QUEEN More Of That Jazz JAZZ | REACTION

[@DonnaleaSpencer]

Always honest first reactions to a Queen album. I love your channel. Man, your 'It's fine's are sweet and kind compared to those old official critical reviews you read. So many critics hated Queen. So many fans adored Queen. Fans for the win! Next album up. I'm ready.

[@sergeinester6261]

The album originally had More Of That Jazz in the title. It confused many US critics not understanding the full title which really meant more of the same stuff. Ie Aueen doing Queen. Queen like the Beatles really are their own genre.

[@PT9546]

So I think you can understand why the band didn’t get along with the critics or some interviewers. I mean these are not even constructive criticisms just brutal insults that don’t make sense. As a band how do you deal with this kind of thing? I mean Don’t Stop Me Now is such a great song and nobody even mentions how great it is.

[@peaceofiona9198]

In US Billboard Hot 100 Don't Stop Me Now only reached 89 as I remember

[@GreatestFrontman]

We just can’t understand why those people never had good things say about Queen band and their fantastic timeless music, their astounding live performances, their incredible musical talents and so much more… 😔

[@toddmathers5075]

You will start to see the change in Taylor's writing on the next album as he moves much more towards pop. He doesn't fully get there until Hot Space, but you should notice the move in that direction. The Game also includes the last song (Rock It) on a Queen album released during Mercury's lifetime where Taylor independently sings lead vocal (though Mercury sang the intro on that song and Taylor does share lead vocals with Mercury on a couple of his other songs). Taylor was/is an outstanding backing vocalist, but I was never a fan of him singing lead, so I was happy with Freddie taking over the singing of his songs on their later albums.

[@peterobrien8399]

I was never a lover of Roger’s early songs, but think his solo album Fun In Space is brilliant (released 1981)

[@seanculver8876]

After all these years (I bought the original release on vinyl) I still listen to ‘Fun in Space’ front to back.

[@betseyclark2832]

Roger was the band member who was most aware of new trends . He was the one who went to the parties and mingled more with others in the music business. He was also the most ambitious member with regard to solo work. I bet it was hard for him to be the invisible guy behind the drum kit; he eventually put his face on it. Thanks for reading all the reviews, they were worse than usual for this album. Great reaction!

[@ZENOBlAmusic]

Jazz is a fun album. The media hated Queen, especially the Rolling Stone Magazine, that review is actually famously known as one their worst reviews of all time. Of course they have rewritten that review. There is an irony here in that the punk bands where heavy supported and venerated for being anti-establishment. But as you can see Queen where truly anti-establishment they were hated by the press but loved by the people. Queen were often not liked in their in time by the critics, but history has removed some of that imbalance. The Rolling stone Magazine still hates Queen even to this day., and they also hate Rush. They hate more of the hard working bands who focus on music. One of the things they hated was tight instrumentation.

[@dianecourtney2724]

Great comment 👍

[@ManChan-w5p]

Correct. Classic rock needs to be protected by heterosexual men. Any tinge of homosexuality and the homophobia will come marching out.

[@ZENOBlAmusic]

@@ManChan-w5p I think there might be some of that especially in that Rolling Stone Review.

[@matthewchance8835]

One of the best Queen songs ever IMO

[@peaceofiona9198]

Its riff inspired Metallica - Master Of Puppets

[@neilloughran4437]

yeah!

[@drmicrobiota3618]

Great to see that you're enjoying (overall) Queen's discography. Keep expressing your sincere opinion about songs and albums, it's becoming a rare thing to be sincere nowadays! I remember you saying that you were planning to keep listening until The Game album, which is comprehensible since 80's Queen albums were more "smash hit single" focused and pop-rock/disco oriented (funnily enough, this period of time is when Roger Taylor and John Deacon showed brilliance as songwriters). But I would really recommend you to listen to Innuendo album, which is by far their best latter album and in my opinion one of their greatest albums ever (if not the greatest). They return to their early hard rock sound in here. I'd say that Roger Taylor's songs in Innuendo (which are 3, 1 of them co-written with Freddie) are top notch in the album, it would be very interesting to see you reacting to it.

[@jeffin8127]

By the time Jazz came out Roger had released a solo single Testify/Turn on the TV in 1977. Both songs on Jazz and Fight from the Inside would have made the single an EP if all were released together. Similar styles and you can tell it's Roger Taylor. His song A Human Body (The Game B-side) would have fit as well. All of these songs would not have been out of place on his 1981 solo album. As for Don't Stop Me Now being the 'smash' off this album, that was not the case in 1978. It was not a popular single on release (only hitting #86 on US Billboard Hot 100), but the popularity grew from being featured in the Live shows, and years later after Freddie's death.

