News of the World
Studio album by Queen
Released	October 28, 1977
Recorded	July-September 1977 Basing Street Wessex
Genre	Arena rock Hard rock
Length	39:30
Label	EMI, Parlophone Elektra, Hollywood (USA)
Producer(s)	Queen, assisted by Mike Stone
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link G. Starostin (9/15) link
Queen chronology
A Day at the Races (1976) News of the World (1977) Jazz (1978)

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News of the World is the sixth studio album by English rock band Queen, released in 1977. Image File history File links Queen_News_Of_The_World. ... A studio album is a collection of previously unreleased, studio-recorded tracks by a recording artist. ... Queen are an English rock band formed in 1970 in London by Brian May, Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor, with John Deacon joining the following year. ... October 28 is the 301st day of the year (302nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 64 days remaining. ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Arena rock is a loosely defined style of rock music, often also called anthem rock or stadium rock, and the style of music is closely associated with corporate rock and album-oriented rock. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The EMI Group (LSE: EMI) is a British music company comprising of the major record company EMI Music which operates several labels, based in Brook Green in London, England, and EMI Music Publishing, based on Charing Cross Road, London. ... Parlophone is a record label which was founded in Germany prior to World War I by the Carl Lindstrom Company. ... Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, and today operates under Atlantic Records Group. ... It has been suggested that Abbey Konowitch be merged into this article or section. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... Queen are an English rock band formed in 1970 in London by Brian May, Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor, with John Deacon joining the following year. ... Mike Stone (a. ... The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music owned by All Media Guide. ... Image File history File links 3_stars. ... Georgiy Sergeevich Starostin, (Russian: , born July 4, 1976) is a linguistics researcher, head of the Sinology Department of the Institute of Oriental Cultures at the Russian State University for the Humanities, where he also teaches. ... Queen are an English rock band formed in 1970 in London by Brian May, Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor, with John Deacon joining the following year. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Image File history File links Gnome-speakernotes. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the  United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total 130... Queen are an English rock band formed in 1970 in London by Brian May, Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor, with John Deacon joining the following year. ...

Containing such hit songs as "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions" (which are both commonly heard at sporting events) and "Spread Your Wings", the album went four times platinum in the United States alone and is tied with 1980's The Game as Queen's best American selling album. We Will Rock You is a song written by Brian May, and recorded and performed by Queen. ... We Are The Champions is a power ballad written by Freddie Mercury, recorded and performed by Queen for their 1977 album News of the World. ... Spread Your Wings is a song by Queen, from their 1977 album News Of The Word. ... The description Gold Album is applied to recorded music albums that have sold a minimum number of copies (in the US, currently 500,000 sales). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Despite being an abrupt departure from the band's progressive sound, the album is considered one of Queen's strongest albums from the 1970s. It received mixed reviews from both critics and fans upon its release, but today it is considered to be a milestone album in the development of arena rock. For the Swedish political music movement, see progg. ... Arena rock is a loosely defined style of rock music, often also called anthem rock or stadium rock, and the style of music is closely associated with corporate rock and album-oriented rock. ...

News of the World was the second album to be produced solely by the band (the first being A Day at the Races) and was recorded at Sarm West and Wessex Studios, England and co-produced and engineered by Mike Stone. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the  United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total 130... Mike Stone (a. ...

Track listing

Side 1

1. "We Will Rock You" (May) - 2:01
2. "We Are the Champions" (Mercury) - 2:59
3. "Sheer Heart Attack" (Taylor) - 3:24
4. "All Dead, All Dead" (May) - 3:09
5. "Spread Your Wings" (Deacon) - 4:32
6. "Fight From the Inside" (Taylor) - 3:03

Side 2

1. "Get Down, Make Love" (Mercury) - 3:51
2. "Sleeping on the Sidewalk" (May) - 3:07
3. "Who Needs You" (Deacon) - 3:07
4. "It's Late" (May) - 6:27
5. "My Melancholy Blues" (Mercury) - 3:29

Bonus tracks

1. "We Will Rock You ('1991 Bonus Remix Ruined [sic] by Rick Rubin')" (May) - 4:47

Frederick Jay Rubin (born March 10, 1963 in Lido Beach, New York) is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American record producer. ...

We Will Rock You

Main article: We Will Rock You

"We Will Rock You" (Sample ( info)) was released in the UK as a B-side to "We Are the Champions", and became one of Queen's biggest songs worldwide. A staple of arena and stadium sports everywhere, it was a conscious decision by Brian May to make the song simple and anthemic ("stomp, stomp, clap, pause" in a 4/4 metre), so that their live audience could be more directly involved in the show. Elektra Records in the US recommended putting "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions" together as a single, and the double A-side reached #4 in the US in 1978. In the video for "We Will Rock You" and "Spread Your Wings", May used a copy of his guitar. He supposedly didn't want to commit his Red Special to outside conditions, as the videos for these songs featured the band performing in the snow. We Will Rock You is a song written by Brian May, and recorded and performed by Queen. ... Image File history File links Queen_-_News_Of_The_World_-_We_Will_Rock_You. ... Brian Harold May, CBE, BSc, DSc, ARCS, FRAS, (born July 19, 1947) is a virtuoso[1][2][3][4] guitarist best known as the lead guitarist and backing, sometimes lead, vocalist for the English rock band Queen. ... An anthem is a composition to an English religious text sung in the context of an Anglican service. ... Metre or meter (US) is the measurement of a musical line into measures of stressed and unstressed beats, indicated in Western music notation by a symbol called a time signature. ... A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

