Anghraine

Speaking of Todd in the Shadows, the bff and I were watching a different video in which he (Todd) casually mentions his respect for the music knowledge of Mic the Snare. I'd seen his videos come up for me in the algorithm and always ignored them as some corporate thing, but with Todd's recommendation, I figured I'd try some of the "Deep Discog Dives" I'd seen popping up.

They're quite good! The comedic elements in these aren't as sharp as in Todd's, but this guy seems considerably younger and the comedy is definitely a sideshow to the research and analysis of the music, so even when jokes don't quite land (and often they do), it's not a big deal.

Anyway! The concept of these turns out to be overviews of the entire discography of an artist or group—it's at once breezy and quite specific in his analysis of individual songs, so I've enjoyed the videos I've seen thus far. Naturally, I watched the Queen one, which I really enjoyed as a Queen fan. And it was cool to see someone give the Innuendo album the respect I feel it deserves! People often focus on the 70s albums and talk like the 80s (and 90s!) albums are mediocre sell-out letdowns, but Mic the Snare recommended Innuendo along with the big 70s albums everyone knows. And he didn't even mention "The Show Must Go On" when talking about how great it is. A rather weird omission, but it was cool to see someone talk about the rest of the album.

I was curious if there'd been some larger re-evaluation of Innuendo and read an article in Rolling Stone about it, which was a bit surreal given how persistently shitty Rolling Stone was about Queen in Freddie's lifetime. There was a bit about Freddie's stated determination to work until he dropped, which of course feels different in light of him doing exactly that while dying of AIDS, but idk, there's a weird tenor to the article IMO. I kept thinking "no thanks to you."

As I typed this, I was actually thinking about how much I love the later Queen material and was curious how many of my personal favorite songs are from the 80s or 90s. Naturally, I do have a Queen playlist of my personal ranking of Queen or Queen-adjacent songs—not as some claim to objective quality, just personal enjoyment and affection. I figured I'd listen to it again and see if my top faves actually do skew in any particular direction, so here's my personal Top 20!

1. Under Pressure | Queen and David Bowie (1981)
2. The Show Must Go On | Queen (1991)
3. Who Wants To Live Forever | Queen (1986)
4. Ensueño | Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé (1987)
5. Bohemian Rhapsody | Queen (1975)
6. Barcelona | Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé (1987)
7. Crazy Little Thing Called Love | Queen (1979)
8. Radio Ga Ga | Queen (1984)
9. Don't Stop Me Now | Queen (1979)
10. Princes of the Universe | Queen (1986)
11. Seven Seas of Rhye | Queen (1973)
12. '39 | Queen (1976)
13. I'm Going Slightly Mad | Queen (1991)
14. These Are The Days of Our Lives | Queen (1991)
15. Love of My Life | Queen (1975)
16. Somebody To Love | Queen (1976)
17. We Will Rock You & We Are The Champions | Queen (1977; I know they're separate songs technically but shhhhh)
18. Another One Bites the Dust | Queen (1980)
19. I Want to Break Free | Queen (1984)
20. The Millionaire Waltz | Queen (1976)

[crossposted from Tumblr]

As a massive Queen fan who also despises the GOP, today has certainly been… something.

So, Donald Trump used “We Are the Champions” in June to celebrate his primary victories, to the horror of Brian May, who said on his website:


And thennnnn it was used at the RNC last night to introduce Melania Trump, and the official Queen twitter responded immediately:


and Sony Music has now issued an official statement:


and current frontman Adam Lambert pointed out the “wtf???” of the GOP, who have actively pursued anti-LGBT policies for decades, using a song written and sung by a man who described himself as “gay as a daffodil.”

Technically, the RNC probably paid BMI for the rights and are legally in the clear. But flouting the express wishes of the group whose music you’re using is certainly a douche move. And particularly when, in the process of pushing a racist, homophobic, hypernativist agenda, you’re exploiting the fame of the the song’s writer and lead singer—a man who was, among many other things, a queer, foreign immigrant of colour who might very well be alive today if not for the virulently homophobic indifference to AIDS victims in which the GOP participated.