[@anthonypirera7598]

Thank you Justin for your time to check out Jazz. It is an album that I got way back in the early 80's and it's great to hear it again I can remember telling people way back then that Don't Stop Me Now was a masterpiece but it fell on deaf ears.

[@frankmcbride7051]

Live Killers was their next release. It was good marketing for me because it convinced me to go see them on The Game tour for my first ever concert. That marked Freddie’s big change of look where he grew out the mustache, cut the hair and started wearing, for my lack of a better word, more kinky outfits onstage. I missed the glam look, but I was way more interested in the music, which, in my opinion, was about to take its own turn. The Game was the last Queen album I enjoyed start to finish. Innuendo came close. Freddie’s writing went a direction I didn’t want to follow, and if you think Roger was leading the way on funk/disco, John wants you to hold his beer. To sum it up: Seventies Queen was the great Queen.

[@maryadamec124]

Hey Justin... thanks for another great reaction... I will never understand how or why the MSM could or would bash Queen for making their own genre... not "genre hopping"... harsh critical words never detoured the typical Queenie fan, but only incensed them... blessings.

[@NewOldVideos-d5o]

I loved this song when I first bought this album. The clips were cool. To each their own...

[@sionhewitt375]

Late to the comments here. But your quick breakdown of each of the songs is exactly how I feel about each one . That from a fan of 35 years.

[@peterobrien8399]

Looking forward to The Game review, some fantastic album tracks including Dragon Attack and Need your Loving Tonight

[@LAAS1959]

More Of That Jazz: “It’s actually one of the first songs I learned on my first ever one-string electric guitar.” ( Slash on Brian May’s official webpage)

[@bmarrello1]

New subscriber here, Just to let you know how old I am I saw them live in the 70's

[@Funster00]

Love this track, that riff wouldn't be out of place in Metallica, Taylor was an innovator . You can always rely on him to bring an edginess that the others didn't have, that's why it maybe jars against the rest of the catalogue. That's the beauty of having four different styles in one band. Taylor admitted he struggled with songwriting early on, and he didn't always nail it, but he definitely proved he was more than just the drummer. That song snippet section at the end wouldn't have been straightforward in the days of tape!

[@milosbogdanovic3229]

For me, this is easily Roger's finest song (not including some later big hits). Songs like Sheer heart attack don't come even close ! If that guitar riff style that was later used by so many bands (Soundgarden, Metallica, etc.) wasn't a copy of something else (which I don't know), its a sheer stroke of genius !

[@Owlstretchingtime78]

I have to disagree. Not only is 'Fight From The Inside' vastly superior, it can hold its own against anything in Queen's majestic canon of work!

[@milosbogdanovic3229]

@@Owlstretchingtime78 fight from the inside is also great, in a similar way (groundbreaking).

[@Owlstretchingtime78]

@@milosbogdanovic3229 Glad you agree! 👍

[@johnjanovsky]

Can definitely see how Taylor Hawkins was influenced by Roger.

[@bigdave1302]

The ending, with all those bits from other songs on the album, is repeated at the end of Radio Ga Ga, from The Works album.

[@Dillon12]

Everything played by Roger here

[@Dillon12]

More Of That Jazz - by Roger Taylor John Deacon: 👀 Brian May: 👀 Freddie Mercury: 👀 Roger Taylor: Electric guitar, bass, maracas, drums, lead and backing vocals

[@kuntumlaleanqueezer]

Next, can’t hardly wait for Live Killers !!!

[@martinaalderink7773]

Maybe you should have a look at 10CC. I am sure u heard some songs of them. Kevin Godley and Lol Creme from 10CC have had a serious influence in music business. I would not ignore that if that were my area of interest. Having said that: Love your personal AND unbiased takes. Kudo`s.

[@RandyHall324]

As a fan of the band, I remember reading a number of those reviews in real time, including the one that suggested that Queen was "fascist". Was familiar with the reviewer - never trusted him again. Don't really have a problem with reviews, but it was clearly a case of the reviewer simply not being a fan (AT ALL) of the band, and had lost the ability to be objective. The same thing happened (believe it or not) when the Beatles debuted on the Ed Sullivan Show - the Boston Globe had their classical music reviewer do a write up, and he TRASHED the Beatles, on the appearance that inspired thousands! That reviewer's name? No one knows or cares.

