The Game.

[Black Wings]

"need your loving " is a very underrated song, could easily have been a single.

I dislike the usual drivel, such as the start of PTG. I think PTG is actually overrated. I think it's not a great song, there is something off with the tempo changes. I usually go straight into the second song.

I don't like the album very much. It's not rocking enough, nor is it poppy enough. It's something of both, but in both cases not good enough.

I prefer AKOM over this, if I'm honest

Before my local rock radio station here in the US started including 90’s and 00’s songs a while back in their format, Need Your Loving Tonight was occasionally played. Now with so much other stuff being played, they keep it to big hits. A shame.

I think Play The Game is great. I love the intro. In fact, it’s one of my earliest Queen-related memories... hearing that intro and then Freddie singing the track. I heard that sound it and it was something I found fascinating, but I didn’t learn about Queen until years later. Never forgot that intro... my favorite song.

I never knew in my younger years until much later that Queen songs from The Game were played on a jukebox in my Aunt's restaurant. When I found out it was Queen who was behind Coming Soon, Rock It/Prime Jive, I was absolutely floored. Kinda like when I found dead out Queen was behind Crazy Little Thing and not Elvis.
And yes, this was long before the days of the internet .
Amazing the memories the songs on this album brings back, and I wasn't even a fan at the time.
My only quibbles about the album is that it's too short and I don't like the album cover much.

[Good Apothecary Man]

The first thing that always strikes me about The Game is the production/sound. As I often find myself saying, please bear with me here: I have no technical knowledge or vocabulary and I listen to music on relatively cheap and cheerful equipment.

Anyway, the instruments on The Game sound clean, crisp and well spaced out across the soundscape. It's loud and everything can be clearly heard. Mack's influence? Better recording technology? Jazz, to me, sounds awful in comparison. Everything seems dull and compressed together, except for parts of Mustapha where the sound seems to 'expand' and get louder at a couple of points (deliberately, obviously). And the drums sound terrible! Urgh.

Back in the day, the length of albums mattered in terms of the sound, I believe. Jazz is about 10 minutes longer than The Game and the original side 2 was about 24 minutes ... very long for a vinyl album. But even if that has something to do with it, why would that matter these days? Jazz still sounds dull to me.

As for the music ...

The singles are what they are. We have all heard them a million times. I will just say that, at the time, four singles on a 35-minute album felt a bit much, though I accept that Crazy and Save Me were released long before the album came out.

The highlights for me are the 'hidden gems' — Need Your Loving Tonight and Sail Away Sweet Sister. With Sail Away and Save Me, I thought that Brian was fighting a rearguard action on behalf of the 70s! As a young fan in those days, I used to treasure those moments as evidence that the band hadn't completely abandoned their traditional sound. I was a Genesis fan too. Those were tough times (I was not a fan of Abacab!).

Brian's Dragon Attack and Roger's Rock It are great as well. Fun It and especially More of That Jazz were below par for me. Roger seems to have hit a really creative patch by 1980. He must have been writing and recording Fun in Space at about this time as well. A Human Body is another gem. I would have put it on the album and used Coming Soon as the non-album b-side — of his three efforts, it's definitely the weakest. I am not sure that Freddie and Brian would have allowed three Roger songs on the album haha!

The low has to be Don't Try Suicide. For me it's their worst album track (as opposed to a non-album b-side). The uptempo bits rescue it from being abysmal.

[Kes]

Yeah, I think as far as I'm concerned, the two stand out tracks of Brian's for sheer inspirational guitar work are Dragon Attack and White Man.

[Sir Didymus]

Jazz, to me, sounds awful in comparison. Everything seems dull and compressed together, except for parts of Mustapha where the sound seems to 'expand' and get louder at a couple of points (deliberately, obviously). And the drums sound terrible! Urgh.

Back in the day, the length of albums mattered in terms of the sound, I believe. Jazz is about 10 minutes longer than The Game and the original side 2 was about 24 minutes ... very long for a vinyl album. But even if that has something to do with it, why would that matter these days? Jazz still sounds dull to me.

Can I ask which version of Jazz you're listening to?

The original vinyl pressings from 1978 are superb. IMHO, it's the 1994 CD master which really sounded muted and dull. The 2011 was a big step up, but I'd love to hear the album get another pass from the analogue tapes.

[Kes]

I never really had a problem with pressings from the George Marino/RTB cut masters (used on British/American/French pressed records, maybe others).

Think they lost it a bit with the first few CD masters, probably up to and about the 2011 Bob Ludwig ones.

