Queen Forever (2014)

'Queen Forever' is a compilation album released on 10 November 2014, featuring tracks with vocals from Freddie Mercury. It is the first Queen album to feature unreleased material from Freddie Mercury since the 1995 album Made in Heaven. Roger Taylor announced the album in an interview in December 2013, stating that he and guitarist Brian May were "getting together...in the new year to finish what we've got there and then we're going to fashion some kind of album."

The truth is that there were just the three 'new songs,' with the rest of the album being a compilation of already released material. Other than these three tracks, the album is noteworthy for the single version of 'Lily of Valley.' On the Sheer Heart Attack album, this track is segued in a trilogy, following 'Tenement Funster' and 'Flick of the Wrist.' Being presented as a stand alone track accentuates the song's qualities as a grand but delicate ballad. It always was a song of high quality and deserves to be better known and appreciated. Also of note is 'Play the Game,' presented here without the synthesizer opening that heralded the new Queen of the eighties. As a result, the track is re-located back into the classic Queen sound (whilst also looking forward to 'It's a Hard Life,' which also has a place on the album). Other than that, 'Love of My Life,' 'Drowse,' and 'Somebody to Love' have early fade-outs, making them of interest to Queen obsessives and fanatics (me). I shall comment only on the new material, plus another song which was not on the album. 

It's a good album, showcasing the ballad side of Queen and would be a great introduction for those new to Queen and who may get into deeper cuts on the rocking side through the pop and the ballads. It's an album your mum will like (remember I had to sell Queen to the family at a time when the band were releasing songs like 'Flick of the Wrist,' 'Death on Two Legs,' 'Get Down Make Love,' 'Bicycle Race,' 'Fat Bottomed Girls,' and 'Body Language.' Not easy). 

"Let Me in Your Heart Again."

This is a song that tends to get missed in Queen retrospectives. It was an unfinished track left over from The Works in 1984, which the band returned to finish only in 2014 for the Queen Forever album. Amazingly, the track took 30 years to surface. It had been over two decades since the death of Freddie Mercury by the time the track was finished and released, so people could be forgiven for thinking that the Queen catalogue was completed and known. It's a pity that this track wasn't finished for 'The Works' in 1984, an album that was short on classic Queen ballads, and short on tracks in general. In a September 2014 interview, Brian May revealed that several versions of the lyrics were written but that the band still found it impossible to finish the track. For Queen Forever, May wove parts from the different versions together before fleshing out the music with Roger Taylor. It turned out to be something 'rather joyful,' declared Taylor. May expressed the hope that 'that Freddie's powerful voice can inspire the world yet again.' 'Let Me in Your Heart Again' is a bone fide Queen rock ballad that could have earned a place on pretty much most every Queen album. Melodic, with a sweeping romanticism, it's a strong track. It is evident that the track is not a leftover or a throwaway, but a good track that didn't see the light of day earlier for the simple reason that the band found it hard to finish. I'm glad that they returned to it and finished it.

"Love Kills" (ballad version)

The idea of 'Love Kills' was presented to Freddie Mercury by Giorgio Moroder for inclusion in the soundtrack for his new edit and restoration of Fritz Lang's Metropolis, which Freddie proceeded to rework in his own fashion. The result was a high energy slice of synthpop, which peaked at UK #10 when issued as a single. Although credited as a Freddie Mercury solo track, "Love Kills" was recorded during The Works sessions, with all four members of Queen working on it. Whilst the song had been considered for inclusion on The Works, it wasn't used. It would be interesting to know the reasons why. My first impression of The Works was that it was short on material, with eight main songs plus a short acoustic ballad closing the album. The inclusion of 'Love Kills' and 'Let Me Into Your Heart Again' would have turned The Works into a very substantial album indeed.

