Third appointment dedicated to Queen: today we talk about “News of the World.”
In 1976 Queen returned to the studio to record “A Day at the Races,” conceived as a follow-up to the creative peak of “A Night at the Opera.” Produced by the band with the collaboration of Mike Stone, the album contains tracks such as the famous gospel-tinged ballad “Somebody to Love” and the overwhelming hard-rock ride “Tie Your Mother Down,” which from that moment became a constant presence in the band’s setlists.
From the following year, however, the rise of the punk phenomenon led by the Sex Pistols pushed Queen in a new direction: putting aside the complex symphonic arrangements and elaborate productions of previous works, the four musicians dusted off a drier and more minimalist hard rock sound, as evidenced by the hits “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions,” released as a single in October 1977. Now timeless rock anthems, as well as sports world staples, these two tracks triumphantly brought the band back to the mainstream market, conquering the top 10 of numerous charts worldwide. In “News of the World,” the group’s typical harmonies and overdubs remain in the background, replaced by songs designed to be performed live in epic and engaging performances, such as those of the News of the World Tour starting in November of the same year (probably the most spectacular and scenic tour in the band’s history). In addition to arena-rock style tracks, the album also features blues influences (“Sleeping on the Sidewalk”), jazz (“My Melancholy Blues”), and psychedelic-funk (“Get Down, Make Love”), as well as a response, albeit not very convincing, to the advent of punk in the wild “Sheer Heart Attack.” It is important to emphasize how Queen, like other prog-rock and art-rock groups, were in clear opposition to that rough and violent genre that was gradually taking hold in England. The band’s sixth work, despite mixed reviews from critics, was widely rewarded by the public, becoming four times platinum in America and twice in the United Kingdom.
In the albums that followed between the late ‘70s and early ‘80s (“Jazz,” “The Game,” “Hot Space”), Queen began to move closer and closer to an easy-listening pop-rock sound, eyeing the charts and sometimes contaminating themselves with genres popular with the general public. After a brief separation in 1983, the quartet returned in 1984 with “The Works,” followed in 1985 by Freddie Mercury’s solo album “Mr. Bad Guy.” “A Kind of Magic” (1986) and “The Miracle” (1989) continued along the commercial path of previous works, while “Innuendo” (1991), the last album composed with Mercury before his tragic death in 1991, closed the circle by recovering the sounds of Queen’s origins. In 1995, “Made in Heaven” was released, composed by the remaining members by combining their instrumental parts with some vocal tracks left by Mercury.
Since 1997 Deacon has chosen to retire, while Taylor and May continue to perform with the “Queen +” tour, paying tribute to Mercury’s memory and reprising the band’s greatest hits, in line with the spirit of the famous “The Show Must Go On,” which we invite you to listen to today.
