#Classical Music reviews

[johnjpuccio]

Review of Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 8 "Unfinished" and 9 "The Great," with Jordi Savall and Le Concert des Nations

The year 2022 must have been the year of Schubert, with at least three major sets of the composer’s Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9 appearing, one from Herbert Blomstedt and the Gewandhaus Orchestra (DG), another from Rene Jacobs and the B’Rock Orchestra (Pentatone), and this newest and best one of all from Jordi Savall and Le Concert des Nations (AliaVox). Such extraordinary attention couldn’t happen to a nicer composer.

To read the full review, click here:

John J. Puccio, Classical Candor

[brunhielda]

Because this is becoming THAT blog-

The one where I review old movies we all have already seen, but I personally, have not seen for years until recently.

I just watched “An American Tale.”

If you were a child of the 90s, you just thought- “There are No Cats in America 🎶? THAT American Tale?”

Yes.

If you had that thought, you likely already know. If you have not had the absolute joy- buckle up. I am going to rant about a classic.

First of all- This is Don Bluth.

His movies do not get worse with age.

They get BETTER.

And American Tale is example number ONE.

No, it is not fond memories or nostalgia glasses, you can breath, and then go treat yourself to a viewing.

Secondly- the man did not dumb down or sanitize his history.

He said “I’m going to tell the immigrant story” and then opened with a fucking ethnic cleansing.

I said what I said.

The movie is set in the early Russian Empire, a time full of anti-Semitic sentiment and enforced laws, also seen in “Fiddler on the Roof.” Fiddler on the roof might actually be tamer on the subject.

Every other historical note in this movie is on point and easy enough to look up in a history book, if you have the common sense to realize that names have been altered.

The Statue of Liberty was not built by a pigeon, for example. It was built by a Frenchman. (Frederic Auguste Bartholdi).

I don’t know of an “honest John,” but I did guffaw out loud when he started taking names of the dead at funerals to add to his vote count. Ghost votes were very real, one of the reasons people are still so twitchy about voter fraud today.

I do not recall a moment in 1886 when the minorities of New York managed to run off prominate members of authority… but with how on point everything else is? It would not shock me.

Thirdly- Bluth DID NOT FLINCH

I don’t remember who said it first, but both Bluth and Spielberg had a belief that you could put very sad and scary things in children’s films, as long as the ending was happy.

This movie has multiple nightmare moments. Cats, monster waves, more cats, bugs and fish, and of course, the horrifying “Mouse of Minsk” (iykyk).

The thing is, it’s not even how they are drawn. Like, yes, the image is scary, but it’s the storytelling around it. It’s the lighting change. The soundtrack. The horrific sound effects. Seriously- whoever did foley on this film deserves all the awards- you make me scared of the kitty kats, and I LOVE cats. 🐈

Some people will question whether or not it is appropriate for small children. I would say maybe wait until they are six, and watch it with them, but they should watch scary things if they can. Being scared in appropriately safe space teaches you how to react to fear and handle moments when you are scared in real life. It is my major argument for Halloween. But each parent has to do as they think is best for each individual child. In any case, watch this one first before showing it to your kids- definitely more scary than you remember.

Finally- the animation on this film is a national treasure. I honestly hope this film is in the Library of Congress collection.

There are animation techniques here that don’t exist anymore.

Sparks. Sparkles. Glimmers. Stars in the Night Sky. Smoke billows.

Actually, I almost paused the film on a smoke billow. Sony is doing some things in the recent “Spiderverse” trilogy that are insane- and part of it is their mixed animation.

All the smoke billows? Hand drawn.

They look the same as Bluth’s smoke in this film, which is making me wonder if one of their artists studied under him. Maybe not- maybe they just did their homework on good hand drawn cloud formations. Either way, realizing how close they got to the master work in this film made me appreciate them even more.

Speaking of insane animation-

I don’t know WHO Bluth felt he had to show off to, but this man could DRAW WATER and he fucking knew it.

Like water is hard to do, ok? Like hands, Da Vinci had notebooks full of sketches of the substance, proving it to be the bane of the artistic existence.

Most water in hand drawn animation comes in two forms-

Flat water color with pretty things floating in it to distract you-

Or drawn over a live video of water that they spliced into the image.

Even that was hard to do, and they used a technology no longer available to us. It looks pretty cool honestly.

