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From reading other reviews, it seems the perception by some is that this album was a bit of a letdown upon its initial release in 1978, but I certainly never saw it that way. I'll get some disagreement on this I'm sure, but to me this is one of Queen's top 2 or 3 albums ever and the last truly great Queen album to feature all the elements of the classic Queen sound. For those not familiar with it, I'll cover the main album first. If you're more interested in just the remastering effort and/or bonus material, skip towards the end of the review where that's covered separately.
As for the album itself, first, the hit single songs most listeners will already know: Fat Bottomed Girls & Bicycle Race. These are not personal favorites of mine and actually two of the weaker tracks on the album to me. They're not at all bad, but I think the reason some may feel this album was something of a letdown is that they are likely judging the album on the strength of the "hits" it had (or didn't have). If so, I would say they are missing out on some of Queen's best work because while these are probably not 2 of Queen's stronger singles, the deeper cuts on this album are all superb.
What constitutes Queen's "best work" is of course up to the individual, but to me, it's diversity of material with consistent quality and in that regard `Jazz' delivers like no other Queen album except for perhaps "A Night at the Opera". Whereas most opening tracks on previous Queen albums were straight rockers like Brighton Rock, Tie Your Mother Down, We Will Rock You, etc., "Jazz" opens with the middle-Eastern flair of "Mustapha", signaling that Queen are going to take a few chances on this one.... I have to admit it threw me at first but over time, I've grown to really love this unique track. Freddie really shines and it does rock out plenty as it progresses. Two of the next three songs are the singles - `Fat Bottomed Girls' & `Bicycle Race' - again, not my favorites, but not bad songs at all. In between is a great ballad by Freddie Mercury ("Jealousy") that's always been a favorite of mine. A slightly odd order to start the album, but it flows, is still plenty good and most importantly, only gets better.
Next up is one of the few (only?) really rocking tunes John Deacon wrote for Queen, "If You Can't Beat Them". Excellent lyrics, the trademark sound from Brian May and Queen's one-of-a-kind backup vocals to fill it out. This fades out and brings us to "Let Me Entertain You", a perfect statement rocker from Freddie Mercury, though strong as the guitar riff for this song is, you might think Brian May had written it. And the lyrics sum up Mercury's approach to his role in Queen most fittingly:
I've come here to sell you my body
I can show you some good merchandise
I'll pull you and I'll pill you
I'll Cruella-Daville you
To thrill you I'll use any device
A superb ending to Side 1, though again, slightly odd placement since this was used as an opening tone-setter for Queen's live show for the next several years, yet closes Side 1 here.
Side 2 is really where this album shines though: 7 songs, all solid, and surprisingly, only 1 composed by Freddie Mercury (although to me, Brian May's "Dreamer's Ball" always seemed like more of a Freddie song, which helps keep the side more balanced). Side 2 opens right where side 1 left off, with a great rocking tune, this one by Brian May ("Dead on Time"). Excellent guitar work and spot-on lyrics about the frantic pace of life that Queen was dealing with more and more by 1978 after years of platinum albums and sold-out world tours. And the lyrics match the fast-pace nature of the song. Next up is the wonderful John Deacon ballad, "In Only Seven Days" about a week-long romance while on vacation which is perfectly understated musically and superbly sung by Freddie Mercury.
Next up is the previously mentioned "Dreamer's Ball", a playful little number Queen always had fun with on stage and that harkens back to songs like "Seaside Rendezvous" and "Who Needs You" from previous albums. So.... not to be taken too seriously, but still a wonderful track with some excellent guitar work from Brian May in a slightly different setting. This is followed by the first of two songs by drummer Roger Taylor, the funky-disco beat of "Fun It" which is augmented by Brian May's guitar to still give it that signature Queen sound. Lead vocals are shared by Taylor and Mercury on this precursor to "Another One Bites The Dust", though this is a little more rocking than "Dust" as it doesn't stray quite as far into the funk/disco genre.
The side winds down with another track from Brian May, this one a pensive ballad about separation and having to leave the ones you love ("Leaving Home Ain't Easy"). For this one, Brian takes lead vocals himself and while his voice has always seemed very limited to me, it's very effective with the right material and shines on this track. This song provides yet another touch to give Queen the diversity that made them shine so brightly on this album.
Next up is another single from the album, Freddie's lone contribution to side 2, "Don't Stop Me Now". It did not fare particularly well in the U.S. but did reach the top 10 in the UK. It's perhaps a bit over the top for U.S. audiences but undeniably catchy and I remember latching onto this song very early after I first purchased this album back in 1978. It was also used to great effect in the motion picture "Shaun of the Dead" during a bar-fight scene.
