"QUEEN has nothing more to want" - from 'Joepie' magazine, 21 May 1989
May 4, 2023 7:18:34 GMT
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Post by fabiogminero on May 4, 2023 7:18:34 GMT
Hi everyone.
Below an article in Dutch taken from the music magazine Joepie of May 21st, 1989; is originally titled QUEEN he eft niets meer te willen (translated into English as QUEEN has nothing more to want) and talks about the band's career, from birth to the release of the new single 'I Want It All'. Of course, the forthcoming new album 'The Miracle' is also mentioned - it was released in the UK the day after the publication of this article.
Below an article in Dutch taken from the music magazine Joepie of May 21st, 1989; is originally titled QUEEN he eft niets meer te willen (translated into English as QUEEN has nothing more to want) and talks about the band's career, from birth to the release of the new single 'I Want It All'. Of course, the forthcoming new album 'The Miracle' is also mentioned - it was released in the UK the day after the publication of this article.
The article discusses Queen's recording successes and disappointments over the past sixteen years, including solo works by Brian, Freddie and Roger (Roger's name is corrected by me during the translation, as referred to at one point as Andy Taylor) .
Below the original article and the English translation. Enjoy the reading!
QUEEN has nothing more to want
'I Want It All' warbles singer Freddie Mercury as usual on the great new Queen single. The group from England may 'want it all', there will be little that this band has not experienced in its long career. Many 'ups': the artistically best album to date 'Queen II', one of the most beautiful compositions in rock history, 'Bohemian Rhapsody', the biggest hit, 'Another One Bites The Dust' (number 1 and million seller in the States) and the flashy performance during the Live Aid spectacle in '85; but of course also 'downs': the extremely poorly sold album 'Hot Space', the pitiful soundtrack 'Flash Gordon', and the individual flopped solo projects (only Freddie Mercury was somewhat successful solo). On the exceptionally heavy new album 'The Miracle', however, leaves Queen in no doubt that we are still dealing with a supergroup.
It all started in 1968 when three art students Brian May, Roger Meadows Taylor and Tim Staffel founded the group 'Smile'. After having received the first flop with the single 'Earth', Staffel leaves the band and is replaced by Frederic Bulsara, who from that time on goes through life as Freddie Mercury (Fredje Kwiksilver), immediately palpable. First, he changes the childish name of the band 'Smile' to "Queen", then he starts writing songs for the group, one more brilliant than the other. Furthermore, he makes a clear mark with his specific voice and piano playing to the sound of the group. Add to that, the virtuoso playing of Brian May on his self-built guitar, and you can speak of a band that sounds like no other band before. In 1971 bassist John Deacon amplifies the band, after which Queen as an obsessed man roams the English hall circuit. With an average of 400 (!) performances per year, they manage to acquire a large fan base in 1973. The first LP 'Queen' is released together with the single "Keep Yourself Alive", a reasonable success, followed by the phenomenal "Queen II" from '74, from which the Top-10 hit "Seven Seas Of Rhye" is drawn. In the same year the band does an American tour supporting Mott The Hoople, a group that is easily played away. When the single "Killer Queen" is released in the early 1970s and becomes a world hit, the absolute breakthrough is achieved. Queen is hailed everywhere as a super group, and in every pop poll the band is at the top of the list of the most promising bands of the year.
That this is justified will become apparent not much later when the album "A Night At The Opera" appears on the market. The record is then the most expensive of all time because of the exceptionally high production costs. The album also sounds like a clock and hits like a bomb. The brilliant song "Bohemian Rhapsody" is released as a single. This has cost the Queen members quite a bit of persuasion. The record company did not see this song as a single at all, because it would be uncommercial. "Bohemian Rhapsody", however, becomes one of Queen's biggest hits and confirms the band's super status. We're in 1982 then. Because the group is artistically quite exhausted and repeats itself, record sales are also starting to decline. The duet with David Bowie "Under Pressure" provides a bit of a revival (again a number 1 listing), but after that the cake is over. Meanwhile, the individual band members start solo projects. Drummer Roger Taylor, who is gifted with a beautiful raw voice, tries it with albums like "Fun In Space" and "Strange Frontier" and later with his own band The Cross, but does not achieve the desired success. Also Freddie Mercury and Brian May are making solo albums. The rumors about a definitive Queen split are getting stronger. Despite all these rumors, the band decides to go back into the studio. That the group has little inspiration is apparent from the disappointing album "The Works". Typical of the decline of the two main songwriters Freddie Mercury and Brian May is the fact that the only successful singles from this record were written by Roger Taylor ("Radio Ga Ga") and John Deacon ("I Want To Break Free"). However, both singles are again extremely successful (new number 1 it gets monotonous), partly due to the nice videoclips. The soundtrack of the movie Highlander is never really finished by the band, probably because it quickly became clear that the movie would be a flop after all. A number of songs that were actually intended for the soundtrack will be included on the 1986 album "A Kind Of Magic". The record and the single with the same title again sell enormously. The band is busy with its second life, and is gaining an increasingly larger and younger following. Even Freddie Mercury's in-betweens, a cover of the old "The Great Pretender" and the album "Barcelona" with opera singer Montserrat Caballé, are proving successful. That so many fans still. standing behind their music has to be for the band members. From Queen have been enough reason to deliver another fantastic album: "The Miracle", an album that will probably do great again in terms of sales figures, but which also marks the band's musical heyday of the first half of the 1990s. What more do we want?