But no, not DON fucking BLUTH.

Not only can this man hand draw water without the underlying video, but he draws it moving in multiple different ways. He shows it from the top, side, and sinking underneath (with moving bubbles and shifting light, no flat blue for him).

He turns it into a NIGHTMARE FUEL WAVE MONSTER.

He ADDS it to SCENES it DIDNT HAVE TO BE IN!

The more I watched this film, the more I realized that if Milt Kahl had the head swaggle, Don Bluth had water, and by God was he going to use it.

He wrote plots AROUND the idea of water, so he could showcase it in every scene. “Rock-a-doodle,” and “Pebble and the Penguin” come to mind. “Anastasia,” “Thumbelina” and “All Dogs Go to Heaven” all feature action scenes in water. Heck- the one in “All Dogs Go To Heaven” came out of no where, and makes so much more sense if it was just Bluth wanting to show off.

“An American Tale” had the travel by boat sequence and our main hero being thrown over board. He could have left it there. NOPE. There were puddles and sewers and fire hoses and action scenes at the docks.

And the few scenes without water? Let’s throw some scary sparks in there. Maybe some smoke billowing. For funzies.

Also- we’re going to have a Love Song with the most incredible Night Sky you have ever seen and a Comedic song featuring fun house mirror distorted reflections because WHY NOT???

I think he was trying to make sure Disney regretted him leaving, the way you dress up when you know your toxic ex will be there, and I love that for him. 🩷

Also- the backgrounds are all beautiful water color. I love a good water color.

Also- yeah, the sound track holds up. The songs are just as catchy as they ever were- if you have ever seen this movie you WILL find yourself singing along.

As previously mentioned, when it comes to the scary parts, the composer UNDERSTOOD THE ASSIGNMENT and the music easily fits into a good horror film.

And finally- the music at the finale when everything is made right, and the happy ending is finally here, is the most heart breaking thing you will ever hear. You will cry. Watch the movie, but bring the tissues. 🤧

This movie is definitely worth a watch.

This movie is more than worth a watch, it should be mandatory for elementary history and college animation classes alike.

But also it’s just fun. 🤩

[coldcrowmusic]

Stevie Nicks is definitely one of the most beautiful and stylish women in music

[bookreviewcoffee]

- I want the simple humanity. carefree... not all of that....

It's a moment when you can just be here and now, without thinking about problems or responsibilities, when you can appreciate the beauty of the world around you and enjoy every little thing to cheer yourself up. When you can just live freely, where nothing bothers you.

[rachel-sylvan-author]

"The Odyssey" by Homer translated by Emily Wilson

I recommend the soudtrack "Epic: the Musical" by Jorge Rivera-Herrans for this book! 😊

Thank you @oxfordstudentreads for the rec! ❤️

[amber-lucca44]

Albums 10/23/24 💕

Destroy Erase Improve (Meshuggah), 8.5/10

Lindsey Stirling (Lindsey Stirling), 9/10

Once Upon The Cross (Deicide), 8/10

Serenades (Anathema), 8.5/10

Vengeance Falls (Trivium), 8/10

[lordkryze]

The Phantom of the Opera

is not the only book written by my all-time favorite journalist, Gaston Leroux. While he didn’t write as many books as Agatha Christie and isn’t as famous as Conan Doyle, his detective novels are, in my opinion, the most interesting and unique. I’ve just finished reading The Mystery of the Yellow Room, and I have to say, I liked it even more (is that even possible?) than The Phantom of the Opera. The characters, the story, and—most importantly—the style of his writing kept me up for three sleepless nights, just to uncover the secret of the room.

Do you know the feeling when you crave something similar, but not quite the same? That’s what I’m going through right now. Why couldn't he have left us a hundred more stories with the same flow?

[alazarrr]

I Miss The DVD Era.

[dudja]

When I was 10yrs old, a kid on my block had a cousin named Patty #comedy #memes #funny #dannydevito

[tisobotat0]

365 Charli XCX Concept Poster

I'm open for commission. :)

[bargainoriley]

Animals (1977)

Here are my thoughts on the album a lot of people call an underrated gem: Animals! 

 Disclaimer: I have not read Animal Farm before, so some of the references here may have flown over my head. Also, this is a complete first-time reaction! I have never heard any of these songs before! (Not like with other albums I wrote my thoughts on where I definitely did hear at least one song before listening to the entire album)

 What I do know about Animal Farm is that it compares human behavior to animals, with the pigs being in charge of all the other animals. 

