Customer Reviews

Day at the Races

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Ah. There are a lot of underrated queen albums out there which are truly phenomenal. This album is no exception in the least. Only one year after their mega-hit "Night at the Opera," Queen released "Day at the Races." By most it was seen as a good follow up to a terrific album, but not on the same level. This is indeed a shame. Consider that the tracks on this album were for the most part recorded at the same time as the songs on "Night." Also, these songs represent Queen at the same level of their artistic development. They have a very similiar feel to the previous albums songs as well, and are equally as grand and majestic. The album truly should have been released as a double album with "Night" as Freddie always wanted, but never saw happen.

Regardless of this album's history, it does become necessary for what it is. Which, simply put, is a masterpiece. It's a masterpiece if you like terrific lyrics, terrific instrumentals, and breathtaking vocals. This is an album bursting with excessiveness. Queen went all out on this album and ended up with each song being a seperate powerful entity on its own, and all together producing a wonder. It also includes three of my favorite queen songs which are all truly breathtaking. This is easily one of my favorite Queen albums, and I enjoy it almost every bit as much as "Night." Now for some track by track review.

1. Tie Your Mother Down - Opens up with a couple gong-blasts courtesy of Taylor and some fine guitar orchestration by May - which you'll note is to the tune of "White man". Then into a 20 second or so clip that almost reminds me of carnival music, and does indeed provoke a feeling of granduer and infinity. And then, May's rocking guitar comes in. Personally I think this song is a little overrated. It was Brian's attempt at surpassing "Death on Two Legs" and while it is very good, it's not quite as good. Still a great effort. 8/10

2. You Take My Breath Away - Chances are you've never even heard this song if you're not a big Queen fan. What a shame. This is beyond all doubt the most beautiful song that Freddie Mercury ever wrote - and quite possibly the most beautiful song I have ever heard. Piano based, with Freddie's overdubbed vocals it succeeds on so many levels. It's much like "Love of My Life", except even sadder and more beautiful. The vocals and lyrics are absolutely incredible. He puts an unbelievable amount of passion into this piece. A Masterpiece. 10/10

3. Long Away - Basically this is, "'39" part two. May vocals which are very light and some more nice guitar work. It's very catchy and the overdubbed vocals are also very good on this one. You'll be singing along with it pretty soon. 8.5/10

4. The Millionaire Waltz - Again, lesser known in Queen's category. However this song quite possibly the best on the album. It takes some time to grow on you. A long time. I didn't get it when i first listened to it so don't be surprised if you don't get it. But eventually you do. It's a combination of waltz and rock. The Piano is terrific in this song showcasing what terrific piano lines Freddie could create. The bassline is also amazing. Whether Freddie is singing by himeself or with his self-made choir, the vocals are excessively wonderful. And the guitar solo really rocks. Masterpiece number two. 10/10

5. You and I - John Deacon always was the most underrated member of this band, which is a shame because both his basswork and songwriting talent were huge. This song is simply a feel-good love song, poppy and catchy. Everything about it is enjoyable. One of his better songs. 8.5/10

6. Somebody to Love - Well, nobody really underates this song. If you've ever heard of the band queen you should know this song. Again, truly amazing. Some of his best vocals ever are on this song from the beggining "Can" to the climax at "looove." The gospel choir of Freddie, Roger, and Brian May is also terrific, and so well accompanies the lead line it's really something else. You can really hear him pleading for someone to love in this song! The bassline is another terrific one (I'm a bassist in case you haven't guessed, so I'm partial to a good bassline.) And the progression of this song is amazing. The song builds so nicely up to the guitar solo, and by the time it gets there I get shivers. The true climax though is off course amazing and features another terrific buildup. Masterpiece number three. 10/10.

7. White Man - Prophet's Song Part Two. Very different of course, but certainly in the same vain. It's even more of a rocker than "Prophet's". The guitar line is pounding, the drumming is terrific and the vocals are angry and loud. This song is best listened to very loud. It suprises you at parts too. Overall a very good May effort, but not his best. 8.5/10

8. Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy. What can I say? This is pure Freddie Mercury. Quite like "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon" or "Seaside Rendevous" and every bit as good. Funny lyrics, great piano, great bass, it all adds up. Another terrific song. 9.5/10

9. Drowse - Roger Taylor's only contribution to this album, and it's pretty good. Roger's vocals are particullary good here, though he always had some great vocals. The song as a whole isn't amazing, but still is very good telling of earlier simple days. Possibly the weakest song on the labum, but still quite good! 8/10

10. Teo Torriatte - Pure May Magic right here. His best song on the album, no doubt about it. Very pretty introduction, and a chorus that is so catchy you will have it stuck in your heads forever. Plus the interlude section is also very powerful. A choir of children finish singing it and the effect is very good. After the song is over, the carnival-esque guitar orchestration that started the album closes it up, lasting for around a minute. This is also a very good transition into the next album, the first song being "We Will Rock You." Just in case you ever wanted to listen to them in close succession. (9.5/10, by the way)

So. Where does this album stand compared to "Night at the Opera"? To be absolutely honest, it is not quite as perfect as "Night" was. It must be noted, however, that "Night" is one of the greatest rock cds of all time - and therefore, the fact that "Day at the Races" is not as good doesn't really say much. This cd, as judged by itself, is indeed a terrific work of ART (yes, art) and a wonderful chapter in the Book of Queen (corny, yet effective, no?) Highly recommended.

