Queen
Game

QUEEN is a unique phenomenon on the world scene. It is unlikely that in the world of rock and "pop-rock" there will be another such band that would argue with her for the title of the brightest, extravagant, eclectic, sometimes vulgar, and at the same time unusually brilliant. An extraordinary variety of material and a consistently high level are features of almost every studio album. The group's style is recognizable as, probably, no other. And along with this, their creative path is clearly divided into two clearly defined periods, coinciding with the decades - the 70s and 80s. years. If in the 70s. the group played 100% live rock, the musicians basically did not use synthesizers and any electronic bells and whistles characteristic of pop music, then in the 80s the group took up almost exclusively popular music. And it is pop music with elements of rock, and not vice versa! So it was the album “The Game”, released in June 1980, that marked a change in image and style. Moreover, the change in musical style was “emphasized” by the change in the image of the musicians themselves: all members of the group, with the exception of May, cut their hair short, and Freddie grew his later famous mustache! Events like this never go smoothly (suffice it to recall Metallikov's "Load"...), so it's not surprising that many people didn't like this twist. However, the group's potential was so significant that it was successfully realized outside of rock. And many amazing pop songs of this and subsequent albums are the clearest confirmation of this. As for this particular album, in spite of everything, it also sold out very well and went gold soon after the release. On the other hand, although the album marked a change in image, it still contains material in the former "live" style. For example, Mercury's opening song “Play The Game” is just that. The song came out clearly one of the best on the album, it has excellent vocal performance and melodies. Roughly the same can be said about May's final ballad "Save Me", which, however, is more straightforward. Both things were included in the concert program of the group for a long time. But everything that is placed between the first and tenth songs is material, whose relation to rock is calculated, as a rule, by complete zero. However, it is quite varied in mood, tempo and instruments used. For the most part, all these songs are danceable, sometimes, in my opinion, primitive and vulgar (as if for a school graduation), as a rule, devoid of any instrumental performance, but stuffed with electronic drums and synthesizers. Of all this, I would like to single out (otherwise, by the way, it's impossible!) Deacon's "Another One Bites The Dust", which is rightfully the main hit of the disc. The song is absolutely not rock, with a simple to the primitive, but terribly catchy, leading bass riff and the dumbest electronic drums on the album. The thing became incredibly popular in America in several stylistic categories at once, including the soul style.