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Raccontare A day at the races significa fare i conti con l'illustre predecessore e le inevitabili scelte derivative sul piano musicale ed esteriore (titoli e copertina), evidenziando però come la musica in esso contenuta sia inattaccabile a livello qualitativo.
Una maestosa intro, che ripresenta le ormai leggendarie armonie di chitarra, ci porta dritti a uno dei classici hard-rock del gruppo, la trascinante "Tie your mother down" (spesso opener in sede live). Il ritmo rallenta con la successiva "You take my breath away", sonata pianistica dal sapore classicheggiante su cui si adagia un'interpretazione sofferta di Mercury. Segue "Long away", rock mid-tempo cantato da May e diretto dal basso di Deacon, il quale torna a mettere in mostra la sua ottima tecnica, con passaggi veloci e sopraffini, in "The millionaire waltz", sorta di walzer-rock (!) con continui di cambi di ritmo, fra delicati momenti pianistici e chitarre distorte (e sentitevi l'invidiabile pulizia di tocco di Brian...).
La seguente "You and I" è un bel brano rock orecchiabile, mentre la 6a traccia non necessita presentazioni, giacché si tratta della celeberrima, pomposa, "Somebody to love" (solo un aggettivo: geniale). Con la pesante "White man" -composta non a caso da May- torna invece la vena hard del gruppo, con una chitarra distorta che la fa da padrona ed un Freddie impegnato a narrarci dell'inopinato sterminio dei pellerossa ad opera dell'uomo bianco! Infine i riferimenti swing della scanzonata "Good old-fashioned lover boy", la stralunata slide-guitar di Drowse (voce:Taylor) e la splendida ballad Teo Torriatte, dotata di un ritornello accattivante cantato in giapponese, prima che le armonie di chitarra apprezzate in sede introduttiva riprendano ad libitum fino a sfumare...
Degno erede o no? La risposta è ovvia.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Tie Your Mother Down (04:48)
Get your party gown
And get your pigtail down
And get your heart beatin' baby
Got my timin' right
I got my act all tight
It's gotta be tonight
My little school babe
Your Momma says you don't
And your Daddy says you won't
And I'm boilin' up inside
Ain't no way I'm gonna lose out this time
Tie your Mother down
Tie your Mother down
Lock your Daddy out of doors
I don't need him nosin' around
Tie your Mother down
Tie your Mother down
Give me all your love tonight
You're such a dirty louse
Go get outta my house
That's all I ever get from your
Family ties, in fact I don't think I ever heard
A single little civil word from those guys
I don't give a light
I'm gonna make out all right
I've got a sweetheart hand
To put a stop to all that
Snipin' and grousin'
Tie your Mother down
Tie your Mother down
Take your little brother swimmin'
With a brick (that's all right)
Tie your mother down
Tie your mother down
Or you ain't no friend of mine
Your Mommy and your Daddy
Gonna plague me till I die
They can't understand it
I'm just a peace lovin' guy
Tie your Mother down
Tie your Mother down
Get that big big big big big big
Daddy out the door
Tie your Mother down yeah
Tie your Mother down
Give me all your love tonight
All your love tonight
(Give me every inch of your love)
03 Long Away (03:33)
You might believe in heaven
I would not care to say
For every star in heaven
There's a sad soul here today
Wake up in the morning with a good face
Stare at the moon all day
Lonely as a whisper on a star chase
Does anyone care anyway
For all the prayers in heaven
So much of life's this way
Did we leave our way behind us
Such a long long way behind us
Who knows when, now who knows where
Where the light of day will find us?
Look for the day
Take heart, my friend, we love you
Though it seems like you're alone
A million lights above you
Smile down upon your home
Hurry put your troubles in a suitcase
Come let the new child play
Lonely as a whisper on a star chase
I'm leaving here, I'm long away
For all the stars in heaven
I would not live
I could not live this way
Did we leave our way behind us
Such a long long way behind us
Leave it for some hopeless lane
Such a long long way
Such a long long way
Such a long long way
Such a long long away
I'm looking for
Still looking for that day
08 Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy (02:54)
I can dim the lights
And sing you songs full of sad things
We can do the tango just for two
I can serenade and gently play
On your heart strings
Be your Valentino just for you
Ooh love, Ooh loverboy
What ya doin' tonight, hey boy?
Set my alarm, turn on my charm
That's because I'm a good old fashioned loverboy
Ooh let me feel your heartbeat
(Grow faster faster)
Ooh can you feel my love heat
Come on and sit on my hot seat of love
And tell me how do you feel right after all
I'd like for you and I to go romancing
Say the word your wish is my command
Ooh love, Ooh loverboy
What ya doin' tonight, hey boy?
Write my letter
Feel much better
And use my fancy patter on the telephone
When I'm not with you
I think of you always
I miss you -
(I miss those long hot summer nights)
When I'm not with you
Think of me always,
I love you, love you
Hey boy, where did you get it from?
Hey boy, where did you go?
I learned my passion
In the good old fashioned school of loverboys
Dining at the Ritz we'll meet at nine precisely
(One two three four five six seven eight nine o'clock)
I will pay the bill, you taste the wine
Driving back in style in my saloon will do quite nicely
Just take me back to yours that will be fine
(Come on and get it)
Ooh love
(There he goes again)
Ooh lover boy
(Goes my good old-fashioned lover boy)
What you did tonight, hey boy?
Ev'rything's all right, just hold on tight
That's because I'm a good old fashioned (fashioned) loverboy
09 Drowse (03:45)
It's the sad-eyed, goodbye yesterday moments I remember
It's the bleak street, weak-kneed partings I recall
It's the mistier mist
The hazier days
The brighter sun
And the easier lays
And there's all the more reason for laughing and crying
When you're younger and life isn't too hard at all
It's the fantastic drowse of the afternoon Sundays
That bored you to rages of tears
It's the unending pleadings to waste all your good times
In thoughts of your middle-aged years
It's a vertical hold, all the things that you're told
For the everyday hero it all turns to zero
And there's all the more reason for living or dying
When you're young and your troubles are all very small
Out here on the street
We'd gather and meet
And scuff up the sidewalk with endlessly restless feet
And half of the time
We'd broaden our minds
More in the poolhall than we did in the schoolhall
With the downtown chewing gum bums
Watching the night life, the lights and the fun
Never wanted to be the boy next door
Always thought I'd be something more
But it ain't easy for a small town boy
It ain't easy at all
Thinking it right, doing it wrong
It's easier from an armchair
Waves of alternatives wash at my sleepiness
Have my eggs poached for breakfast, I guess
(I think I'll be Clint Eastwood)
(Jimi Hendrix, he was good)
(Let's try William the Conqueror)
(Now, who else do I like?)
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di Walterstarman1
"Un Freddie Mercury che eguaglia quasi, come autore, quello di un anno prima con 'Bohemian Rhapsody'."
"'A Day at the Races' è un album che brilla di luce propria e non come riflesso dell'album antecedente."
Di dany87
Il miglior brano hard rock mai realizzato dai Queen che diventa apertura ideale dei live.
Somebody to Love è l'ultima visione di Freddie, che imposta il tutto come un gioco tra la sua melodia e i cori fino al crescendo finale.
Di Silvaplana
I Queen ci hanno dato una o due idee su dove la musica rock possa arrivare.
È raro trovare nel rock strumenti così disciplinati. Intelligenti senza dubbio fin quando c'era l'ispirazione.
