�Our teachers were The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, blues & soul��
The first thing you notice about The Cosmos Rocks, the a great deal anticipated first album from rock legends Queen + Paul Rodgers is �all tracks scripted by Queen and Paul Rodgers���produced and performed by Brian May, Paul Rodgers and Roger Taylor� (indicating that betwixt them they played all instruments, including bass - Paul and Brian swapping duties - in case you were going to ask).�This is obviously not a case of Rodgers lightly stepping in to fill a vocal gap, as�some might have been drawn to assume would be the case when the three of them got into the studio together.
No, this is a full corporal, group endeavor: May, Rodgers and Taylor in a totally democratic union, even down to equally share-out the credits. The album�s dedication to legendary Queen front man �Freddie Mercury,� (you�ll as well see thanks credits to John Deacon and Paul Kossoff) shows the band mates soundless feel his presence strongly enough to dedicate this entirely novel work to him, about 13 geezerhood on from Queen�s concluding studio album.
You also wonder how Rodgers who takes control as main singer on all thirteen tracks here feels about his work being dedicated to the man whose fans still hero-worship at the altar of the pre-Mercury demise Queen.
But then mentation about it, it doesn�t seem quite so strange.�Brian May and Roger Taylor have, after all, ne'er shied from acknowledging the mighty presence Mercury provided to the band on stage and the wonders of his extraordinary creative thinking in the studio.�Mostly, they acknowledge how even today, they static miss �dear Fred�.
In the case of Rodgers, he can stand assured in the fact that Mercury always rated him as one of the best rock voices of his time. It is public record that Mercury would make a point of dropping into the Marquee or any number of other London venues when Rodgers was performing with his band Free. Mercury often in his past acknowledged Free�s Fire and Water as one of the albums to about influence Queen. On upside of this, Rodgers has now played enough sold-out and wildly received dates as Queen + Paul Rodgers to know that it whole caboodle, and that the acceptance is thither. You only had to be there at final month�s Nelson Mandela 90th birthday concert to feel the heat from the audience to the band�s blinding set.
It all makes perfect sense when you get the opportunity to see what the band have to say just about the sessions:
�We went in and played, every day, and ALL kinds of things happened, little bits of chemistry happening between us. It�s good, organic music.
�There's a lot of guitar orchestras and some of our old trademarks, but at the core of it you'll hear the leash of us playing. People really, truly playing together in the studio - you don't get that much these days.� But, you will arrest it on their new album.
��Do they still call them 'albums'? I don't even recognise. But this is actually, we trust, an Album in the old sentience of the word - something you can redact on and listen to all the way through, and it takes you on a journey ... the subjects and moods in it ar widely spaced -�but nevertheless, a challenge to the listener to put his day on hold for an hour or so, be drawn in, make connections, and experience something new.
�These days it has seemed to us that few people accept this in mind - CD's by large tend to be a collection of songs, often produced by different teams, assembled in random sequence - with the idea that folks will shuffle the order on their iPods anyway. Of course you always feature that option! But our teachers were the Beatles, Hendrix, blues + individual and ... you know where we�re loss with this. �
The Cosmos Rocks was recorded and mixed at Taylor�s The Priory studio between November 2007 and August 2008, and co-produced and engineered by Joshua J Macrae, Justin Shirley-Smith and Kris Fredriksson. It marks the first album of fresh recorded material from Queen + Paul Rodgers since they showtime set out on the road in 2005, and the first Queen studio album since 1995.
A first single from the album, �C-lebrity� is released September 8 in digital format. Versions take exclusive performances of Queen + Paul Rodgers live performances of �Show Must Go On� and �Fire and Water� filmed during Q + PR�s 2005 Japanese tour.
The track, according to Roger Taylor � and ostensibly much in keeping with many on
The Cosmos Rocks � is the writers� skew on the times in which we live:���C-lebrity� is very a gossip on the current concept of celebrity - success�and all that goes with it. Getting your face on TV is enough - talent doesn't very enter into the equality. �Celebrity� is an overused and debased word today. I think the song shows we have lost none of the sense of humor of Queen!�
Other tracks on The Cosmos Rocks include �Cosmos Rockin��, �Time To Shine�, �Still Burnin'� (a mission affirmation of why artists are compelled to create), �Small�, �Warboys�,��We Believe�,��Call Me�,��Voodoo�, �Some Things That Glitter�,��Through The Night�, �Say It's Not True� (a new version of the track donated to Nelson Mandela�s 46664 HIV Aids campaign), and �Surf's Up, School's Out�.
The album is released in three physical formats: standard CD, gilded package which includes extra DVD featuring 15 highlighting performances by Queen + Paul Rodgers from the band�s Super Live in Japan concert�recorded live at Saitama Super Arena, Tokyo on twenty-seventh October 2005, along with double gatefold vinyl vent (vinyl only available through import).�The record album will likewise have a special digital release including bonus tracks.
Coinciding with the release of The Cosmos Rocks, Queen + Paul Rodgers enter on a 33-date Europe and Northern Eurasia tour beginning mid-September. The go reaches the UK on October 10 with 11 dates including two at London 02 and the tour�s concluding date at Wembley Arena on November 8.
Queen + Paul Rodgers
The Cosmos Rocks
Album Track listing:
1. Cosmos Rockin'
2. Time To Shine
3. Still Burnin'
4. Small
5. Warboys
6. We Believe
7. Call Me
8. Voodoo
9. Some Things That Glitter
10. C-lebrity
11. Through The Night
12. Say It's Not True
13. Surf's Up . . . School's Out!
14. Small reprise
Album/DVD Tracklisting:
Live in Japan
1. Reaching Out
2. Tie Your Mother Down
3. Fat Bottomed Girls
4. Another One Bites The Dust
5. Fire And Water
6. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
7. Teo Torriatte
8. These Are The Days Of Our Lives
9. Radio Ga Ga
10. Can't Get Enough
11. I Was Born To Love You
12. All Right Now
13. We Will Rock You
14. We Are The Champions
15. God Save The Queen
Produced and performed by Brian May, Paul Rodgers and Roger Taylor
Co-produced and engineered by
Joshua J Macrae, Justin Shirley-Smith and Kris Fredriksson
All tracks written by Queen + Paul Rodgers
Extra backing vocals on C-lebrity: Taylor Hawkins courtesy of RCA Records
This album is dedicated to Freddie Mercury
More info
