The new Queen + Paul Rodgers album has finally arrived and it is the first new album from Queen since Made In Heaven 13 years ago. But is it really Queen?
If you take away the Queen name ‘The Cosmos Rocks’ is a great album but it sounds more like a Paul Rodgers record than a Queen record.I love Bad Company, I love Free, I loved Paul’s solo works and I love Queen but Rodgers has such a distinctive voice that this sounds like it should a Paul Rodgers album featuring May and Taylor.
Don’t think of it as Queen - Mercury + Rodgers either. The other missing component is Queen bass player John Deacon who bowed out of any reunions but fully supports what Brian May and Roger Taylor are doing.
Deacon had such as signature bass sound. Think of ‘Under Pressure’. It was his song.
This will be a hard one for the true fans to get their head around.
Had they gone to neutral ground and called it by another name other than Queen, we would be hailing it as one of the great rock releases on 2008.
Unfortunately, it is so far removed from what Queen sounded like and not all that far removed from what the various Rogers albums sounded like that it is difficult to accept ‘The Cosmos Rock’ as a follow-up to the Mercury legacy.
Without a doubt Queen is a big brand. Rogers as a solo artist is a big talent. It is like they have taken his talent and branded it with their name.
Calling this Queen is putting the right head on the wrong body.
While The Cosmos Rocks doesn’t take us to any new ground with Queen, is a mighty fine album.
It will be nice to see Queen + Paul Rodgers on the road. When Paul sings the old songs, he fits into Queen. When Queen play the new songs, they become Paul.
