(1978) Queen - Jazz

Wikipedia:
Jazz is the seventh studio album by British rock band Queen, released in November 1978. Roy Thomas Baker temporarily reunited with the band and became their producer; it was three years since he co-produced their 1975 album A Night at the Opera, but this album also was the last he co-produced for the band. The album's varying musical styles were alternately praised and criticised. It reached #2 in the UK Albums Chart and #6 on the US Billboard 200, and it was subject to a viciously scathing Rolling Stone review by Dave Marsh, which included the suggestion that "Queen may be the first truly fascist rock band"


Review:
Mustapha
"Mustapha" is a song written by Freddie Mercury. It was released as a single in 1979.
The lyrics consist of English, Arabic, Persian and possibly a number of invented words. Some understandable words are "Mustapha", "Ibrahim" and the phrases "Allah, Allah, Allah we'll pray for you", "salaam alaykum" and "alaykum salaam".
In live performances, such as the performance on Live Killers, Mercury would often sing the opening vocals of "Mustapha" in place of the complex introduction to "Bohemian Rhapsody", going from "Allah, we'll pray for you" to "Mama, just killed a man...". However, sometimes the band performed an almost full version of the song, with Mercury at the piano.
Fat Bottomed Girls
"Fat Bottomed Girls" was written by Brian May with lead vocals shared by Mercury and May, who sings lead on the chorus. On stage Mercury sang the entire song, with Roger Taylor and May doing harmonies. Both guitar and bass are played in drop-D tuning for this song, a rarity for Queen.
Jealousy
"Jealousy" was penned by Mercury and features May playing his Hairfred acoustic guitar placing small pieces of piano wire under the frets to produce the "buzzing" effect of a sitar. This effect had already been used on "White Queen (As It Began)", from Queen II. All vocals were recorded by Mercury.
Bicycle Race
"Bicycle Race" is a complex composition by Mercury. It features several modulations, unusual chord functions, a metre change (4/4 to 6/8 and back), and a programmatic section (a race of guitars emulating the bicycle race).
If You Can't Beat Them
"If You Can't Beat Them" was another hard rock composition by John Deacon and a live favourite for the band in late 1970s. It is one of the few songs by Deacon where May plays all the guitars and contains a guitar solo of over two minutes, making it one of the longest guitar solos in a Queen song.
Let Me Entertain You
"Let Me Entertain You" was written by Mercury, directed towards the audience. The line "we'll sing to you in Japanese" is a reference to May's Teo Torriatte, from A Day at the Races. The idea of a guitar riff in parallel sixths was re-used later in the Innuendo track, "The Hitman".
Dead on Time
"Dead on Time", written by May, features some of the fastest and most aggressive guitar work by its author, as well as intense drumming by Taylor. Performed at high tempo for Queen, it was considered by most fans to be an ideal live number, but was curiously never played in concert; May would only incorporate snippets of it in his guitar solos during the Jazz Tour.
The song resembles "Keep Yourself Alive" from Queen's self-titled debut album. In the last chorus, the words "keep yourself alive" are sung, and in the lyrics attached to the album, those words are written in capitals.
The song ends with the sound of a thunderbolt, followed by Mercury screaming "You're dead!" The thunderbolt was actually recorded by May on a portable recorder during a vicious thunderstorm. The album's liner notes credit the thunderbolt to God.
In Only Seven Days
"In Only Seven Days" is Deacon's other songwriting contribution on the album, and shares similarities with one of his previous songs, "Spread Your Wings". Deacon also played acoustic and electric guitar on this song.
Dreamers Ball
"Dreamers Ball" is May's tribute to Elvis Presley, who had died one year before. The arrangement for the concert version was completely different, with May and Taylor doing vocal brasses.
Fun It
"Fun It" was a funk track with a disco vibe by Taylor, where both Mercury and himself shared the vocals. Taylor did the lead vocals, while Mercury was backup. Taylor used Syndrum pads and played most of the instruments. It can be seen a precursor to "Another One Bites the Dust", especially with the intro of this track.
Leaving Home Ain't Easy
"Leaving Home Ain't Easy" was a ballad by May, who also sang all the vocals (lead and harmony). His voice was sped up for the bridge.
Don't Stop Me Now
"Don't Stop Me Now" is Mercury's top ten single in the UK and is one of Queen's most famous songs. May's only input is a short guitar solo and backing vocals. The song was used in the now-famous bar scene of the motion picture Shaun of the Dead. In addition, the BBC show Top Gear named it the top song in a viewer poll of Top Ten driving songs.[9] Google also used the song for their Google Doodle to commemorate Mercury's 65 birthday on 5 September 2011.
More of That Jazz
"More of That Jazz" is yet another one of Taylor's bitter comments about current society and the way rock and roll is disrespected. It is loop based and Taylor plays most instruments and sings all vocals, reaching some very high notes (peaking on an E5). The outro also contains short clips from many songs on the album, including "Dead on Time", "Bicycle Race", "Mustapha", "If You Can't Beat Them", "Fun It", and "Fat Bottomed Girls".





Tracklist:
A1 Mustapha
A2 Fat Bottomed Girls
A3 Jealousy
A4 Bicycle Race
A5 If You Can't Beat Them
A6 Let Me Entertain You
B1 Dead On Time
B2 In Only Seven Days
B3 Dreamer's Ball
B4 Fun It
B5 Leaving Home Ain't Easy
B6 Don't Stop Me Now
B7 More Of That Jazz



Summary:
Country: UK
Genre: Rock
Source: Vinyl


Media Report
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* * * Raw File Report for Queen - Jazz.flac

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