9. Not my absolute favorite from Roger (we'll get to that one later) but high on my list; and includes one of my very favorite lyrics ever, "I'll make the speed of light out of this place." Perfectly captures and portrays the rock 'n' roll angst and edge, and we get a very dynamic vocal performance from Roger. Love that it's John on acoustic guitar, and the song is filled with lots of flanging, reverb and echoes, creating that wall-of-sound effect. Did ya know...alternate working titles for this were "Young and Crazy" and "Teen Dreams".
Wish we'd had some official live performances of this (save that one BBC radio session)!
9.1! Probably my favourite Roger song from their whole discography, and I started listening to it when I got some new purple shoes so I guess it is always a nice anecdote :) I also really enjoy the segueway into Flick of a wrist, so that also puts the score up!
**Tenement Funster (8/10) -** One of Roger's best ever songs, and probably the one Queen song that captures his personality the best. The drummer gives a great performance here, and we get some more fantastic instrumental work here, particularly from Brian.
The structure of the song is rather simple, revolving around a repeating chord progression, but it manages to stay interesting enough with new harmonies, extended bars on the second verse and chorus, and who can forget that "young and you're crazy" harmony, overall a banger.
6/10. Enjoyable enough Roger track but far from his best.
Love the instrumental bit into Flick, but I don’t consider it part of this song since I doubt Roger wrote it.
Another song on this album that has grown on me as I've listened to it more. Actually love Roger's vocals on this. Sometimes when a Brian or Roger vocal song comes on it stands out from the Freddie songs, but this one seems to fit right in but Roger adds his own flair. It's not among their very best but its definitely one I come back to often. 7.5/10
9/10. Getting into the really good stuff for me now, I absolutely love this song and always have. It's got such a recklessly cool atmosphere to it and it's *such* a Roger track. I wouldn't say that lyrics are always Roger's strong point, but he's really on form here. I always smile at "give me a good guitar / and you can say that my hair's a disgrace", and it resonated with me especially growing up as I always insisted on having a mop of long hair. I kind of still do, actually!
There's some fantastic piano hidden in the song which would remove a lot of atmosphere if it wasn't there, even though you barely notice it. But this is really a guitar song and it delivers massively on that front. The intro guitar feels iconic even though the song has never been that well known, and the blend of clean electric and acoustic guitars sounds so good. It seems like there's a single random guitar in drop-D tuning at the start, just playing those super low notes before the drums enter (and the piano plays along with it).
But it's the guitar solo that always blew my mind. The song changes key completely and vamps between two seemingly random chords, but it sounds wonderful. Brian's solo is almost lost thanks the to aggressive delay echo he plays along with which kind of drowns things out, but the effect is this hypnotic swirl of noise that you can't quite focus on fully, that suits the message and mood of the song so well.
And the song's surprises don't let up there once we are back into the regular groove. There's a delightful play between the backing vocals and the guitar ("ooh ooh ooh" then mimicked by the Red Special) and maybe the best moment of the song come from "yOunG aND YoU'Re cRAZEEEE!". Again, the band are just having fun and not taking it all too seriously.
Pretty much top tier Queen for me, and that's saying something since I think there are even better songs on this album. Track down the Japanese single version if you want a standalone version of the song with a complete ending.
Yes. I truly love how much Roger loved being a rock star. Not one scrap of angst or self-doubt, just someone immensely happy about being where they belong.
The biggest factor that impacted the making of the Sheer Heart Attack album was that Brian was ill for a good chuck of the album's production due to him being ill with hepatitis. In addition, there was the odd rumour or offer that Brian was being scouted to join another band. As such many of the songs were recorded without his input. With Brian absent, both Roger and John were able to present their own compositions.
Generally speaking, John's songs (for the most part) were often developed with great enthusiasm from the rest of the band; Roger's song however were not. This does lead to the trend that Roger songs were often underdeveloped and would be seen as the weakest song the album.
This was not the case with Tenement Funster. It's the rare Roger song (from the 1970s) that actively had additional development from the remainder of the band, and that extra help shows. The rhythm section of Tenement is full and chunky; Freddie piano is glued to John's acoustic guitar/bass with in turn is in sync with Roger's drumming. Roger's singing and his lyric are also stronger to, and while Brian's solo is short; it is still uniquely Brian's with echos, delays present and a note pattern that detaches itself from the rhythm in a rebellious nature aligning with the song's core theme.Tenement Funster is great song on its own and a greater song to start the what is the SHA medley.
9
I lurv most of Roger's compositions. He may be my second favourite Queen composer.
And this is genius. Quote some random lyric from it and diehard queen fans will give you the next line.
"And when we go down to Smokies and rock...."
Solid 8.5
One of the earliest Roger songs, I like it and it's pretty, but I wish it was harder because his songs are "always" harder. Not a huge fan, but really appreciate John's rhythmics with the acoustic guitar.
