innuendo

Although never a critical favorite, Queen was monstrously successful through the ’70s and early ’80s. When the last gasps of the band’s popular support were spent (by 1984), Queen became one of those dismissed but emblematic groups that people cite when recalling just how silly and excessive rock ‘n’ roll can get.

Given the bombast and harsh assault of Queen’s biggest hits, it’s a shock to find that the heart of the British quartet’s 16th album, Innuendo, is made of soft, sweet, sticky, sentimental goo.

The boys are back with a lot less pomp this time.

On their 16th album, singer Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Deacon offer a dozen new songs that range from the nostalgic These Are the Days of Our Lives to the harder-edged electro-boogie of Headlong.

If nothing succeeds like excess, then Queen, the British group for whom pomp and circumstance are as vital as air and water, is one of the most successful bands ever.

THE chart debut of Queen’s single, “Innuendo”, at No 1 last week would have seemed more impressive if Iron Maiden had not pulled off the same feat a couple of weeks earlier. It does not come as such a surprise that a soft market should be dominated by the hard-headed.