Touch The Ground (©1996 Absolute Records)

the songs: Touch the Ground / Things Can Only Get Beter / Bring Jesus To Me / I (Surrender) / All OVer You / Sea Creature / If I Were President / Capitol Hill / Blessed Are The Broken / Open The Door / Phileo / There Is No One Like You

With the serious cover, you know this is going to be a serious effort. I had no idea what to expect with this one. I knew he was in One Bad Pig and although the one album I had was nothing exceptional, I remembered Paul's name. So when I was cruising the cheap bin and found this for under five bucks I figured what the heck let's see what the guy's up to.

Well, it was a surprise. Who'd a thunk the punk rocker had an adult contemporary singer buried in him? He even manages to do a Howard Jones cover - there's something you don't see every day. Musically this is a funked up just over the middle of the road pseudo praise sounding effort. He has a voice that reminds me of Gene Stashuk from Red 7 (come on, doesn't anyone remember the 80's). Okay, if that one doesn't ring any bells, he sounds like a gutteral Peter Gabriel. This isn't a bad thing. This isn't a bad album, it's just not an album that really did anything for me.

Reviewed May 27, 2002

The Game (©1980 Hollywood Records)

1: Play The Game 2: Dragon Attack 3: Another One Bites The Dust 4: Need Your Loving Tonight 5: Crazy Little Thing Called Love 6: Rock It (Prime Jive) 7: Don't Try Suicide 8: Sail Away Sweet Sister 9: Coming Soon 10: Save Me 11: Dragon Attack (1991 Bonus Remix by R.A.K. and Jack Benson)

When this came out in 1980, it was a bona fide big deal. Some of the songs haven't held up all that well in my opinion, but what do I know. My six year old thinks "Dragon Attack" is the coolest song ever, and his older brother really likes "Another One Bites the Dust". Both of which are songs I think are the weakest on the album.

This was also the first album, after years of proclaiming NO SYNTHESIZERS that the band broke down and started using them. This is still an excellent album, and songs like "Sail Away Sweet Sister" and "Save Me" are among some of their best songs ever. Of course "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" still rocks.

Hey, it's Queen, it was over the top, cheesy, and at times overblown. All the elements required for a classic Queen experience.

Reviewed December 19, 2005

Innuendo (©1991 Hollywood Records)

Innuendo / I'm Going Slightly Mad / Headlong / I Can't Live Without You / Don't Try So Hard / Ride The Wild Wind / All God's People / These Are The Days Of Our Lives / Delilah / The Hitman / Bijou / The Show Must Go On

Over produced, over-the-top, and very good. Queen released some exceptional albums over the years, and most of their music holds up pretty well.

Innuendo isn't their best work (close), but it isn't their worst either. That honour goes to either the Flash Gordon Soundtrack, or Hot Space (which has a couple of brilliant moments). What makes this record so poignant are the songs themselves. Freddie Mercury passed away shortly after this album was released, and suddenly a lot of the songs revealed a deeper meaning. "The Show Must Go On" is arguably the best song they ever recorded.

Reviewed July 9, 2000

Made In Heaven (©1995 Hollywood Records)

It's A Beautifull Day / Made In Heaven / Let Me Live / Mother Love / My Life Has Been Saved / I Was Born To Love You / Heaven For Everyone / Too Much Love Will Kill You / You Don't Fool Me / A Winter's Tale / It's A Beautiful Day (Reprise)

One wonders what the future would have held for Queen if Freddie hadn't passed away. Made in Heaven is a real treat, and bitter sweet since you know that this really was the last Queen album. Thankfully the boys waited a few years before going back and finishing up the last of Freddie's work. It would have been too easy to rush this out the door and cash in to make the easy buck (that's what the Greatest Hits III was for). This one could easily have been called Diary of a Dying Man, but Made in Heaven is more marketable.

Songs like "Let Me Live", and "My Life Has Been Saved" and "It's a Beautiful Day" are great and drive the point home that life is indeed short, and we should appreciate the time we have.

Of all the Queen albums in my collection this is probably the one I play the most - except for the 23 minute brain fart at the end of the CD which is typical Queen and is one of those musical jokes in overindulgence only Queen could pull off.

This is overlooked by a lot of people who liked Queen, which is a shame as this isn't a hodgepodge of bad songs and unfinished demos, this is a cohesive farewell and a high water mark for one of the greatest rock and roll bands ever.

Reviewed January 10, 2003

Era Vulgaris (©2007)

1: Turning On The Screw 2: Sick, Sick, Sick 3: I'm Designer 4: Into The Hollow 5: Misfit Love 6: Battery Acid 7: Make It Wit Chu 8: 3's & 7's 9: Suture Up Your Future 10: River In The Road 11: Run, Pig, Run 12: Running Joke 13: Era Vulgaris

As a starting place, it’s often best to start at the beginning – so I started with this one just to be different. Besides, it was their new one, so I figured it would be really cool. Considering I really didn’t know much at all about the band, other than they were supposed to be great. So imagine my surprise when I play the album for the first time, and I didn’t like it at all. I couldn’t figure out what the fuss was about – this was shit as far as I was concerned, not a diamond anywhere to be seen.

So how come I’m giving this four stars? That’s easy – I was wrong. I really wasn't planning on listening to this one again, but considering I'd picked it up along with a bunch of their other stuff, I figured I should try again. The other day I was stuck for something to listen on the way to work, and saw this one on the desk. So I loaded it up on my player and proceeded to listen to it all the way through on the way to work, and then again on my way home. It clicked. This was pretty cool stuff – it wasn’t typical rock. The structure of the songs was different, and not always “perky” in the traditional pop sense. But there’s a lot of cool stuff going on throughout the disc.

Josh Homme fronts the band, and I really get a kick out of his guitar playing which is as odd as it is cool; and his voice, like Dave Grohl, has a sweet and nasty side to it. Of course there are the big songs: “Sick Sick Sick”, “Make it Wit Chu”, which are pretty cool. You could say the boys can really polish up a turd. But the whole album is a wicked combination of shoe-gazer with a retro vibe. "Into the Hollow" is probably one of my favourite songs at the moment. It's got a great groove, and the effortless way Josh delivers his vocals under scores the music. A lot of the songs have a similar tension between the music and Josh's delivery. The album closes with the title track, which is a brash, noisy song which is a cool way to end the album.

Of course, now I'll have to work backwards and listen to the other stuff.

Reviewed February 15, 2008