Queen Top 40 countdown!! (please do not list spoilers/predictions)

The Queen version is horrible. Brian does have a tendency to think everything needs his rock guitars all over it, like him finding some long lost guitars apparently on Don't Stop Me Now.

 

Not personally.
I like some of the solo stuff... mainly Roger's actually, but for me Queen is a perfect example of the sum being greater than the parts...
That isn't to say they aren't individually talented, just that when they got together, it moved to a level none of them could reach on their own

 

The opposite of that was when they removed the guitar motif from My Life Has Been Saved. I loved the original version and was so disappointed when I heard the remake on Made In Heaven.
If the Scandal b-side was the only version, it probably would have made my list.

 

I'm only familiar with the Scandal version. It's never been a favourite and I never play the Made In Heaven album. It's the only Queen album I can say I don't like even though it has it's moments. I find some of it tasteless.

 

Now that we’ve had some time for the countdown to sink in, for those that followed along what were your biggest surprises in the countdown?

-Song that was way higher than expected?
-Song that was way lower than expected?
-The song you expected to be in the top 40 but wasn’t?
-The song you didn’t expect to be in the top 40 but was?

(some of these could have the same answer)

Here are my answers:

Higher than expected: Death on Two Legs (Dedicated To...) (14) - Just because it was high on my list doesn't mean I expected it to be number 14 overall. I did expect it to make the list but much closer to 40 than 10

Lower than expected: Love of My Life (34) - I know its not the hard rocking early Queen that the forum has a big slant towards (including myself), but I always thought of LOML as a Queen staple, not quite on the level of their top hits but on the next tier below, especially given its importance to the band as a live song. Thought this would fall in the 15-20 range.

Was in Top 40 but didn't expect it to be: Father To Son (40t) - Maybe a bit cheap because it just barely made the list, but even as a Queen II track I felt like it was overshadowed on the album by White Queen, Ogre Battle, Seven Seas and Black Queen. Guess I just didn't expect that many Queen II tracks to make it, though I'm glad they did.

Wasn't in Top 40 but expected it to be: Flash's Theme (57) - I kept expecting this to show up inside the top 20. It's not necessarily one of my favorites (didn't make my list) but I thought it was pretty popular overall. (HMs: In The Lap of the Gods...Revisited, These Are the Days of our Lives, Millionaire Waltz, You Take My Breath Away)

 

Higher than expected: The March of the Black Queen (9) - Queen II getting a lot of love

Lower than expected: Seven Seas of Rhye (37) - Queen II kinda getting some love

In top 40 but didn't expect it to be: Ogre Battle (39) - Queen II getting some surprising love

Not in top 40 but expected it to be: The Millionaire Waltz (51)

 

I didn't think Another One Bites the Dust would do it as well as it did. I figured that, We Will Rock You, We are the Champions, Crazy Little Thing... and You're My Best Friend were the classic mainstays most likely to get the "it got docked due to being overplayed" treatment, and I thought Another One... would get it the worst, yet it had the highest finish of the five.

On the flip side, I thought Hammer to Fall would do a lot better than it did. I figured it was a lock for the top 15-20, but it finished in the lower 20s.

 

Good point about Another One. Given how overplayed it can be, the fact that it strays pretty far from rock and the fact that it was popular enough at the time to cause Freddie and John to veer even farther in that direction culminating in Hot Space (which I enjoy but many don't), I thought it might take a hit in these rankings.

 

-Song that was way higher than expected?: 06 Innuendo
-Song that was way lower than expected? 78 You and I
-The song you expected to be in the top 40 but wasn’t? 56 Headlong
-The song you didn’t expect to be in the top 40 but was?: 28 Liar (but I was cool with it FYI)

Let me add another category: -Song that was way lower than you hoped? 94 Sleeping on the Sidewalk

 

Higher: Somebody To Love
Lower: I Want To Break Free
Unexpectedly in: Stone Cold Crazy
Unexpectedly out: Keep Passing The Open Windows (thought it was a shoo-in, didn't even make the top 100)

 

My biggest surprises:

Need Your Loving Tonight (my #6), Rock It (Prime Jive) (my #14), and Coming Soon (my #15) not even making the final list. Sure, all these songs are from my favorite album The Game, and all 3 were in my top 15, but I thought for sure they all would've landed somewhere in the top 40.

 

Song that was way higher than expected? Now I'm Here at #16
Song that was way lower than expected? In the top 40, Who Wants To Live Forever at #33. Outside: Funny How Love is at #82
The song you expected to be in the top 40 but wasn’t? In the Lap of the Gods…Revisited
The song you didn’t expect to be in the top 40 but was? Stone Cold Crazy

 

I am a sucker for Star Fleet. I might have included that one.

