Queen – The Game [180g Vinyl LP]

Queen – The Game [180g Vinyl LP]

Details

• Format: Vinyl LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Stereo
• Catalogue Number: 4720275
• Barcode: 602547202758
• Genre: Rock / Hard Rock / Pop Rock / Arena Rock
• Label: Virgin EMI Records / Universal
• Originally Released: 30 June 1980
• Reissue Released: 2015
• Pressing: 180 Gram Vinyl, Half-Speed Mastered
• Condition: New & Sealed

Description

The Game is the eighth studio album by Queen — Freddie Mercury (vocals, keyboards), Brian May (guitar, vocals), Roger Taylor (drums, vocals) and John Deacon (bass) — originally released on 30 June 1980 on EMI Records. The album was recorded at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, in various sessions between February and May 1980, with earlier sessions for four tracks — "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "Sail Away Sweet Sister", "Coming Soon" and "Save Me" — taking place in June and July 1979. Produced by the band alongside long-standing collaborator Reinhold Mack, The Game marked a significant evolution in the Queen sound: it was the first Queen album to feature a synthesizer, an Oberheim OB-X deployed by Mercury on "Play the Game", having previously been the defining element of the band's identity that no member played keyboards of this kind. The decision signalled a conscious move towards a more contemporary commercial sound and provoked a degree of debate among fans at the time.

The result was the band's most commercially successful studio album in the United States, where it became the only Queen album to reach number one on the Billboard 200, selling in excess of four million copies in that market alone. In the UK it reached number one on the Albums Chart, giving them a transatlantic chart-topper for the first time. What made this achievement remarkable was the breadth of styles across the album's ten tracks — Mercury's rockabilly swing of "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" sat alongside Deacon's funk-inflected bass riff of "Another One Bites the Dust", May's bluesy hard rock of "Dragon Attack", and Taylor's pop-rock energy of "Rock It (Prime Jive)", with the ballad "Save Me" and the mid-tempo groove of "Need Your Loving Tonight" filling out a record that moved across genres with complete confidence.

"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" — written by Mercury in under ten minutes while sitting in a bath in Munich — was released as a single in October 1979 and reached number two on the UK Singles Chart and number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, the first Queen single to top the American chart. "Another One Bites the Dust", released in August 1980, became an even bigger commercial phenomenon, reaching number seven in the UK and number one on the US Hot 100, where it spent three weeks at the top and became one of the best-selling singles of 1980. The track's endurance has been remarkable: its bass line, written and played by Deacon, remains one of the most recognisable figures in rock history and has been widely sampled in hip-hop.

This 2015 reissue on Virgin EMI Records / Universal presents the complete 10-track album on 180 gram vinyl with a printed lyric and picture inner sleeve. The hype sticker confirms half-speed mastering at Abbey Road Studios, part of the Queen Studio Collection series recreated from the original master tapes.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Play the Game
2. Dragon Attack
3. Another One Bites the Dust
4. Need Your Loving Tonight
5. Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Side B

1. Rock It (Prime Jive)
2. Don't Try Suicide
3. Sail Away Sweet Sister
4. Coming Soon
5. Save Me

Credits

• Freddie Mercury – Vocals, Piano, Synthesizer
• Brian May – Guitar, Vocals
• Roger Taylor – Drums, Vocals
• John Deacon – Bass
• Reinhold Mack – Producer (with Queen)
• Label – Virgin EMI Records / Universal