Queen "News of the world"

Jazz Of The World is a fine album. I particularly like More Of That News. And Night At The Races is a great starter for the main course of Hot Magic.

 

Me personally, I don't mind hearing We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions again and again. Maybe it's just me, but classic is classic: I never get tired of it.

Still, I think I like this even better:

 

Speaking as a Queen die-hard, this is probably my least favorite of the '70s albums.

I enjoy most of the material but the absurd over-exposure WWRY/WATC puts a negative spin on the album for me.

That being said, Spread Your Wings is fantastic and My Melancholy Blues is a top 5 Queen track for me probably. Just insanely good.

 

It's Queen so it's a good album but not one of their better ones to me. I love "It's Late" and "Spread Your Wings" though.

 

They may have simplified things, but they were still quite varied from track to track, so at least the album has that going for it.

 

Actually this is the only Queen album I like. The album cover is a bit weird and cartoonish imo, but the four radio singles ("We Will Rock You", "We Are The Champions", "Sheer Heart Attack", "Get Down, Make Love") and the three album tracks ("Spread Your Wings", "Spread Your Wings", "It's Late") are all great! The three songs on the album that I don't like are "Sleeping On The Sidewalk", "Who Needs You" and "All Dead, All Dead", but on all the previous Queen albums (and the two subsequent albums) there were only between one and three songs on each of those albums that I did like, so seven great songs on this album is a bonus in my book.

 

Get down make love is the only really bad song here.

 

In retrospect I think it's patchy and the first hints of a lack of QC in selection. There are some great tracks like 'It's Late', 'Spread Your Wings' and Roger Taylor's two contributions (playing guitars and bass as well as drums), some average ('Sleeping On The Sidewalk, and the death of Squeaky (May's cat 'All Dead, All Dead) and there are some weak ones, 'Get Down, Make Love' and 'Who Needs You'.

 

Haven’t listened to this in decades. What is the preferred cd for this title

 

I too am tired of WWRY/WATC. BUT, this is my favorite Queen album to play front to back. Jazz is a close second. The "Black" side of Queen II has always been my favorite album side though.

 

I love that track. It's got that mad moment from Zep's Whole Lotta Love which is just amazing. Just goes to show, different strokes for different folks.....

 

A masterpiece from the first note to the last. Period.

 

I don't think it's close to Queen's best work, but NOTW is full of excellent songs.

It starts with two great, inescapable songs and also includes a handful of outstanding album tracks. It's Late and Spread Your Wings in particular are two of the better "non-hits" in the band's entire catalog. I don't know how most fans feel about it, but "Fight From the Inside" is one of my favorite Roger Taylor songs.

If there's a weak link, it's Sleeping on the Sidewalk and Who Needs You back-to-back. Both songs are pleasant enough, I guess, but they really don't add anything to the album.

 

Not as good as what came before but better than everything that came after.

 

One of my favorite Queen albums. I had it on vinyl back in the day. It's Late is in my top five Queen songs. I also love Who Needs You.

 

My first Queen album bought when new because of the cover I think I was 10.
This one got banned by Mom because of Get down make love.
Queens News joined the Mc5 Kick out the jams , Zappa Overnight Sensation and Woodstock
in my secret stash of stuff I was supposed to get rid of and didn't.
Only played them when she wasn't home for a few years until she lightened up.
Prince records caused a uproar for my sister as well a few years later.
Last QUEEN record that I love from start to finish.

 

The album comes in at number nine for me compared to their other albums...

Top notch

1) SHEER HEART ATTACK
2) A Night At The Opera
3) Queen II
4) Queen
5) A Day At The Races

Great / very good

6) I N N U E N D O
7) The Game
8) THE WORKS
9) NEWS OF THE W O R L D
10) JAZZ

The weaker albums

11) A Kind of Magic
12) THE MIRACLE
13) Hot Space
14) MADE IN HEAVEN
15) FLASH GORDON

 

It's missing a lot of what made Queen popular.

New haircuts, new sound and something of a new style. I had been a big fan up to this point, but then sought diversion, elsewhere.
There was very little 'flash' here, Queen were very 'flash' weren't they ?...up to A Day At The Races, they were and that album took a whole summer of playing it, on repeat to 'get it', for me.

Looking back in retrospect and re-playing it over the years, NOTW is not that bad, but it isn't that good, either.

I had the picture sleeve single WATC/WWRY and played it to death, but with the arrival of the LP, was very under-whelmed. There was nothing else to get excited about on here.
It's Late is poor and hardly matches up to the likes of Brighton Rock and I agree with Jon, it feels very forced.

I also have a thing about Spread Your Wings, which I truly despise. I would say it's one of the worst songs they ever did up to that point (perhaps I'm not a Deacon fan, as I also hated Misfire). Maybe I was expecting more hard rock from a Queen album, but I was sorely disappointed.

These days, my picks for top tunes on the album are (and excluding Champions/WWRY):-

My Melancholy Blues
Get Down Make Love

 

Their weakest album of their Classic phase, and one that I rarely listened to because of its contary roots sound.

But in the last couple years, it's precisely because of this that I've really started enjoying it. Like a lost album to me really. Love "All Dead, All Dead," "It's Late," and "Who Needs You?"

 

Do you think that Queen have right wing overtones?
I wish I'm wrong, but We are the champions sounds like an alt-right anthem nowadays.
I think Kiss are somewhat right wing too

(I'm strictly hardcore left-wing)

 

I would bump The Miracle up to Great/Very good - its a strong album!! Sure its slick sounding, but jesus the boys never rocked so hard on an album since Jazz, dare I say. The songs are anthemic and catchy and I think its an excellent album. Just imo.

Other than that I have zero disagreement with your rankings

 

Certainly do. All those songs about oppressing people and explaining how best to get rid of all the lefties. Undoubtedly. Named after an anachronistic instituition too! Popular with Illinois Nazis according to Elwood.
Take, for instance, News Of The World. That's a(n ex-) right wing paper for a start.
All Dead, All Dead - There's your gov't CV19 policy right there.
Sleeping On The Sidewalk - That's where we'll all be sleeping if they have their way.
Who Needs You - Yeah, right, no one.
Kiss? I don't think a Prince song can be 'right wing' can it. Say it isn't so.

 

Where on earth was Sheer Heart Attack a radio single? Vinyl wise it was a b-side.

 

It was written as a song to get the crowd involved...Had nothing to do with politics. Are 'Put Out the Fire' or 'Is This the World We Created' right-wing? Certainly not.

Brian May is known to be left-leaning and Roger wrote a song about killing Nazis...Judging by interviews, Freddie was largely apolitical. Who knows about John...Doubt he's some king of right-winger though.

Categorizing things as strictly left or right is kind of antiquated and silly anyway...The world is more complex than that.

 

News Of The World was a breath of fresh air. The band knew to record another album in the style of A Night At The Opera and A Day At The Races would be a mistake. I get the feeling Queen wanted to show the public that it could go into a studio and simply play, with little in-the-way-of overdubs and studio trickery.
The variety of styles is one of the album's strengths - a by-product of all four members being writers. And the production is, by the band's standards, unfussy and uncluttered.
Ultimately, an album is all about songs. News Of The World has songs - simple as that.
The album resonated in the USA particularly and was the band's highest charting collection to date. It had something for everyone. It's just a shame the multitracks can't be located for a surround sound reissue.