We Are the Champions

Main article: We Are the Champions

According to Freddie Mercury, "We Are the Champions" had been already written in 1975 but it wasn't recorded until 1977.^[1] Mercury was thinking about football when he wrote it and was surprised that nobody composed anything to overtake it as a sports anthem. "We Are the Champions" was the first promotional video for which fan club members were invited to participate in the filming. The video was filmed at the New London Theatre on October 6, 1977. Everyone got a single and Queen did a free concert after the shoot. We Are The Champions is a power ballad written by Freddie Mercury, recorded and performed by Queen for their 1977 album News of the World. ... Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British musician and songwriter, best known as the frontman and pianist of the rock band Queen. ... The Official International Queen Fan Club is the official fan club for the rock band Queen. ... The New London Theatre is a theatre located on the corners of Drury Lane and Parker Street in the Covent Garden area of London. ... Alternate meanings: Single In music, a single is a short (usually ten minutes or less) record, usually featuring one or two tracks as A-sides, often accompanied by several B-sides—usually remixes or other songs. ...

Sheer Heart Attack

"Sheer Heart Attack" was half-finished at the time of the eponymous album. Roger Taylor sang lead on the demo but for the definitive version the band decided Mercury should co-sing lead vocals (probably based on the fact that May already sang two songs and Taylor sang one). Guitars and bass were played by Taylor, apart from some guitar "screams" by May during the instrumental section. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

During this time, the punk rock movement went into full effect, and this song was viewed as something of a jab at the musicians who felt bands like Queen were too self-indulgent. Of note is the lyric "I feel so inarticulate", and the fact that Taylor stated in interviews that he thought many of the 1970s punk bands had very little talent. Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ...

All Dead, All Dead

"All Dead, All Dead" was written and sung by May, and features Mercury on backing vocals; May also plays piano. Lyrically, the song deals with May's experiences following the death of his childhood pet cat. Binomial name Felis catus Linnaeus, 1758 Synonyms Felis lybica invalid junior synonym The cat (or domestic cat, house cat) is a small carnivorous mammal. ...

Spread Your Wings

Main article: Spread Your Wings

"Spread Your Wings" (Sample ( info)) was written by John Deacon and featured him playing acoustic guitar. The piano is by Mercury, although Deacon mimes it in the music video. It was the first Queen single without harmony vocals. Spread Your Wings is a song by Queen, from their 1977 album News Of The Word. ... Image File history File links Queen_-_News_Of_The_World_-_Spread_Your_Wings. ... For the medieval chroniclers named John, deacon of. ...

Fight From the Inside

"Fight From The Inside" was written and sung by Roger Taylor. In addition to the drums, Taylor also plays rhythm and bass guitar, the latter borrowed from Deacon himself.

The track is built around a jangly guitar riff and is amongst the first in the Queen catalogue to focus predominately on the drums and bass, as opposed to the lead guitars. Lyrically, the song is about the controlling of one's ego in the rock celebrity realm.

Get Down, Make Love

"Get Down, Make Love", written by Mercury, is among the most sexual-oriented songs in the Queen catalogue. Lyrically, it deals with one's frustrations following their partner's refusal or delay to please them sexually.

The distinctive 'psychedelic' sound effects heard in the song were not produced on a synthesizer, but on May's Red Special and an Electroharmonix Frequency Analyzer pedal. These sound effects, together with Mercury's moans and groans, were expanded upon during live renditions of the song, presenting the band an opportunity to show off the full potential of their stage lights and effects. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

The song was later covered by Nine Inch Nails, appearing on their "Sin" single. “NIN” redirects here. ... Sin (also known as Halo 4) is a single by Nine Inch Nails for the song of the same name released in 1990. ...

Sleeping on the Sidewalk

"Sleeping On The Sidewalk", written and sung by May, was inspired by Eric Clapton. It was recorded in one take. On close inspection, John Deacon can be heard playing the wrong notes in some bass parts. Brian May can also be heard laughing at the end of the song. Eric Patrick Clapton CBE (born 30 March 1945), nicknamed Slowhand, is a Grammy Award winning English guitarist, singer and composer, who is one of the most successful musicians of the 20th century,[1] garnering an unprecedented three inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ...

Lyrically, it deals with an aspiring trumpet player's career, delivered in a "rags-to-riches" fashion. May sings with an American accent, providing some near-authentic blues credibility to the jam, and measures the aforementioned trumpet player's success by "bucks" (as opposed to pounds). Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on the use of the blue notes and a repetitive pattern that most often follows a twelve-bar structure. ...

It is also one of the few Queen songs not to feature Mercury.

