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Message
Why did Queen decline in popularity in the US during the 80s?
Posted on 11/22/14 at 12:57 pm
Posted on 11/22/14 at 12:57 pm
They were popular worldwide for their entire run, but in the 1980s people in the United States just lost interest. Just look at their album sales (by peak position):
Queen (1973) US: 83 UK: 24
Queen II (1974) US: 49 UK: 5
Sheer Heart Attack (1974) US: 12 UK: 2
A Night at the Opera (1975) US: 4 UK: 1
A Day at the Races (1976) US: 5 UK: 1
News of the World (1977) US: 3 UK: 4
Jazz (1978) US: 6 UK: 2
The Game (1980) US: 1 UK: 1
Hot Space (1982) US: 22 UK: 4
The Works (1984) US: 23 UK: 2
A Kind of Magic (1986) US: 46 UK: 1
The Miracle (1989) US: 24 UK: 1
Innuendo (1991) US: 30 UK: 1
Queen remained one of the most popular pop/rock bands of the 1980s in Europe and South America. However, their popularity waned in the United States after the release of their 1980 album The Game (which featured Another One Bites the Dust and Crazy Little Thing Called Love). What happened?
Queen (1973) US: 83 UK: 24
Queen II (1974) US: 49 UK: 5
Sheer Heart Attack (1974) US: 12 UK: 2
A Night at the Opera (1975) US: 4 UK: 1
A Day at the Races (1976) US: 5 UK: 1
News of the World (1977) US: 3 UK: 4
Jazz (1978) US: 6 UK: 2
The Game (1980) US: 1 UK: 1
Hot Space (1982) US: 22 UK: 4
The Works (1984) US: 23 UK: 2
A Kind of Magic (1986) US: 46 UK: 1
The Miracle (1989) US: 24 UK: 1
Innuendo (1991) US: 30 UK: 1
Queen remained one of the most popular pop/rock bands of the 1980s in Europe and South America. However, their popularity waned in the United States after the release of their 1980 album The Game (which featured Another One Bites the Dust and Crazy Little Thing Called Love). What happened?
This post was edited on 11/22/14 at 12:58 pm
11
Posted on 11/22/14 at 1:10 pm to RollTide1987
aids
Posted on 11/22/14 at 1:10 pm to RollTide1987
IMHO, Because the quality of their music declined. The Game felt like a weird departure to me but had enough to still keep me interested. By Hot Space I was done. And I was a HUGE Queen fan.
That's not to say there weren't good tunes sprinkled here and there, but at some point the became a little too self-conscious and the albums suffered for it.
That's not to say there weren't good tunes sprinkled here and there, but at some point the became a little too self-conscious and the albums suffered for it.
Posted on 11/22/14 at 1:11 pm to RollTide1987
"Flash Gordon" killed them. They had one good song (Under Pressure) after "The Game" came out.
Posted on 11/22/14 at 1:11 pm to RollTide1987
Isn't that performance for Live Aid 85 or whatever considered one of the best performances by any band ever? I would bet their ticket sales were still doing fine. As for album sales, hair metal was taking over so I guess that could be a reason.
Posted on 11/22/14 at 1:14 pm to RogerTheShrubber
quote:
Under Pressure
Bowie
Posted on 11/22/14 at 1:16 pm to Lsupimp
quote:
The Game felt like a weird departure to me
It was different but I still enjoyed it. Dragon Attack is one of the best live performances I've ever seen. After that, I lost interest.
Posted on 11/22/14 at 1:22 pm to Dandy Lion
quote:
Under Pressure
Bowie
It was a collaboration. They basically created it during a jam session and it was on their Hot Space album. I do agree Bowie's vocals were the main appeal.
Posted on 11/22/14 at 1:32 pm to RogerTheShrubber
Yeah I agree." Sail Away Sweet Sister" and "Save Me" were great tracks. But "Crazy Little Thing" and "Bites the dust" were just non-descript pop songs and they unnerved me as a Queen fan. And Flash Gordon really made them lose street cred. That's how I see it, they basically lost their street cred and a big part of their audience.
Posted on 11/22/14 at 2:22 pm to Lsupimp
Queen was never a hipster kind of band. They were mainstream all the way and made music for the money and the fame. They saw the winds of change sweeping toward pop and thus evolved their sound toward what would be more commercially appealing. So I object to this idea of them losing their street cred. They never really had any to begin with. They were a band of nerds. Their drummer was studying to be a dentist and their lead guitarist was an astrophysicist.
And I disagree with the notion that they stopped producing quality music after The Game. Hot Space was a mediocre album but Under Pressure was a good headliner song. Action (This Day) and Back Chat were also pretty good songs, too. The Works had the singles I Want to Break Free as well as Hammer to Fall. A Kind of Magic had One Vision - a great return to their hard rock roots - as well as Who Wants to Live Forever and Princes of the Universe. The Miracle had I Want it All, Breakthru, and Scandal. Innuendo, IMO, was their best album since A Night at the Opera. The Show Must Go On, the headliner from that album, is my favorite song by Queen.
