Queen - The Cosmos Rocks

I was very intrigued to hear this album: I was lucky enough to see Queen at Wembley in June 1986, and the atmosphere of that day has resonated clearly over the past two decades. Fast forward to the present day and with Freddy Mercury (RIP) very much a dearly loved memory, hearing how another iconic vocalist would fit into the unique music of May and co was always going to be interesting.

Overview!

Title track ‘The Cosmos Rocks’ kicks off proceedings: an uptempo rock shuffle with an idiosyncratic take on a Johnny Be Goode style solo from the curly haired one. ‘Time To Shine’ has an almost 80’s power pop/melodic rock feel: this is highly reminiscent of someone I cant as yet put my finger on... is it John Parr - or John Farnham?!! ‘Still Burnin’ has some groovy riffs, and this feels very much like a cross between Bad Company and (in the guitar orchestrations at least) classic Queen. A cool chorus on this one, and a brief slide infused major key solo that even momentarily crosses into Blackmore territory that shows that Brian is not afraid to throw some unexpected curves into his playing.

‘Small’ is a melodic acoustic led ballad that is pleasant enough but along with many of the other tracks the melodies are not quite defined enough for artisans of this calibre. In a similar vein, ‘We Believe’ has some fairly cringe-worthy lyrics - but here the melodies start coming through in a fashion more Queen-worthy. A great lead vocal and more of those iconic vocal harmonies. ‘Call Me’ is a John Deacon-esque light hearted jaunt, ‘Voodoo’ has some classic Rodgers bluesy vocals, whilst ‘C-lebrity’ is a dig at the detestable culture of recent years non entity ‘celebrity’ adulation.

‘Some Things That Glitter’ ‘Through The Night’ and ‘Say It’s Not True’ are the picks of this collection: prime examples of melodic rock par excellence - with that inimitable Queen majesty and elegance with lush classic old school pomp much in evidence in both the harmonies and guitar stylings.

Album proper closer ‘Surf’s Up, Schools Out’ is much better than its title suggests with its adventurous construction and is very much what a new Queen album should sound like. But it’s maybe a little too late...

Conclusion

As a guitar player,the older I get the more I respect, admire and plain love Brian May’s playing: AOG's Rory Sullivan once proclaimed that 'just as Kirk Hammet has never played a good note, Brian has never played a bad one!' His combination of fire, emotion and an almost unparalleled touch and tone must surely - alongside Beck and Gilmour - represent the zenith in melodic rock guitar playing. True Rock Royalty!

As an album this is a mixed bag. Too much of this seems somehow not quite there... maybe I was expecting too much, but this feels - barring a few moments - like a missed opportunity. What we need in these dark days of the credit crunch is a joyous celebration of the glorious pomposity and grandeur of classic Queen over-laden with Paul Rodgers silky blues roar backed up with the Queen army of massed vocals, epic guitar orchestrations and the sheer over the top pomp that characterised Queen’s most iconic work. The foundations are in place though - so let’s hope that they build upon this and next time the results could be truly spectacular.