Jazz (album)
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| Jazz | ||
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| Studio album by Queen | ||
| Released | November 10, 1978 | |
| Recorded | July-October 1978 Mountain Studios, Montreux Super Bear, Nice |
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| Genre | Hard rock Neo-progressive rock Pop rock |
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| Length | 44:43 | |
| Label | EMI, Parlophone (Europe) Elektra, Hollywood (USA) |
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| Producer(s) | Queen and Roy Thomas Baker | |
| Professional reviews | ||
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| Queen chronology | ||
| News of the World (1977) |
Jazz (1978) |
Live Killers (1979) |
Jazz is a 1978 album by English rock band Queen. It was the band's seventh studio album, and comprises a number of different styles of music, including disco-funk ("Fun It"), vaudeville ("Dreamer's Ball"), hard rock ("Dead On Time") and a country-flavored stomp ("Fat Bottomed Girls"). Curiously, it contains nothing recognizable as jazz, except perhaps the music-hall swing of "Dreamer's Ball". The album's eclecticism was alternately praised and criticised; it was subject to a viciously scathing Rolling Stone review by Dave Marsh which included the suggestion that "Queen may be the first truly fascist rock band." Nevertheless, the album made it to #6 on the American Billboard 200.
The band had intended to sell the album with a poster depicting the all-female nude bicycle race staged to promote "Fat Bottomed Girls", but in the USA it was only available through mail order so as not to upset retailers. A small version of the poster comes with the Crown Jewels box set.
Roy Thomas Baker temporarily reunited with Queen and became their producer for this album. It was 3 years since he co-produced Queen's 1975 album A Night at the Opera. But this album also was the last album he co-produced for the band.
Included in the liner notes is the attribution "Thunderbolt courtesy of God", referring to the crash of thunder heard at the end of the song "Dead On Time" which May recorded with a portable audio recorder during a thunderstorm.
The album artwork was suggested by Roger Taylor, who previously saw a similar design painted on the Berlin Wall.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
- Side One
- "Mustapha" (Mercury) - 3:01
- "Fat Bottomed Girls" (May) - 4:16
- "Jealousy" (Mercury) - 3:13
- "Bicycle Race" (Mercury) - 3:01
- "If You Can't Beat Them" (Deacon) - 4:15
- "Let Me Entertain You" (Mercury) - 3:01
- Side Two
- "Dead On Time" (May) - 3:23
- "In Only Seven Days" (Deacon) - 2:30
- "Dreamer's Ball" (May) - 3:30
- "Fun It" (Taylor) - 3:29
- "Leaving Home Ain't Easy" (May) - 3:15
- "Don't Stop Me Now" (Mercury) - 3:29
- "More of that Jazz" (Taylor) - 4:16
- Bonus tracks
- "Fat Bottomed Girls" (1991, Remix by Brian Malouf) - 4:22
- "Bicycle Race" (1991, Remix by Junior Vasquez) - 4:59
[edit] Mustapha
"Mustapha" (Sample ) is a song written by Freddie Mercury. It is the first track of their 1978 album Jazz. "Mustapha" was released as a single in 1979.
The lyrics consist mostly of Arabic-sounding nonsense. The only actual words are "Mustapha", "Ibrahim" and the phrases "Allah, Allah, Allah will pray for you", "salaam aleikum" and "aleikum salaam". The rest is improvised words like "ichna klibhra him" and "rabbla fihmtrashim".
In live performances, Mercury would often sing the opening vocals of "Mustapha" in place of the complex introduction to "Bohemian Rhapsody", going from "Allah will pray for you" to "Mama, just killed a man...". However, sometimes the band performed an almost full version of the song, with Mercury at the piano.
[edit] Fat Bottomed Girls
"Fat Bottomed Girls" (Sample ) was written by May with lead vocals shared by May and Mercury in the album version. On stage Mercury sang the entire song, with Taylor and May doing harmonies.
[edit] Jealousy
"Jealousy" was penned by Mercury and features May playing his Hairfred acoustic guitar placing small pieces of piano wire under the frets to produce the "buzzing" effect of a sitar. Deacon made some mistakes on the bass but the band kept them since they wanted to conserve the feeling of the overall take (piano, bass and drums were recorded simultaneously). All vocals were recorded by Mercury. It was released as a single in 1979.
[edit] Bicycle Race
"Bicycle Race" (Sample ) is a complex composition by Mercury. It features several modulations, unusual chord functions, a metre change (4/4 to 3/4 and back) and a programatic section (a race of guitars emulating the bicycle race).
[edit] If You Can't Beat Them
"If You Can't Beat Them" was composed by John Deacon and was a live favourite for the band in late '70s. It is one of the few songs by Deacon where May plays all the guitars.
[edit] Let Me Entertain You
"Let Me Entertain You" was written by Mercury, directed towards the audience. The line "we'll sing to you in Japanese" is a reference to May's Teo Torriatte, from A Day at the Races. The idea of a guitar riff in parallel sixths was re-used later in the Innuendo track, "The Hitman".
