News Of The World – QUEEN*****

We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions/Sheer Heart Attack/All Dead All Dead/Spread Your Wings/Fight From The Inside/Get Down Make Love/Sleeping On The Sidewalk/Who Needs You/Its Late/My Melancholy Blues

The excellent News Of The World reinforced the status of Queen as the pre-eminent UK rock band during the second half of the 1970s. Features the UK and US top five hit single We Are The Champions. (US:3 UK:4)

“I think the word impressive sums this up nicely. There isn't a bad song in sight and every last one is entirely different from the next and equally memorable too. Freddy's vocals are always as smooth as they can be, and the instrumentation is definitely rock, but blended with so many different genres that things are always interesting.”

“Jumping from genre to genre, from mood to mood and from idea to idea is definitely an entertaining path. Just when you thought you had them figured out, boom, they’re in another zone that they’d never been in before. All this is approached with musical inventiveness, memorable melodies and a tight instrumental background.”

“These songs sound as fresh as they did the day this album came out, they are catchy, well written, and performed in such a technical and perfectionist way that it makes me believe that this album is their masterpiece.”

“News Of The World generally features Queen more rock oriented and stripped down than the more flamboyant and theatrical predecessors. Queen always had a rock oriented sound, and some tracks on earlier releases are very direct and hard rocking, but on News Of The World they go for a less layered sound than usual. There are of course still the trademark extensive use of choirs and harmony vocals but here the lead vocals are given more room.”

“I often find it amazing when a group can make me fall in love with music, but Queen always seems to do just that. Their music, their guitar, their vocals, nothing beats their unique sound and nothing ever will.”

“In many ways this is Queen's most powerful album, and is very close to being their best. Queen never again sounded as heavy as they do here.”

“Can't you just feel your feet stomping just by looking at this album? We Are The Champions is the pinnacle of anthems, and no song will ever match it in intensity or worldwide acceptance.”