Review Summary: The last great Queen album.....
Ahhh Hot Space, released when I was 12 years old and an album that has been criticised by many and even blamed for Queen losing their audience in the U.S amongst other things. But is it really that bad? Even at my young age I recall getting this on vinyl and upon dropping the needle onto the first track, Staying Power, realising that this was something totally different to their previous albums.
Queen would release much more commercially successful albums in the 80s following Hot Space (in fact all were more successful commercially) but in my view, this is the last great Queen released before the slipped into the practice of having 3 great singles per album with a bigger quota of filler included. Queen entered the 80's as one of the largest groups in the world. The Game had been their biggest seller and had produced two number 1 singles in the U.S. and their greatest hits album had summaries the first decade nicely, on its way to becoming the biggest selling album ever in the UK. There’s an argument to say that Queen had tailed off somewhat before the release of The Game, with the singles from Jazz not reaching the same success as previous hits, and both Crazy Little Thing Called Love and Another One Bites the Dust being the most un-Queen like songs to date and thus contributing to their success, but that’s a different conversation for a different day.
The 80s was a decade that left many of the larger 70s artists struggling to match their previous levels success and critical acclaim. Both Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles soon ceased to exist. Many other artists that were huge in the 70s saw sales dwindle and were superseded by new wave and pop artists such as Prince, Madonna, Michael Jackson and the Police.
If Queen were to avoid a similar fate and slowly disappear then they had to avoid trying to recapture their former glories by looking backwards for inspiration. And this is where Hot Space was the right album at the right time. It’s just that not many people realised. Hot Space was a big influence on Michael Jackson and the Thriller album, as Freddie and M.J were hanging around together during this period. So any album that added to the biggest selling album ever can’t have been all bad. Fans always moan if an artist strays too far from what is viewed as “their type” of music, so it’s no surprise that Queen lost a lot of fans with this album. But then Queen had constantly mixed up styles on individual albums, but within the framework of being a rock band. Not only did the musical style change going into the 80s, so did the look. Short hair, jeans and t-shirts, the famous moustache….all pointed at a new outlook in a new decade. Added to this, an album that was light on guitar and heavy on the synthesizers and it looked like Queen had deserted their rock roots altogether. Although those who attended their concerts in ’82 would have realized they still delivered the same punch live.
The album itself often gets split into 2 sides (prior to the advent of CDs) this being the dance/funk side and the rock side. This to me is also a mistake, as the entire album only has one real rocky track, that being “Put Out the Fire” that opens side 2. The remainder of the songs are much lighter and pop orientated without the trademark theatrics and 12 part harmonies from the 70s albums. Anyone who was put off by this new style was going to find getting into Hot Space as challenge as it opens with two songs, Staying Power and Dancer, that were probably a result of too many nights down at the Sugar Shack in Munich and would have left most people scratching their heads and checking the album was actually by the same Queen they used to love. The first single released prior to the album wouldn’t have helped either. “Body Language” being a song made for the S&M clubs in New York rather than the concert halls in the mid-west. This song is often voted as one of Queens worst in fan polls, (although surprisingly was a number 11 hit in the U.S. whilst only hitting 25 in the UK) but to me its one of the best songs on the album, almost a guilty pleasure I suppose, but it was so different, even when compared to “A.O.B.T.D” that it set the tone for the whole album perfectly. Sure if you were stuck in the 70s and wanted to hear a re-write of March of the Black Queen” you were going to be disappointed, but then you already had that to go back to listen to if you wanted. At least Queen on Hot Space were trying something new for themselves and their fans.
I guess to a 12 year olds ears these songs sounded fresh and current at the time, and Back Chat and Calling All Girls are further examples of pop music done well. Some may argue Queen weren’t a pop group, but in that case what were “Your My Best Friend” and “Don’t Stop Me Now” if not great pop songs. Don’t be fooled by those who tell you these are dance songs, as they aren’t. They may be influenced more in the vein of Another One Bites the Dust rather than The Prophet Song.
Hot Space isn’t a perfect album of course, “Life is Real” and “Cool Cats” won’t be appearing on many fans home-made best of compilations, but “Las Palabras De Amor” is a great ballad that could have sat proudly on any Queen album and the final track “Under Pressure” is one of Queens greatest songs.
After this Queen albums fell into a routine that lasted until their final album with Freddie. The song writing of the other 3 members because more prominent as I guess Freddies lifestyle and maybe drive for success changed. Don’t believe that? Look at the credits to GH 1 and GH2 for the evidence. But if Queen had built their success on a variety of different styles and tempos, then this was the last time they released an album that pushed things in a different direction. Some will never accept it as one of their best, and I guess it isn’t one of their best when compared with Sheer Heart Attack and A.N.A.T.O but it’s also far from their worst album. All that’s required is an open mind and a sense of fun in order to appreciate.