[@pieterb3271]

I believe you missed the joke. Roger is singing about things that are crap in life (jazz in the meaning of crap) and is even roasting Elton John who bought a football club. But in the end Queen are stating that they don't take theirselves too seriously. So they repeat some snippets of songs of the album, and after that Roger sings: 'no more of that jazz,' thus stating that their own songs are crap too. The album however has good music, but I believe the running order of the songs is somewhat strange, so it has not the 'album' feel of the six previous albums. Thanks for your honest reactions.

[@davidmaholchic6146]

Jazz is an enigma love you

[@RichardLaurence]

The US reviewers hated Queen with a passion that’s really difficult to understand now.

[@lidiavilasecaperramon6983]

And, what was the reason? I really cannot understand...

[@ManChan-w5p]

I completely agree. It's without a doubt that classic rock is extremely homophobic. Soft rock and pop is understanding.

[@neilloughran4437]

Always loved this one. The mix of the beat plus the off kilter guitar riffs always got me... then you have the mix of the other songs flying in.... yeah perhaps as an adult it doesn't hit the same but as a 10 year old in 1978/79 it was like reading a comic strip or some kind of super hero comic.. For me the last really good Queen album as they became mostly more pop from now on. Really enjoyed your take on the tunes. I think they'll grow on you...

[@dianecourtney2724]

Not madly in love with this song but it’s ok 😂 Great that you read what the critics said about the album and Queen as a band. Today they sound like complete jealous idiots who haven’t a clue regarding music. As far as critical opinion goes I believe the majority is always wrong. Don’t Stop Me Now not being even mentioned gave me a good laugh … out loud 😂 Thanks Justin 😊

[@deboraclark5791]

As I said before Roger was dabbling with funk, that's why it was weird he didn't want to do John's Bite the Dust song. Freddie was never elitist, yes he was extravagant and loved antiques and great art, but gave a lot of his wealth away to strangers, people he saw on TV who were losing their homes and he would send a check anonymously, he was down to earth, most of his friends were just regular people. Yeah they called Queen arrogant for years. A lot of critics were just jerks to Queen. Great reaction

[@raymondregis6219]

Agreed. I always thought it was interesting but went nowhere. The change-ups almost save it but don't have staying power.

[@JohnnyLaps]

Roger only wrote two hits Radio Ga Ga,and Days of our lives. He was lucky(?)to have b sides to Freddie's hits often early on.When he sings,it won't be a hit.People outside of us fans want the "Sound",which is Freddie.He finally realized that with GaGa

[@simontyne3032]

A kind of magic was a big hit written by Roger.

[@JohnnyLaps]

@@simontyne3032 very true,my mistake

[@ZENOBlAmusic]

@@JohnnyLaps It was a hit likely because it was rearranged by Freddie, and Freddie also helped with Radio Ga Ga. I don't think the original Roger version of A Kind Of Magic would have been a hit. It was a hit partly due to the bassline Freddie added. Of course I am not saying Roger could not write anything, Days Of Lives was an amazing song that he wrote.

[@JohnnyLaps]

@@ZENOBlAmusic yep,i know Freddie tore down and rebuilt GaGa.Both Roger and Brian cost themselves money by singing songs they wrote, especially brian.'39,long away,even Sail away sweet sister would have been singles,but their egos would not allow.Freddie singing that version we heard of all dead,all dead too.

[@lindsaycrellin4588]

Freddie & Brian do songs just by themselves so it’s not just Roger !!!!

[@LAAS1959]

Slash also spoke highly of this song.

[@sherryheim5504]

Well, the title is All That Jazz so it is kind of fitting that all those songs should be in there if he was just recapping the album. Strange but I rather liked the song. Very Roger Taylor so if you like Roger's solo stuff, then you would like this but if you prefer him with Queen, perhaps not so much. I like the later Roger songs, he really does age well in his songwriting.

[@j0hnf_uk]

Yeah.. it's not the best ender to an album, admittedly. Fortunately, I'm usually still quite hyped up from listening to, 'Don't Stop Me Now', to be all that bothered by it. Back when LP vinyl was the order of the day, you would invariably let the album play out rather than try to skip tracks and risk scratching your discs. You _could_ technically skip this one, being the last on the album, but more often than not, you'd just let it play out. It's not bad, in of itself, and does show off Roger Taylor's versatility with playing multiple instruments, if nothing else. The main riff works well, but it's more of an afterthought that the main part of the song. The bit with other songs kind of works, especially with, 'fat bottomed girls', being on the same beat as the main song fades back in. Not a track I'd go out of my way to play on it's own.