And I disagree with the notion that they stopped producing quality music after The Game. Hot Space was a mediocre album but Under Pressure was a good headliner song. Action (This Day) and Back Chat were also pretty good songs, too. The Works had the singles I Want to Break Free as well as Hammer to Fall. A Kind of Magic had One Vision - a great return to their hard rock roots - as well as Who Wants to Live Forever and Princes of the Universe. The Miracle had I Want it All, Breakthru, and Scandal. Innuendo, IMO, was their best album since A Night at the Opera. The Show Must Go On, the headliner from that album, is my favorite song by Queen.
This post was edited on 11/22/14 at 2:27 pm
Posted on 11/22/14 at 2:30 pm to RollTide1987
Queen sux
Posted on 11/22/14 at 3:03 pm to RollTide1987
I was in:
Queen (1973) US: 83 UK: 24
Queen II (1974) US: 49 UK: 5
Sheer Heart Attack (1974) US: 12 UK: 2
A Night at the Opera (1975) US: 4 UK: 1
A Day at the Races (1976) US: 5 UK: 1
News of the World (1977) US: 3 UK: 4
Jazz (1978) US: 6 UK: 2
Something was changing for me:
The Game (1980) US: 1 UK: 1
I had moved on:
Hot Space (1982) US: 22 UK: 4
The Works (1984) US: 23 UK: 2
A Kind of Magic (1986) US: 46 UK: 1
The Miracle (1989) US: 24 UK: 1
Innuendo (1991) US: 30 UK: 1
Queen Live Killers was the "Queen" I revered. That band had street cred. The band that played loud and fast and effortlessly mixed in all the different Mercury theatrical things. I just didn't stay for the ride after The Game. It was just pure pop. It's a long way from Sheer Heart Attack and Tie Your Mother Down to Radio Gaga, bro.
Queen (1973) US: 83 UK: 24
Queen II (1974) US: 49 UK: 5
Sheer Heart Attack (1974) US: 12 UK: 2
A Night at the Opera (1975) US: 4 UK: 1
A Day at the Races (1976) US: 5 UK: 1
News of the World (1977) US: 3 UK: 4
Jazz (1978) US: 6 UK: 2
Something was changing for me:
The Game (1980) US: 1 UK: 1
I had moved on:
Hot Space (1982) US: 22 UK: 4
The Works (1984) US: 23 UK: 2
A Kind of Magic (1986) US: 46 UK: 1
The Miracle (1989) US: 24 UK: 1
Innuendo (1991) US: 30 UK: 1
Queen Live Killers was the "Queen" I revered. That band had street cred. The band that played loud and fast and effortlessly mixed in all the different Mercury theatrical things. I just didn't stay for the ride after The Game. It was just pure pop. It's a long way from Sheer Heart Attack and Tie Your Mother Down to Radio Gaga, bro.
Posted on 11/22/14 at 4:25 pm to Lsupimp
quote:
Tie Your Mother Down
A very overrated song. The only thing good about it is the guitar riff. You can't even hear the lyrics.
Posted on 11/22/14 at 4:51 pm to RollTide1987
Honestly, Bohemian Rhapsody is their only song that I thought was interesting.
OK - Somebody to Love is really good too s omake it two.
But
We are the Champions,
Bicycle Races,
Another One Bites the Dust,
We Will Rock You
Are just pure crap. And that crap is what made the airwaves. Even a country with terrible taste isn't going to listen to that for long.
OK - Somebody to Love is really good too s omake it two.
But
We are the Champions,
Bicycle Races,
Another One Bites the Dust,
We Will Rock You
Are just pure crap. And that crap is what made the airwaves. Even a country with terrible taste isn't going to listen to that for long.
Posted on 11/22/14 at 6:13 pm to RollTide1987
'hot space' is what did them in. the "side one" tracks were just too jarring compared to anything they did prior, including 'the game'. while i can appreciate alot of the album nowadays, i was pretty horrified when i'd first heard it 
funny, the live versions of the songs from 'hot space' are actually pretty aggressive & energetic, barely resembling the studio versions....if those versions appeared on the album instead, the band probably would've kept their momentum going IMO...
funny, the live versions of the songs from 'hot space' are actually pretty aggressive & energetic, barely resembling the studio versions....if those versions appeared on the album instead, the band probably would've kept their momentum going IMO...
Posted on 11/22/14 at 6:24 pm to Lsupimp
quote:and those are the only two songs by them I can tolerate
But "Crazy Little Thing" and "Bites the dust" were just non-descript pop songs
you can keep the bombastic screeching
Posted on 11/22/14 at 6:35 pm to Kafka
Killer Queen breh?
Posted on 11/22/14 at 7:13 pm to Kafka
quote:
Posted by Kafka quote: But "Crazy Little Thing" and "Bites the dust" were just non-descript pop songs and those are the only two songs by them I can tolerate you can keep the bombastic screeching
Posted on 11/22/14 at 9:51 pm to Brosef Stalin
quote:
Isn't that performance for Live Aid 85 or whatever considered one of the best performances by any band ever?
It is the best concert ever. Period.
Posted on 11/22/14 at 10:32 pm to RogerTheShrubber
The Flash Gordon album was a big ball of awesome. I honestly think since they had no hit singles is why their popularity waned in the US after about 82. And Freddie had some other things going on that he had to deal with unfortunately...................
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