{"id":39751,"date":"2006-05-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-05-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/stone-cold-classics\/"},"modified":"2006-05-09T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2006-05-09T00:00:00","slug":"stone-cold-classics","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/stone-cold-classics\/","title":{"rendered":"Stone Cold Classics"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

If there’s anything Queen doesn’t need, it’s another
\nhits release. With Greatest Hits I<\/i>, II<\/i>, III<\/i>,
\nClassic Queen<\/i>, Queen Rocks<\/i> and last year’s reissued
\nGreatest Hits<\/i> with a few new live tracks tacked on and no
\nsign of promised box sets, it’s enough to drive the band’s loyal
\nfanbase crazy. But, of course, this latest incarnation coincides
\nwith the band’s April 11 appearance on American Idol.<\/i> And,
\nso I don’t get flooded with any hate mail, I’m going to keep quiet
\non that venture\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6!<\/p>\n

This limited release, Stone Cold Classics<\/i>,
\nfeatures most of the usual suspects — Freddie Mercury’s
\nmasterpiece “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the ever-present arena staple “We
\nWill Rock You” and the blistering opener to Queen + Paul Rodgers’
\nlatest tour, “Tie Your Mother Down.” Also appearing is the lesser
\nknown “Stone Cold Crazy,” the frantic blues-rocker from 1974’s
\nSheer Heart Attack<\/i> later covered by Metallica.<\/p>\n

And to counter the rock feel most of the album
\ncontains, there’s also “These Are The Days Of Our Lives,” drummer
\nRoger Taylor’s quietly introspective look back on life from days
\nlong past and “The Show Must Go On,” Mercury’s triumphant epic from
\nthe band’s final album before his death, Innuendo<\/i>.<\/p>\n

The other bonus of purchasing Queen’s latest cash
\ncow? Two songs from Return Of The Champions<\/i>, Paul Rodgers
\nand his Free hit, “All Right Now” and Bad Company’s “Feel Like
\nMaking Love.” Both are standouts of the Queen + Paul Rodgers tour,
\nwith Brian May sounding more fantastic than ever with his Red
\nSpecial and Rodgers in top form, even more so when it comes to his
\nown material.<\/p>\n

So while I’m trying to be objective, even the diehard
\nQueen fan in me can’t help but wonder what Richard Gray was
\nthinking when he designed this cover. It seems like something
\nanyone could have thrown together in a five-minute, slapdash
\nPhotoshop effort. The attempt to harken back to the iconic Queen
\nII<\/i> cover\/”Bohemian Rhapsody” video looks lazy, especially when
\ncompared to Gray’s work on 1995’s Made In Heaven<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Of course, this is marketed towards casual fans
\nthrough American Idol<\/i>‘s enormous audience, but its selection
\nof songs is inferior to Classic Queen<\/i> or any other of the
\n513 incarnations of Greatest Hits. Then again, Stone Cold Classics
\nseems to be doing what it intended, giving Queen its greatest chart
\nsuccess since 1992 when it entered the Billboard 200 at 45 earlier
\nthis week.<\/p>\n

But then, I suppose us fans deserve to see our band
\ntriumph again, especially after sitting through Kellie Picker
\nchopping up “Bohemian Rhapsody” or Ace Young trying to remove the
\ndrumbeat from “We Will Rock You” and turn it into a hip-hop
\nsong.<\/p>\n

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