by Georg Purvis
Beyond that, there’s little else that’s a particular revelation, except that the sound has been superbly remixed by Joshua J. Macrae, Justin Shirley-Smith and Kris Fredriksson, making their already remarkable performance even better. As an album, it’s a good documentation of their live finesse at the time, though it treads far too closely to the Live Killers and Queen On Fire: Live At The Bowl sets for comfort. (It continues the long line of cringe-inducing live album titles; was something like Live In Montreal too obvious, and didn’t indicate just how much Queen rocked that night?) Considering Brian and Roger’s mild indignation over the multiple We Will Rock You releases, that they were able to wrest back control of the project and release it to their own standards is exemplary; considering the fans’ mild indignation over the multiple We Will Rock You releases, Queen Rock Montreal is the definitive version – until the next version, that is...
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B. SOLO ALBUMS
The second part of this section concentrates on studio, live and compilation albums that Roger Taylor, Freddie Mercury and Brian May have released. The albums are presented chronologically instead of by band member, in order to present a broader overview of the solo work of Queen.
ROGER TAYLOR
FUN IN SPACE
EMI EMC 3369, April 1981 [18]
Elektra 5E-522, April 1981 [121]
Parlophone CDPCS 7380, August 1996
‘No Violins’ (4’33), ‘Laugh Or Cry’ (3’06), ‘Future Management (You Don’t Need Nobody Else)’ (3’03), ‘Let’s Get Crazy’ (3’40), ‘My Country I & II’ (6’49), ‘Good Times Are Now’ (3’28), ‘Magic Is Loose’ (3’30), ‘Interlude In Constantinople’ (2’04), ‘Airheads’ (3’38), ‘Fun In Space’ (6’22)
Musicians: Roger Taylor (vocals, drums, percussion, guitars, bass guitar, synthesizers), David Richards (synthesizers)
Recorded: Mountain Studios, Montreux, August 1979–January 1981
Producer: Roger Taylor
Towards the end of the initial sessions for The Game in July 1979, while the others returned to their families in England, Roger remained at Mountain Studios to work on ideas for his first solo album. ‘I Wanna Testify’, released back in August 1977, had whetted the drummer’s appetite for solo success, though it was anything but: the single had failed. Although Roger was £5000 poorer from the experience he’d had a lot of fun along the way. During sessions for Jazz in 1978, he had started writing more and more songs, not so much intended for Queen use as his own.
“In the past, I have written so many songs,” Roger said, “that it was impossible to put them on a Queen album. So a solo album was the only possibility ... There were certain things I wanted to do which weren’t within the Queen format; in a way, it’s like flushing out your system, and until you’ve done it you just don’t feel fulfilled. If I get more ideas for songs I might eventually do another solo thing, but Queen would always get priority.”
Hence the extended recording period for the album: he was able to lay down a few ideas in the summer of 1979, but had to cut work short in order to tour with Queen. Sessions continued off and on during downtime while recording The Game in the winter of 1980 but band prorities meant that Roger had little time to focus on his own album until Queen worked on Flash Gordon in the autumn of 1980. Because most of the performances on the soundtrack were done separately, Roger was able to complete most of his album during those sessions, with the work stretching well into January 1981, in order to complete the album in time for an April deadline.
It’s interesting, then, though hardly coincidental, that Fun In Space sounds so much like Flash Gordon. Borrowing the darker ambience of that soundtrack and incorporating synthesizers to an extreme, Roger wrote more sombre, atmospheric and downright moody songs that belie his rock ‘n’ roll roots. “Yes, [the diversity of the material is] probably the only weak point, where the critics might accuse me,” he told Popcorn in 1981. “But on my first solo album I took the opportunity to show my whole spectrum. The second album will be more new wave.” In fact, Roger explores that genre throughout this first album: ‘Future Management’ is decidedly cod-reggae, taking a cue from The Police, while a pair of songs on the second side – ‘Good Times Are Now’ and ‘Airheads’ – sound like an amalgamation of punk and new wave. Only on the two more ambitious numbers, ‘My Country I & II’ and the title track, does Roger consciously stray towards Queen territory, while ‘No Violins’ and ‘Magic Is Loose’ could easily be outtakes from The Game.
