vocal skills are well known to all of us: often the good Freddie had handed him the microphone in some of the best songs he also wrote: "I'm in Love with My Car", "Tenement Funster", "The Loser in the End", Rock it (Prime Jive). The potential for solo work is certainly there. But something goes wrong, nothing particular, simply "Shove it" is an album that will never be remembered for other reasons if not for containing the famous "Heaven For Everyone" (later appearing on the posthumous Queen album "Made In Heaven"), the rest quickly sinks into oblivion. Musically we are talking about pop rock with many synthesizers, typical of the era, which partially revives some of Queen's not best ideas. To give an idea: something from the late '70s, early '80s production like "Fun it" from "Jazz", or "Staying Power" from "Hot Space", with the addition of a few guitar riffs, a bit of synthesizers, and banal refrains. Certainly not the things we like to remember the queen for.

Let's be honest, Mercury and the band have produced banalities: the same writers who penned "Bohemian Rhapsody", "It's Late", "Brighton Rock", "The March Of The Black Queen"... and so on, also wrote "Radio Ga Ga", "The Invisible Man", "Body Language". Strokes of genius if compared to The Cross's "Shove it". A mix of the more pop Queen seasoned with the Genesis of "Land of Confusion", and some sensual choruses à la Prince (Contact). An album poor in ideas, lacking originality and full of incredible banality, framed in a tribute of irritatingly eighties synthesizers. As mentioned, the only spark is in Freddie's splendid voice, which as manna from heaven, diverts the embarrassed ears for five minutes with "Heaven for Everyone". Among the worst episodes, I would certainly mention "Love Lies Bleeding", with a sort of rapped verse by Taylor (here Brian May appears as a guest), and "Cowboys and Indians" of a childishness that leaves one speechless. The whole album flows in the name of boredom, without any particularly noteworthy episode.

Perhaps Taylor created this work without particular pretense, maybe as anti-boredom therapy during the inactive period of his original band. But I see it as a wasted opportunity to show the world he could walk on his own, outside the suffocating shadow of Queen. Perhaps it would have helped us save ourselves from the bad reunions and the useless collaborations.