Electric Fire

by

Roger Taylor

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Taylor has never been one to stick with the traditional "Queen sound" and that's never been more obvious than with "Electric Fire".Filled with political, social lyrics (and yes, some lighter fare) Roger goes for broke here."A Nation of Haircuts" (a not so good title which Roger loves to come up with) is, on it's surface, an all out rocker but upon deeper inspection is really his take on England and it's people's vanity, as if they're more concerned with how they look than what they're capable of accomplishing ("We don't make ships and we don't make cars but we look real good hanging out in bars.") Funny because it's so true."Surrender" is easily the best track. Taylor, in a duet with the silky voiced Treana Morris (which is perfect contrast to his husky, rough "rock" voice) tackles spousal abuse from a first person point of view, at least in the chorus which they strongly proclaim "You can't hurt me now!""People On Streets" (which was the original title for the Queen hit "Under Pressure") targets celebrities politicians who have lost touch with reality and the common folk (ranging from Madonna to the President) all done in a middle east style beat.The almost required Beatles/related cover comes in the form of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero". Not a spectacular version of a song which you'd kind of hope for since this song has been recorded by so many other artists and you'd want it to stand out of the crowd.OK, I'm not going to go song by song here as I think you're getting a decent idea of the quality of the album. Taylor has made a mark for himself with his solo works, letting the world know that he has his own style outside of Queen. He continues to move forward, recording music that you'd never expect (unlike counterpart Brian May, who seems content with living in his musical past.)"Electric Fire" could very well have been titled "Eclectic Fire" as he throws everything from spanish accoustic guitars to middle east rythms. This is by far the most daring Queen solo work and I recommend it highly.

I loved 'Fun In Space' and found much to enjoy on 'Strange Frontier' but ironically the only track I liked on this record was 'No More Fun'.

Tracks such as the overly dramatic 'Horse Whisperers' sound like a history lesson put to music. 'A Nation Of Haircuts' attempts to replicate classic Taylor penned Queen tracks such as 'Drowse' and 'Tenement Funster' but this time around the social comment misses somehow and comes off as lecturing - and the repetition of the title too may times gives the impression of a lack of ideas lyrically.

I really wanted to like this release but, like the cover art, it feels half baked - striving for past glories by being too serious and ultimately coming off as being a bit silly.