[@KenHotte]

to me, it's the best song on the album.

[@stevewynter4519]

This song is much better than i remember have not heard it for a long time, Pretty sure Justin will for forgo Live Killers and Flash Gordon and move on to The Game Queens first album with synths, Play The Game, Sail Away Sweet Sister and Save Me are classic modern Queen and also Queens best Funk/Rock bass riff on Dragon Attack which still sounds good today, A change in direction but a really good album

[@clintonsmith5163]

The critical disdain for Queen in the 70s and 80s was borne out of politics. Younger people today have no idea how "woke" and "PC" many rock critics were in those days.

[@dianecourtney2724]

✌🏼Yep

[@ManChan-w5p]

Classic rock needs to be protected by homophobic heterosexual men because it's preciously their own. Soft rock and pop can be anything.

[@clintonsmith5163]

@@ManChan-w5p I see it differently. Rock music always had an element of sexual freedom, and it embraced androgyny, for the most part. Look at Little Richard, Mick Jagger, Elton John, and David Bowie. You can even see it, to some extent in performers like Robert Plant, Steven Tyler, Alice Cooper, Kiss, and progressive groups like Genesis and Yes. The rock critics of the 60s and 70s were not homophobic. They were anti-establishment, anti-capitalist, anti-oppression, anti-war, leftists who believed that rock music should be a driving force in effecting the kinds of social changes that they wanted to see. Those critics saw Queen (who was more about escapist fun than social messages) as exactly the opposite of what they wanted rock music to be. The band's name, by itself, already predisposed them to hate the group even before they heard a single one of their songs. That wasn't because of homophobia, it was because the name was literally a reference to an autocratic dynastic ruler.

[@ManChan-w5p]

@@clintonsmith5163 I like your intelligent reply. John Lennon excuse glam rock as Rock with lipstick. However the name Queen, the Liberace and Ethel Merman/Julie Andrews also throw in Judy Garland / Liza Minelli piano vocals. Then the whole biker image of the Village People with that bushy moustache took it's toll and the media and fans retaliated with vengeance with razor blades thrown deliberately at him. It was enough to reject the states and focus on untapped markets like Latin America. This guy Freddie Mercury is no one to mess with. Death on two legs (dedicated to.....) Flick of the Wrist. As Norman Sheffield said, " everyone treated him like God and he began to behave like one."

[@ZENOBlAmusic]

@@clintonsmith5163 Yes, most rock critics were obviously students of post modernism. They also hate good or competent music. It is like post modernist artists that deface the works of the classical artists such as Di Vinci. Queen with their classical influences were an obvious target. They hated the idea of creating a higher art for rock music, that is why they also hated progressive rock. They like to deconstruct everything and make it simple. That alongside the political messaging is why they loved punk. Of course with the they way they treated Queen, Queen was actually more anti establishment then most of the punk rock bands. Queen also arrived on the scene at a strange time, they are never included with the glam rock groups, Queen's music was never glam rock. They were actually more included with the hard rock groups, but they wore glam rock styles. They always did any genre of music. They never really fitted in perfectly.

[@coreywilliams923]

Please 'Live Killers ' next. Best live album ever! Now that you've got to the end of the 70s albums, here's a question. How important was Roy Thomas Baker in finding Queen's sound, when you consider the only album he was absent from was 'News of the World', which is often said to sound the least Queen. He also did the Cars, who many have compared to Queen's sound.

[@clintonsmith5163]

Roy Thomas Baker was not involved in the production of A Day at the Races.

[@coreywilliams923]

@@clintonsmith5163 sorry you're right. Question still applies.

[@clintonsmith5163]

@@coreywilliams923 It's a good question. I'm just not sure if I have an answer to it.

[@TheBlackcredo]

I'm sad you didn't enjoy this song as it's one of my favourite Queen songs and my second favourite Roger Taylor one after Tenement Funster.

[@LMTino]

I liked the drum line that repeats on this one...the end using bits of songs is interesting technically but not so much to the listener's ear. Might be interesting to gauge overall if among the band each had a chance to close out an album.

