Adam Ellsworth
This volume is a study of what can happen when two art forms engage in a mutually beneficial conversation.
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The show was proof that Queen + Adam Lambert are quite capable of mixing things up, even as they give everybody exactly what they’ve come to hear.
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The band’s performance was stellar. Its setlist was on point: a bit of the new, a bit more of the early stuff, and a whole lot of “AM.” In America, in 2023, that’s just good fan service.
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The truth is the Beatles wouldn’t have been the Beatles without Abbey Road, and Abbey Road wouldn’t have been Abbey Road without the Beatles.
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What makes “Ode to Hip-Hop” such a worthy addition to the Rap Book Library is that it makes room for the contributions and trailblazing importance of artists who have been overlooked. Specifically, artists who aren’t straight men.
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Eventually, former Oasis leader Noel Gallagher gave everyone (including the diehards) what they really came to hear: Oasis banger after Oasis banger. B-sides, album tracks, and stripped down versions of the classics.
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The problem is that the factoids and bits of trivia supplied by Act Naturally rarely tie back to any larger narrative, or serve any discernible purpose other than to be cataloged.
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There’s no question the Beatles come out of John Higgs’ superb book Love and Let Die looking far better than James Bond. Love tends to play better than death and it’s easier to root for working class underdogs than Establishment snobs.
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In her search for John Lennon, the author follows her fancy and picks and chooses which rocks she wants to look under, all the while giving herself the space to wax poetic on whatever theme moves her. It’s an appealing approach. Too bad then that the book is a let down.
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Music Commentary: A Mystery Solved on the 50th Anniversary of the Release of “Queen II”
It is well established that the lyrics to the song on “Queen II” that’s directly about the painting (called “The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke”) originate from a poem Richard Dadd wrote about his picture. What’s never been established though is exactly how Freddie Mercury became aware of this poem.
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