And also this quote: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

Let’s get into it!

 

1. Pigs on the Wing, Part 1

The acoustic guitar intro is very lovely! This reminds me a lot of Wish You Were Here. The lyrics here are also really interesting so far!

2. Dogs

The acoustic guitar and keyboard here are really lovely so far!! I also really really like the melody here! The singing is so good here by David!!! The guitar solo is also really, really good and melancholy/angry sounding! The lyrics are also so interesting as well! The echo effect on David’s voice is so good as well with the 3rd verse! And the synth and guitar riff shortly after are so good as well! Then there’s a sudden tempo that is so good!!! The melody is still just so freaking catchy and amazing! The guitar solo after is so incredible as well! The dog barking sound effects are also an interesting touch! The occasional mellotron is also a nice touch! The next guitar solo is also just simply divine! The switch up in instrumentals in the 5th verse is also so freaking cool! And then we get this ominous thumping sound from the drums! Almost as if the person being “dragged down by the stone” is trying to walk with the weight! The vocoder and synths used here in this spacy interlude are so interesting as well!! And then we get back to the groovy acoustic guitar! Then we get another really interesting set of lyrics about trying to break free from an oppressive system as a former dog (who is loyal without questioning things to society; I also love the reference here to the Who’s Tommy with the lyric deaf, dumb, and blind)! And then a simply divine and ominous guitar solo happens along with some beautiful, airy synths! The last few guitar solos honestly really remind me of Brian May from Queen because of how high and emotional they are! This song feels so groovy and calm, but also so angry and dark as well (especially with the last verse of lyrics). It’s such an interesting mix! I was majorly dancing and grooving to this song the whole time! I was so amazed by this!! This song was so amazingly epic and cinematic, and I love how Roger and David sing different parts of the lyrics here! I also really love the vocal harmonies here as well! This whole song is just extremely powerful. One of my new favorite songs, definitely. What a way to start the album off!!

3. Pigs (Three Different Ones)

The keyboard intro is very interesting, along with the high bass line! Feels very prog rock-like (like stuff from early genesis), and then we get an ominous electric guitar riff! With the drums kicking in! I love Roger’s delivery here already! It’s so sassy and mocking; I love it! I really love how this sets the atmosphere up already! And I love the effect on the microphone when Roger starts singing the “you’re nearly a laugh” choruses; it reminds me a lot of the Beatles (specifically the effect used on John’s voice in a lot of songs from the Beatles’ psychedelic phase). And did I hear Roger use the f word???? Amazing. Especially since it shows how angry the person here is at the "pigs." Really puts an emphasis here on the dark and bitter and mocking tone of the song (swearing in music back then was really uncommon, especially use of the f word). And the guitar solo here after with the cool effect is so cool as well! Not to mention the cowbell in the chorus is so cool as well! And wait... is that a talk box solo after the guitar solo???? That’s so amazing!!! I love talk boxes, so this is such a unique and cool addition! Especially since it sounds like a pig squealing (really fitting the song's lyrics and title). I also love the lyrics here about “capitalist pigs," the top bosses of the capitalist system! I also just adore the bass line here in this song, especially in the third verse! And then we get a really freaking good and powerful guitar solo after this last hard hitting verse, and am I hearing a bass solo as well there in the background with the guitar solo!?!?!? This ending is honestly the best part of the song! Also has to be one of my new favorites from Pink Floyd omgggggg This song was so epic in scale as well, like the previous song! 

 

4. Sheep

I adore the smooth keyboard intro here already!! And then we get an ominous and really good bass line as well! This already sets up a really cool mood! It kind of reminds me of One of These Days. And then the drums hit, along with a simply groovy beat drop! I love how the vocals here deteriorate/fade into the synths! And I like the social commentary lyrics here as well about mindlessly following society! And then we get this simply divine and spacy interlude (and wait, I just heard vocals from dogs there in the background!!! How cool is that as a callback??) and then we get a really great keyboard solo along with a simply groovy part you can’t help but dance to! I just adore the bass line of this song as well!! This album has so many good bass moments... and then we get a really ominous interlude again with the bass and keyboard as well as this really ominous and creepy vocoder speech by the “sheep” trying to take over the "dogs." Then it cuts back to the groovy part of this song! And then we get this really powerful guitar solo after the last verse! Along with a simplistic yet amazing bass line! This song as well is just so groovy and energetic, yet carries a very dark vibe as well! I liked it a lot, but not as much as dogs and pigs. 