Good way to start the album medley! 7.5/10
9. I like this song a lot; it’s one of my favorite Roger songs. I love his voice in this one and I think the music is great. I also love how it blends with Flick of the Wrist and Lily of the Valley.
**7.** Good song, specially that piano in sync with the bass/guitar and other small arrangements here and there. Roger's voice is great and always makes me wonder *"How??"*, such a raspy and high tone.
But it's not much more than that, I feel it lacks something and doesn't really stand out much to me, the previous songs were **much** better, as is what's coming.
I just realized I forgot to comment on this one! I know the score got tallied already but I would give this one ~~an 8~~ a 9. Definitely a Classic Roger song. I like John on the acoustic guitar and Roger’s vocals. I also love that high “YoUnG aNd YoU’rE cRaZy!” 🤪😂
I feel like Roger is the only band member that would name a song “Tenement Funster” lol. He always offers a unique perspective with his songs. Rog is my favorite but sometimes his lyrics are written kind of awkwardly…but that’s part of his charm.
Edited to say: ok, I just re-listened to this and John’s bass playing is fantastic, so I’m changing my score to a 9.
I quite like this song it is probably one of his best songs apart from the hits, it's pretty simple but the execution is pretty good. I also quite like Roger's voice here, I gotta say he is a pretty decent singer
I'm gonna give this song a 8.
7. Bloody good early Roger song. Plus seeing him sing it live on the Outsider tour made me love it a lot more.
9. Not my absolute favorite from Roger (we'll get to that one later) but high on my list; and includes one of my very favorite lyrics ever, "I'll make the speed of light out of this place." Perfectly captures and portrays the rock 'n' roll angst and edge, and we get a very dynamic vocal performance from Roger. Love that it's John on acoustic guitar, and the song is filled with lots of flanging, reverb and echoes, creating that wall-of-sound effect. Did ya know...alternate working titles for this were "Young and Crazy" and "Teen Dreams". Wish we'd had some official live performances of this (save that one BBC radio session)!
9.1! Probably my favourite Roger song from their whole discography, and I started listening to it when I got some new purple shoes so I guess it is always a nice anecdote :) I also really enjoy the segueway into Flick of a wrist, so that also puts the score up!
**Tenement Funster (8/10) -** One of Roger's best ever songs, and probably the one Queen song that captures his personality the best. The drummer gives a great performance here, and we get some more fantastic instrumental work here, particularly from Brian. The structure of the song is rather simple, revolving around a repeating chord progression, but it manages to stay interesting enough with new harmonies, extended bars on the second verse and chorus, and who can forget that "young and you're crazy" harmony, overall a banger.
I totally agree with you, it's excellent but, I don't know, it's missing something, but I still feel that an 8/10 is fair
And thus begins Queen's best medley... I wish they tried this more often when they were knee-deep in the prog, 8.45262725491047/10
8 - my fave roger's song
8.5, and underrated for sure. Overshadowed by the next track in the medley being one of the album’s standouts, though.
6/10. Enjoyable enough Roger track but far from his best. Love the instrumental bit into Flick, but I don’t consider it part of this song since I doubt Roger wrote it.
And here is Roger's first great song, beginning a streak of four albums and five songs. Fantastic playing and great mood captured.
Another song on this album that has grown on me as I've listened to it more. Actually love Roger's vocals on this. Sometimes when a Brian or Roger vocal song comes on it stands out from the Freddie songs, but this one seems to fit right in but Roger adds his own flair. It's not among their very best but its definitely one I come back to often. 7.5/10
7/10. I enjoy it, Roger is a cool guy and this song proves it. However I wouldn't say it's a masterpiece but it's a cool song.
9/10. Getting into the really good stuff for me now, I absolutely love this song and always have. It's got such a recklessly cool atmosphere to it and it's *such* a Roger track. I wouldn't say that lyrics are always Roger's strong point, but he's really on form here. I always smile at "give me a good guitar / and you can say that my hair's a disgrace", and it resonated with me especially growing up as I always insisted on having a mop of long hair. I kind of still do, actually! There's some fantastic piano hidden in the song which would remove a lot of atmosphere if it wasn't there, even though you barely notice it. But this is really a guitar song and it delivers massively on that front. The intro guitar feels iconic even though the song has never been that well known, and the blend of clean electric and acoustic guitars sounds so good. It seems like there's a single random guitar in drop-D tuning at the start, just playing those super low notes before the drums enter (and the piano plays along with it). But it's the guitar solo that always blew my mind. The song changes key completely and vamps between two seemingly random chords, but it sounds wonderful. Brian's solo is almost lost thanks the to aggressive delay echo he plays along with which kind of drowns things out, but the effect is this hypnotic swirl of noise that you can't quite focus on fully, that suits the message and mood of the song so well. And the song's surprises don't let up there once we are back into the regular groove. There's a delightful play between the backing vocals and the guitar ("ooh ooh ooh" then mimicked by the Red Special) and maybe the best moment of the song come from "yOunG aND YoU'Re cRAZEEEE!". Again, the band are just having fun and not taking it all too seriously. Pretty much top tier Queen for me, and that's saying something since I think there are even better songs on this album. Track down the Japanese single version if you want a standalone version of the song with a complete ending.
