2 QUEEN cd's: "We Will Rock You" musical & "The Queen Symphony"
11-20-02, 12:17 AM
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2 QUEEN cd's: "We Will Rock You" musical & "The Queen Symphony"
This month, there were two new Queen related CD's released in the UK and both are quite good.
First was "The Queen Symphony".
Now before you go thinking "Yawn! Another album of an orchestra doing cover versions", it's not like that at all.
A man named Tolga Kashif has composed an entirely original symphony inspired by Queen (and using key parts of actual Queen songs.) This is rather extraordinary.
There are six movements in all and the entire time I was listening to it, I kept thinking it sounded like the score to a "Lord of the Rings" type film. It has an epic feel to it and the use of the male choir is very haunting. The cascade of every type of percussion imaginable on "We Will Rock You" is, in a word, awesome. It sounded like an entrance theme for the world's most evil villain. Even something as poppy as "Radio Ga Ga" was grand and majestic in this new form.
Like I said, these are *not* "orchestra covers". Sometimes the Queen music is easy to spot in Kashif's symphony but other times it's only after a track has ended do you realize what you've heard.
Queen's Brian May is very keen on this project and attended the world premiere concert recently (which received a standing ovation.) That concert was filmed and will get a DVD release.
You must give "The Queen Symphony" by Tolga Kashif a listen.
The Queen songs interwoven into the symphony include;
"Radio Ga Ga"
"The Show Must Go On"
"One Vision"
"I Was Born To Love You"
"Love Of My Life"
"Another One Bites The Dust"
"Killer Queen"
"Who Wants To Live Forever"
"Save Me"
"Bicycle Race"
"Bohemian Rhapsody"
"We Will Rock You"
"We Are The Champions"
----------
The other CD was the original London cast recording of the smash musical "We Will Rock You" by Queen & Ben Elton.
I've been reduced to reading Queen fans thoughts as they've attended the sold out shows in London's West End. Now I finally got the chance to hear what people have been crowing about.
Ok sure, the story is a bit silly (It's the year 2302 and real music is banned) but this ain't "The Crucible" folks. It's a fun romp through 24 classic Queen songs with that musical feel.
Unlike most cast recordings, this album is culled from live performances.
The cast is (mostly) wonderful. Tony Vincent is the male lead ("Galileo") and this guy is a star. His range is not as great as Freddie Mercury's (whose is?) but I've found that in a live setting, he can sound just as good. If he doesn't take off as a major music star then I'd be very surprised.
My other favorite is Sharon D. Clarke who plays the villain of the story, "Killer Queen". She has this big, bad black woman vibe. Her voice is strong and drips with attitude. When she becomes angry at her secod in command ("Kashoggi", played by Alexander Hanson) she threatens to "blow his mind" and proceeds to sing "Another One Bites the Dust".
My only real gripe is the female lead, Hannah Jane Fox. She comes off as too timid and mousey and sounds very out of place in the rockier numbers.
Some bits of dialogue are included. "Britney Spears died for us" had me laughing. "No-One But You" is preceeded by the roll call of rock legends who have died, as if they were freedom fighters who died "for the cause". Very moving.
Generally the songs are performed as per the album versions with the major exception being "Radio Ga Ga". It's had a major overhaul and now deals with the internet.
The songs were very well chosen to fit the characters, "A Kind of Magic" as sung by the villains now seems like a victory theme for evil.
A little over 30 Queen songs are in the show but only 24 are on this CD. They include;
"Innuendo" (with Freddie vocals)
"Radio Ga Ga"
"I Want To Break Free"
"Somebody To Love"
"Killer Queen"
"Play the Game"
"Under Pressure"
"A Kind Of Magic"
"I Want It All"
"Headlong"
"No-One But You"
"Ogre Battle" (instrumental)
"One Vision"
"Who Wants To Live Forever"
"Flash"
"Seven Seas Of Rhye"
"Don't Stop Me Now"
"Another One Bites The Dust"
"Hammer To Fall"
"These Are The Days Of Our Lives"
"We Will Rock You"
"We Are The Champions"
"We Will Rock You" fast version (instrumental)
"Bohemian Rhapsody"
A fun album and has made me hope that the show comes to America soon
A DVD of the musical has been mentioned for Christmas 2003.
First was "The Queen Symphony".
Now before you go thinking "Yawn! Another album of an orchestra doing cover versions", it's not like that at all.
A man named Tolga Kashif has composed an entirely original symphony inspired by Queen (and using key parts of actual Queen songs.) This is rather extraordinary.