Carrying on the tradition of ‘I Wanna Testify’, Roger played all the instruments himself, with “50% of synthesizers by David Richards” according to the liner notes. Why? “There are different reasons,” Roger explained to Popcorn. “First, I have my own ideas how the songs should sound. It’s more important to show several abilities of my own. In the end I don’t want to spend my life being behind the drums. There are lots of other drummers who show that solo albums are not only an affair of guitar-players, singers or keyboard-players.” Roger’s capabilities on guitar, bass and keyboards are stellar, though it must be said that some of the bass is heavy-handed and laborious, making one yearn for John Deacon’s more fluid style. The guitar work is exemplary; it wouldn’t put Brian May to shame, but Roger does prove that he’s more than competent when it comes to laying down a good rhythm.
Roger was the group member who promoted the use of synthesizers, so it’s no surprise that the album is abounding with them. Layer upon layer of keyboards were programmed and played by Roger, with a lot of the trickier synth work given to David Richards. The material and the mood is spacy enough for the synths to work well, especially on the two epics, though they also create atmospheric tones on songs like ‘Magic Is Loose’ and ‘Laugh Or Cry’, and are absolutely essential for ‘Interlude In Constantinople’.
Reinforcing the tone of the sci-fi lyrics, the cover portrays an alien (“It’s called Ernie and comes from an American comic series,” he explained to Popcorn. “I like the little beast that much, that I use it as a logo”) reading a magazine with Roger on the cover, with the roles reversed for the back cover. “The title Fun In Space doesn’t mean that the album should be regarded as Son Of Flash Gordon,” Roger explained, “but in many ways it is nostalgic ... I’ve got some old sci-fi books and magazines which I browse through from time to time. Maybe there are things up there in space watching us. I wouldn’t find that surprising at all.” Incidentally, the alien creature was a model designed by Tim Staffell, who had no idea what project the monster was for or to whom it was connected. “In 1981, after I’d packed in music altogether,” Tim told Record Collector in 1996, “I made a model for an album cover for the Hipgnosis design team. It was of a little alien head with glowing eyes. I didn’t know what it was for, but it turned out – and I didn’t discover this until years later – to be the front cover for Roger’s Fun In Space album! I had no idea. That was peculiar.”
Considering that Queen were at their busiest during the early 1980s, it was inevitable that the question of a solo tour would be raised. “No! Never!” the drummer exclaimed – once again to Popcorn. “First of all, Queen is much more important than my solo career. Second, the band demands so much from me that I have no time for a solo tour.” A shame, since Fun In Space remained Roger’s most neglected album in his solo tours over the years, with ‘Let’s Get Crazy’ being the only regular on The Cross’ first tour in 1988, though ‘Magic Is Loose’ would finally be premiered in 2001. Roger was admittedly “so mentally exhausted [afterwards] that I couldn’t even be trusted to select the single”, so it was appropriate for EMI to do all the promotion work while he worked on the next Queen record.
The album, issued in April 1981 after the release of ‘Future Management’ the previous month, was a modest success, peaking at No. 18 in the UK, though it stalled at a disappointing No. 121 in the US. The reviews ranged from kind (“This is Son Of Flash Gordon; it has similar comic book style characteristics. Listening to this is the most fun you’ll have apart fro
m playing Space Invaders.” – Record Mirror) to caustic (“Revelling in bombastic arrogance, so redolent of Queen. A rich man’s self-indulgence run riot over two sides of an album.” – Melody Maker), but fan opinion of the album was whole-heartedly favourable. Although he would go on to bigger and better things over his next six albums (both as a solo artist and with The Cross), Fun In Space is a superb debut from a multitalented drummer.
