r/queen • u/ApprehensiveNatural9 Sheer Heart Attack • 6d ago
Music The Game Review - Queen Discography Review #8
It was nice getting to share my thoughts on the last album, in all honesty while I wasn't fully positive in my review and I still find it to be the weakest Queen album to that point; it was nice seeing a lot of people felt the same. I also liked seeing comments from those who loved the album since it gave me a pretty different perspective.
Even if not everyone agreed with me, I loved the discussions a lot actually, and now here comes Queen's first 80's album! I hope you enjoy this write-up!
The Gane REVIEW
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Entering into the 80's, this is where rock really got divided. On one hand you got some fantastic artists and albums like Prince or Tears For Fears and The Police, but on the other hand you got a lot of cheesy "power ballads" that bring a filthiness to the genre never before seen of great levels of pastiche rubbish. Queen started this decade with this record, and while it isn't anything particularly groundbreaking or innovative, it is a great album nonetheless and a promising start to a very mixed era.
The Game features slick, smooth production by Reinhold Mack and allows the band to shine once again after the disastrous mixing on 1978's Jazz, with May even paying tribute to him in the song "Dragon Attack" which is a fantastic piece of funk rock that really rides along a consistent bassline by Deacon and an incredible drum solo in the middle by Roger Taylor with May's lyrics telling of how the band is changing styles and urging listeners to give an open mind to the non-Bohemian Rhapsody type songs they were doing now. The opener to the album, "Play The Game" is a pretty good start and features a triumphant sounding synthesizer, which was definitely mindblowing as for all these years now Queen frequently boasted "no synthesizer!" as a tag on all their albums to this point; the contrast of heavy and light work in its favor to make a song that breaks open the gates to their new era. While it is quite good, it doesn't much hold a candle to the burn the rest of the album has.
The three major hits are intense and wonderful as well with "Another One Bites the Dust" being among their best tracks and hits featuring a steady pulsing bassline and Mercury's bad-boy vocal delivery with the action-packed lyrics of a street encounter and fights. It was released as a single by a suggestion from the legend himself, Michael Jackson. John has struck gold time and time again with his songs, and this one is another that just proves his value, I often see people say that bass is the most unimportant part of a band but John's music can attest against that itself. He always makes very enjoyable music, and his bassline on this is perhaps among the most iconic. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" is one of the bands best songs and calls back to the times of Elvis and Little Richard with its 50's-tinged rockabilly riff on acoustic guitar and laid-back vocals by Mercury, it's a very danceable number as it is relaxed, and the percussion is honestly superb too as Roger gives this a phenomenal jazz-influenced groove.
"Save Me" is a beautiful and touching ballad written as a tribute to a divorced friend, with great use of acoustic and electric guitar and piano. This one's light and airy, yet you're never bored because how intense it gets during the chorus, which remains one of their greatest they've made in a song. Freddie sings his heart out here with intense dynamics that perfectly compliment Brian's beautiful lyrics on a relationship that has gone sour and ended; perhaps one of Queen's best explorations of this topic, and among their best closing tracks.
"Rock It (Prime Jive)" is a dedicated anthem to the effect of music on ones soul and mind, almost spiritual and is a great song encapsulating musical catharsis. Music is the most intimate form of art, its got an intimacy that not much other forms can match, and this disco-tinged track really captures that well, in a way this is Roger making up for whatever "Fun It" was trying to be. "Sail Away Sweet Sister" is one of May's most prolific works and is a song about a long lost friendship, and moving on from it. It's got some absolutely precious synthesizer work, and his emotive guitar playing, alongside the switch-up in the bridge that hands the mic to Freddie who gives as equal of a beautiful performance as Brian in the verses is perfect. This one's tear-jerking yet encapsulating, and easily the greatest track on the album.
Unfortunately, not everything is perfect however, as despite how incredible overall it is, there are some very glaring stinker moments, with "Don't Try Suicide" being a boring stripped-back song about how if you kill yourself nobody will care or miss you, so it isn't worth it just like how you, the listener, are not worth shit in the world. Isn't that a wonderful message? Don't you feel like your day has been made better?