Because it was released between their classic albums A Night At The Opera and News Of The World and because it didn't have a huge hit single, A Day At The Races isn't usually mentioned among Queen's finest work. That's a shame because it is one of their best albums and is a more consistent album overall than the excellent A Night At The Opera.

It does appear they were trying to make A Night At The Opera II here with its mix of hard rock and schmaltzy pop, sometimes in the same song. "Somebody To Love" was the hit single here and remains one of their most enduring tracks. Brian May's tracks are all great, whether it's the hard rockers "Tie Your Mother Down" and "White Man" or the melodic tracks "Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)" and "Long Away." Freddie Mercury's excellent operatic vocals and arrangements are on full display here on "The Millionaire Waltz", which sounds similar to "Bohemian Rhapsody", and "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy." John Deacon's "You and I" is great as well. Although Roger Taylor tends to write the weakest material of the four members, his track "Drowse" is one of his better compositions. But the best track here and worth the price of the album alone is Freddie Mercury's "You Take My Breath Away", one of the most beautiful ballads ever recorded in rock music. No, there isn't an all-time classic here like "Bohemian Rhapsody" but there isn't anything as long-winded as "The Prophet's Song" either. If you like Queen and only know them for their classic albums and/or hit singles, this album will surprise you. Highly recommended.

This is a great cd, but I would advise many people not to compare this to the previous album. It's best to just look at it as A Day At The Races, on it's own. It starts off with a 1-minute theatrical guitar orchestration then segues into "Tie Your Mother Down", the heavy rocking hit, which I'm personally not too in love with like many others. "You Take My Breath Away", is a soft piano track, almost in the same vein as Love Of My Life, featuring Freddie's sensous vocals and vocal overdubs. "Long Away", is another stunner on this album. More pop oriented, but beautiful and almost Paul McCartney-like. "The Millionaire Waltz", is Queen at their operatic, pomp rock best featuring classical like orchestrations guitar wise, piano wise and vocal wise. One of my favorites, if not my favorite on the disc. "You and I", mixes pop/rock, and hard rock together. "Somebody to Love", is amazing, and nevertheless became a hit, featuring the overdubbed three-man gospel choir. "White Man", is good but if I had to compare it to The Prophet's Song, it falls flat. "Good Old Fashoned Lover Boy", is the typical artsy Queen/Freddie Mercury that I love. Very playful, quirky and somewhat operatic. "Drowse", is very catchy, yet acquired, as it features Roger Taylor on lead vocals, and it features slide guitar. "Teo Torriate", is arguably the highlight of the disc, as it is a soft, beautiful singalong type song sung in english and in japanese. The cd ends with the guitar orchestration that opened the cd.

Overall, this is a great cd from Queen and should be looked at on it's own rather than a 'sister' or a part II of A Night At The Opera, although in some respects it is.

After this, Queen would drift away from the art rock they started doing in the beginning, and change their sound drastically years later.

Released shortly after the blockbuster, genre-defining success of 'A Night at the Opera', this album was constructed not as something to try and top it, merely an attempt to refine what ANatO accomplished, a 'sister album' so to speak. In this sense, it doomed the album's reputation from the start as an inferior cousin of ANatO instead.

In retrospect, A Day at the Races, as a whole, is a much better, tighter, more focused album than A Night at the Opera. Where the latter had it's outstanding moments like Bohemian Rhapsody, I'm in Love with my Car, and Prophet's Song, it was severley hampered by meaningless filler songs and one of the worst overall songs Queen ever did (Sweet Lady). A Day at the Races doesn't contain any of Queen's biggest hits (save Somebody to Love), but the material is executed better, the excessess have been refined, and there isn't a true clunker on the album (a feat that Queen didn't accomplish too often).

Kicking things off is probably their best early-period rocker, the hilarious (if not a wee bit disturbing) Tie your Mother Down. After that, the subject matter is much the same as A Night at the Opera, Brian May contributes his McCartney homage 'Long Away', and Roger Taylor turns in one of his best vocal performances on the meandering, slow-burning 'Drowse'. Mercury takes the rest, and he delivers one of his most inspiried vocal performances on the gospel-tinged Somebody to Love as well as the simply beautiful album closer 'Teo Torratie'. 'Good old Fashioned Lover Boy' manages to finally show Queen focusing the lighthearted, high-society style into a single, irresistable song, as opposed to album filler (such as Seaside Rendevous and Good Company from ANotA), and You and I is an almost Elton John style radio-ready piano ballad.