Closing the side and the album is the aptly titled "More of That Jazz," a down-tempo funky little rocker from Roger Taylor. The lyrics center on Taylor's bitter comments about current society and the way rock and roll is disrespected. Taylor plays most of the instruments himself and sings all vocals. A superb track unlike anything else on the album, but then that could be said for most of the tracks on this excellent Queen release. The outro contains a summation of the album by way of short clips from many songs on the album including "Dead on Time", "Bicycle Race", "Mustapha", "If You Can't Beat Them", "Fun It", and "Fat Bottomed Girls", making it the perfect album closer.
All told, I love every single track on this album except (ironically) the two singles they aimed at mass audiences, "Fat Bottomed Girls" and "Bicycle Race". And those are far from bad songs, but not as strong to me as the rest of the album. Not bad at all though which makes the complete "Jazz" package one of Queen's very best to this reviewer. After "Jazz", Queen would intentionally water down the diversity and never be quite this adventurous again in an effort to reach new fans, which they would successfully do on their next release, 1980's "The Game". And that's a fine album too, but compared to "Jazz" is a pretty "safe" album and let's face it: what made Queen so great in the 70's is that they were anything BUT "safe". So I consider "Jazz" to be the last truly classic Queen album that featured them at their best and demonstrating all their strengths in full. FIVE STARS for the Jazz album.
REMASTERING and BONUS TRACKS:
And now a few words on the REMASTERING effort and the BONUS TRACKS: The first Queen 2011 remasters I bought were the first five albums, which I wanted mainly for the bonus material. I did evaluate the remastering job both with my naked ears and then by taking a couple of tracks from Sheer Heart Attack and Queen I and looking at the wav files on my computer, comparing the same songs from my 1991 remasters to those on the 2011 remasters. On the ear test, I noticed no real discernable difference in the volume or quality. It sounded good, but then so did my 1991 remasters.... In looking at the wav files, the 1991 files appeared identical to those of the 2011 tracks. So the good news is that these remasters weren't just volume-adjusted to get these cranked way up loud (which is all too common and just results in clipping and reduced sound quality/clarity). The bad news is that these new re-masters also don't really sound any better than the previous 1991 remasters either.
So to me it appears the only reason to get the remasters would be the bonus material, which is also a mixed bag. First, they have for some reason decided to put the bonus material on a second disc when it would easily fit on the main disc. I guess having it on the 2nd disc (they feel) adds to the "specialness" of it, but it also adds to the COST, so I don't get it. The other mini-complaint I have is that there are live tracks on some albums (including this one) that are already out there on readily available live albums such as "Queen Rock Montreal" or "On Fire At The Bowl" (the live version of "Let Me Entertain You" here is one such track and comes from the "Montreal" live CD). What's the point there? Particularly since it's not a very good version: it's an up-tempo number already and Queen play it so fast here that they seem in race to get to the finish. The version on 1979's "Live Killers" is much better...
Then we have versions of some songs that are the same as what's on the main album, but with the vocals removed ("Bicycle Race"). Again, I ask: what's the point of that? I guess karaoke fans might like that but to me it's a waste of space. The "Fat Bottomed Girls" single version is very similar to the album version but I guess is ok. Hardly a revelation though. That leaves 2 bonus tracks of interest: the version of "Don't' Stop Me Now" with the "long lost guitars" features Brian May noodling around during the piano intro and a slightly different guitar solo, and it's somewhat interesting to hear what Queen considered doing differently with this song, but it's not drastically different nor is it an improvement and I can't see anyone preferring this version to the version that ended up on the album, so again, not a particularly wortwhile bonus track to me.
Thankfully the very last bonus track really delivers: the early acoustic take of "Dreamer's Ball" is in fact a studio run through never intended for release, just the skeleton of the song delivered very informally by the band (minus John Deacon) with Roger on brushes, Brian on acoustic and of course Freddie delivering the vocal. It's a light-hearted run-through primarily to flush out the arrangement and get them familiar with the parts they potentially intended to play on the formal recording. Here though, it sounds closer to a smoky blues-jazz club at 1:00 a.m. (something like "My Melancholy Blues" from their "News of the World" album) than the final version that ended up on the "Jazz" album with electric guitars, etc. This is a great song and a nice alternate version to be enjoyed and to me, really rescues the bonus material disc.
So, my grades:
THE JAZZ ALBUM: 5 stars, a near flawless album. Definitely one of Queen's very best!
REMASTERING GRADE: 2.5 stars (avg because there's really no discernable difference, but at least they didn't ruin it)
BONUS TRACKS: 2 stars because only 1 of the 5 tracks is really worthwhile here ("Dreamer's Ball"). And if you don't care much for that song, I dare say there's nothing of interest on this bonus disc and considering the so-so remastering, you might do just as well (and save some $) by picking up the 1991 version of "Jazz".
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