News of the World

danbo wrote: I don't agree Bob. I thought NOTW still had the fire. They lost it "completely" on Hot Space, IMHO. I was a huge fan in the seventies. I saw Queen live after DATR, NOTW and The Game. Damn good shows! All of them. I avoid radio like the plague, so WWRY and WATC never really got old for me. It's Late still resides in my top 5 Queen rocker tunes. Windows down, stereo on 11, gang-bangin' rappers looking at me like I'm insane... Oh Yeah, Queen Rocks!

You took the words right out of my mouth! "It's Late" gives me chills still, everytime I hear it.

NOTW was my first exposure to Queen as well. I remember stealing the album repeatedly from my older sister. NOTW was one of the very first albums that made me want to be a rock star.

Brilliant record! May's solo on Its Late is one of the best "rock" solos of the 70's. My first Queen album, I was about 10 when I got it. All Dead,All Dead is one of my faves. Still like NATO better, but this is on a par with SHA and Q2!

Great album! Very underated! It is one of their best,i love it to bits!

An absolute masterpiece? Funny you should say that since NOTW strikes me as Queen's weakest album of the 70s (with the possible exception of their debut). As much as everyone dissed the opening suite, those two tracks are pretty much the highlight of the album. "Sheer Heart Attack" is a dull rocker (though the album by the same name gets my vote as Queen's finest). "All Dead, All Dead" is a nice number, though not as good as "Lily of the Valley" "Jealousy" as Freddie ballads go. "Spread Your Wings," unfortunately never really does spread its wings. "Fight from the Inside" kicks ass (Roger Taylor was their secret weapon throughout their career) and points stylistically to the vastly superior Jazz that followed this record. "Get Down Make Love" could have been good, but never gets much momentum. "Sleeping on the Sidewalk" is a straight blues shuffle. "Who Needs You" is a forgettable trifle. "It's Late" is a big guitar rocker without flair or grandeur and no memorable riff. It would get flattened by "Fat Bottomed Girls." "My Melancholy Blues" is Freddie being a late-night cabaret queen. The mood is right, but the melody is just not very compelling.

Each of Queen's other 70s albums is predominantly fantastic with an occasional weak track. NOTW seems to be the opposite. However, I felt a warm brotherhood with the writer who described how truly scary the album cover was to a young child when it came out. I remember my mom yelling at my uncle for letting me get see his copy of the record. If it sounded better, I probably wouldn't mind all that much.  

being a long time Queen fan NOTW stands as a great rocker with some great moments, not a contender to their previous material, sure is one of Queen's best-selling albums and even though it points to a new direction in terms of writing and sound of the band still is a classic. The catastrophe was around the corner. The only prog part is that beautiful guitars arrangement solo in "All dead, all dead". JAZZ lacked of the force and strenght you can hear in this album, having interesting compositions (but too many songs that could had been b-sides) what comes of the speakers in terms of sound in the rockier tunes in JAZZ is never something like the mind blowing "It's Late".

I think it's a great album, and exceptionally innovative.

Who else composed an anthem with just a bass drum and a hand clap?

Utter genius!


NB: I can't really see how anyone can think that Queen were "remotely" prog on their first 4 albums, since it's a well-known fact that Queen II is a masterpiece of the genre, and blows many so-called Prog albums of that year out of the water.

I was pretty dissapointed with this album, as I was with "A Day at the races" too.

A very good album along with Sheer Heart Attack. Anthony Wilson produced a BBC session of the band playing this album for Alan Freeman's Saturday Rock Show. I wonder what happened to the tapes?

I don't think it's a masterpiece, but I agree wholeheartedly that is is far better than it is given credit for. I consider it the last of their 'classic period' albums.

NotW is a wonderful album. NotW is my favourite Queen album, along with Jazz, Sheer Heart Attack and the self-titled debut.