And if this wasn't enough, this is one of the few re-released Queen albums where the remixes are actually better than the original songs, especially 'Tie Your Mother Down', which the production is cleaned up tenfold, making for a much better listen. A Day at the Races deserves to be in any Queen fans collection, there's no 'Bohemian Rhapsody' here (although Somebody to Love comes close) but there's certainly none of the filler that plauged all Queen releases previous (saving Queen II). Every song here's a winner.

This was the second Queen album in a row named after a Marx Brothers movie. I guess that would make Freddie Mercury "Groucho" (the mustached one), John Deacon "Harpo" (the silent one) and...oh, forget it. This album spawned only one hit song, "Somebody to Love", but it's still about as good as the other Queen albums from the same time period. Other good songs besides the hit include "Tie Your Mother Down", "You Take My Breath Away", "The Millionaire Waltz" and "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy". This CD includes useless remixes of "Tie Your Mother Down" and "Somebody to Love", which don't sound all that different from the "regular" versions of the songs.

Forget the compilations. Forget the 'Greatest Hits.' If you truly want to experience Queen in all their grandeur, buy 'A Day at The Races' and 'A Night at The Opera.' Though I am a great lover of their entire catalog, I feel that these two, along with 'Queen' and 'Queen II', are simply musical brilliance. A lot has been said and written, mostly derisively, about Freddie's flamboyance and the band's theatricality. I often read reviews that dismiss the 'arty' stuff and celebrate only the 'rockers'. In my opinion, they are missing the point of Queen. Of course they were theatrical; Queen WAS theater. Queen approached rock 'n roll as showmen of sorts. Brilliantly talented showmen, but showman just the same.

And in 'A Day at The Races,' they soar. Every aspect of the album is meticulously planned and executed. The harmonies are exquisite. The musicianship is top rate. And the production values are unbelievable. It is honestly quite beautiful. In fact, it is the production on these early albums that really sets Queen apart. Roy Thomas Baker obviously loves pomp and circumstance with a touch of cheekiness, and he gives it everything he's got on this album.

In speaking of the album's technical merit, I don't want you to think that that's what it's all about. Musically, it is completely absorbing. I don't happen to be a fan of opera, but I've seen in friends of mine who are an emotional attachment to the music because that is where the music reaches them. In Queen, I find that same attachment. Their music is admittedly completely manipulative. There are soaring crescendos that take you to the edge of the world and ethereal moments when you feel as if you are floating. When you let yourself go where the music is designed to take you, it is a fantastic roller coaster from which you might be exhausted by the time it lets you off.

I've owned this album (and now CD) from the week it came out. I remember taking a train in to Center City Philadelphia to buy 'A Dat At The Races' at Sam Goody because they were getting it in a few days before the record store in my neighborhood. I'm not only many years older than I was then, but I'm a lot more musically savvy and better educated than I was then, too. And given everything else I've heard in the last 27 or so years, this album still stands out as exceptional.

This is an outstanding album - not just for Queen, but within the history of rock 'n roll.

In 1975 Queen went into the studio and created one the finest CD's of all time titled "A Night at the Opera". A year later out came it's brother of sorts "A Day at the Races" and while it may not be as good as "A Night at the Opera" it is still a fantastic. Now onto the songs.

Tie Your Mother Down- Those who may have heard the single version may not recognize this right away as it begins differently but it sounds so much better. A very royal sounding intro and than begins with the guitar intro of Tie Your Mother Down. Very nice

You Take My Breath Away- Band's can only dream of having harmonies this nice. A beautiful ballad by Freddie Mercury.

Long Away- Possibly one of Brian's best songs that he actually song. I'd say better than "'39" even.

The Millionaire Waltz- An interesting Queen number with a waltzy sounding guitar solo and freddie singing with a slightly german accent.

You and I- Deacon does it again. A nice pop ballad with great bass and piano.

Somebody to Love- Definetly the best song on this album and one of their best of all time. Queen went opera with "Bohemian Rhapsody" and here they go gospel with "Somebody to Love".

White Man- The second heaviest song on the album behind the opener. It's about the indians and the settlers. It's a decent song with a nice guitar riff.

Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy- If there were ever a sign that Freddie was gay it was this song. Which isn't a bad thing cause this song is fun in the same way "Killer Queen" is.

Drowze- Ahhh the token Roger Taylor song. It's an okay song thats sung decently, probably the weakest on the album in my opinion.