 

5. Pigs on the Wing, Part 2

I love how the lyrics here change from the previous part to reflect how the person now carries more empathy than before to “you” and how the insecurities faded from the first part (now the person here knows that you care for them and that they care for you, despite the cruel and unfair society they live in, and that they need to be careful about the upper class/powerful “pigs” that control society). 

 

 

In general, this album really surprised and amazed me in a very good way! I was surprised at just how groovy these songs are! I was dancing the whole time while listening and looking at the lyrics. I also just love how epic this album felt and how all the songs carried a very dark vibe as well, along with the danceability. My favorites off this album have to be dogs and pigs, with dogs definitely being my favorite! That song did not feel like 17 minutes at all! In general, this album was so exciting, and there was not a single boring moment in it! The lyrics are just exceptional and hard hitting as well, breaking down our society into pigs who rule everything, the dogs that enforce their rules and are loyal to the pigs, and the sheep that follow the rules mindlessly. This has to be a new favorite album of mine! Putting this after DSOTM in my favorite Pink Floyd albums list (1. Wish You Were Here, 2. Meddle, 3. DSOTM, 4. Animals). Next up is the big one: The Wall! I honestly don’t know if I should write my thoughts on it, since I really want to focus on the story of this album and not on writing down my thoughts... This means it will probably be a while before I put my thoughts on the Wall here... I may not even write down my thoughts since this album is very difficult to tackle in terms of lyrics and analysis and all that. I will see what my verdict will be on this album!

[johnjpuccio]

JJP's Favorite Classical Recordings of 2022

You may remember that I don’t do “best-of” lists. “Best” suggests that I’ve sampled everything available, and even though I review a lot of music every year, I have not heard but a fraction of what’s out there. So I prefer to do a simple “favorites” list. Here are a few of the discs (listed alphabetically, to be fair) I heard in 2022 that I enjoyed for their performance and sound.

To read the full article, click here:

John J. Puccio, Classical Candor

[brunhielda]

As I am unable to indulge in my yearly Independence Day tradition this year, I instead reccomend it to total strangers on the internet.

(If you are reading this and it is not July 4th, USA, this is still a decent recommendation in general)

Watch 1776, the movie musical from 1972. (It is available on Amazon and Apple TV for less than $5, and is free with Hulu)

“Why?” I hear you ask, “would I watch that old thing when I have Hamilton?”

Firstly- I will not compare quality. The two shows are apples and oranges and the only thing they have in common is the subject matter being the Revolutionary period of the USA.

I will openly admit that Hamilton has much more dynamic staging/dancing, and there is simply no rap to be heard in 1776.

That said, reasons you absolutely SHOULD watch it:

1) You have already seen Hamilton. Presumably you have not seen 1776. It will be something new.

2) The line “Sit down John, you old f-!” from Hamilton is a reference to this musical, so you know Lin Manuel Miranda is a fan.

3) The main character, John Adams, is played by a much younger William Daniels. You may know him as “Mr. Feeny.” And yes. He is glorious.

4) You will enjoy such fun quips as-

“I have better things to do than stand around listening to Benjamin Franklin quote himself.”

“Hold on John- that was a new one!”

(Arguing with God)

“A simple plague of locusts I’d accept with some dispare. But no, you gave us Congress! Good God Sir, was that fair?”

“May my horse be turned to glue if I can’t deliver unto you a resolution on Independancy.”

(Said horse- a paid actor- turns around to bite him)

Jokes from old congressmen about being so old it hurts to piss.

Jokes about bull testicles.

(Refusing to help write the Declaration)

“I cannot write with any style or proper edicate! I don’t know a participle from a predicate! I am just a humble cobbler from Connecticut.” (He is so relatable for that. The whole song is one big- everyone is trying to ditch this “group” project)

5) Thomas Jefferson being too horny to work is a major plot point.

