November 10, 1978 - Jazz

Nearly two weeks after my last release and a year after "News Of The World", Queen released their seventh album "Jazz" on November 10, 1978. After a couple albums self-produced, Queen's original producer Roy Thomas Baker returned for this album and I think he fits in really well. The last two albums were good, but not amazing and hopefully these talented guys can get back to the heights they reached with "A Night At The Opera". Let's check it out!

The album kicks off with "Mustapha", a Freddie Mercury written song that has hardly any English in it at all! He opens the song by himself singing "Ibrahim! Ibrahim! Allah Allah Allah we pray for you!" A very odd start to a Queen song indeed but the rest of the band joins in and forms a more Queen-like backing riff. Mercury plays some catchy piano and he sings along in his usual amazing voice, but most of it is either "Mustapha" or "Ibrahim". After a speedy verse Brian May's guitar comes thundering in for the next verse and makes things sound pretty good. The guitar spices things up a bit as May adds in some short guitar licks that sound nice. Mercury continues to lead with his foreign vocals and they tie things up nicely at the end, bringing this odd but interesting opener to a close. The next song "Fat Bottomed Girls" would go on to be another very successful single for Queen and it's easy to see why. Mercury and May sing together in the chorus, which is also how they start off the song. Each line starts with a long "ahhhhhhh" and once you figure out the rhythm it's hard not to sing along. May plays a nice guitar riff and John Deacon and Roger Taylor join him to form the slow main riff. They keep the beat while May plays some pretty sweet lead guitar that drives the verse as Mercury sings about larger women. They play another chorus before May plays a few notes by himself and then it's off for another verse. Taylor plays a pretty nice drum fill right before they resume the chorus again as they keep things fresh. "Get on your bikes and ride!" I love that line and it kicks off a final jamming part where Mercury rambles overtop of the main riff until the end of the song. A good song indeed and another very popular hit. Track 3 is called "Jealousy" and Mercury plays some really nice piano to lead the way while May also adds some cool guitar. Freddie sings in his one-of-a-kind voice and together with his piano he just sounds so great! Deacon's bass sounds pretty good in the background and Mercury sings about that common feeling of jealousy. May and Taylor do some classic Queen backing vocals and they do sound pretty good in this style. May's guitar is cool when it comes in, but most of this is a slow Mercury showcase. Up next is another hit single, "Bicycle Race". May and Taylor feature heavily in this one as they sing the backing track while Mercury does lead as usual. It begins with the chorus which is simply about wanting to ride your bike. The verse is a really great back-and-forth between lead and backup singers and of course Queen deliver it superbly. Mercury sounds amazing as he sings a bunch of seemingly random lyrics before explaining he doesn't care about any of that, "all I wanna do is...Bicycle!" It's a very weird idea for a song but they turn it into quite a cool one! Mercury plays some nice piano throughout this song and they slow it down after the second chorus for a new part with some more cool piano. "Fat bottomed girls, they'll be riding today. So look out for those beauties oh yeah". A nice reference to their earlier song and just a great line! May plays some nice guitar as well as they bring it back to the chorus. After this one, everything gets quiet...and we hear a chorus of bike bells! They do a great job of making a bunch of racket sound like music and May plays a wonderful little guitar solo that leads right into another back-and-forth verse. This one sounds pretty awesome as well and they top it all off with one final chorus that brings this pretty cool three minute song to a nice end. Track 5 is the John Deacon-written "If You Can't Beat Them" and it's driven by an upbeat rock riff led by some decent May guitar. Mercury sings in a happy voice in the verse and after the simple chorus May plays a nice new riff briefly before it's back to the verse. They repeat the same formula and then May plays an extended solo that is good, but not great I think. After another chorus they continue to jam out that beat, but with no more lyrics. May leads the way, soloing overtop the chorus riff to good effect as he spices up the ending of this otherwise pretty tame song. The last song on this side is "Let Me Entertain You" which is driven by a pretty heavy riff that sounds great! Mercury's piano and Deacon's bass form a nice backing riff as May plays some sweet guitar. Mercury sings quickly along to this fast beat and May's guitar sounds pretty good. Mercury's singing in the chorus sounds pretty great as well and Taylor plays some nice drums afterwards as all four guys are sounding good on this one. Mercury's vocals are excellent in the verse as well and after another solid chorus May plays a short guitar solo that fits the mood really nicely. They play another cool verse and finish out this really good song with some odd chatter at the end.

