Queen - Cosmos Rocks Review
Proof That Queen Needs Freddie Mercury
A question that's sometimes thrown around is why Queen decided to get back together. In fact, it’s hard to say they are back together as only two of the original members are involved. The legendary Freddie Mercury passed away in 1991 and bassist John Deacon chose not to return.
So guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor have decided to reform with Free singer Paul Rodgers. Frankly it’s disappointing they’ve chose to do so, as Cosmos Rocks is a clear reason why Queen simply isn’t Queen without Freddie.
The Return Of The Champions?
Queen got together with Paul Rodgers back in 2004, touring later on in 2005. Combining traditional Queen songs with some great Free and Bad Company tunes made it an epic tour. Paul couldn’t reach the notes Freddie could handle easily, nor did he have Freddie’s onstage charisma, but he still did a fine job.
Both May and Taylor were on top form, belting out classics like 'Love of My Life', 'Hammer to Fal'l and 'We Are the Champions'. This is what Queen and Paul Rodgers should have stuck to, rather than feebly attempting to relive the past.
Opening up with 'Cosmos Rockin’', the song sings about partying and general enjoyment – kind of ironic as there’s little enjoyment to be found in this track. The guitar work sounds bland and boring, definitely not May’s best. The second song, 'Time to Shine', does its best to keep the listener but it’s too short a song to accomplish that.
'Still Burnin’' shockingly contains samples of the ‘stomp, stomp, clap’ from Queen’s 1977 classic 'We Will Rock You'. What they tried to gain by using this is a complete mystery. But with 'Small', the fourth track, there’s a moment of satisfaction as all band members have created a genuinely beautiful track. It’s slow moving but Rodger’s has a great voice for it. Warboys is also a very lively track, making it one of the best on the album.
Queen Without Freddie?
'We Believe' is the longest on the album, and it feels like it too – it simply drags on. It’s one of those songs that listeners want to skip, but don’t want to miss the end in case something happens. 'Call Me' is a rather humorous track – not in its lyrics, but it’s musical style. It’s very much like 'Fat Bottomed Girls', being rather upbeat and a good song to sing along to. It’s one of the few songs on the album where Rodgers sounds great singing.
But don’t be mistaken. 'Small', 'Warboys' and 'Call Me' are the only three songs on this album that stand out. The rest are mediocre, failing to make the album live up to its potential. With some of great musicians working together, this should have been better. It’s proof that having Queen without Freddie simply does not work.
Cosmos Rocks
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