'I Want It All' warbles singer Freddie Mercury as usual on the great new Queen single. The group from England may 'want it all', there will be little that this band has not experienced in its long career. Many 'ups': the artistically best album to date 'Queen II', one of the most beautiful compositions in rock history, 'Bohemian Rhapsody', the biggest hit, 'Another One Bites The Dust' (number 1 and million seller in the States) and the flashy performance during the Live Aid spectacle in '85; but of course also 'downs': the extremely poorly sold album 'Hot Space', the pitiful soundtrack 'Flash Gordon', and the individual flopped solo projects (only Freddie Mercury was somewhat successful solo). On the exceptionally heavy new album 'The Miracle', however, leaves Queen in no doubt that we are still dealing with a supergroup.
It all started in 1968 when three art students Brian May, Roger Meadows Taylor and Tim Staffel founded the group 'Smile'. After having received the first flop with the single 'Earth', Staffel leaves the band and is replaced by Frederic Bulsara, who from that time on goes through life as Freddie Mercury (Fredje Kwiksilver), immediately palpable. First, he changes the childish name of the band 'Smile' to "Queen", then he starts writing songs for the group, one more brilliant than the other. Furthermore, he makes a clear mark with his specific voice and piano playing to the sound of the group. Add to that, the virtuoso playing of Brian May on his self-built guitar, and you can speak of a band that sounds like no other band before. In 1971 bassist John Deacon amplifies the band, after which Queen as an obsessed man roams the English hall circuit. With an average of 400 (!) performances per year, they manage to acquire a large fan base in 1973. The first LP 'Queen' is released together with the single "Keep Yourself Alive", a reasonable success, followed by the phenomenal "Queen II" from '74, from which the Top-10 hit "Seven Seas Of Rhye" is drawn. In the same year the band does an American tour supporting Mott The Hoople, a group that is easily played away. When the single "Killer Queen" is released in the early 1970s and becomes a world hit, the absolute breakthrough is achieved. Queen is hailed everywhere as a super group, and in every pop poll the band is at the top of the list of the most promising bands of the year.
That this is justified will become apparent not much later when the album "A Night At The Opera" appears on the market. The record is then the most expensive of all time because of the exceptionally high production costs. The album also sounds like a clock and hits like a bomb. The brilliant song "Bohemian Rhapsody" is released as a single. This has cost the Queen members quite a bit of persuasion. The record company did not see this song as a single at all, because it would be uncommercial. "Bohemian Rhapsody", however, becomes one of Queen's biggest hits and confirms the band's super status. We're in 1982 then. Because the group is artistically quite exhausted and repeats itself, record sales are also starting to decline. The duet with David Bowie "Under Pressure" provides a bit of a revival (again a number 1 listing), but after that the cake is over. Meanwhile, the individual band members start solo projects. Drummer Roger Taylor, who is gifted with a beautiful raw voice, tries it with albums like "Fun In Space" and "Strange Frontier" and later with his own band The Cross, but does not achieve the desired success. Also Freddie Mercury and Brian May are making solo albums. The rumors about a definitive Queen split are getting stronger. Despite all these rumors, the band decides to go back into the studio. That the group has little inspiration is apparent from the disappointing album "The Works". Typical of the decline of the two main songwriters Freddie Mercury and Brian May is the fact that the only successful singles from this record were written by Roger Taylor ("Radio Ga Ga") and John Deacon ("I Want To Break Free"). However, both singles are again extremely successful (new number 1 it gets monotonous), partly due to the nice videoclips. The soundtrack of the movie Highlander is never really finished by the band, probably because it quickly became clear that the movie would be a flop after all. A number of songs that were actually intended for the soundtrack will be included on the 1986 album "A Kind Of Magic". The record and the single with the same title again sell enormously. The band is busy with its second life, and is gaining an increasingly larger and younger following. Even Freddie Mercury's in-betweens, a cover of the old "The Great Pretender" and the album "Barcelona" with opera singer Montserrat Caballé, are proving successful. That so many fans still. standing behind their music has to be for the band members. From Queen have been enough reason to deliver another fantastic album: "The Miracle", an album that will probably do great again in terms of sales figures, but which also marks the band's musical heyday of the first half of the 1990s. What more do we want?