"Coming Soon" is recycled Beach Boys wannabe harmonies that don't work well with an obvious disco tune that never quite stands its ground or finds its footing, tripping over a meandering beat and nonsensical lyrics that are impossible to make sense of, and "Need Your Loving Tonight" is boring refrigerated rockabilly that sounds like a try-hard capture of the magic that made "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" work. It's cheeseball snot that should've stayed on the cutting room floor.
All in all, this album is overall pretty wonderful, and while it does have a couple weak points, everything works to make a really great 80's album. Queen was changing, they were making themselves different to what they were, and that both helped them stay relevant and make some new memories, and hurt them. This level of quality wasn't exactly kept later on, but for what it was now, this stands as a stronger entry. Hell, this one is their most popular on streaming platforms, that should speak to it's quality. Definitely a step-up from Jazz.
Rating: ★★★★☆
TRACKLIST RATING:
1. Play The Game: ★★★
2. Dragon Attack: ★★★★★
3. Another One Bites The Dust: ★★★★★
4. Need Your Loving Tonight: ★★
5. Crazy Little Thing Called Love: ★★★★★
6. Rock It (Prime Jive): ★★★★
7. Don't Try Suicide: 💥
8. Sail Away Sweet Sister: ★★★★★
9. Coming Soon: ★
10. Save Me: ★★★★★
THE JOURNEY SO FAR (Other Reviews!):
Queen review (4/5 stars)
Queen II review (5/5 stars)
Sheer Heart Attack review (5/5 stars/BEST ALBUM)
A Night At The Opera review (5/5 stars)
A Day At The Races review (4/5 stars)
News of The World review (5/5 stars)
Jazz review (3/5 stars)
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u/SafiyaO Sheer Heart Attack 6d ago
I recently had a reply of all Queen albums and after The Game finished, I had to listen to it again immediately. Their most underrated and unappreciated album. Sail Away Sweet Sister is peak BM.
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u/ApprehensiveNatural9 Sheer Heart Attack 6d ago
Yes! 100% honestly. I really love the guitar work on that track and Brian's vocals are gorgeous. I think its one of Queen's greatest songs.
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u/Life-in-an-Ossuary 6d ago
this was the concert I saw, The Game tour 1980. Freddie debuting his new look was a shocker but they sounded great. As a young teen those songs on The Game were powerful but now not as much; I think Queen II Side 2 is best of Queen and to think Freddie just in his 20s
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u/ApprehensiveNatural9 Sheer Heart Attack 6d ago
That's really cool! I love hearing about people's concert experiences. I'm sadly much too young to have gotten a chance to experience that. The closest thing I have are Youtube recordings of some of their experiences. it's nice watching it, but never will be the same honestly.
What was your favorite song in terms of how they performed at the show you saw?
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u/Life-in-an-Ossuary 6d ago
For sure as a young teen I loved the hits--they played Love of my Life and I about fainted. Bohemian Rhapsody and Killer Queen. Also I had been given some grapes by my sister that I grew tired of holding while waiting for the show to begin so I tossed the bag of grapes onstage (we were very close) and Freddie picked them up and swung them around like a lasso during Let Me Entertain You and tossed them back out to the audience🍇
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u/ApprehensiveNatural9 Sheer Heart Attack 6d ago
That's actually hilarious and I really wish I could find the exact concert, because that moment is something I am REALLY hoping got captured on camera somehow; that's such a cool memory. Yeah every time those songs are played they're really good.
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u/Life-in-an-Ossuary 6d ago
ohhh i wish! maybe someone took a photo of Freddie w the 🍇! That was Seattle 1980, it was close to the 4th of July holiday bc he commented about seeing fireworks
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u/Deluxe_24_ Jazz 6d ago
The show in San Diego from that tour which was two shows after Seattle is on YouTube if you're unaware. Might bring back some memories since people keep setting off firecrackers throughout the show.
