The first release was the well received A Night At The Opera. That is an awesome, yet obvious choice for the first release in this surround format. Now they have released The Game hoping that America remembers that it used to like this album. Sure it was number one in the early 80's, and it had a couple of number one hits too. But, (not that I am complaining), I think Queen fans are really waiting for the classic 70's Queen catalogue to emerge in this sound format.
Brian May stated that he wants to release the entire Queen catalogue in this format, so if he keeps his word, he can release them in any order he wants. The Game was released way back in April of 2003, we have now passed the three year mark and we have had no different albums released yet in the surround since, except for yet another version, more recently, of A Night At The Opera in DTS surround for it's 30th anniversary that was released in late 2005.
2006 could finally see a re-release of A Day At The Races since this December marks its 30th anniversary as well. Brian had made more than a subtle hint that this was the next album promised. It makes sense since the more logical choice, 1977's News of the World is missing some of the original masters which is needed to produce an album in surround.
The Music of the Game
The DVD opens up with Play The Game and the synthesized UFO whizzing through space noises seem to circle the listener, and faster and faster, and then land on top of you. Very nice effect. The backing vocals are mainly in the back speakers, and they sound great there. The guitar and synthesizer are very prominent in this song.
Freddie's voice sounds crystal clear and very dynamic. Play The Game is one of Freddie's rare 1980's moments writing a rock song. It's not one of the best songs on the album, it's a little too schmaltzy and sterile. This song sounds like Queen just going through the motions, yet there are some nice moments too. The song was the first single after the album was released and it reached a deserving 42 in the Pop Singles charts.
Dragon Attack and Another One Bites The Dust are next. These are two very bass-oriented songs. The first written by Brian May and the latter penned by John Deacon. Dragon Attack although it has a disco-style bass lick as the main staple of the song, it is a heavy rock song with the guitars and drums. Freddie's voice is a little raspy in this song. Another One Bites The Dust has a bass lick that was lifted from either the Sugar Hill Gang'sRapper Delight, or Chic'sGood Times, whichever came first. I think that this bass riff started in 1978 by one of the two bands I mentioned above. The surround sound makes good use when the synthesizers are used in this song. Another One Bites the Dust was a huge single in the US, reaching and staying in the number one spot for like five weeks. It also crossed over to the R&B charts and practically topped that chart as well, stopping at #2.
Need Your Lovin' Tonight written by John Deacon sounds very sparse here. In comparison to the stereo version that we remember, this sounds almost like an unfinished demo. I think I may prefer the stereo version. This is a total 180º from John's other single Another One Bites the Dust. This is a fast catchy song with a big acoustic guitar sound. It's still very pop, but this falls into the rock genre not into the R&B like Dust had. This was also a single, and it only reached 44 in the Pop Singles charts, but this is the only Queen album where John had two singles, I'm sure he made tons of cash.
Crazy Little Thing Called Love is next written by Freddie Mercury. On the Hollywood release from 1991 this song starts off very funny and I was expecting to hear this song start off with that same glitch. It didn't. I love the way this song sounds. Also very sparse like Need Your Lovin', but this time it is a welcome. It sounds even more authentic this way. This was Queen's first attempt at something so rockabilly. Freddie does his best Elvis impersonation and it's so good, that people still wonder if this is an original Queen song or a cover from the 50s. It is original folks, Freddie used to like to tell the story of how he wrote it while he was soaking in the bathtub.
Roger Taylor penned the next track, Rock It (Prime Jive). Freddie brilliantly sings the opening slow acoustic part, and then when the song kicks in Roger takes over the singing. This song is very addicting, it has those doo-wop type lyrics with a tinge of a rock-a-billy beat.
Sail Away Sweet Sister written by Brian is next. Brian also sings most of this song except for the middle eight sung by Freddie. This is almost a rock ballad, and is one of my favorite songs on the album.
Don't Try Suicide is written by Freddie. I like this song a lot. It has a clear message that suicide is dumb, egocentric and a waste of time and won't accomplish the attempter's hopes because "nobody gives a damn". It also has some strange lyrics that I don't understand like "baby when you do it, all you do is gets on my tits". This song also has a feel that compliments both Crazy Little Thing and Rock It.
Coming Soon is next. Roger Taylor writes this song. I remember reading on the official Queen website, that Brian was saying that he did not have the original tapes for this song, so making a 5.1 DTS or DVD-Audio transfer would prove a problem. I was interested in listening to this song to hear what would be done. It sounds like to me that they used an alternate version of the song or at least part of it, as the vocals sound very different. Roger and Freddie pretty much sing the lead vocal together. They had done so in the past too. The song is probably the heaviest rock song on the album, it sounds like it could have fit nicely somewhere on the Jazz album.
Save Me written by Brian is actually a single that Queen released the year before the release of The Game. This true power ballad sounds awesome here. This song, like Crazy Little Thing Called Love was previously released in 1979, before The Game was released. The song was a single in the UK and it reached number 11 there. We in the USA hadn't heard the song until 1980's The Game.
Further Analysis on The Game
When listening to the DVD-Audio, for some reason the on screen lyrics must be manually forwarded to the next verse and chorus by the listener, instead of automatically when listening to the DTS.
Also, I was surprised that there were no videos included. There were three released from this album, and it would have been nice if they were included. I guess since they had released the Queen's Greatest Video Hits, they had decided to pass on that idea.
As usual the CD booklet is nice quality, lyrics and credits are bountiful. It includes all of the original artwork, including the four color shots of the band on a terrace somewhere. This photo of Freddie was for some of us the first glimpse of that horrible moustache in 1980.
Songs:
1. Play The Game
2. Dragon Attack
3. Another One Bites The Dust
4. Need Your Lovin' Tonight
5. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
6. Rock It (Prime Jive)
7. Sail Away Sweet Sister
8. Don't Try Suicide
9. Coming Soon
10.Save Me
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~For more Queen CD Epinions from Scapp70~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.