Queen “The Game” 1980. Last night we went to see Bohemian Rhapsody; we took the kid with us because he’s finally gotten into music and Queen is one of his favorites (Bowie is number 1 – parenting done right!). So I’ve had various Queen songs stuck in my head since and decided to grab The Game as the record to listen to today. Here’s me and a positively giddy Vault Boy outside the theatre before the movie.

The Game was Queen’s eighth studio LP and the only one to hit #1 in the US (interestingly, it went to #8 on the US R&B chart and, not surprisingly, also went to #1 in the UK). It was their first album to use synthesizers and, at least according to the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, was the first where the band consciously wrote songs to dance to (“Disco? Queen doesn’t do disco!”). The first single from The Game was “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” a rockabilly-ish track that for a looonggg time I never believed was Queen (in fact, I still find it somewhat disconcerting). It went to #2 in the UK and became Queen’s first #1 song in the US. The second single released was “Save Me” and went to #11 in the UK; I don’t think it charted in the US. “Play the Game,” the lead track on The Game, was the third single and it’s here that Queen unabashedly introduces synths for the first time. It charted at #14 in the UK and #42 in the US. The fourth single, “Another One Bites the Dust,” is the one where the disco quote comes from in the movie, the deep bass-line utterly addictive and danceable and was a massive hit, going to #1 in the US where it remained for three weeks and spent a total of 15 weeks in the Top 10; it went to #7 in the UK and ultimately would be Queen’s best-selling single. It’s also the song that I first remember actually hearing by Queen (I’m sure I heard others before but I was pretty young) at 9 years old during the summer of 1980 while at camp. With equal fondness I also remember Weird Al’s spoof, “Another One Rides the Bus.” The final single from The Game was “Need Your Loving Tonight” which was only released in the US and Japan; it went to #44 in the US.

Allmusic writes about The Game “Queen had long been one of the biggest bands in the world by 1980’s The Game, but this album was the first time they made a glossy, unabashed pop album, one that was designed to sound exactly like its time. They might be posed in leather jackets on the cover, but they hardly sound tough or menacing – they rarely rock, at least not in the gonzo fashion that’s long been their trademark. Gone are the bombastic orchestras of guitars and with them the charging, relentless rhythms that kept Queen grounded even at their grandest moments. Now, when they rock, they’ll haul out a clever rockabilly pastiche, as they do on the tremendous “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” a sly revival of old-time rock & roll that never sounds moldy, thanks in large part to Freddie Mercury’s panache. But even that is an exception to the rule on The Game. Usually, when they want to rock here, they wind up sounding like Boston, as they do on John Deacon’s “Need Your Loving Tonight,” or they sound a bit like a new wave-conscious rocker like Billy Squier, as they do on the propulsive “Coming Soon.” But even those are exceptions to the overall rule on The Game, since most of the album is devoted to disco-rock blends – best heard on the globe-conquering “Another One Bites the Dust,” but also present in the unintentionally kitschy positivity anthem “Don’t Try Suicide” – and the majestic power ballads that became their calling card in the ‘80s, as they reworked the surging “Save Me” and the elegant “Play the Game” numerous times, often with lesser results. So, The Game winds up as a mixed bag, as many Queen albums often do, but again the striking difference with this album is that it finds Queen turning decidedly, decisively pop, and it’s a grand, state-of-the-art circa 1980 pop album that still stands as one of the band’s most enjoyable records. But the very fact that it does showcase a band that’s turned away from rock and toward pop means that for some Queen fans, it marks the end of the road, and despite the album’s charms, it’s easy to see why.”