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u/Life-in-an-Ossuary 6d ago
wow thank you!!! 🙏
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u/Life-in-an-Ossuary 6d ago
speaking of my favourite bands
my favourite young band is The Lemon Twigs, maybe you will love them as much as we do
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u/ZealousidealFruit386 6d ago
Sonically. The Game was a return to form. As the OP points out, Jazz was utterly terrible in places, but Mack brought that clean and sparkling tone out.
One of my favourite albums.
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u/ApprehensiveNatural9 Sheer Heart Attack 6d ago
I respect that take yeah, I don't think its among their very best but I think its one of their strong albums! I love it a lot. I hope I got it across in the review that I do really love it; I think that they balanced pop and rock well here, and Sail Away Sweet Sister, Dragon Attack, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Save Me, Rock It (Prime Jive), and Another One Bites the Dust are all phenomenal songs, some of which are among my favorite Queen songs. :)
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u/Careless-Lie-3417 6d ago
Dont try suicide é excelente, e não está errada, se vc morrer daqui uns anos nem vão lembrar de você, sabe o que isso significa? Que você não deve se importar com a opinião alheia e ter seus bons momentos aproveitando a vida!
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u/Rziggity 6d ago
Coming Soon is one of my favorite deep cuts. Am I alone on this one
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u/jcrawford79 Hot Space 6d ago
You are not. Coming Soon and Need Your Loving Tonight are two of my favorite tracks on the album.
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u/ApprehensiveNatural9 Sheer Heart Attack 6d ago
I don't really agree at all but that's totally fair. It doesn't do much for me, but its cool seeing someone else's thoughts. What do you like abt it?
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u/Deluxe_24_ Jazz 6d ago
The production is great and I enjoy Freddie and Roger's vocals a lot. It's not my favorite, but it's nice to throw on now and again.
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u/Deluxe_24_ Jazz 6d ago
Don't Try Suicide is the only piece of shit the band ever put on their albums. I can say that I enjoy the rest of the band's music, but that song pisses me off and is an immediate skip which is rare for any song I hear.
The Game is a good album. Not their best, but it feels like one of their most cohesive and most basic in terms of sound which is probably why it became a massive hit in the US.
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u/Life-in-an-Ossuary 6d ago
that song seems lazy i.e. "you're just gonna hate it" but NGL Fat bottomed girls wasn't so great despite some beautiful vocals
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u/The-Manque 6d ago
Looking forward to the rest of these reviews - if you’ve got time, you should consider editing them to add links to the later reviews, so it’s easier to read them in chronological order.
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u/ApprehensiveNatural9 Sheer Heart Attack 6d ago
Thank you!! I'm really glad you are enjoying my reviews :) I'll do that probably at some point soon! Maybe when I get a few more out.
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u/birdingyogi0106 Queen II 6d ago
The Game is my favorite 80s Queen album. I always have interpreted it as a tribute to The Game (of Rock 'n' Roll) since it represents all different rock styles. Sail Away Sweet Sister is my favorite song in their catalog. Like that bridge to the end of the song is the most Queen of all Queen (if that makes sense lol!). To me, the last half of Sail Away is like the most peak Queen sound ever with the build up, high harmonies, guitar solo, etc.
Save Me is my favorite power ballad of theirs (followed by It's A Hard Life from The Works). I'm just a sucker for angsty Brian May songs lol. At about 3 minutes in when Freddie does that little yell and the second half of the guitar solo comes in with background vocals, just perfect.
Interesting take on Need Your Loving Tonight haha. I don't think it's that bad is it?? I think it's pretty cool. Don't Try Suicide is really a strange one. I mean, I kind of get what Freddie was going for, but I think the lyrics convey it very poorly. Musically I like it, but lyrically it misses the mark, the phrasing is so awkward. That "Suuuu-ii-cide!!" line sung before the guitar solo comes in makes me cringe so hard every time. One of the few Queen songs I tend to skip. Besides that it's a fun album.
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u/ApprehensiveNatural9 Sheer Heart Attack 6d ago
I think The Game is magnificent!! It's a really great album overall. I do love it a lot, I can see why you love these ones. I do still find that their 80's work doesn't come close to their 70's stuff (I will admit that quite a few of thsese albums are in the 'negative' range for my scores coming up) but when they did things well, its amazing.
