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What’s the 4-1-1?
Jazz was the last Queen studio album of the seventies. Once again the band
created a diverse musical effort to please people of all musical interests.
This is the band's most diverse album of the seventies, using many different
musical sounds to win over audiences. But on this album, the band takes
the diversity thing to the next level. It is, arguably, the band's most
widely-varied effort. As far as big hits go, the album spawned Brian May's
classic rock anthem "Fat Bottomed Girls," and Freddie Mercury's classic
"Bicycle Race." And those are just the big hits.
Once again it's an album with many
sounds, none of which fail to please the fans. Freddie Mercury is the
real star on this album, serving up some of his best compositions ever. In
addition
to "Bicycle Race," he created the melodic, Beatles-esque "Jealousy,"
the oddly Middle-Eastern influenced and oddly-excellent "Mustapha," the poppy
and
uplifting
"Don't Stop Me Now," and the straight-up hard and heavy rocker "Let Me
Entertain You." Mercury's bandmates are no slouches, though. John Deacon's
got two
great songs. One, "If You Can't Beat Them," is his typical, upbeat poppy
optimistic music style. The other, "In Only Seven Days," is a slow and
melodic ballad that is a far cry from this, but it's still excellent.
As
far as
Roger Taylor goes, "Fun It" is one of his best rockers. And Brian May
satisfies with rockers like "Dead On Time." All In all, another damn good
album. A nice way to close out the seventies, if you ask me.
The diversity on this album may be a turn-off to some potential listeners
(fortunately, most Queen fans are open-minded and don't have this problem.)
Likewise, in "Bicycle Race," Freddie Mercury says he doesn't like Star
Wars. Of course, those are my only issues with the album.
The Verdict
Another damn good Queen album. Enough said.
Did You Know?
This was the first Queen album Roy Thomas Baker produced since A Night At The
Opera.
Rating:  out
of 5
Related Reviews:
Queen - Flashback Reviews
Queen + Paul Rogers - Return
of the Champions
Classic Album Series DVD: Queen - A Night
at the Opera
--Darth Kommissar
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QUEEN
