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| Off with your head. |
I don't even know where to start. The monumental creativity and musical experimentation of Queen is difficult to capture in an Encyclopedia article, let alone a blogpost snapshot.
The tongue in cheek prog-rock, formidable technical abilities, and rabid imaginations of Freddie Mercury and Brian May drove Queen to a place in music beyond popular commercial success, and beyond the mainstream music avant-garde. The albums are cohesive, emotional, fistpumping masterpieces with flair, humor, and a flamboyant punch.
Queen ruled rock through the 80's. Freddie Mercury's outrageous persona, charisma, and incredible vocal and arrangement abilities meant that after his untimely death of AIDS in 1991, the band simply could not exist.
So many of Queen's best songs have become cliches, musical memes for highschool football games or parodies with puppets. On the one hand they deserve more. on the other, I think that it might be the best tribute to Queen's rock impact that - for all their vision and innovation - at the end of the show it was really all about the crowd:
"We will rock you!"
"We are the champions!"
Most rockers make the whole show about them. Queen had the rare ability to make it about us.
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