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Band:Queen DVD:Under Review - 1980-1991 Released by:Music Video Distributors Writer: Mark Carras Media: You Tube (VH1 Documentary to compare) Click Album Cover To Buy Now

So here we have part two of the Queen “Under Review” series. This one covers 1980 to 1991 (or so says the box cover). I have to say that this one is done slightly better then the first one. There are less diatribes from people that have no connection to the band. Yeah, that annoying twit Malcolm Dome is on here spewing from his mouth of rotting teeth. Sure there is no new information here. Hell, they don’t ever really go into much about who these talking heads are or why we should care. The fact is though that over time I have grown to enjoy even the first one more then I did when I wrote the review. Not as an information source, but as pure mindless entertainment for someone who is unnaturally obsessed with music like the band Queen released. On that level this thing is pretty damn good. Now of course it wouldn’t even be entertaining if it wasn’t packed with Queen music.

This DVD does contain my least favorite Queen song ever. Something about baby imitations in a song that bug me. Ga Ga & Goo Goo are phrases that should never be in a song. So even from the first time I heard it on the radio (when it was brand new), I never liked this song at all. Other than that, this was the “guilty pleasure” era of the band. This is where they wallow in the camp more then ever. Of course you all know I love campy rock, so I love this era! I did learn something about Queen with this thing, too. I never knew that the last two words on the song “One Vision” were “Fried Chicken”. They even show the video clip and you see Freddy mouth the words. That is some funny shit and it is great to see what a sense of humor the band had about themselves. They were excessive and over the top, they knew it, and they had fun with it. I think this is a large part of what made the band such legends. The band was fun, and people look to music to be fun.

Many look down on the band for their movie score material, but as I said before I love the camp of it all. The songs are such great mindless fun I don’t understand how anyone can not find enjoyment from them. Of course we all know the depressing end to this story. Freddy’s battle with AIDS is about a third of this DVD, but it is delivered here in a way that seems less depressing than it should. The amount of work the band produced after he got sick is a testament to who Freddy was. I was once talking with a teacher where I work about the difference between a teacher and the custodian. This school gave a lot of lip service to making everyone feel equal, but the reality is that being a toilet scrubber is never something someone wants on their tombstone. Being a teacher however can proudly encompass who that person is. It is part of who that person is, where a custodian is a job people take because they don’t have a better choice. I say all of this to point out that Freddy Mercury was a performer. Being a performer encompassed everything that he was. That is something that is written on his tombstone (figuratively not physically) in the minds of the public.

So who should get this? Well, I think this is the perfect companion to the first one so I think you have to get both. I think any fan of classic rock (or specifically Queen) would find this entertaining. Anyone under 25 years old would probably find this to be informative as well. This thing does Rock My Monkey, but keep in mind that it might not at first. The two DVDs have to grow on you before you find enjoyment in it.

Band:Queen DVD:Under Review - 1980-1991 Released by:Music Video Distributors Writer: Mark Carras Media: You Tube (VH1 Documentary to compare) Click Album Cover To Buy Now

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