BRIAN MAY & FRIENDS
STAR FLEET PROJECT
EMI SFLT 1078061, October 1983 [35]
Capitol MLP15014, November 1983 [125]
‘Star Fleet’ (8’06), ‘Let Me Out’ (7’13), ‘Blues Breaker’ (12’51)
Musicians: Brian May (vocals, guitar), Edward Van Halen (guitar), Alan Gratzer (drums), Phil Chen (bass guitar), Fred Mandel (keyboards), Roger Taylor (backing vocals on ‘Star Fleet’)
Recorded: The Record Plant, Los Angeles, 21/22 April 1983
Producer: Brian May
April 1983 found Brian with little to do. Queen had just taken a temporary leave of absence from both the studio and the live circuit, with Freddie and Roger focusing on solo projects. Reluctant to do the same, mostly because he didn’t have a backlog of material, he felt compelled to get out, Brian nevertheless booked time at Los Angeles’ The Record Plant and flew from Paris to California in the middle of the month. After a minor dispute with the airline company – Brian refused to entrust his guitar to the luggage handlers and was forced to buy a seat for The Red Special since it was deemed too large for carry-on purposes – he arrived in the City of Angels and contributed guitar to Jeffrey Osborne’s ‘Stay With Me Tonight’ and ‘Two Wrongs Don’t Make A Right’.
He then entered The Record Plant with the germ of a project in the back of his mind and called upon a group of musician friends to help him out, hoping that whatever they produced would be worthy of release. The first call was to Eddie Van Halen, guitarist of then megarockers Van Halen, soon to score international success with the release of 1984 and the single ‘Jump’. Brian had admired Eddie for many years, and had even employed his two-handed tapping method on Queen’s own ‘It’s Late’ in 1977. REO Speedwagon drummer Alan Gratzer and Rod Stewart bassist Phil Chen made up the rhythm section, while Elton John keyboardist Fred Mandel, who had toured with Queen on the US and Japanese legs of their Hot Space tour the previous year, rounded out the group.
The initial idea was to jam for a few days and then maybe lay down a few songs, but those jams quickly produced two completed songs: ‘Let Me Out’, written by Brian many years before and initially intended for an undetermined Queen album, and ‘Blues Breaker’, inspired by original axe master Eric ‘Slowhand’ Clapton and influenced by his time with John Mayall. The only song brought to the sessions was ‘Star Fleet’, Brian’s revised musical rendition of the popular Saturday morning Japanese cartoon, with lyrics originally written by Paul Bliss. The sessions proved fruitful but Brian was unsure if he wanted to release the results; regardless, he received permission from all involved, just in case.
That October, Queen signed a new record deal with Capitol Records for distribution in North America, and Brian signed a solo deal for what would become Star Fleet Project and for other future solo projects, which were never realized. He quickly began mixing the tapes and, because there wasn’t enough material for a full-length album, decided that Star Fleet Project would be a three-track mini-album, or EP. Since it was essentially an all-star jam session, it was credited as “Brian May + Friends” and the results are a mixed bag of rock, sci-fi and blues, three genres which Brian adored.
The project was creatively liberating for the guitarist, who hadn’t yet worked with other musicians while he was in control. Take, for instance, the running times of the songs: the shortest song just breaks seven minutes, while the longest comes close to thirteen minutes, meaning that any and every good idea was used. For fans of blues and rock, Star Fleet Project was a treat; for fans of Brian, it was especially interesting to see what direction he was taking, and after the disappointing Hot Space album the year before, it was a relief to hear the guitarist let his curly locks down and have some fun.
The mini-album was released at the end of October 1983, and it reached No. 35 in the UK charts (No. 1 in the British Heavy Metal Charts), peaking at a less impressive No. 125 in the US. It has since become one of the more sought-after Queen-related solo projects, since it remains unreleased as a stand-alone CD. In 1993, it was released as part of a two-part CD for Brian’s ‘Resurrection’ single, but is long overdue for a proper re-release.
