Is A Day at the Races by Queen a neglected classic?

I think i listened to all of them once and i decided to not got them. I remember they sort of became a parody of themselves, they started repeating themselves starting with news of the world. They still released good tracks but the albums as a whole didnt feel like OG queen anymore. For me of course.

 

ADATR...I don't know this one just doesn't stick with me. But I love ANATO. I love News Of The World too. Races does have some great moments though. Of course Somebody To Love, my favorite might be Millionaire Waltz. You And I, White Man, Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy are great too.

 

I still think it’s highly polished and suspect Mike Stone is responsible for much of the sound (I also think he is for much of ANATO).

Brian May says it’s two sides of the same coin, but I do notice a turn towards tighter song structures.
It’s very much a transitional album towards late-70’s Queen. Songs like Drowse, Teo Torriate, You And I or Long Away wouldn’t have been out of place on any Queen album up until at least The Game.

 

I prefer it to A Night at the Opera, but I like both.

 

I prefer it to A Nighr At The Opera.

 

ADATR is an overrated Queen album.

 

Would love a 5.1 mix (along with Queen II & Sheer Heart Attack)

 

I love Queen, but I can't call A Day at the Races a classic; it is too hit or miss. There is nothing that is bad per se, but I only re-visit maybe half of the album, and I can't call something a classic when I have no use for half of it (for me, personally).

 

I listen to - A Day At The Races - quite often so it's not forgotten around here.

 

How did that make it onto the lyrics sheet?
Surely they had a reporter coming over to the recording sessions..?

 

Does the Larry Lurex single originate from early Queen II sessions (Cable)?

 

No, it was recorded in 1972 around the time of the sessions for 'Queen'. Most of it had been recorded, Mercury added vocals for both sides, May and Taylor played on the A-side (guitar solo and percussion). It was a side project of Cable's, as he had received an offer to work with Spector (allegedly) and wanted to try out 'the wall of sound'.

 

Queen has a penchant to link releases together.
NOTW still has the ADATR-crest on the record labels. Different versions of the crest has appeared throughout the early albums and returned for GHII.
The first three albums are linked in different ways by Seven Seas Of Rhye. NOTW’s robot reappears on Roger’s drumskin in the gatefold pic of Jazz. The song Soul Brother delves into the past and much of Innuendo has an air of revisionism about it. The image of the QII-cover has reappeared several times throughout the years.
Several clips show old footage of the band.
In other words, I think the title and cover art are just another sign of their love for continuity.
Other than that I don’t think the album has that much to do with it’s predecessor besides it being a logical next step. From a marketing p.o.v. maybe it wasn’t a great idea to stay with the Marx-theme etc. but I personally see both as separate, distinctive albums.

 

So if things worked out a bit differently we would’ve had Queen being chased by Phil’s bodyguards?

 

Well...

Teenage Fanclub' guitarist actually used a Burns Red Special replica guitar quite a lot in the mid 90s.

He claimed that he only did it for sh*ts and giggles. I don't believe him.

 

You’re right, to each his/her own I guess.

Personally, I can hardly call em ‘a parody of themselves’ with the swift changes up to The Works.
Each of their albums within that time lapse (and I do count Flash Gordon) show a band that isn’t content with resting on it’s laurels. Call Hot Space inferior or whatever, the fact is that it still has people rearing their heads and it shows that Queen weren’t afraid of drastically changing course.

Albums thereafter became a bit less interesting because of them trying to cater to ‘old’ fans, but each one of them still offers enough quality.

 

Opera has higher highs, but Races is probably a more consistent album.

Their mistake was in linking it to their breathru album. I think if it had a different album title and cover, it wouldn't suffer from the comparisons.

 

Also a great album. White Man is one of my favorites songs by them.

 

Musically, it's more similar to News of the World. If those two albums had somehow been linked together by cover art, it would have made more sense.

 

ADATR definitely leans a bit more towards late-70’s ‘Queen’. The change is subtle, but it’s there.

 

Makes you wonder even more why they didn't filter out that constant noise that shouldn't be there that can clearly be heard at the end of White Man, and it's gone as soon as it fades and Lover Boy starts (tape noise, amp/pedal idle sounds?)
I have an original Dutch pressing, so I don't know if all pressings have this and/or whether it was fixed for cd. Overall I've never been impressed with the early Queen EMI pressing sound, too shrill and no warmth. Plus this is the only black cover of an album I own where apparently the varnish couldn't handle it being held in your hands.

 

Yeah, tell us more!

 

It's half of a good album, but that half is REALLY good. Somebody To Love is a much better song than BoRap, though they're both great songs.

 

Great record that doesn't get enough love. I saw'em for the first time when they were touring this record at Winterland in San Francisco sometime in 1977. Amazing live band!

 

ADATR is an album I keep coming back to and it gets better with age. As much as I love ANATO I do think the tighter song structures really help here. I never grow tired of it.