Anyway the wind blows

Queen - A night at the Opera - 1975

Writing about any album that is considered the "greatest" album by a band is always a difficult thing to do. Especially when it's such a brilliant album as this one. When it's the greatest album by my most loved band, the task is just impossible.

Part of the problem is that, while I love this one, I also love the ones that came before and after. In a way, the greatness of this album is something that I have learned, rather than perceived myself.
But there's something about this album, and I don't think the huge success it became was purely luck, or good timing. For one, I think it was here that they found the perfect balance between their individual talents and their group efforts. While I really think they always worked very well together, in the previous albums there was more of a "separation", so to speak, mostly between Freddie's crazier and more vaudeville-like style, and the more hard rock oriented style that Brian favoured. In this album they blend styles perfectly and sometimes I actually have to check twice because some songs I have trouble remembering who of the two had written them. This is clearly the case with "Death on two Legs" and "The Prophet's Song".
In the past weeks, when talking about each album, I sort of focused on each of the members. I still have to talk about John, and no, I haven't forgotten about him, but today is the turn of the band as a whole.

So this is about Queen, as a whole, and I think it's opportune because of what I said above: in this album they worked better together than they had done in any of the previous ones.
And that is something that has always seemed remarkable to me about them. Some bands would have one leader, who would be the driving and creative force behind the band (King Crimson is quite the example). Other bands were more democratic, and there's a bunch of those, from The Beatles to Kiss, to just name two.
But very few, if any, of those more democratic bands did so while having such different musical styles and preferences. And I think that the magic of Queen was their ability to accept and embrace their differences, to experiment and most likely modify their original ideas by allowing for the input of other members. I never really knew if this was simply musical genius, or if the respect and friendship they felt for each other didn't have a lot to do with that too. I mentioned when talking about the previous album how sad Brian was because he wasn't able to participate in "Killer Queen" due to his illness, and how the band actually waited for him and sort of "made room" so that he could play when he came back. That's just a story, but you can see that there was always something very cool and, knowing rock bands, very strange about Queen: Can you tell of a single story of conflicts, splitting up, members leaving, horrible fights or, really, anything, that usually follows rock bands? These four seemed to be getting along just fine all the time, and I think they managed, like few bands, to let that show in their music.
Everything in this album shows that: Oh, Roger, you want to write a love song about your car? Sure! Brian will add his awesome guitars and between the two, we'll have a great song, play it all the time live, and put it as a Side B to "Bohemian Rhapsody"! Oh, Freddie, do you want to put some operatic vocals in a song? Sure! we'll sing for three weeks non stop until we get it right, and Roger can do the higher notes! Oh, John, you want to write a pop love song to your wife and use an electric piano? Sure! do you mind playing that thing yourself, though?, I only play "real" pianos. But it's a cool song, let's make it a single! Oh, Brian, you want to write a biblical song and play a Japanese instrument in it? Sure! I have an idea for some cool vocals with delays that could work.
This is part true, part imagined, of course. But the fact is that one of the things that made them so great was how well they worked together.
So this is for you Queen, you were my first favourite band ever, and I am not only glad, but also proud that I discovered you when I was very young, and have loved you guys ever since. Thank you!

• As awesome as this album is, it has the only Queen song that I never liked, which is "Sweet Lady". Listening to it now, I realise it's not really that bad. But it was the song I would always skip. And we're talking vinyl here, which meant quite a bit more of an effort. 
• "I'm in love with my car" was actually Side B to "Bohemian Rhapsody". The story wasn't so easy because, apparently, Roger locked himself in a cupboard until Freddie agree to put it in the single. So yes, of course, there was conflict sometimes. But any conflict that includes locking yourself up in a cupboard is, by definition, cute.
• The Japanese instrument I mentioned above, is a koto, a string instrument. He also plays the ukelele in "Good Company". Amazingly enough, all the "brass" sounding instruments there are all done with guitars. 
• Of course, Brian also plays the harp in "Love of my Life". I'm not putting the song here today, mostly because the live version will have its own place when we get to Live Killers. Also, I like to keep the studio version for myself. 
• "Death on two Legs" was about their former manager. Freddie was quite angry at the guy for the way he felt the band had been managed. It's my favourite hate song of all times. You are really angry at someone? Play this one. Of course, I'm putting it here.
• I'm also going to put "The Prophet's Song", because it's a great song, and not one of their best known tracks. And, of course, I'm not forgetting "Bohemian Rhapsody". Of course, I'm putting Wayne's World version. That's how I always like to think of the song. 

The return of the Thin White Duke

David Bowie - Station to Station - 1976

It's not easy to talk about "crazy" when the subject is David Bowie. There's a distinct chance that it might be understood as business as usual, almost as if whoever says it failed to understand a phase in the life of the brilliantly chameleonic artist. 

Now, I understand Bowie quite well. As well as can be expected, I think. But I'm pretty sure this is the craziest of his albums, in a way. And it comes from the craziest period of his life.

Bowie was living in Los Angeles at the time, while filming Nicholas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth. He had developed quite an intense cocaine habit, apparently only ate peppers and milk, and lived in a constant state of paranoia, scared of witches, people falling off windows, Jimmy Page (because of his interest in Aleister Crowley), and even the Rolling Stones. He would later say about this period and Los Angeles: "The fucking place should be wiped off the face of the earth."

This was the album that also brought forth the Thin White Duke persona, which had began to appear in the previous album. Probably due to his mind state, this was his most controversial persona because of some of the fascist statements he would make in interviews. 

Musically, the album is somewhere in between the funk/r&b sounds of the previous one and the more electronic and dark sounds that he would have in the three following albums, in collaboration with Brian Eno. 

I have mixed feelings about this one. I like some moments, the long title track is brilliant at times, but maybe too long. "Golden Years" is a song I've always loved, and I love his version of "Wild is the Wind", so that's half of the album. The other three tracks are not bad, but far from the best he's done. 

• While he would drop the Thin White Duke persona during the following year, at least here in Argentina, that's the way he would be known forever.
• In case you haven't seen it, The Man Who Fell to Earth is actually a very good movie. Haven't watched it myself in a long while, probably will pretty soon.
• I'm going to self-indulge a bit and put "Wild is the Wind". It's not his song, but it's a great version, and it's such a dramatic song that I can't resist it. The video was only done a few years later, in 1981.