Who Needs You

"Who Needs You" was written by Deacon, who, along with May, also plays Spanish guitar (also heard on "Innuendo"). May also maracas and Mercury plays a cowbell. Innuendo is a song by English rock band Queen. ... The cowbell is a percussion instrument. ...

It's Late

Main article: It's Late

"It's Late", written by May, was the author's idea of treating a song as a three-act theatrical play. It makes use of the tapping technique one year before Eddie Van Halen popularized it. Its Late is a song by the rock band Queen. ... This article is about the music technique. ... Edward Van Halen (born Edward Lodewijk van Halen on January 26, 1955[1] in Nijmegen, Netherlands), is a guitarist, songwriter and producer most famous for being leader and a co-founder of the hard rock band, Van Halen. ...

My Melancholy Blues

"My Melancholy Blues" was composed by Mercury. There are no backing vocals or guitars. Despite the title, the track is more related to jazz. Deacon played fretless bass on stage during this song but used a regular fretted bass on the record. Jazz is a musical art form that originated in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States around the start of the 20th century. ... The fretless bass is a bass guitar without frets (including similarly configured guitars known as a fretless guitar). ...

Singles

• "We Are the Champions" released October 7, 1977 in the UK as the first single where it reached number 2. In the US, it was released as a Double A-side with "We Will Rock You" where it reached number 4.
• "Spread Your Wings" followed as the second single from the album. Written by John Deacon and released in the UK on February 10, 1978, it reached number 34.
• "It's Late" is the last single from the album and was only released as a single in the United States, Canada, Japan and New Zealand in 1978. Only reached #72 in the US, failing to chart everywhere else.

October 7 is the 280th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (281st in leap years). ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... We Will Rock You is a song written by Brian May, and recorded and performed by Queen. ... February 10 is the 41st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ...

Cover

The album's cover was a painting by award winning American sci-fi artist Frank Kelly Freas. Taylor had an issue of "Astounding Science Fiction" (October 1953) whose cover-art depicted a giant intelligent robot holding the dead body of a man. The caption read: "Please... fix it, Daddy?" to illustrate the story The Gulf Between by Tom Godwin. The robot killing the man was likened to a child injuring a bug and looking up at his parents saying "what have I done?". The painting inspired the band to contact Freas, who agreed to alter the painting for their album cover, by replacing the single dead man with the four "dead" band members (Taylor and Deacon falling to the ground). The original painting (also called The Gulf Between) features on the cover of Freas's collection of art As He Sees It (Paper Tiger, 2000). Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Kelly Freas Frank Kelly Freas (27 August 1922 – 2 January 2005), called the Dean of Science Fiction Artists, was a prolific and popular science fiction and fantasy artist with a career spanning more than 50 years. ... Astounding Stories was a seminal science fiction magazine founded in 1930. ... Tom Godwin (1915–1980) is a science fiction author. ... An album cover is a cover used to package commercial audio recordings such as the printed cardboard covers that were typically used to package 12 gramophone records from the 1960s through to the 1980s when the 12 record was the major format for distribution of popular music. ...

Brian May confirmed the cover was Roger Taylor's idea on an episode of the US radio show In the Studio With Redbeard, which devoted an episode to the making of News of the World. Radio broadcasts have been a popular entertainment since the 1910s, though popularity has declined a little in some countries since television became widespread. ...

Personnel

• Freddie Mercury: Lead Vocals, Piano, Backing Vocals, Cowbell, Percussion
• Brian May: Electric Guitars, Spanish Guitar, Piano, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Maracas, Percussion
• Roger Taylor: Drums, Electric Guitar, Bass, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Percussion
• John Deacon: Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Spanish Guitar, Percussion

Charts

Miscellanea

During the recording of the album, the Sex Pistols were recording their album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols in the next studio and Johnny Rotten was eager to meet Mercury, so he crawled on all fours through Queen's studio, up to the side of the piano where Mercury was playing, and said "Hello, Freddie!" before crawling out. The Sex Pistols were an iconic and highly influential English punk rock band, formed in London in 1975. ... Never Mind the Bollocks, Heres the Sex Pistols is a 1977 album recorded by the seminal English punk band, Sex Pistols. ... John Lydon John Joseph Lydon (born January 31, 1956), also known as Johnny Rotten (a nickname derived from the state of his teeth) was the iconoclastic lead singer of the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd (PiL) and an Irish individualist anarchist. ... All-Fours, is a card game known in America as Old Sledge, or Seven Up, is usually played by two players, with the full pack of fifty-two cards, which rank in play as at Whist, the ace being the highest, and the two the lowest. ...

Brian May describes News of the World as being a more "rootsier" album than previous Queen records, partly due to the punk scene breaking at that time, which inspired Queen to record a more "back to basics" rock album. News of the World is a less finely polished production than their previous offerings. The complex vocal harmonies and guitar orchestrations that are used heavily in earlier Queen albums are used much more sparingly and subtly on this record. This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

References

1. ^ A Night at the Opera DVD commentary.

A Night at the Opera is a 1975 album by English rock band Queen. ... A major selling point of DVD video is that its storage capacity allows for a wide variety of extra features in addition to the feature film itself. ...

External links

• Album review (11-11-1977) - The Valley News