Number 9 on my list is The Works (1984): youtube/watch?v=LSW-ElTSZ0A This album, similar to Hot Space, heavily utilizes synthesizers in several of the songs and then is hard rock for the rest. It is a mixed bag, but its a decent mixed bag! The majority of Queens Live Aid performance catalog (which is considered one of the greatest rock performances of all time) comes from The Works. Radio Ga-Ga, Hammer to Fall, and Is this the World We Created... were all from this album. But what this album is known for are the two major hits it produced: Radio Ga-Ga and I Want to Break Free. Both songs are heavy on the synthesizers, but, for some reason, it really works on these two songs. One of the themes of the album is this level of breaking free from the mediocre musical atmosphere that the music industry is producing, especially music videos. Radio Ga-Ga is criticizing the new direction music is going towards completely. I Want to Break Free may not necessarily be about the music industry, but it definitely fits into this mold. And its a good song to boot! In a way, its ironic that the band is criticizing the influx of music videos when the Bohemian Rhapsody video essentially propelled the concept into the industry. Anyway, I like most of the songs on this album, but the one I generally dislike or could live without is Machines (Back to Human). Its not a terrible song, mind you, but its the longest song on the album. It slows everything down. If it were shorter, it could have been a better song. This goes for Keep Passing the Open Window as well. This is one of Queens shortest records, so maybe they were concerned about filling space on the vinyl, but, again, it slows the whole show down. But I did enjoy this album. It has great power in its hard rock songs and the synth-songs are actually very good and catchy. Therefore, I will give this album 3.5 out of 5 stars. Favorite songs: I Want to Break Free, Its a Hard Life, Radio Ga-Ga.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 18:18:26 +0000
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