Queen

[Solon]

I had a friend years back who would only run while listening to Queen. Since this guy is an ultramarathoner, I figure there must be a lot of Queen worth listening to. I have an old "Greatest Hits" CD from my high school days, but I suspect a true Queen fan would look at that CD the way a Springsteen fan looks at "Born in the USA."

So, two questions:

1) Are there any Queen fans around here?
2) What do you recommend other than the basic "greatest hits"?

[Indy Coug]

I'm not a HUGE Queen fan, but I like them enough. I would start with Queen - The Game. IMO, Queen's material is a bit uneven. That's because they tried a lot of different things with their music. Sometimes it didn't work, but when it did, it was magic.

[Green Lantern]

Indy's right, Queen was always a bit uneven, which is why there's absolutely nothing wrong with popping on their greatest hits. However, as far as albums go, A NIGHT AT THE OPERA is their strongest from beginning to end. THE GAME is great too but it definitely marks their turning away from the harder rock of their earlier career to more straight pop (still awesome of course.) JAZZ also has a lot of great stuff on it and is pretty gloriously over the top (which is why I'm a Queen fan in the first place.) And it's got "Don't Stop Me Now" on it, where I assume the phrase "gonna make a supersonic man out of you" is dedicated to all the runners out there.

"That's why they call me Mr. Fahrenheit,
I'm travelin' at the speed of light..."

[Mormon Red Death]

I cant think of queen without the following popping into my head

[YOUTUBE]GQ0gSbcG1FI[/YOUTUBE]

[Green Lantern]

I cant think of queen without the following popping into my head

[YOUTUBE]GQ0gSbcG1FI[/YOUTUBE]

That scene right there turned that song into my favorite Queen tune.

[TripletDaddy]

Queen is amongst my faves. I have loved them since I was a little dude because I grew up with an older brother that already liked them, so I tagged along for the ride.

News of the World was one of the first albums I ever owned.

I remember watching Freddie Mercury's televised Live Aid gig in 85 and thinking that it was one of the biggest concerts I would ever see in my life. They played around 5 songs, but the entire crowd seemed in a trance. The song I remember most from that set was Radio Ga Ga, although most would probably cite We Will Rock You as the most memorable.

I am not sure what people mean when they say that Queen was uneven so I cant agree or disagree.

My kids are already learning to love Queen. They love Bicycle Race, We Will Rock You, Another One Bites the Dust, the piano intro to 7 Seas of Rhye, Good Old Fashioned Lover boy, Killer Queen, and several others.

I guess to directly answer your question, listen to all of it. You will find stuff on every album that you really enjoy. Pick any of them, it doesn't matter. The Greatest hits discs are fantastic compilations, btw. Also, while Queen definitely has a lot of upbeat songs to use while running or working out, you would be missing out if you focused solely on the anthemic stuff.

Guaranteed to blow your mind....anytime!

[creekster]

I htink night at the opera is my favorite album, but I like almost all of their stuff.

[happyone]

I can't add anything to the albums, but I do like Queen.

What I find suprising the that both of my teenage daughters (19, 15) just love Queen. They have just about all of there stuff on their Ipods

[Shaka]

Queen is among my favorite bands. You can't go wrong with Night at the Opera, The Game, or either of the Greatest Hits packages. I have a soft spot for Innuendo. In fact the title track is one of my favorite songs period.

The USA never got the full Queen treatment like the rest of the world. If you consider Europe, South Africa, Australia, and Asia you would find that Queen has had a far bigger worldwide impact than most of us Yanks realize. In fact many argue in those places that Queen is the greatest bandin the world. That's right, Queen is mentioned in the same breath as The Beatles and U2.

[Shaka]

Oh can I also add that Brian May's guitar playing rocks my world? He also has a doctorate in astronomy or astrophysics. I can't remember which.

[MarkGrace]

Get their album Black Holes and Revelations. I like that one.

[Green Lantern]

Get their album Black Holes and Revelations. I like that one.

I'm perfectly fine with Matthew Bellamy as a Freddie Mercury stand-in. Why the hell did Queen get Paul Rodgers to sing with them on those new albums? Rodgers was a great rock singer, but a whole universe removed from Freddie.

[MarkGrace]

I'm perfectly fine with Matthew Bellamy as a Freddie Mercury stand-in. Why the hell did Queen get Paul Rodgers to sing with them on those new albums? Rodgers was a great rock singer, but a whole universe removed from Freddie.

I like Bellamy as well. I was just making a joke since most of the time he sounds equal parts Yorke and Mercury.

[Green Lantern]

I like Bellamy as well. I was just making a joke since most of the time he sounds equal parts Yorke and Mercury.

Very true. I always get uncomfortable when American Idol contestants attempt a Queen song because there are so few who can pull it off effectively.

[Babs]

I'm going to pull a Triplet here and submit that I don't like Queen and can't imagine how anyone could.