Twenty years later, the stripped down version of 'Love Kills' was reworked by Brian May and Roger Taylor and issued as a rock ballad on Queen Forever. I love both versions of the song and don't see the need to choose one over the other, other than to say that the synth/dance high energy version is the Mercury/Deacon Queen that came to the fore on Hot Space and the rock-ballad version is the May/Taylor Queen. Sometimes, the band was at war within itself. There is a distinct impression that Hot Space and The Works represent a swing from one pole to another. When both hands held both poles firmly in their grip, the result was magic. People know the high energy version of "Love Kills," but not the slowed down rock-ballad version. The reworking was flagged up to promote the new Queen Forever album of 2014. The obvious thing to say is that the Queen version of "Love Kills" "kills" the dance original, and many of the fans of Queen the rock band say that. It doesn't. There's no real comparison to be made, since they are very different songs and very good in their own unique ways. That said, I'll bet that few people could have guessed that a seemingly ephemeral piece of synthpop could have proven to have had so much rock substance.

"There Must Be More to Life Than This"

Freddie Mercury recorded three songs in duet with Michael Jackson, but the material was never finished and hence never released. In interview, Mercury explained that the pair could never quite find the time to finish the tracks off. Jackson finished one of the songs, "State of Shock," with the Jacksons and Mick Jagger, the song being released as a single. The song was also issued on the Jacksons' album 'Victory,' the title of another of the Mercury/Jackson songs (but which has never been released.

"There Must Be More to Life Than This" was written by Mercury and recorded by Queen during the Hot Space sessions. The song didn't make the album but instead was re-recorded by Mercury 'Mr. Bad Guy' album of 1985. After the death of Michael Jackson in 2009, Brian May and Roger Taylor began moves to secure the release of the duets. Negotiations were slow. Taylor compared working with the Jackson estate to "wading through glue." In the end, agreement was secured for just one of the three tracks to be released. The version released on 'Queen Forever' was produced and mixed by William Orbit, containing the original backing track recorded during the Hot Space sessions of 1981. Long known about, it is good to have. But the voices don't gel together too well. Freddie sings well, of course, Jackson much less so. But never having been a Jackson fan, I may not be the best judge. Others may see its quality. It may be significant that first Jackson and then the Jackson estate were less than enthusiastic over the results of the collaboration. 

46664 - The Call

A hard-hitting 'political' song from a Queen now down to just two of its original members, Brian May and Roger Taylor (Dave Stewart is the other musician present). 'The Call' was written for Nelson Mandela's 46664 organization, which was started in 2003 in order to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. 'The Call' was played at the 46664 concert, and was played on BBC Radio and (once) on Capital Radio Gold in the UK, but has never officially available for download. The track is a hard rock song in the style of Brian May's solo work. Unusually for a May track, the guitar part is secondary to the message, incidental rather than dominant, but still very good.

The studio version of this track has never been officially released. There are at least two versions of the studio track available. The live version is basically the first half of the track, the studio version then continues with an orchestral section, another verse and chorus, then an instrumental outro.

The track makes for a very unusual Queen song. Although the band did make statements for peace, freedom, and equality in their music, these tended to be of a general, hopeful, and idealistic character, almost utopian. In an interview, Roger Taylor stated that Freddie Mercury steered the band away from political statements, preferring to see the music as an escapism from the problems of the world. Entertainment and fun rather than politics were the order of the day. And why not? There are other places for politics, where you can express your views, engage and argue with others, and tread the hard boards of political change and conflict. There has been an explosion of 'political' pop and rock since the sixties and most of it has been embarrassing, amounting to little more than vague statements in favour of all good things for all good people, ignoring the hard questions that are the real testing bench of politics. Referring to Bob Dylan's 'fifth form propaganda,' Nik Cohn writes that in the aftermath of Dylan 'everyone took to peddling politics and philosophies and social profundities by the pound and, inevitably, most of it was a joke but, just the same, it moved pop forward ... pop began to be something more than simple autonoise, it developed pretensions, it turned into an art form ...' (Nik Cohn, Awopbopaloobopalopbamboom 2004: 181). We all might believe in peace and freedom, and love 'humanity' in general, but public statements in favour of good things does not in itself constitute serious politics. I don't go to the banalities, generalities, and inanities of pop music for politics and am singularly unimpressed and unmoved by endless proclamations to zero effect in the world of practical affairs. On balance, I'm glad that Queen kept away from politics, the decision to go for escapism and entertainment was wise and, I would venture, had much more practical effect when it came to cultural change and liberation.