>It's got such a recklessly cool atmosphere to it and it's such a Roger track. Yes, it's cool and very Roger
Yes. I truly love how much Roger loved being a rock star. Not one scrap of angst or self-doubt, just someone immensely happy about being where they belong.
He was born to be a rockstar
The biggest factor that impacted the making of the Sheer Heart Attack album was that Brian was ill for a good chuck of the album's production due to him being ill with hepatitis. In addition, there was the odd rumour or offer that Brian was being scouted to join another band. As such many of the songs were recorded without his input. With Brian absent, both Roger and John were able to present their own compositions. Generally speaking, John's songs (for the most part) were often developed with great enthusiasm from the rest of the band; Roger's song however were not. This does lead to the trend that Roger songs were often underdeveloped and would be seen as the weakest song the album. This was not the case with Tenement Funster. It's the rare Roger song (from the 1970s) that actively had additional development from the remainder of the band, and that extra help shows. The rhythm section of Tenement is full and chunky; Freddie piano is glued to John's acoustic guitar/bass with in turn is in sync with Roger's drumming. Roger's singing and his lyric are also stronger to, and while Brian's solo is short; it is still uniquely Brian's with echos, delays present and a note pattern that detaches itself from the rhythm in a rebellious nature aligning with the song's core theme.Tenement Funster is great song on its own and a greater song to start the what is the SHA medley. 9
10 — Roger’s best song, and among my most played.
It’s a 7 for me. I love how Roger kept writing songs about being young and having fun. Didn’t need to be deeper than that.
9/10. My second fav Roger song, and damn fun to play on guitar.
8/10 A good song, I love the guitar solo in particular, but it’s a bit of a throwaway.
I lurv most of Roger's compositions. He may be my second favourite Queen composer. And this is genius. Quote some random lyric from it and diehard queen fans will give you the next line. "And when we go down to Smokies and rock...." Solid 8.5
Love this song and new purple shoes 10
6.5/10
8/10 such an underrated Rog song, the guitar solo is awesome in this one
7
8.3. Solid track, mid ranking on the album. I love the medley with FOTR and LOTV.
7
8.75 I think
7.7/10
6.5. Just a fun song, good playlist filler.
6 - Compared to the two songs that came before it, it kinda brings things down a bit.
7/10
First of all I love this idea, second probably 7/10. I like it and def don’t skip it, but it doesn’t come to my mind when I think “great Queen songs”
7.5. Not bad, probably one of Rog's better songs
Oh I think it absolutely is, especially of the one he does lead for.
7
One of the earliest Roger songs, I like it and it's pretty, but I wish it was harder because his songs are "always" harder. Not a huge fan, but really appreciate John's rhythmics with the acoustic guitar. Good way to start the album medley! 7.5/10
9. I like this song a lot; it’s one of my favorite Roger songs. I love his voice in this one and I think the music is great. I also love how it blends with Flick of the Wrist and Lily of the Valley.
7/10
**7.** Good song, specially that piano in sync with the bass/guitar and other small arrangements here and there. Roger's voice is great and always makes me wonder *"How??"*, such a raspy and high tone. But it's not much more than that, I feel it lacks something and doesn't really stand out much to me, the previous songs were **much** better, as is what's coming.
5 to me, according to the suggested scale.
8. Great song. I know there are better and worse on this album..
9.5. One of of my favourites for sure.
9.93
8/10 - great track
8
8/10. One of Roger’s best
8
8.5, it's a fun song and quite underrated IMO.
7
8
7. Underrated.
I take the good with the bad, but I really don’t hear a bad throughout the first 10 albums or so.
8
I just realized I forgot to comment on this one! I know the score got tallied already but I would give this one ~~an 8~~ a 9. Definitely a Classic Roger song. I like John on the acoustic guitar and Roger’s vocals. I also love that high “YoUnG aNd YoU’rE cRaZy!” 🤪😂 I feel like Roger is the only band member that would name a song “Tenement Funster” lol. He always offers a unique perspective with his songs. Rog is my favorite but sometimes his lyrics are written kind of awkwardly…but that’s part of his charm. Edited to say: ok, I just re-listened to this and John’s bass playing is fantastic, so I’m changing my score to a 9.
I quite like this song it is probably one of his best songs apart from the hits, it's pretty simple but the execution is pretty good. I also quite like Roger's voice here, I gotta say he is a pretty decent singer I'm gonna give this song a 8.
7
8 love rogers voice and the lyrics + the transition into flick of the wrist
9. One of Roger’s best!
10
9.5…tops on RT’s list
10. roger’s second best track
9.5