Queen - An Atrocity, Jan 2004
By: Chris Lancaster, Penfold Jnr
There are two types of people in the world. Those who like Queen and those who really don't.
I don't. In fact, I despise them with all that's holy in the world and use this as a good ice-breaker and personality-test when I first meet someone - 'Hi, pleased to meet you - fancy a drink? Oh, by the way, do you like Queen..? Yeah..? Bye.' And so it goes.
Why the big deal? Well, it has a lot to do with the fact that I actually love music and think I have pretty good taste which spans across different styles and decades (and, by decades, I mean the different periods of music, not myself - I'm only 22 for chrriisssakkes).
You can always tell a Queen fan - usual habitat is the library, not inside, of course - that's way too much quietness and sexual tension to handle: more than any girlfriendless Queen fan could ever cope with (unless they had an extra large version of 'Lord of the Rings', keeping it topical, to cover their shame).
Most cuttingly, this brand of species is a clever one; they try and disguise themselves now in 'ironic' T-shirts, things displaying naff '80s crap like 'Pac Man' and 'Thundercats', whilst are often seen walking slowly behind everyone else in the queue for the new White Stripes album. But not like the rest of us who think that Jack and Meg rock harder with two members than the entire rock-breaking team of last year's 'Mr Rock' competition held at Stonehenge, but because the critics had suggested that some of the harmonies on 'Elephant' owe a lot to (gasp!) Queen.
I don't know for sure, but I think it was via that one last statement alone which sent Jack into a rage that finished with The Von Bondies' guy having his face turned into a 'rat catcher's glove' last week... Oh, the shame.
Right, deep breath.
Artists in this article: Queen Adreena, Queens Of The Stone Age, Queen