There are six movements in all and the entire time I was listening to it, I kept thinking it sounded like the score to a "Lord of the Rings" type film. It has an epic feel to it and the use of the male choir is very haunting. The cascade of every type of percussion imaginable on "We Will Rock You" is, in a word, awesome. It sounded like an entrance theme for the world's most evil villain. Even something as poppy as "Radio Ga Ga" was grand and majestic in this new form.
Like I said, these are *not* "orchestra covers". Sometimes the Queen music is easy to spot in Kashif's symphony but other times it's only after a track has ended do you realize what you've heard.
Queen's Brian May is very keen on this project and attended the world premiere concert recently (which received a standing ovation.) That concert was filmed and will get a DVD release.
You must give "The Queen Symphony" by Tolga Kashif a listen.
The Queen songs interwoven into the symphony include;
"Radio Ga Ga"
"The Show Must Go On"
"One Vision"
"I Was Born To Love You"
"Love Of My Life"
"Another One Bites The Dust"
"Killer Queen"
"Who Wants To Live Forever"
"Save Me"
"Bicycle Race"
"Bohemian Rhapsody"
"We Will Rock You"
"We Are The Champions"
----------
The other CD was the original London cast recording of the smash musical "We Will Rock You" by Queen & Ben Elton.
I've been reduced to reading Queen fans thoughts as they've attended the sold out shows in London's West End. Now I finally got the chance to hear what people have been crowing about.
Ok sure, the story is a bit silly (It's the year 2302 and real music is banned) but this ain't "The Crucible" folks. It's a fun romp through 24 classic Queen songs with that musical feel.
Unlike most cast recordings, this album is culled from live performances.
The cast is (mostly) wonderful. Tony Vincent is the male lead ("Galileo") and this guy is a star. His range is not as great as Freddie Mercury's (whose is?) but I've found that in a live setting, he can sound just as good. If he doesn't take off as a major music star then I'd be very surprised.
My other favorite is Sharon D. Clarke who plays the villain of the story, "Killer Queen". She has this big, bad black woman vibe. Her voice is strong and drips with attitude. When she becomes angry at her secod in command ("Kashoggi", played by Alexander Hanson) she threatens to "blow his mind" and proceeds to sing "Another One Bites the Dust".
My only real gripe is the female lead, Hannah Jane Fox. She comes off as too timid and mousey and sounds very out of place in the rockier numbers.
Some bits of dialogue are included. "Britney Spears died for us" had me laughing. "No-One But You" is preceeded by the roll call of rock legends who have died, as if they were freedom fighters who died "for the cause". Very moving.
Generally the songs are performed as per the album versions with the major exception being "Radio Ga Ga". It's had a major overhaul and now deals with the internet.
The songs were very well chosen to fit the characters, "A Kind of Magic" as sung by the villains now seems like a victory theme for evil.
A little over 30 Queen songs are in the show but only 24 are on this CD. They include;
"Innuendo" (with Freddie vocals)
"Radio Ga Ga"
"I Want To Break Free"
"Somebody To Love"
"Killer Queen"
"Play the Game"
"Under Pressure"
"A Kind Of Magic"
"I Want It All"
"Headlong"
"No-One But You"
"Ogre Battle" (instrumental)
"One Vision"
"Who Wants To Live Forever"
"Flash"
"Seven Seas Of Rhye"
"Don't Stop Me Now"
"Another One Bites The Dust"
"Hammer To Fall"
"These Are The Days Of Our Lives"
"We Will Rock You"
"We Are The Champions"
"We Will Rock You" fast version (instrumental)
"Bohemian Rhapsody"
A fun album and has made me hope that the show comes to America soon
A DVD of the musical has been mentioned for Christmas 2003.
11-20-02, 07:48 AM
#2
DVD Talk Legend
The symphony thing sounds interesting. I have had a couple of the orchestral cds in the past (I used to be a Queen completist) but I ended up getting rid of them since I never listened to them. This idea sounds interesting but I would like to listen to it before I would buy it. I don't know if it is something I would revisit often.
The musical sound pretty lame. I usually don't care for broadway versions of music I like (I hated Moulin Rouge) so I really am afraid to even try listening to this.
Thanks for the info though. It is definitely interesting to see how Queen is still sticking around even though Freddy has been dead for so many years.
The musical sound pretty lame. I usually don't care for broadway versions of music I like (I hated Moulin Rouge) so I really am afraid to even try listening to this.
Thanks for the info though. It is definitely interesting to see how Queen is still sticking around even though Freddy has been dead for so many years.
