NEWS OF THE WORLD

News of the World is one of the last truly great Queen albums until Innuendo in 1991. This one contains We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions which I'm sure some don't like, but I find to be great songs. The solid hard rocker Sheer Heart Attack picks up the pace of the album and the (lack of) transition to All Dead All Dead, a slow, sad, melodic piece, is perfect. Then comes Spread Your Wings which has great vocals by Freddie Mercury. Then is Fight From the Inside, sung by drummer Roger Taylor who has a great hard rock voice, but I find this to be one of his weaker tracks. The follow up, Get Down Make Love, sinks the album further, this one is much better live. Sleeping on the Sidewalk, sung by guitarist Brian May is a jazzy song which returns the album to its original greatness. However, the next song, Who Needs You, is a horrible pop tune. Then...the highlight of the album It's Late, absolutely astounding and powerful. The closing song, My Melancholy Blues is another bad track and a huge let down after the previous one.

I love this album, especially the first half, but all in all it's well short of a masterpiece. News of the World is the album that pulled them away from their classic sound and began their slow downfall continued through Jazz (still a pretty good album), The Game (not bad but very pop sounding), and went right into the absolutely terrible Hotspace, the low point of their carreer. Recommended for Queen fans. 7.5/10