[Good Apothecary Man]

Can I ask which version of Jazz you're listening to?

The original vinyl pressings from 1978 are superb. IMHO, it's the 1994 CD master which really sounded muted and dull. The 2011 was a big step up, but I'd love to hear the album get another pass from the analogue tapes.

Yes, it's the 1994 remasters that I am referring to. I got rid of my record player in 2000 and gave away all my vinyl to good homes not long after, so I haven't heard any Queen on vinyl for a very long time.

I am not really up with Spotify and all that. To be fair, I have literally just played Fat Bottomed Girls (2011) on Amazon Music and even with bog-standard iPhone earphones it sounds heaps better (or is it just louder?). I just need to bite the bullet, I guess, and invest in some decent technology.

[Good Apothecary Man]

Yeah, I think as far as I'm concerned, the two stand out tracks of Brian's for sheer inspirational guitar work are Dragon Attack and White Man.

I can listen to Brian's stuff from the 70s again and again and still marvel at what he was doing. Some of it is genius level. He may or may not be technically gifted (I have no idea) but he was incredibly creative and came up with some really original stuff. I used to love the idea of him working away in the studio ... the serious, studious perfectionist with his painstaking, methodical, scientific approach. My Queen top 3 are all Brian songs: Brighton Rock, White Queen and '39.

In terms of his guitar work (and, to repeat, I am no expert), I would particularly highlight:
Father to Son
Brighton Rock
The Prophet's Song
Good Company
White Man

[Sir Didymus]

Can I ask which version of Jazz you're listening to?

The original vinyl pressings from 1978 are superb. IMHO, it's the 1994 CD master which really sounded muted and dull. The 2011 was a big step up, but I'd love to hear the album get another pass from the analogue tapes.

Yes, it's the 1994 remasters that I am referring to. I got rid of my record player in 2000 and gave away all my vinyl to good homes not long after, so I haven't heard any Queen on vinyl for a very long time.

I am not really up with Spotify and all that. To be fair, I have literally just played Fat Bottomed Girls (2011) on Amazon Music and even with bog-standard iPhone earphones it sounds heaps better (or is it just louder?). I just need to bite the bullet, I guess, and invest in some decent technology.

If nothing else - pick up the 2011 CD if you can. It's a huge improvement on the 1994 CD - and it doesn't have that error in the intro to Fat Bottomed Girls for a start!

I'd go so far as to say that Jazz is tied with Sheer Heart Attack as my favourite Queen album. It's absolutely bonkers - though the 94 CD did some serious damage to its credibility for a while there!

[Frank]

Can I ask which version of Jazz you're listening to?

The original vinyl pressings from 1978 are superb. IMHO, it's the 1994 CD master which really sounded muted and dull. The 2011 was a big step up, but I'd love to hear the album get another pass from the analogue tapes.

Yes, it's the 1994 remasters that I am referring to. I got rid of my record player in 2000 and gave away all my vinyl to good homes not long after, so I haven't heard any Queen on vinyl for a very long time.

I am not really up with Spotify and all that. To be fair, I have literally just played Fat Bottomed Girls (2011) on Amazon Music and even with bog-standard iPhone earphones it sounds heaps better (or is it just louder?). I just need to bite the bullet, I guess, and invest in some decent technology.

If nothing else - pick up the 2011 CD if you can. It's a huge improvement on the 1994 CD - and it doesn't have that error in the intro to Fat Bottomed Girls for a start!

I'd go so far as to say that Jazz is tied with Sheer Heart Attack as my favourite Queen album. It's absolutely bonkers - though the 94 CD did some serious damage to its credibility for a while there!

The 2011 remaster also adds bass drum in Jealousy, which somehow went missing with the original release. It's amazing how much that gives to the song.

But even with the remaster, I still feel the album lacks a certain quality that is most apparent when comparing it to The Game. Still a great album though. Lots of energy.

[ogre t raylot]

The 2011's are just louder - I used to have both the 2011 and the 1986 CDP7 CDs ripped on my Walkman and I deleted the 2011s after a couple of months (apart from QI & II). The 1986 CDP7 series are closer to the original dynamics of the vinyl. The opening of Fun It sounds really 'meaty' on the CDP7.

YMMV, of course.

I am not really up with Spotify and all that. To be fair, I have literally just played Fat Bottomed Girls (2011) on Amazon Music and even with bog-standard iPhone earphones it sounds heaps better (or is it just louder?). I just need to bite the bullet, I guess, and invest in some decent technology.