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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Crazy Little Band Called Queen, October 10, 2004
This album has to be Queen's most transitional album. There is less heavy metal style guitar (as featured on Queen, Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack) and even less campiness (which was featured on A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races and Jazz). On the liner notes, they admit that they used synthesizer "for the 1st time" (for the 1st 6 albums, they proudly boasted that synthesizers were not used at all). They even looked different with the shorter haircuts (sans Brian, whose long curly locks remained unshorned). But I digress. On with the review.
4 of the songs were written and performed for a mini tour called the "Crazy Little Tour." One of them, an uncharacteristic rockabilly tune "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," which lead singer Freddie Mercury wrote. This gave them a big hit in the 1980's. 2 of the songs are sensitive ballads written by versatile guitarist Brian May, "Sail Away Sweet Sister" (Brian sings lead on this, with Freddie singing on the bridge) and the powerful "Save Me" (a minour hit in the UK). Drummer Roger Taylor penned "Coming Soon," which sounds a lot like the Cars (he was the band's true classic rock fan).
The rest of the album was recorded in the 1980's. Around the same time, Queen was preparing the Flash Gordon soundtrack (that's another review). The Game opens with Freddie's "Play the Game," which captures Queen's "classic" sound and features an interesting synthesizer intro (a minour hit for them). Bass player John Deacon had his biggest hit with the funky "Another One Bites the Dust" (he admits it was originally going to be a cowboy song, but for some reason changed it). Other songs include the heavy "Dragon Attack" (written by Brian, "Slow down, don't take no prisoners!"), John's catchy poprock "I Need Your Lovin' Tonight" ("No, I'll never look back in anger...") Freddie's bluesy "Don't Try Suicide" (a tongue in cheek message song- "Don't try suicide, nobody's worth it... nobody cares... you're just gonna hate it!") and "Rock It (Prime Jive)" written and sung by Roger, with help from Freddie at the intro (it sounds a mix between Led Zeppelin and early Sammy Hagar).
I'm giving this 5 stars for the album. I'm not counting the throwaway remix of "Dragon Attack" (instead, they should have included "A Human Body," which was one of their B-sides). Skip that, it'll only leave you wondering why Brian approved of it. Just enjoy the classic sounds of a crazy little band called Queen.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Romanticism for the `80s, July 12, 2006
In my youth, I had a longing desire to own "The Game", but when I was nine, Queen's adult-themed subtext was not deemed appropriate by my vigilant parents. I was exposed to "The Game" by way of my friends, but did not personally own it. As an elementary school student in the late `70s, Queen's image and lyric content were not deemed proper by the "powers that were." As a result, I have kept Queen's most critically acclaimed albums from the '70's on the back burner, knowing that I would return to them when the time was right.
Of course, as with any band worth their salt, Queen kept coming up. In the short term, when I started driving my own car, I bought "Queen's Greatest Hits" in the mid-80's. Even later, as a curiosity, I picked up "Innuendo" before Freddie's death in the in the`90s, but up to a certain point gauging their career by a "Queen's Greatest Hits" album is doing the both the band and listener a disservice. Arguably, one could say that "The Game" is this point. While a Greatest Hits compilation may give you "Another One Bites the Dust", you will also be missing out on great tunes like "Dragon Attack.", "Coming Soon", "Sail Away, Sweet Sister", and "Need Your Loving Tonight".
"The Game" represents a division in Queen's sound, the radio-friendly flipside to the "Flash Gordon" soundtrack. These two sides of Queen's personality diverged in the early 80's, and eventually met again on "Who Wants To Live Forever" and a significant part of "Innuendo". This streamlining is most likely a direct reaction to the punk movement, which discouraged prog-rock. This was streamlined into a radio-friendly, song-based album while "Flash Gordon" was instrumental and melodramatically theatrical.
Like Genesis' "And Then There Were Three", many critics malign this album as the cryptic "beginning of the end" for Queen in the mid to late `80s (although the band was never at a loss for success). While "The Game" may not have the same the sweeping and distinctive grandeur that "Night at the Opera" displayed, it is most certainly a consistent and compelling example of Queen's ever-present succinct, radio-friendly work. In its own way, its distinctiveness ties it to the `80s in the same way that "Night at the Opera" was tied to the `70s.
Queen's repertoire was amazingly cohesive despite the fact that there were four distinctive songwriters in the group. The depth of Mercury's delivery can be interpreted as representing an incredibly broad range of experiences, but it should be kept in mind that as he became the predominant lead singer for the group, his voice represented an amalgamation of four distinct personalities. This level of musical interactivity is unheard of in today's music scene. For example, "Save Me" is beautifully emotional, but Mercury's delivery of May's text reveals a pained experience that may not have been realized under different conditions.
The Lowdown: I did not realize exactly how much I knew about this album until I got it a few weeks ago. Overall, "The Game" is a great album full of great songs that represents a musical climate that has long since passed.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic!, March 26, 2006
This is one of Queen's best albums and a definite improvement from their last two albums. Contained here are Queen's two biggest U.S. hits - Crazy Little Thing Called Love and Another One Bites The Dust. From start to finish this album is great with some minor exceptions.
Play The Game - 9/10 nice opener and classic Freddie song
Dragon Attack - 9/10 each band member has their own solo in this one. great rocker
Another One Bites The Dust - 9/10 not my personal favorite but it was Queen's biggest single ever
Need Your Loving Tonight - 8/10 nice setup for the next track
Crazy Little Thing Called Love - 10/10 featuring Freddie on guitar for the first time. great song
Rock It (Prime Jive) - 8/10 duet by Roger and Freddie. good up-tempo song
Don't Try Suicide - 7/10 the only exception to the greatness that is The Game. I agree with another review. good lyrics not great music
Sail Away Sweet Sister - 10/10 a Brian May gem. Sung by both Freddie and Brian, this song is a masterpiece
Coming Soon - 7/10 sort of filler but still kinda fun
Save Me - 10/10 fantastic ballad to close this awesome album.
overall rating: 87/100 one of Queen's best albums. I recommend Innuendo, The Miracle, A Night At The Opera, and The Works also if you want to get some of Queen's other fine albums
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