The Game is the eighth studio album by Queen, released on 30 June 1980 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. It was the first produced by Reinhold Mack, who would produce the band's studio work until the 1986 album A Kind of Magic.
Recorded from June 1979 to May 1980 at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, the album's release was predated by its first single, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, a rock-a-billy tribute to Elvis Presley that became the band's first #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100. Promoting the track, the band embarked on the Crazy Tour through November and December 1979. The album's release was coincided by The Game Tour, lasting from June 1980 to November 1981.
The album marks Queen's transition into the musical landscape of the early 1980's, for the first time utilizing synthesizers and experimenting with disco-funk rhythms. This culminated with the album's best-selling single Another One Bites The Dust, which reached #1 in the US and #7 in the UK respectively. Influenced by its success, the band further explored funk and dance in their 1982 album Hot Space. Other tracks on the album, including the singles Play The Game and Save Me display the band's continued transition into a sparser, pop sound.
The Game became the band's only studio album to top the Billboard 200, selling over 4 million records in the US alone. It is estimated that the album has sold over 12 million copies worldwide.
History[]
Recording[]
The band in an early recording session for The Game, taken June - July 1979.
Following the somewhat underwhelming reception to Jazz, the band split with producer Roy Thomas Baker. In his place, they teamed up with Reinhold Mack, of previous ELO fame, at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany. The decision to record abroad had not been made lightly: because of their massive earnings from worldwide record sales and tours, the band had been advised to set up a temporary base outside the United Kingdom. Though they purchased Mountain Studios in Montreux, they wouldn't make it their main studio until later in the 1980s; for the time, the peace and tranquility that Switzerland afforded them was not conducive to their work environment, which made the far more exciting Munich more desirous to the band.
Despite their new surroundings, the band weren't in any rush to begin recording again, and used the initial sessions as a means of testing out the working methods between band and producer. In June 1979, the band started work on their new album, and so laid-back were the sessions that only four usable tracks were created: Coming Soon (which had been started during the Jazz sessions), Sail Away Sweet Sister, Save Me, and Crazy Little Thing Called Love. An instant click was felt, and Mack was willing to explore more experimental methods of recording as opposed to Roy Thomas Baker's more tried-and-trusted approach. At the end of the month-long sessions, the band called a halt to the proceedings in order to take some time off and prepare for an upcoming tour of the United Kingdom.
During rehearsals, two of the new songs - Crazy Little Thing Called Love and Save Me - were integrated into the repertoire, and instantly became crowd favorites. It comes as no surprise that these two songs were issued as the next two Queen singles, in October 1979 and January 1980, respectively. With rockabilly now back in style (due in no small part to the passing of Elvis Presley in 1977), Crazy Little Thing Called Love was the perfect opportunity to introduce Queen's new image and sound to their adoring fans, who ate it up and sent the single to #2 in their home country, while becoming the band's first Stateside #1 single in December. Save Me followed suit as a UK-only release, reaching a respectable #11.
Sessions recommenced in February after a considerable holiday break.
Play The Game was recorded through the last week of May, releasing as a single on 30 May 1980. The band had more ideas this time, with Roger once reporting that forty songs had been submitted for the album - certainly enough for a double album, once all the decent material had been separated from the sub-par. Yet, surprisingly, only ten songs appeared on the album - the least amount on any new release since A Day At The Races - with the running time clocking in at just over 35 minutes. The presence of Crazy Little Thing Called Love and Save Me, by the time of the album's release (June 1980) nine and six months old, respectively, were seen to be cop-outs; thus, only eight "new" songs were presented. One known outtake from the sessions, Roger's A Human Body, was rejected from the final running order because it was deemed "too melodic"; instead, it appeared on the B-side of Play The Game in May 1980. Another song, Soul Brother, has been thought to have originated from these sessions; though it appeared as the B-side of Under Pressure in October 1981, it's likely that the rhythm track was recorded during sessions for The Game, while the vocal track was recorded (or re-recorded) to tie in with Under Pressure.
Photo still from the making of the Play The Game music video. The photo also went on to be the single cover for Another One Bites The Dust.
One aspect that critics were quick to point out (and, occasionally, praise) was the obvious desire to focus more on rhythmically-charged songs instead of lengthy epics. There weren't any Bohemian Rhapsodys or The Prophets Songs; the drums and bass were brought up further in the mix, while guitars were reduced to providing rhythm and an occasional solo, thus eliminating the famed orchestrations that made Queen's music in the 1970s so appealing. Another new factor was the introduction of the synthesizer, which would upset a small percentage of the fans. The band themselves were unsure of the shift, but the music world was evolving, and it would have been career suicide to have not evolved as well. Synthesizers were used liberally on several songs throughout the album: Play The Game, Rock It (Prime Jive), Sail Away Sweet Sister, Coming Soon, and Save Me all featured the offending instrument, and most have debated its success, with varying results. Also, more mundanely, fans were introduced to the startling image of Freddie with a bushy mustache, which he had grown to self-consciously hide his protruding teeth (according to legend, during the North American tour in 1980, Freddie was bombarded with disposable razors and pleas from the audience to shave the offending facial hair).
Release[]
Alternate take of the cover picture, taken 21 September 1979
Cover[]
Touring[]
Crazy Tour[]
Main article: Crazy Tour
The Game Tour[]
Main article: The Game Tour
Other performances[]
Legacy and influence[]
Track listing[]
| The Game Track List | |||
| Side One | |||
| 1 | Play The Game | 5:44 | Roger Taylor |
| 2 | Dragon Attack | 3:28 | Brian May |
| 3 | Another One Bites the Dust | 4:08 | Freddie Mercury |
| 4 | Need Your Loving Tonight | 3:28 | Freddie Mercury |
| 5 | Crazy Little Thing Called Love | 3:28 | Freddie Mercury |
| Side Two | |||
| 1 | Rock It (Prime Jive) | 5:10 | May/Taylor |
| 2 | Don't Try Suicide | 3:20 | John Deacon |
| 3 | Sail Away Sweet Sister (To The Sister I Never Had) | 5:21 | Freddie Mercury |
| 4 | Coming Soon | 4:28 | Brian May |
| 5 | Save Me | 2:13 | Mercury/May |
| The Game Track List | |||
| Side One | |||
| 1 | Play The Game | 5:44 | Roger Taylor |
| 2 | Dragon Attack | 3:28 | Brian May |
| 3 | Another One Bites the Dust | 4:08 | Freddie Mercury |
| 4 | Need Your Loving Tonight | 3:28 | Freddie Mercury |
| 5 | Crazy Little Thing Called Love | 3:28 | Freddie Mercury |
| Side Two | |||
| 1 | Rock It (Prime Jive) | 5:10 | May/Taylor |
| 2 | Don't Try Suicide | 3:20 | John Deacon |
| 3 | Sail Away Sweet Sister (To The Sister I Never Had) | 5:21 | Freddie Mercury |
| 4 | Coming Soon | 4:28 | Brian May |
| 5 | Save Me | 2:13 | Mercury/May |
| Bonus tracks | |||
| 10 | Dragon Attack (1991 Bonus Remix By R.A.K. And Jack Benson) | 3:42 | Brian May |
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