Search - Queen :: Works

Nice return to form.

Joseph M. Perorazio | Columbus, OH USA | 11/10/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After the abysmal 1982 release 'Hot Space' (see my review of that travesty), 'The Works' brought back the classic Queen sound, although with some new twists. Brian May is clearly in charge here, as evidenced by the blistering 'Hammer to Fall' and the heavy guitar on 'Machines.' But still, Freddie manages to stir up things with the very controversial synth-driven 'Radio Ga Ga' and the ode to housewives 'I Want to Break Free' (which may also be interpreted as a gay anthem). Overall a great mix of songs, and one of the classic Queen albums of all time. Too bad America ignored it."

Fine Queen album from the '80s

M. C Cardoso | Berkeley, CA United States | 06/28/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a back-to-form album for Queen in the '80s. I bought it the year it was released. While it is a product of its times (1983) with synths and big electronic drums, I have to say it has aged pretty well and it sounds as big and good now as back then.



Not easy for Queen to keep their superstar status in the mid-'80s. the tastes were changing and the ecleticism of the band, which worked to their advantage in the '70s, became a liability in the '80s. At least in the USA, where Queen failed to sustain the massive fan base they kept in Europe and elsewhere. Not heavy enough for the Van Halen fan, not pop and cute enough for the Duran Duran crowd, plus I suspect Queen suffered a bit from homophobic bias in the USA (the flamboyant visuals of the video clips of the era were Ok for Europe but were poorly received in America).



The album itself is a fine effort and contains a pretty strong batch of songs that cover the territory that Queen did best, from bad-ass hard rock ("Tear it up", "Hammer to Fall") to beautiful, dynamic ballads ("It's a Hard Life") to catchy power-pop ("Radio Gaga", "I want to break free"). "Man on the Prowl" is on the same rockabilly vein of "Crazy Little Thing...". Two tracks that are not as well known but are fine moments of the band: "Machines" is a hard rock meets electronica sci-fi epic with great drums and guitar and an interesting theme. Good joint effort of May and Taylor. And "Keep Passing the Open Windows" is a fine track, penned by Mercury and with a beautiful piano, but nicely augmented by a muscular performance of the band. Finally, their first and only studio effort at a true acoustic guitar + voice tune, the melodic "Is this the world we created?"



The individual performances are top-notch, with the voice of Mercury (now the main singer in all tunes) and the distinctive guitar of May being the obvious highlights, but Taylor and Deacon play a rock-solid rhythm section, either on a traditional rock format or via electronics.



Favorites? Hard to say, the four singles from the album are truly memorable and have a lot of Queen magic. I think Mercury's finest singing is on "It's a Hard Life" and May's "Hammer to Fall" is a serious contender for best rock track of the band."