6) The most romantic subplot in this film, and I mean, actually beautifully romantic, is John arguing with his wife, Abigail, via letters. Best part about that is these parts are straight from their real historical letters. Perfect in every way. 🥰

7) The discussion on Slavery is intense. I will say this version of events paints Jefferson rather rosy, but it was written before we knew what we knew about him, and he is documented as fighting hard to end slavery with the founding of the nation. It is bizarre, knowing that, that he continued on in the manner he did. People are multifaceted, and some just get worse with age.

But the part in this movie that is worth watching is the argument the South gives back. Thier argument is basically “If we are sinning by this practice, then you are sinning with us, because you benefit.” While it is a lack luster argument to keep doing as you are doing, it does allow a nuanced understanding of privelege before the term was even used in that manner.

It also delivers a bone chilling example of the triangle trade in the form of a song that has haunted me since childhood.

“Molasses to rum to slaves. Who sails the ships out of Boston? Laden with bibles and rum? Whose fortunes are made in the triangle trade? Hail Charleston! Hail Boston! Who stinketh the most?”

8) “Cool Considerate Men” is also bone chilling, as a bunch of conservative congressmen dance calmly while listening to a casualty report from Washington. The song will never not be relevant.

9) In the same way, “Mama Look Sharp” will always always bring me to tears. It is a song from a Messenger Boy sent with Washington’s missive from the front. He sings about his friend calling for his mother as the young boy lay dying on “the green.”

The green was where people held meetings and parties and festivals- the green is the old fashioned version of “the Town Park.” The first battles for freedom were faught in town parks, where boys crawled off under thier favorite tree to die.

In light of everything that we have heard about fighting for freedom around the world, the line “The soldiers they fired! Oh Ma, did we run. Hey! Hey! Mama, look sharp,” is making me cry right now, and I haven’t even heard this song in a year. 😭🎶

10) “Is anybody there??? Does anybody care?! Does anybody see what I see? I see Americans, ALL Americans, FREE, forever more! Is anybody there??? Does anybody care?! Does anybody see what I see?”

The older I get the more I relate to John Addams screaming into the void because he simply cannot fix all the problems by himself.

There is more I could say about this musical, but at that point it would just be telling. Go watch the film. It’s funny and fun and poignant and powerful, and might make you cry. As good broadway often does.

[coldcrowmusic]

I hate, I absolutely hate the amount of negativity that Emily is receiving right now.

It is so brave and inspiring for the band Linkin Park to continue making music despite their grief. They made a great decision to connect with female vocalist and to start an absolutely new chapter together.

The real fans, people who respect the band, would they give unnecessary and unkind comments instead of support after looking in Mike’s happy eyes? Truly disgusting.

The question is never about replacing Chester, it is about people who are alive and breath through music. Now they used the material already familiar to the public. It is a pretty controversial move, to be frank.

However.

I get it, it might be quite unusual to hear different voice in favorite songs. Yet, please, let’s show some respect to people who wrote the music we love so much that we want it to stay untouchable.

Personally, I like Emily. I think that in the new album we will see the real new chapter of Linkin Park. We wouldn’t want to say something we will regret later, something that is against love to this music and these people.

[married-2-the-music]

KARA Deep Dive #2/3: Still Making Sweet Melodies After Seventeen Years

TW: discussion of mental health, assault, depression, and suicide

KARA was one of the most important groups of k-pop’s second generation, and though their name is not as well known now as, say, Girls Generation or SHINee, they’re also still going strong. They debuted in 2008 with four members: Sunghee, Nicole, Gyuri, and Seungyeon, but had a few lineup changes. The first in 2009 with Sunghee leaving, replaced by Jiyoung and Goo Hara, and the second in 2014, with Jiyoung and Nicole leaving, replaced by Youngji. They were on an extended hiatus until 2022, when they came back with all members except for Sunghee and Goo Hara, the latter of which took her own life in 2019.

Here are my credentials: While I only became a k-pop fan after KARA went on hiatus, I of course heard of them, and have heard a good handful of their title tracks. I know a bit about some of their members, having seen Youngji in the documentary K-pop Generation and having seen Nicole’s solo performances.

[bijouxcarys]

Queen's Hot Space Era: A Deep Dive

Masterlist

I’ve been thinking over this album and era more than usual lately, and decided that I’d write this up. Perhaps as a way to extricate all the Queen knowledge from my head, and the era in question takes up quite a lot of RAM.

