A Day At The Races - QUEEN*****

Tie Your Mother Down/You Take My Breath Away/Long Way/The Millionaire Waltz/You & I/Somebody To Love/ White Man/Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy/Drowse/Let Us Cling Together

A Day At The Races may well be regarded as the most consistent Queen album from a strong field, with an amazing variety of musical styles. Features the UK No. 2 hit Somebody To Love. (US:5 UK:1)

“Queen busted out of the gate on A Day At The Races with a full on onslaught, wasting no time getting down to the hard rocking goods as the album opener, Tie Your Mother Down, is pushed out with authority. From their very first LP, Queen illustrated a unique ability to shift gears with a variety of stylist changes.”

“While somewhat less varied and quirky than their previous masterwork, A Day at The Races is simply an amazing follow-up that doesn't try to repeat its predecessor's formula. It has a lot of the same elements, but it's still packed with rock songs. Also, having Brian May do the lead vocals in some songs brings some more variety to a record that's already full of it.”

“There are elements from theatrical progressive rock, hard rock, pop and cabaret music on the album. The incredible vocals/backing vocals/choirs are the greatest assets of the music, but like the case on every preceding album the instrumental performances are also at a very high level. The compositions, whether they are of the more challenging or of the more easily accessible kind, are all very well written. They can be both epic, tongue in cheek humorous, sweet or hard rocking.”

“I can't rate this album highly enough, my absolute Queen favourite. The songwriting is diverse and strong, the music amazing, the guitar powerful and Freddie's vocals truly superb. They never made a stronger album, before or after.”

“This one picks up where the similarly named predecessor left off, with the guitar rock of Tie Your Mother Down, before jumping from style to style at random, each one done brilliantly and perfectly and the whole staying cohesive despite the inherent differences in each track. Mercury turns in some breathtaking performances here, and Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy is one of his most fun compositions.”

“The album follows a similar formula to its predecessor, A touch more pompous, the band plays a bit of everything again, from metal to vocal jazz, from pop to progressive, from operatic to gospel.”