[edit] Dead On Time
"Dead On Time", written by May, is a vastly underrated heavy metal song in the Queen catalogue, featuring some of the fastest and most aggressive guitar work by its author, as well as some equally complicated yet ferocious drumming by Taylor. Performed at breakneck speed, it was considered by most fans to be an ideal live number, but was curiously never played in concert; May would only incorporate snippets of it in his guitar solos during the Jazz Tour.
The song ends with the sound of a thunderbolt, actually recorded by May on a portable recorder during a vicious thunderstorm. Amusingly, the album's liner notes credit the thunderbolt to God.
[edit] In Only Seven Days
"In Only Seven Days" resembles Deacon's previous song, "Spread Your Wings". Deacon also played acoustic guitar.
[edit] Dreamer's Ball
"Dreamer's Ball" is May's tribute to Elvis Presley, who had died one year before. The arrangement for the concert version was completely different, with May and Taylor doing vocal brasses.
[edit] Fun It
"Fun It" was a funk track by Taylor, where both Mercury and himself shared the lead vocals. Taylor was the lead vocals, while Mercury was backup. Taylor used a Syndrum pad and played most of the instruments.
[edit] Leaving Home Ain't Easy
"Leaving Home Ain't Easy" was a ballad by May, who also sang all the vocals (lead and harmony). His voice was sped up for the bridge.
[edit] Don't Stop Me Now
"Don't Stop Me Now" is Mercury's top 10 single in the UK. May's only input is a short guitar solo.
[edit] More of that Jazz
"More of that Jazz" is yet another one of Taylor's bitter comments about current society and the way rock and roll is disrespected[citation needed]. It is loop based and Taylor plays most instruments and sings all vocals, reaching some very high notes (peaking on a high-E) without falsetto. The outro also contains short clips from many songs on the album, including "Dead on Time", "Bicycle Race", "Mustapha", "If You Can't Beat Them", "Fun It" and "Fat Bottomed Girls".
[edit] Credits
- All lead vocals by Freddie Mercury except:
- Fat Bottomed Girls: Mercury & May
- Fun It: Mercury & Taylor
- Leaving Home Ain't Easy: May
- More Of That Jazz: Taylor
- All backing vocals by Queen except:
- Jealousy: Mercury
- Let Me Entertain You: Mercury
- Dreamer's Ball: Mercury
- Leaving Home Ain't Easy: May
- More Of That Jazz: Taylor
- All drums by Taylor
- Glockenspiel in 'Don't Stop Me Now' by Taylor
- Syndrum in 'Fun It' by Taylor
- All instruments (drums, bass, guitars, maracas) & vocals in 'More Of That Jazz' by Taylor
- All other bass guitars by Deacon
- Rhythm guitars by May & Deacon
- All lead guitars by May
- All acoustic guitars by May except 'Seven Days' (Deacon)
- All pianos by Mercury
[edit] Singles
Four singles were released from the album:
- "Bicycle Race"/"Fat Bottomed Girls (edit)" - Elektra E45541; released October, 1978
- "Bicycle Race" and "Fat Bottomed Girls" were released in 1978 as a double A-side; the band staged a famous nude, all-female bicycle race to promote the single. The bicycle race took place on 17th September 1978 at Wimbledon Stadium in London. The picture sleeve showed a rear view of one of the ladies on her bicycle, but in the U.S. a pair of red panties were painted on to avoid public outcry. Legend has it that the band borrowed the bicycles from a store ("Halfords," according to the liner notes), but upon returning them were informed that they would have to purchase all the seats, as they had been used in an improper manner (i.e. without clothing). Fat Bottomed Girls also contains one of Roger Taylor's most memorable drum fills at about 2:16.
- "Mustapha" was released in 1978 in only Bolivia, Spain, Yugoslavia and Germany. Its B-side was "Dead On Time," except in Yugoslavia, where it was either "In Only Seven Days" or "Dreamer's Ball."
- "Don't Stop Me Now"/"More Of That Jazz" - Elektra E46008; released February, 1979
- "Don't Stop Me Now" was released in 1979; its B-side, depending on where one purchased it, was either "In Only Seven Days" or "More Of That Jazz."
- "Jealousy"/"Fun It" - Elektra E46039; released April, 1979
- "Jealousy" was released in 1979 in the United States, New Zealand, Brazil, Russia, and Canada; its B-side was "Fun It," "Don't Stop Me Now," or a mono version of the same song.
[edit] Charts
| Country | Charts | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peak position | Weeks | Certification | ||
| Portugal | 1 | |||
| United Kingdom | 2 | 27 | Platinum | 450.000 |
| Netherlands | 4 | Platinum | 100.000 | |
| Germany | 5 | Gold | 300.000 | |
| Japan | 5 | Gold | 200.000 | |
| Norway | 6 | |||
| Sweden | 6 | |||
| United States | 6 | 17 | Platinum | 1.400.000 |
| Austria | 8 | Gold | 25.000 | |
| Italy | 36 | |||
Categories: Articles lacking sources from August 2006 | All articles lacking sources | Articles with unsourced statements since March 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | Queen (band) albums | 1978 albums | Elektra Records albums | Parlophone albums | Hollywood Records albums