Side two opens with "Dead On Time" which starts with a rock and roll flourish for a change and May kicks into gear early as he leads the way with some fast, great sounding guitar. Mercury's singing is good as always but May's guitar is superb on this one! He plays some wicked stuff and Freddie tries to keep up with some fast singing. Taylor's drumming is pretty fast as well and he plays some nice fills in the chorus before May takes off for one hell of a solo! I think it's one of his best ones yet as he continues to absolutely shred it on this song! They play another great little verse and end it with an even flashier flourish ending that culminates with an epic lightning bolt. That was pretty sweet! The next song is the shortest on this album, "In Only Seven Days". Mercury plays some slow piano that sounds pretty good as he sings about falling in love with someone one day at a time over a week. The piano is decent, but the backing riff is quite sappy and May plays some slow, pop-y guitar. There's a "guitar solo", but it's nothing special at all as this is easily one of their lesser songs in my opinion. Track 9 is called "Dreamer's Ball" and May leads the way with some guitar that sounds like it straight out of the 50's. Mercury sings along in a nice style as they successfully give an old feel to this tune. Taylor and May's backing vocals in the chorus fit the mood quite well and May delivers a pretty good slow guitar solo. This is normally not my scene, but Queen do a really great job at it. Up next is the first song on this record to be written and sung by Taylor, called "Fun It". It has a very funky vibe to it as Taylor plays some echoing drums and May and Deacon add some funky guitars. Taylor's high vocals fit this funky mood pretty well and when May joins in his guitar sounds pretty good. Mercury sings a couple verses as well and although they don't really spice it up, it's still an interesting main riff. May gets a chance to solo a bit at the end, and he does a decent job as they abruptly end this song. Track 11 is "Leaving Home Ain't Easy", written and sung by May. He drives the song with some cool acoustic guitar as we hear some other slow guitar overtop. May sings the verse in his standard Mercury-lite voice as Freddie sings the backing vocals in the chorus. It's a pretty light song that May sings pretty well, but there's not a whole lot going on in this tame song as they continue the verse/chorus formula a few times over. Mercury is back on lead vocals for the next song, "Don't Stop Me Now" and he opens it with some beautiful piano and his typically great vocals. He sings about being in a really good mood and having that feeling that nothing can stand in your way and this solo opening sounds pretty sweet! After he sings the name of the song, the rest of the band comes in and things switch to an upbeat rock riff. Mercury sings much faster and he sounds amazing, as does this whole riff! The piano sounds great as Mercury is in the spotlight and performing superbly! "Make a supersonic man out of you!" They play another spectacular verse and at the end of this one things quiet down as we're left with just Taylor's drums. May and Taylor do some solid backing vocals while Freddie has some fun with his "have a good time, good time". This segues nicely into a May guitar solo, and he does an excellent job with this one, playing all the right notes. It leads right back into the awesome verse as May's great guitar continues on and makes things even better! They really hit it out of the park with this awesome fast-paced song as they jam out one final verse and end it as it began with another Mercury solo. He plays it out with some more great piano as he sings some beautiful wordless vocals that bring this awesome song to a close. The final song on the record is another Taylor-sung tune, titled "More Of That Jazz". He begins it with a pretty epic drum beat and Deacon comes in with some light guitar. May joins in with a gnarly riff that sounds great as they form another unique riff. Taylor's vocals sound pretty good and in the chorus he hits some really high notes! It's a pretty great main riff that doesn't seem to get old as they continue to jam it out. May's guitar sounds good in the chorus and after the second one he plays a nice building riff that seems to be leading to something epic. What arrives is a half minute mash-up of previous bits and pieces from songs earlier on the record. We hear snippets from every song on the album very quickly before they resume the groovy main beat and play a final chorus to finish off the album.

That is the end of "Jazz" and overall I thought it was a pretty good album. It had some highs and lows but I think it was certainly a return to top-notch form for these guys. There were several songs that would become staples of the Queen catalogue and I think the highs definitely outweigh the couple lesser tracks. But how does it compare to the rest of their albums? I think it easily surpasses their last two albums and I liked it so much that I think it also surpasses their first two more progressive offerings. It's very close, but I also give it the nod over their third album "Sheer Heart Attack" but this is where they must end as "A Night At The Opera" is in a league of it's own. Second place ain't too shabby at all though as Queen have decidedly stormed back into the forefront. I hope it continues into their next release and this also happens to be my final album of the year, and so begins the year-end wrap-up! Only 8 full albums this year is a big step down from recent years but sadly a lot of bands moving towards more popular trends leaves us with less quality albums at the end of the decade, but there was still some excellent new music in 1978.

Favourite song of the year: With an honorable mention to Van Halen's "Eruption", this was an easy choice this year as I think "La Villa Strangiato" was the best song by far. Rush spin together an absolutely amazing nine and a half minutes of music and it takes the cake this year with no true competition, perhaps other than themselves!

Top 5 Albums of the Year:

1. Hemispheres by Rush
2. Van Halen by Van Halen
3. Heavy Horses by Jethro Tull
4. Jazz by Queen
5. U.K. by U.K.

Albums 2-4 are all pretty great, but "Hemispheres" is in a league of it's own as three out of four songs were quite incredible. Overall 1978 may not have been the best year for music, but it did give us some great stuff still. Until next year!