Label: Parlophone Records (UK), 7243 8 30059 2 5
Style: Rock, Pop Rock
Country: Norfolk, England (born 26 July 1949)
Time: 48:21
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 301 Mb
The
death of Freddie at the end of 1991 threw Queen into a tailspin, and
each member reacted in his own way. John retreated to the normalcy and
comfort of his family, spending time with his wife and children, most
likely with a sigh of relief. Brian and Roger, however, remained
committed to their music; the former finally completed his debut solo
album, and went off on tour around the world to support it, remaining
busy for an entire year. Roger, however, wasn"t quite as eager as Brian
to get back into music, spending a lot of his time contemplating his
journey over his career while writing the occasional song or two.
Finally, in 1993, Roger had written enough material to constitute the
bulk of his third proper solo album, which he recorded at his home
studio over the next few months.
The material that he had written was
far more introspective and lyrical than anything he had written on his
first two solo albums or as the frontman of The Cross. There was the
occasional moment of rock "n" roll, but for the most part, the songs
were quieter and more keyboard-dominated. Freddie, too, had been on the
forefront of Roger"s mind while he was writing the album, with many of
the songs inspired by him, either in passing or full-force –
specifically, the last two songs on the album, Dear Mr. Murdoch, written
about Rupert Murdoch, owner of the British tabloid / rag The Sun, who
had hounded Freddie during his dying days (it had even been written for a
planned fourth Cross album), and Old Friends, a far gentler ode to
remembering the fallen vocalist as his very best friend remembered him.
Elsewhere,
there were songs about pursuing happiness, overcoming loneliness, and a
heartfelt dedication to his then-wife Debbie (Touch The Sky). The song
that made the biggest impression, though, was Nazis 1994, written after a
horrified Roger read reports of the uprise of Neo-Nazism in the early
1990s. The original words were "We gotta kick these xxxin" Nazis",
though Parlophone balked at the bluntness and politely suggested that
Roger tone down the sentiment; hence, the dreaded F-bomb became
"stinkin"", which was far less effective.
(full review: queenpedia.com/index.php?title=Happiness%3F_(album)
01. Nazis 1994 (02:35)
02. Happiness (03:17)
03. Revelations (03:44)
04. Touch The Sky (05:04)
05. Foreign Sand (06:53)
06. Freedom Train (06:12)
07. You Had To Be There" (02:55)
08. The Key (04:25)
09. Everybody Hurts Sometime (02:52)
10. Loneliness (02:25)
11. Dear Mr. Murdoch (04:19)
12. Old Friends (03:33)
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