 

Song that was way higher than expected:
-Somebody to Love
Song that was way lower than expected:
-Let Me in Your Heart Again
The song you expected to be in the top 40 but wasn’t:
-Flash’s Theme
The song you didn’t expect to be in the top 40 but was:
-Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to…)

 

• Song that was way higher than expected? - Innuendo at #6 (My #2). I thought for sure it was shut out. Couldn't believe it made the Top 10. It is just so powerful, beautiful and triumphant. In spite of the songs that are deliberately more sentimental on that album, this is the one that gets me emotional every time. Freddie's voice is defiant... "Till the END of time!"

• Song that was way lower than expected? - Who Wants to Live Forever at #33. I just thought it had more of a rabid following than that. (Outside the list: Sail Away Sweet Sister at #88 - same reason as above).

• The song you expected to be in the top 40 but wasn’t? - These Are the Days of Our Lives at #42. As the Top 10 grew closer, I began to assume it would be there.

• The song you didn’t expect to be in the top 40 but was? - It's Late at #29. What an awesome surprise!

 

Here is my complete list;

1 Bohemian Rhapsody
2 Another One Bites The Dust
3 We Will Rock You
4 Under Pressure
5 Somebody to Love
6 Radio Ga Ga
7 We Are the Champions
8 Don't Stop Me Now
9 Seven Seas Of Rhye
10 Who Wants To Live Forever
11 You're My Best Friend
12 I Want It All
13 Love Of My Life
14 Killer Queen
15 I Want to Break Free
16 A Kind Of Magic
17 Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy
18 Fat Bottomed Girls
19 Keep Yourself Alive
20 Save Me
21 Crazy Little Thing Called Love
22 Too Much Love Will Kill You
23 The Show Must Go On
24 These Are The Days Of Our Lives
25 I'm Going Slightly Mad
26 '39
27 Play The game
28 Friends Will Be Friend
29 Hammer to Fall
30 Innuendo
31 A Winter's Tale
32 One Vision
33 Bicycle Race
34 It's A Hard Life
35 Spreed Your Wings
36 Now I'm Here
37 Made in Heaven
38 Flash
39 Sweet Lady
40 You Don't Fool Me

 

-Song that was way higher than expected?
Innuendo
I had no idea that track was so well loved. I'd never even heard it before the countdown started.

-Song that was way lower than expected?
Father to Son and White Queen
My #2 and #1

-The song you expected to be in the top 40 but wasn’t?
Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy
Expected more love for that GH1 single.

-The song you didn’t expect to be in the top 40 but was?
It's Late
I'd forgotten how this went, but so glad to have revisited it. Really enjoyed multiple plays of it, and one of the highlights of News of the World.

 

I completely missed this thread, but this would have been my list.

01. Death On Two Legs
02. Innuendo
03. Seven Seas Of Rhye
04. Brighton Rock
05. Flick Of The Wrist
06. Liar
07. See What A Fool I’ve Been
08. Tenement Funster
09. My Melancholy Blues
10. Ogre Battle
11. Sheer Heart Attack
12. Mustapha
13. Bohemian Rhapsody
14. We Will Rock You (John Peel Session version)
15. Lily Of The Valley
16. Now I’m Here
17. In The Lap Of The Gods
18. You Take My Breath Away
19. March Of The Black Queen
20. Killer Queen
21. The Show Must Go On
22. Drowse
23. Bicycle Race
24. White Queen (As It Began)
25. You’re My Best Friend
26. Love Of My Life
27. Hammer To Fall
28. The Fairy Feller’s Master Stroke
29. Stone Cold Crazy
30. Spread Your Wings
31. The Millionaire Waltz
32. Teo Torriatte
33. It’s Late
34. Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy
35. Sweet Lady
36. Bijou
37. In The Lap Of The Gods...Revisited
38. I’m Going Slightly Mad
39. I’m In Love With My Car
40. Tie Your Mother Down

 

Definitely, and Freddie Mercury was undoubtedly the driving force of the group. Once he died, it was over for the rest of them. John Deacon retired, and Brian and Roger are basically part of a tribute act, firstly with Paul Rodgers, and now with Adam Lambert.

 

Agreed. I'd be there in a second if Brian and Roger and whomever is with him came to my town (but they never do ), but the greatness of Queen was having all four of them. Take any of them out of the equation and it's not even close to the same. I know that's a cliche with regards to bands we love, but with Queen, I just feel that it is the reality (similar to Rush with Geddy, Alex and Neil).

 

Freddie was an equal part of four, for me. Outstanding within the band, ordinary on his own. It's all down to different ears obviously but, personally, I'd take the Cosmos Rocks over both Freddie's solo albums (controversially, I also prefer it to A Night At The Opera, which only has an EP's worth of tunes to my taste! ), and the only other extra curricular work I really enjoy is Roger's.

 

I’d love to see a Bowie top 40.

 

My team is discussing this behind the scenes to see if this might be a good one to do sooner rather than later.

 

Whoop Whoop! Let's Dance!!!