Teo Torriate ( Let Us Cling Together ) - A great closure with a great ballad that is dedicated to the loyal Japanese fans. Has a nice children's choir in it and fades into what began the album.

A DAY AT THE RACES starts off with one of Queen's best rockers, "Tie Your Mother Down," Queen's answer to interfering parents. It's a tough act to follow but there are a variety of highlights here that make it one of Queen's best recordings. Mercury brings the camp in high fashion with "Millionaire's Waltz" and "Good Old Fashioned Loverboy," while also letting loose on one of rock's better songs of desperation, "Need Somebody to Love." Taylor contributes my favorite of his songs, "Drowse" with its examination of how easy it is to let time slip by without meaning. I love that last line "I'll have my eggs poached for breakfast, I guess," which seems to sum up the problem so well. There are a few wild shots here like "White Man with Freddy taking on the persona of a Native American- What was Queen thinking with this one? But the overall effect is one of rock's more eclectic bands at the height of their powers. I'd give this a 4 ½ but as it isn't an option, I'll round up.

Queen's magnificent follow-up to the album "A night at the opera", is among one of their best albums. The album brilliantly orchestrates Queen's capability for producing brilliant rock tunes as well as heart-warming ballads. The album is strong throughout in its lyrical quality and possesses strong guitar riffs and beautiful piano from Mercury.

Now to cover the minor flaws, at times the flow from song to song is a bit shaky. Also, if you're a huge fan of the rockish track "tie your mother down", which opens the album, you may be disappointed as their are no other songs off this album that possessv the vicious rock of that track. If you're interested in hearing the ballads from Queen, you may also be disappointed that they only have a few. The most notable being "Take my breath away" and "Somebody to love".

However, I love the great mix of ballads and rock songs and that quality makes this album one of Queen's best.

Best songs:

Tie your mother down: One of the heaviest songs in Queen's collection of rock tracks, this track has an impressive flow to it with a powerful opening guitar riff in it. At the time of its release The Times referred to it as: "Sheer bloody poetry", and they were right. An instant classic. 10/10

Take my Breath away: One of the most tender ballads ever written by Freddie Mercury, this beautiful tune is most impressive in its simplicity. It carries a very basic piano tune that Mercury sings over with brilliance.

Somebody to love: Although it wasn't successful following its release in 1977, this song is among one of Queen's best. This beautiful power ballad is highlighted by Mercury's magnificent singing voice. It has a wonderful melodic feel to it and will have you singing along in no time.

Good old Fashioned Lover Boy: A light rock track with very strong lyrics and a fast paced, catchy tune.

Worst Song:

Drowse: This is the only track written by Roger Taylor and I find that it drags on. it carries a solid rock tune to it, but it has no chorus. Roger Taylor has written much stronger rock songs than this one, i.e. sheer heart attack.

Overall, This belongs in any Queen fan's collection. Despite a few very minor flaws, it carries some of the best tracks ever written by Queen.

I remember reading of interview with Freddie a while back saying how he always wished he waited and released ADATR and ANATO as a double album. Truly it is a shame that people always put this album in the shadow of ANATO. It's a very strong album and pay no attention to people who say otherwise. The songs are as follows.

Tie Your Mother Down: Brian May's rocker that he still plays today. Someone else said in their review that they didn't like the opener and its perfect Queen opening and flows right into this song. People say its too raunchy and violent, which I just laugh at because its just a fun song. Great way to start the album off with energy with some classic queen fun 8/10

You Take My Breath Away: Truly overlooked, it's extremely beautiful and touching espicially the desperacy in Freddie's voice in the lyrics "So please don't go don't leave me here all by myself I get ever so lonely from time to time.... I will find you anywhere you go." Don't overlook this song showcases Freddie's ballad songwriting. 9.5/10

Long Away - Really great song from Brian it's alot of peoples favourite on the album 8.5/10

The Millionaire Waltz - A great example of the true genious of Freddie. This is one of the Queen songs that grows on you and at first you hear it and it doesn't catch you but if you give it a chance it is truly an enjoyable song. 8.5/10

You and I - John Deacon CANNOT be underestimated his songs are really good and I do not dislike one Deacon song. 8.5/10

Somebody To Love - Could be the best song on the album, one of Queen's masterpieces. As strong as Bohemian Rhapsody in the vocal department. Amazing Song! 10/10

White Man - Good song, tight guitar work! 7.5/10

Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy - Like Millionare Waltz, it really grows on you. It's classic artsy, original, playful Freddie Mercury. Fun Song 9/10

Drowse - Taylor's song...... its not bad its just a little boring. 6/10

Teo Torriatte - Another beautiful song by Freddie, more beatiful vocals and piano great way to close the album. 9/10

It's a strong album by Queen that deserves its place in the top best Queen Albums.