All credits goes to its respective owners. 0:00 - Brighton Rock 5:10 - Killer Queen 8:10 - Tenement Funster 10:58 - Flick Of The Wrist 14:16 - Lily Of The Va...
Note that this write-up was supposed to be about H.P Lovecraft’s self-titled 1968 album, but it kind of really quickly got out my hands so enjoy this instead I guess.
I’m a little surprised I haven’t gotten a chance to really talk about any kind of classic rock yet. The genre has more or less been my musical home base for about as long as I can remember. After binging out on whatever kind of music might be catching my eye at the time, I sort of always end up back in the same era of 60’s and 70’s rock that seems to be my comfort zone. But it’s hard to write anything new about classic albums; everything that there is to be said about them already has. No one needs me to tell them how amazing, say, A Night at the Opera is, despite how much I might want to talk about Queen. Oh man do I love Queen, They’ve been such a fundamental band for me. Even now, I can remember back to when my brother gave me his copy of Queen’s Greatest hits, which I guess kind of changed me for the rest of my life? I think it must have been the first ‘album’ I listened to from front to back (and then from back to front, and from the middle outwards, and then so on…), and I don’t think I’d ever heard anything quite like it. From the iconic tone on Brian May’s double tracked guitar to John Deacon putting together probably the first bass lines I’d ever noticed in my life (He wrote You’re My Best Friend, Another One Bites the Dust and I Want to Break Free!), the band came into my life like a whirlwind. And then there was Freddie Mercury. I wanted to be Freddie Mercury. I wanted to sing like Freddie Mercury, I wanted to rule the stage like he did. I’d study his tapes like a boxer preparing for the fight of his life, and then I’d perform We Are the Champions at talent shows (At the expense of everyone who had to listen to me) making sure to copy every single one of his moves.
With all that being said, it makes me just a little sad when I realise that not too many people have really given the band’s discography a good listening. I feel like I should emphasise I’m not trying to say this in a condescending, man no one listens to real music anymore, kind of way. A lot of people love Queen, I know that for sure. A lot of people can sing every part of Bohemian Rhapsody by heart but haven’t given a Night at the Opera a chance, with the equally epic and theatrical Prophet’s Song coming just a few tracks before it. Similarly, I’m sure News of the World goes over a lot of people’s heads despite having the band’s two most recognisable songs as the opening tracks. Almost everyone I’ve played the album Sheer Heart Attack are kind of taken aback by just how hard rock the band is, Freddie and his crew absolutely rock out on songs like Brighton Rock, Now I’m Here, and (one of my personal favourite songs) Flick of the Wrist. Again, I promise I’m not trying to be patronising or anything, I just really, really love queen. I would really love if everyone in the world really listened to this really spectacular band. Once upon a time when I was young and stubborn I definitely was a little bit WAY TOO elitist about music, but now I’ve grown up a bit I’ve realised that is no way to spread the gospel.
So if you get the chance, listen at least to the album that I’ve posted above. There are some really gorgeous songs on it, but what makes it great is how well it all flows together, like an opera split into different 13 different little parts. Maybe you’ll like it. Maybe you won’t. It’s okay, I’ll understand. But maybe you’ll fall in love with it, and I think that would be just so neat. Here, I’ll even put a little bit from one of my favourite songs, Lily of the valley:
I lie in wait with open eyes
I carry on through stormy skies
I follow every course, My kingdom for a horse
But each time I grow old
Serpent of the Nile, Relieve me for a while
And cast me from your spell and let me go
-Lily of the Valley
Once again, Thank you so much for reading this for some reason, I really hope you enjoy the music!
I haven't been on tumblr in ages holy crap. Is anyone still on here? I'm considering trying to be more active again (I downloaded the app yay) but no promises haha. I know chances are very little that anyone will see this, but it's worth a try. Let me know if you do see this and would like to hear more. Do you even remember me? Probably not.. Sorry! 😳
I love how they didn’t match the styles randomly… I love how Brian is the victorian conscious classic drawing, how Freddie is the ingenious style of da Vinci, how Deacon is cubism (that plays with human features and Deacon would rather not appear in the videoclips/music) and how Roger is Pollock’s insane brilliance… I don’t know if you guys agree, but that is what I think.
At the rate musicians are dying this year, the argument “But they might die” to convince your parents to let you go to a concert of a classic rock artist/band has become a lot more serious.
Earlier last year, I lost everything in my apartment. Even the clothes off my back, and that was absolutely awful– but I won’t get into that on the internet. The worst thing, however, was that I lost my Brian May autograph that I had on an older pic of him from the 1970s.
Here’s the favor: if you’re in Europe, Australia, Asia, America…if you are anywhere, and you can get me a Brian May autograph on one of these two pics…
I WILL VERY MUCH MAKE IT WORTH YOUR WHILE. I don’t seem to be having any luck, and that autographed pic got me through so many troubled times in my life that it’s a necessity, now. I can’t pay cash, but original art, a Queen book you want (if it’s not terribly expensive, as I am broke), whatever.
I know, send it yourself, but I just can’t seem to get through. Any help would be immensely appreciated from you guys. If you get one, message my inbox, and I will send you an address to send it to. Desperate, here.
I really need this for my depression, so, if you can’t do it, REBLOG the hell out of this, in hopes there’s someone out there that can.
When John came out of the dressing room in his costume for “I Want to Break Free” his daughter (who was about 5 at the time) started crying because she didn’t recognize him!
At a party in late 1977 John got drunk and stuck his hand through a plate glass window and needed 19 stitches in his hand.
The only time the rest of the Opposition could remember seeing Deaky get the least bit freaked out over anything was after he flipped his Vespa on a turn and more or less landed on his face, getting pretty banged-up in the process. According to one of the other band members “he was a little bit shaken when he showed up.”
When “Night At The Opera” came out, everyone thought the band was making tons of money. Actually, their management company, Trident, was - they weren’t seeing any of it. In fact, Deaky wound up begging them to loan him the money for a down payment on a house. Trident refused. (He and Veronica had just had their first child and were still living in a one-room flat because that was all they could afford.)
The video of “We Will Rock You” was filmed in Roger’s garden in Surrey - after it had snowed for most of the morning. Freddie had to borrow Ratty’s gloves while Brian and Deaky’s fingers were so numb that they could barely pretend to play, although Deaky did manage to stomp on Roger’s foot at one point. (Wearing heavy boots, nonetheless.) Roger wasn’t exactly amused.
John was so drunk one time that when he heard Queen playing on the stereo he asked who the band was.
When John first got his hair cropped, everyone said he looked like a convict, and one of the roadies called him the ‘Birdman of Alcatraz’. Birdman has been his nickname ever since (as well as Deacy!) and the joke was so popular that they bought him pyjamas with little arrows on like convicts wear, and he wore it once on stage.
Apparently John got drunk one night and got caught driving. He was breathalyzed and banned from driving for 12 months. He had to use public transport - AND NOBODY NOTICED!!!
John is the quietest member of the band, but according to Brian he can make you curl up and die with two sentences.John used to enjoy throwing peanuts at Brian whilst he was performing his solos on stage.
Some interesting notes on Deacy? From: (x)
Imagine finding John on a train when he lost his license though…
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