News Of The World

(1977)

The opening salvo, comprising two of rock’s most revered anthems, We Will Rock

You and We Are The Champions, still wasn’t enough for Queen and each song here has its own merits. All Dead, All Dead’s incredible guitar orchestrations, the joyous Spread Your Wings and the Spanish guitar stylings of Who Needs You are examples of the band’s myriad skills, and even Mercury’s piano-lounge workout My Melancholy Blues bears repeated plays. The big hitter is It’s Late. Building from a subdued riff that demonstrates the colours May can obtain from his use of a sixpence as a pick, through a solo bristling with restrained phrasing and hammer-ons to a double-time climax. Download: It’s Late