QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS: THE COSMOS ROCKS

As a long time Queen fan, and a very serious collector, I was very excited when I heard that Brian and Roger were going to release something. I was certainly less excited to find that ex Free / Bad Company vocalist was going to add his two cents! The last recorded Queen material was the 1997 tribute to Freddie No One But You. This was and will always be the final Queen song in my opinion. Although Freddie was gone, there was a magic about the tune, and John Deacon was still part of the band...it seems he knew when to pack it in.

I don't want to review this album track by track as I did with EVERY other Queen album, because this is simply not a Queen album...it's a bad collaboration that really didn't work. The ballads, although musically good, have some absolutely terrible lyrics courtesy of Paul Rogers. The rockers never rock as hard as Queen with Freddie, the ballads aren't as emotional as they were with Freddie, and there is nothing that would tell you this is Queen apart from Brian's distinct guitar sound.

Queen were always a rather regal band...they always maintained some level of majesty. You don't have to like Queen's music, but if it was recorded in 1974 or 1991...you knew it was Queen. This album is a collection of disjointed songs that do nothing for me at all. There are attempts at anthemic choruses on this album, and for the most part they get the job done...but at times they also sound forced, like a band trying way too hard at recapturing some identity and failing.

If you look at this as just an album of music, and you like blues / hard rock, go grab it...just don't expect any of the trademark sound. Even Hot Space is better than this simply because of Freddie's involvement on the former. In my opinion, the song Say It's Not True, written by Roger Taylor, may be the best song on the album. It contains vocal performances from all three members and a great guitar solo...it may be the only song on the album where you can hear the Queen of old...begging to be put to sleep before all dignity is lost. Leave this alone and go listen to anything with Freddie...even if you hate the Freddie stuff...even if you hate Queen...although if you do hate Queen, this review will mean nothing to you and you'll probably never see it in the first place.