news of the world

Queen makes elaborate music from shards of nostalgia for the British Empire. They push boys’ public-school chorales and English martial music through the funnel of hard rock, aiming carefully at romantic crescendos embellished with heavy echo.

Queen’s sixth album, “News of the World,” reveals another facet of the group’s musical identity. This album represents a departure from the usual Queen flamboyance and dynamism of musical effects which sustained, for example, “A Night at the Opera” or “Sheer Heart Attack.”

It’s been a please to see Queen record four knockout LPs in a row: “Queen,” “Queen II,” “Sheer Heart Attack” and “A Night at the Opera,” the last of which contained “Bohemian Rhapsody/’ the best single out of England since The Beatles’ “A Day in the Life.”