[@susanp.7954]

Roger was stuck into his rock rut on this one....he is a fantastic musician, and this song was interesting❤Love you Roger❤... there is NO Queen song I don't like... I love the versatility and techniques used to try to entertain us all❤...Overall I loved this Album❤

[@bjw0515]

I think this was more of a singles album for them. I do not think of it is bad, but I guess we are used to listening to this song when playing the album, so have come to really like. Thanks for your reactions! As you can tell critics were not always kind to Queen, that is why they never payed them much attention.

[@yes_head]

Genesis did a better job of creating album recap medleys. And Roger Taylor really should have started his own band or joined Whitesnake or something. He's a solid rock singer, but it's just not a Queen song IMO. But yeah, solid album overall. Maybe even my fave Queen album, simply because more of the songs work better the first time through, and the whole package feels more cohesive.

[@kennethmckinney2532]

I did my typical pre-listen yesterday because I didn't know this one. I have watched it twice on here and I gotta with the exception of the snippets of the other songs I think this tune is kind of groovy. Dating myself with the description I realize but groovy was my first thought. Fight From The Inside would be 1 and this 1A.....

[@kvassrock]

Spot on with Roger's songs on this album. There are potential, but no end product as they say in football. But Roger will come back stronger! :D

[@jpw6893]

I dont like all Queen songs, i have some fav Albums etc but at least they didnt churn out the same stuff everytime so i appreciate every song and every album.

[@delorangeade]

Not the best way to close out an album, but I prefer this one to News of the World because the production is a little more elaborate. That's what I wanted from Queen and when they lost that I began to lose interest as well. I think the fascist comment was aimed at Queen's development towards being the world's first real stadium rock band and the way Freddie controlled the audience. Something Queen themselves played on in the Radio Gaga video. Also Queen attracted suspicion because they were not an overtly political band and were seen as a shameless and tasteless money making machine. This culminated in their controversial performances in Sun City in 1984. I think history has been a bit kinder to Queen than the critics in the 1970's, and probably kinder than they deserve relative to other bands of the same era, although the same could be said of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Rush.

[@byronhubbard1510]

Probably the same reviewers who didn't get Rush at first

[@Cedric6014]

This record really rubbed against the purveiling trends of stripped back punk and new wave. Which irritated Rolling Stone, NME and the like I guess.

[@DukeEnlil]

I think Metallica borrowed this riff))) Great guitar riffs! Lyrics and music in this, are just great! Among three, John, Freddie and Brian...Roger would write not about feelings and love as the others, but about consciousness and society etc...also the meaning behind the Jazz is trash, garbage...I think Roger was talking about this word in some interview!

[@neilloughran4437]

Yes I recall someone from one of those heavy bands saying this was one of their big influences...

[@Aegi97]

As per usual, the Taylor song had a good groove but was too repetitive and wasn’t very much interesting other than that groove. Ranking albums, to me Jazz is in the middle - I have it at 9. All of the other 70’s albums and two 80’s albums rank ahead. Jazz has some great stuff but too many “meh” songs as well. That being said, rank 8-10 is very close.

[@donnelson6694]

As a teenager I really liked this song when I first heard it. However, the novelty soon wore off. A little too repetitive.

[@davidmaholchic6146]

I don’t like you but I love you

[@EnoVarma]

The song is an aimless demo. Echos of "McCartney" era Paul M. with a hint of Todd "self-made man" Rundgren. Jazz rating: 1/10. The album is a mess. 3 good songs, others mostly fillers. No consistency, not nearly jazzy enough: the album title is pretentious. Freddie's great, though. I'm still not coming back to this one. 10cc is amazing.

[@ZENOBlAmusic]

The title refers to all of that jazz, a very common saying, that not is pretentious and it does not have anything to do with actual jazz. Of course everyone has their own taste.

[@EnoVarma]

@@ZENOBlAmusicI know, but I don't accept it. In order to make that interpretation, you would have to know, that Queen meant it that way. But if you do not know, you would naturally think it to mean the genre of music; you'd expect to hear some sort of jazz music. It's a stupid title for a Queen record, no offense.

[@ManChan-w5p]

Back then Don't Stop Me Now was too piano centric and repulse by heterosexual men. It was written by a Liberace/ Ethel Merman inspiration.

[@ZENOBlAmusic]

No it was written as tribute to Little Richard it as a play on the older rock 'n roll with piano.

[@ManChan-w5p]

@@ZENOBlAmusic You're wonderful because that's why they left the states and toured the world instead. My comment which is similar to an opinion is call tongue in cheek humor.