This and The Works I listen to regularly mostly.
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u/birdingyogi0106 Queen II 6d ago
I agree about their 80s work, those albums from the 70s can't be beat. Of all their 80s albums I listen to The Game and Hot Space the most. I know Hot Space is pretty divisive, but I think it was an interesting experiment that produced some great live versions of those songs (Queen on Fire Live at the Bowl is one of my favorite live performances and the rock versions of the Hot Space songs are fantastic). The albums from The Works onward are hit and miss for me, I don't really like them as whole albums, just certain songs here and there. I'm looking forward to reading your future reviews on them.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Ad3848 5d ago
The Game is very pop oriented with shorter songs with a clean produced- sound. While Jazz was all over the place, the game is more succesful in terms of good hooks and showcase a band that was ready for the 80s.
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u/pjtrpjt 5d ago
Okay I disagree again.
You're dissing the Taylor songs again. And also any song that has
"My game of love jas just begun
Love runs from my head down to my toes"
Is 5/5.
I'm willing to give Need Your Loving Tonight a 4/5 but just because my record skipped in it. The rest is very good. And how can you listen to Save Me without Coming Soon?
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6d ago
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u/ApprehensiveNatural9 Sheer Heart Attack 6d ago
Something like that is going to hurt a lot of people and affect many people, those around them who knew them would be pained, and this topic isn't something to make jokes of this kind of nature about. It's not funny, it comes across as very meanspirited and insensitive. Perhaps it would have passed back then when mental health wasn't taken as a serious thing but with time passing, and mental illness being (thankfully) taken more serious now, this song is a really bad case of aging extremely poorly.
I love the album, and I find it amazing, hence the high rating but that song is just very icky.
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u/Rziggity 6d ago
i always thought it was a cool track with a great bass line and bridge section. The lyrics are kind of incidental to me. I feel the same way about Love With My Car or Bicycle Race or Get Down Make Love. The topics might seem distracting or campy to some but if the music is good I’m happy.
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u/Fantastic-Floor-2548 6d ago
if you want to approach something like that with a sense of humor, you can but this is a very bad way of doing it. i hate the song as well honestly, and its just very mean and gross.
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u/ApprehensiveNatural9 Sheer Heart Attack 6d ago
Yeah, this album is phenomenal. It's such an awesome way to start another decade, and especially a really great way to introduce everyone to their changing sound and approach to music around this time. This may sound very different to everything prior and lean more into pop territory; but it does it very well. Not to mention, there's still a lot of rock being done here, and it has some of Brian's most incredible work.
I also believe that this album has some of Freddie's best vocals as well.
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u/Fantastic-Floor-2548 6d ago
i don't care for this album much aside from the hits, to me this is when queen became a hits band.
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u/ApprehensiveNatural9 Sheer Heart Attack 6d ago
I guess that's fair. I don't see it that way myself honestly, I love the deep cuts on this album a lot actually; Sail Away Sweet Sister and Dragon Attack are absolutely brilliant, and Rock it (Prime Jive) is a really excellent Roger song.
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u/Laney20 6d ago
Need your loving tonight is cheeseball snot? That is... Descriptive, lol. And a bit wild for 2 stars. So I guess you don't completely hate cheeseball snot?
It took a few listens but I actually came to like coming soon. It's a weak point in the album, but it's got a vibe I can lean into sometimes.
My understanding of don't try suicide was that it spoke to a person using suicide threats as manipulation of a romantic partner, which I think it fits very well. And the loose, open, swingy style of the song is kinda nice. It certainly feels a bit weird to hear it, though. And it isn't one I find myself wanting to hear most of the time.
But tbh, most of this album just feels like a love letter to John Deacon's bass, and for that, I adore it.
And then it goes to Sail Away Sweet Sister which was my favorite Brian May song for less than five minutes (and does itself have a cool bass part), because then Save Me came along and stole the top spot for me. I love that song so much.