Results for Queen

In a zone of their own beyond parody and the sober boundaries of civilized society, Queen plowed a pomp-glam-bizarre-rock path into the 1980s. If excess was good, exaggeration was better, and Queen, like a dolled-up dowager on speed, made display an integral part of their performances. Formed in 1971 with members from Wreckage and Smile, Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor respectively, the soon-to-be-Queen added bassist John Deacon and released Queen-the-album in '73. There followed success on both sides of the Atlantic and fans from both the camp and campus wings of popular taste. "Bohemian Rhapsody," from A Night At the Opera in '75, may be Queen's most identifiable single, but "We are the Champions" and "We Will Rock You" are close behind and conjure up all the over the top, stunt-studded dips into decadence for which the band was famous. Especially delicious to Queen cognoscenti is the fact that "Champions," a favorite of the victorious everywhere, is a gay anthem. Undaunted by waning popularity in the mid-'80s, Queen turned to foreign fans and built a name for themselves in Latin America, Africa and Asia, biding their time 'til Innuendo hit it big in Europe in '91. Freddie didn't live long enough to enjoy the new wave of adulation; he died on November 24, 1991, a victim of AIDS. A memorial concert at Wembley Stadium the following spring, the movie Wayne's World and the 1995 album Made in Heaven that featured his bandmates doing backup vocals for tracks Mercury recorded before his death kept Queen before the public until the inevitable boxed sets of earlier work were released in the late '90s. Of course, any hockey and most football games continue to provide snippets of the band's sly repertoire for committed fans and the unsuspecting....more

Related Artists for Queen

 

  • Suze Rotolo: Every Picture Tells a Story

    by Bob HillJune 25, 2008Comments (8)

    In A Freewheelin’ Time Rotolo uses her relationship with Dylan as the focal point for everything else happening around them. And in that sense Bob Dylan plays a central role. But—to her credit—Rotolo never exploits the relationship for her own purpose. And she doesn’t waste entire chapters obsessing over Dylan’s every whim. She describes him as someone who was immensely talented, and often difficult. (read more)

  • Wolf Parade

    by Angela ZimmermanJune 18, 2008Comments (0)

    "cohesive in its entirety, but each song breathes and beats to its own singular vision" (read more)

  • Weezer

    by Lavinia Jones WrightJune 4, 2008Comments (3)

    "less than stellar showing by a band with one of the most stellar reputations in rock" (read more)

  • Drive-By Truckers: Whiskey, Tears, and Dixie-fried

    by Greg GastonJune 4, 2008Comments (2)

    With the release of Brighter Than Creation’s Dark, the Truckers have yet again dealt with internal turmoil and regrouped to record this sprawling epic. Most bands are lucky to have one gifted songwriter on board, but these guys have three strong contributors. They wrote and recorded over 50 songs for Creation’s Dark, eventually whittling them down (read more)

  • Seeking Grace: Iron & Wine vs. Paul Simon

    by Greg GastonMay 28, 2008Comments (0)

    Of course, Paul Simon has just a bit of touch as a lyric writer/poet himself. It’s one of his gifts, and plenty of examples underline that through every stage of his long career. But unlike Beam, his subject matter more often deals with urban alienation—alone and forsaken in the big city. Cool jazz sophistication, sometimes to a fault. His persona in song is often divorced, or at least entangled, in love’s lonely lessons. That’s why Graceland feels (read more)

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