ROGER TAYLOR
STRANGE FRONTIER
EMI RTA 1, June 1984 [30]
Capitol SJ 12357, July 1984
Parlophone CDPCS 7381, August 1996
UK vinyl: ‘Strange Frontier’ (4’16), ‘Beautiful Dreams’ (4’23), ‘Man On Fire’ (4’04), ‘Racing In The Street’ (4’27), ‘Masters Of War’ (3’51), ‘Abandonfire’ (4’12), ‘Killing Time’ (4’57), ‘Young Love’ (3’21), ‘It’s An Illusion’ (4’02), ‘I Cry For You (Love, Hope And Confusion)’ (4’20)
US vinyl: ‘Man On Fire’ (4’04), ‘I Cry For You (Love, Hope And Confusion)’ (4’20), ‘It’s An Illusion’ (4’02), ‘Racing In The Street’ (4’27), ‘Masters Of War’ (3’51), ‘Strange Frontier’ (4’16), ‘Beautiful Dreams’ (4’23), ‘Abandonfire’ (4’12), ‘Killing Time’ (4’57), ‘Young Love’ (3’21)
Musicians: Roger Taylor (vocals, drums, percussion, guitars, bass guitar, synthesizers, programming), David Richards (synthesizers, programming), Rick Parfitt (guitars on ‘It’s An Illusion’), John Deacon (bass guitar on ‘It’s An Illusion’), Freddie Mercury (backing vocals on ‘Killing Time’)
Recorded: Mountain Studios, Montreux and Musicland Studios, Munich, March 1983–May 1984
Producers: Roger Taylor, Mack, David Richards
Although Fun In Space hadn’t been an overwhelming hit, Roger still enjoyed the process of writing and recording an entire album’s worth of material. In early 1983, a brief hiatus saw Queen exploring their separate interests: John, once again, spent time with his family, and Roger flew to Scotland to ski. While there, he and his assistant Chris ‘Crystal’ Taylor (no relation) got into a bit of mischief by posing as vacuum cleaner salesmen; Roger’s mind was on anything but recording. Still in a skiing mood, the two flew to Switzerland where they met up with Rick Parfitt of Status Quo; when Roger mentioned his intention to record another solo album, Parfitt expressed an interest in assisting him.
Roger booked time at Mountain Studios but it soon became evident that several of the proposed songs weren’t working as well as he’d hoped, so he scrapped most of what he had recorded and started again. (“I’m still putting the final touches to my own effort, Strange Frontier, and hope it will be out sometime in April,” Roger wrote in the spring 1984 issue of the Queen Fan Club magazine. “I’ve chucked out some and written some better ones. I hope you’ll be surprised.”) This time, he was determined to work at his own pace, instead of cramming time in between Queen activities. “[Fun In Space] was a bit of a rush job, actually,” he told Modern Drummer in 1984. “I thought I’d run out of nerve if I didn’t move on it quickly. And I did it much too fast. I spent most of last year when we weren’t making The Works, making another solo album. It’s in a much different class than the first one. It’s a much, much better record ... I took a year making it. I made sure the songs were stronger and simply better. I threw out a lot of songs in the process. I also did two cover versions of other people’s songs that I’m quite happy with.”
Something else inspired Roger to rethink the material he had written. In the early 1980s, international relations were crumbling, with nuclear armaments falling into the wrong hands and incompetent world leaders fumbling their way through the chaos. “The idea of Strange Frontier – the whole title really – is supposed to be a point in time that we’ve supposed to have reached, that which is a point of self-annihilation that we’ve never been capable of before,” Roger told Jim
Ladd in 1984. “That’s the idea. It’s a part of ‘temple frontier’ really.”
Roger was one of the less outspoken celebrities on the ‘No Nukes’ issue, though he was apparently a member of the UK’s CND and spoke briefly about it in a 1984 interview; he even wore a ‘No Nukes’ T-shirt throughout the Queen Works! tour in 1984 and 1985. Other artists were putting out records on similar themes, but it wasn’t until Bruce Springsteen’s mega-successful Born In The USA that people would really start to take notice. That album was released only three weeks before Roger’s Strange Frontier, yet the message is eerily similar. In an even stranger twist, Roger had recorded a cover version of Springsteen’s 1978 track ‘Racing In The Street’, though the message there had little to do with the threat of nuclear war. It would be Roger’s cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Masters Of War’ that made the most impact, strongly condemning those who advocated war; sadly, the message was still appropriate over two decades after the song had been written, and remains so another twenty years on.
Three of the remaining eight tracks featured a co-writer – ‘Abandonfire’ and ‘I Cry For You (Love, Hope & Confusion)’ were written with David Richards, and ‘It’s An Illusion’ was written with Rick Parfitt – leaving half the tracks written solely by Roger. ‘Strange Frontier’ and ‘Beautiful Dreams’, which would provide a one-two power punch of an opener, are the strongest of the material, along with ‘Killing Time’ and ‘It’s An Illusion’. ‘Man On Fire’, itself an outtake from The Works, would never become the hit single it should have been, reaching only No. 66 in the charts.