The Hot Space album, and era, is very controversial and to this day garners a polarising set of opinions amongst fans and critics alike. So I just thought what the hell, let’s let everyone know what the hell was going on with Queen in the early 80s.

The Hot Space album was the 10th studio album by Queen and was released on the 21st May 1982. It had elements of disco, funk, R&B, dance, and pop, which was very different to what Queen had been doing throughout previous albums. The dance elements of this album was supposedly inspired by the success of Another One Bites The Dust, released in 1980.

Another One Bites The Dust was extremely successful in the US and the UK, the two largest marketing countries in the Western world, at least at the time—and Queen aimed to prolong that success.

The band started recording for Hot Space in June of 1981, and spent a gruelling 10 months on the project before wrapping up the production element in March of 1982. Upon its release, fans and critics found it disappointing. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said “the band that once proudly proclaimed not to use synthesisers on their albums now dramatically reversed course, dedicating the entire first side of the album to robotic, new wave dance pop, all driven by drum machines and coloured by keyboards with Brian May’s guitar coming in as flavour only on occasion.”

The fourth track on Hot Space, Body Language, has been dubbed the worst song in Queen’s discography by fans, and the whole album received no more than a 3-star rating overall.

Rolling Stone gave them a 3-star, whilst the Encyclopedia of Popular Music gave a 1-star… Yikes.

Hot Space is one of the more obscure Queen albums to those who are not currently, or have ever been, active within the fandom. So we’re going to break it down a little bit, and let’s just talk about the background and context of what the hell was going on with them.

So in 1981, Queen recorded Under Pressure with David Bowie, and it’s still considered one of Queen’s staple and most popular songs. It was recorded in Montreux, and was a completely separate project to Hot Space. The band had met up with Bowie and jammed together for a while, just to see if they could come up with something to lay down and master. Of course, as most people know, bassist John Deacon came up with the iconic Under Pressure bass riff, just before they all went out to get some pizza. And by the time they’d returned to the studio, he’d forgotten it! But luckily drummer Roger Taylor remembered it.

Now, this was the first time Queen weren’t working alone; they were used to working only with their producers, never having had anyone else’s input. The two artists merged as one for the song and it pointed in the direction of a potential new road for Queen—it was looking like an exciting one.

But what went wrong during the recording of Hot Space?

Brian May recalls that there was a total change of life for all of them. They travelled to Munich and according to Brian, that’s when things started to go downhill.

Let’s talk a little bit about the studio in which they recorded the album in Munich. It was situated in the basement of a hotel, and it was called Musicland Studios. It closed in the 90s due to some road issues, so it’s no longer open. But Brian remembers this place being grim and depressing.

The band’s mental health started to deteriorate after learning some unsettling details about the place. In Brian’s words:

“A lot of people used to jump off the top of the building and kill themselves off that particular building. We didn’t know that until we got there.”

The urge to finish recording grew, and they spent months at the hotel.

The aim was to create an album that focused more on the dance elements of music due to the success of Another One Bites The Dust, as I mentioned before. They seemed to be in luck, as Freddie Mercury’s entourage at the time was concentrated with dance influences in the form of Paul Prenter.

Now, who was Paul Prenter, you ask? If you’ve seen the film, you’ll kind of already know, but here’s a bit more of an in-depth look at him.

Paul Prenter was Freddie Mercury’s personal manager from 1977 to 1986. Despite their professional relationship, the two also engaged in intimate relations, and Prenter had a huge influence over Freddie’s life during the time he worked for him. He held partial responsibility for Freddie’s excessive involvement in drugs, alcohol, and his growing promiscuity. 

Freddie was known to have fired Prenter in 1986, and shortly after it was plastered all over the news. It turns out Paul Prenter had sold personal stories to the press about Freddie… What a dick.

After receiving money from multiple press outlets, he moved back to his hometown of Belfast and spent it all—smart. He then asked Freddie for more money! After all that, he went back and asked him for money! But it’s okay, he did succumb to complications from AIDS a few months before Freddie. So… Freddie got the last laugh, it seemed.

You’re probably wondering what Paul Prenter had to do with Hot Space. After all, he wasn’t part of the band, right?

Well, Freddie’s life was ruled by the New York-inspired gay lifestyle of the 80s, particularly engaging in extreme partying and extreme promiscuity. And at the time, Freddie had suggested to the band that the music on their new album should sound like that of which they’d play in a gay bar, but those words had initially come from Paul Prenter.