All that said ... 'The Call' reads like a manifesto for the coming age of protest and resistance. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing depends not so much on whether you agree with the ideals (who disagrees?) but upon your grasp of the nature of 'the political' and the practicalities of public life.

There was a man in the street just the other day

With a tear and a hand thin long hand stretched out looking my way

Said 'your money, your sympathy, I really don't need

What I want is you to see how my brothers bleed'

Doctor, oh doctor, my world needs attention

Got sickness and poverty just too bad to mention

Got people too blind to see what's going by

My country stored it's wealth and now it can't figure why

But the rest of the world wants it back now

They got no weapons so they just bug us for the crack now

You gonna stand by and let this go on indefinitely?

Let our leaders articulate our indifference with impunity?

Are you a man?

Or just a number?

46664

46664

46664

46664

Help, help, we need you

Your world needs you

Needs you to know

Needs you to sit up

Needs you to take action and say

No, this will not happen

No, we will not let this happen

No, it shall not be one law for the black, one law for the white

It shall not be one law for the man, one law for the woman

It shall not be one law for the heterosexual, one law for the homosexual

One law for the rich country, one law for the poor country

It shall be one law only

It shall be equality, equality of opportunity

Equality of healthcare, equality of power

Equality of civil rights

Are you a woman?

Or just a number?

Make the call

46664

46664

46664

46664

Yeah

So people, will we let these children die

So we get less mouths to feed

Or shall we ????? and administer to them in their hour of need

AIDS is the terror our children must fear

AIDS is the name we shudder just to hear

AIDS is the word at the back of our minds

AIDS is like no other, the threat of all mankind

AIDS is the call to tear the boundaries down

The issue we must clearly face now

Equality, equality of opportunity

Equality of healthcare, equality of power

Equality of civil rights

Equality of all humanity

Are you a man?

This is the call

Substitute the threat of climate change for AIDS, and we have an anthem for our days. It is the same threat, the same terror, the same fear, the same call to arms. I'm just leery of such messages. They are innocuous enough in pop music. Personally, I would prefer a good song, a good tune, and a good voice to a good political message any day of the week. I go to music for the music and do politics in the realm of politics - that's what it is there for. When such messages start to spill over from culture into politics, so much so that political leaders and activists start to speak in banalities and slogans, the alarm bells need to start ringing. In the abstract, there is no argument with the sentiments of this track. As a call to engage in politics to ensure peace, freedom, and equality whilst addressing the myriad threats confronting humanity, I couldn't agree more. But that does imply actually engaging in a genuine politics, in dialogue and exchange with those who may disagree, if not necessarily on the ends then certainly on the means. That is the hard part in politics, something that is beyond a general declaration of ideals. An attempt to assert a power without responsibility will, ultimately, prove destructive of politics and public life. If everyone is making claims upon and taking from the public realm, and no-one is making contributions to its political stock, then there will be a constant dissolution of the public in favour of a congeries of private demands. Universality will be lost.

In other words, 'The Call' is a remarkable track for Queen in being so overtly political. Musically, it is much less remarkable for a Queen song. People who are happy with general statements will love the apparent radicalism and militancy of the message, those a little more political savvy will wait and see how many respond to 'the call,' adjusting their idealism in light of the confrontation with political realities. Guess what, the members of the great public tend not to be as idealistic as the self-image they project. OK, I'm being overly tetchy, but I have learned to be leery of people who praise music, comedy, and culture on account of agreeing with its political message. The problem with making far too much of far too little is that, ironically, you end up missing the call to a real politics that could, actually, make a difference.