It’s said that Prenter despised guitars and relentlessly referred to Brian May as old-fashioned. Roger Taylor recalled that Prenter was a “very bad influence” on the band:

“He was a very, very bad influence upon Freddie, and hence on the band. He very much wanted our music to sound like you just walked in a gay club, and I didn’t.”

The strain and tension became inevitable with the four personalities—and we all know that John, Freddie, Brian, and Roger have massive personalities. Whilst they had always experienced bickering, as most bands do, they now with the added tension, the production of the album isn’t going to go as smoothly.

“Arguments would start off as creative, but slowly became personal.”

Brian recalls that less and less time was spent in the studio and more time was spent arguing.

To put it into perspective about what life was like for the 10 months they spent recording Hot Space in Munich…A regular day recording this album went a little bit like the following:

The entourage recall waking up at 3am, working for hours, having dinner, and then roadies would mix up cocktails and other things would pursue. The band got mixed up in cocaine and various other drugs. Random women, and relentless drinking, and as any sane person will tell you, that is not a good thing.

Roger described it as an exhausting cycle day after day. Imagine doing that for 9 whole months.

Brian remembers them getting into “deep trouble emotionally” in Munich, which possibly explains why their mental states deteriorated.

Now, the Hot Space era didn’t just end when the album came out. Obviously, when an album comes out, you have to do interviews to promote your album and after months and months of bad influences and arguments, the band’s relationship had kind of broken down. Things continued in quite a tense fashion. 

In fact, Freddie was left very unhappy and depressed after Hot Space wrapped up—it lasted a while, and he was completely immersed in places and habits that remained detrimental to his fate. Freddie became passive during interviews and defensive on certain questions concerning anything but current projects.

His attitude during the 1982 press conference in Europe was already standoffish and it was extremely obvious that he didn’t want to be there. The body language of the others, especially Brian, speaks volumes. The mood is low and they all seem exhausted.

Another nationwide interview the band gave in promotion for the album presented the group separated; Freddie was notably disinterested as the others spoke. There was even a moment where Freddie responds to the interviewer’s question with “let’s break up tomorrow” as a joke. But, watching it, you can’t help but feel there’s some truth to his words. Nobody laughed, even Roger looked uncomfortable by it!

One of the more well-known interviews from this era was with Brian and Roger, which displayed multiple moments of awkwardness with them both trying to make jokes and seem like they’re happy with what they’d produced, making up amateur excuses as to why they created something with a different sound. In my opinion, they just didn’t seem very happy. Do we even need to mention the “shut up” from Roger, and then the succeeding comment from Brian about Mack having the best drum sound?

Then, we have the iconic 1984 Freddie interview, where he left viewers stunned with his answers:

“I love my job, but I hate talking to people like you,” “I’m not an artist, I’m just a musical prostitute, my dear.”

The long-term effects of what happened behind the scenes of Hot Space were everlasting and turned the group into four completely different people than they were prior to 1982. 

As I’ve already mentioned, Hot Space wasn’t received well upon its release, and there are still very strong opinions about it today. Brian stated in 2014 that it isn’t the band’s worst album, but the timing of its release was just wrong. As time goes on, more people begin to accept the Hot Space album as just another reason why Queen is one of the most versatile groups of all time, with them branching out into very different styles to what they’d done earlier in their career, like Sheer Heart Attack, News Of The World, etc…

80s culture looked down upon disco and funk, so reception for Hot Space was bound to be less than amazing. However, today, all styles of music are simultaneously celebrated, and people enjoy the album more now than they did 40 years ago.

So in conclusion, recording Hot Space was a difficult period for Queen. It’s horrible to think about your idols going through the kind of thing they did in the early-mid 80s, influenced by not very nice people. But focusing on the album itself, it’s truly not a bad album at all. Granted, the timing of the release wasn’t the best for Queen, but it holds up as a fan favourite today.

If you haven’t heard any of the songs from Hot Space, besides Under Pressure, I highly recommend you check it out. It’s very different to what Queen usually did and I think it’s worth a listen.

Anyway, I’ll leave it at that. Let me know if you liked this little… post, whatever the hell it is, and if I should do more posts like this. I enjoy throwing all my useless knowledge onto a page lol.