Maps of Music

The Game (1980)

Where the lyrics of The Game take you, and where it was really made.

This was the only Queen album to reach number one on the US Billboard 200, and the first Queen album to use a synthesizer.

Key places

Where The Game was recorded (1980)

Recording site Musicland Studios — Queen recorded The Game in Munich, where the band stayed at the Bayerischer Hof Hotel during the sessions. The recording studio is listed as Musicland Studios. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• The Game: eighth studio album by the British rock band Queen
• Released 30 June 1980 by EMI Records in the UK and by Elektra Records in the United States
• The first Queen album to feature a synthesizer, the Oberheim OB-X
• Pop-oriented sound, a clear change from the predecessor Jazz (1978)
• Reissued in May 2003 on DVD-Audio with Dolby 5.1 surround sound and DTS 5.1

Background

• The stylistic shift was the main reason the album sounds different from earlier work
• The band accepted electronic instruments into a sound that had previously avoided them
• Michael Jackson, a fan, attended the band's July 1980 concert at The Forum near Los Angeles
• At Jackson's suggestion, 'Another One Bites the Dust' was released as a single
• Queen stayed at the Bayerischer Hof Hotel in Munich while recording the album

Recording

• The album was recorded in Munich, a new environment for the band
• Reinhold Mack was a new engineer, and his background differed from the band's
• Mack suggested dropping in whole backing tracks and editing them in, instead of replaying until perfect
• The band said the freshness gained from this method helped the record
• There was less guitar on this album, which the band described as an experiment
• Mack is credited with co-production, engineering and mastering

Cover

• The cover photo on the EMI CD differs from the photo used on the original LP and cassette
• The Hollywood CD still uses the original photo
• The alternate photo also appears on the Crown Jewels box set (1998) and the 2003 DTS DVD-Audio edition

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1970 by Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), and Roger Taylor (drums, vocals).
• John Deacon (bass) joined in February 1971, completing the classic line-up.
• Mercury suggested the name "Queen".
• Early works were influenced by progressive rock, hard rock and heavy metal, later expanding into arena rock and pop rock.

Members

• Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano, 1970–1991, died 1991).
• Brian May (guitar, vocals, 1970–present).
• Roger Taylor (drums, vocals, 1970–present).
• John Deacon (bass, 1971–1997, retired).
• Paul Rodgers (vocals, 2004–2009) and Adam Lambert (vocals, 2011–present) toured as "Queen +".

Career

• First UK chart hit with Queen II (1974); international success with A Night at the Opera (1975) and "Bohemian Rhapsody", which topped the UK chart for nine weeks.
• News of the World (1977) contained "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions", now sports anthems.
• Greatest Hits (1981) is the best-selling album in UK chart history.
• Live Aid performance (1985) is ranked among the greatest in rock history.
• Estimated record sales of 250–300 million, one of the world's best-selling music artists.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001; received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 and the Polar Music Prize in 2025.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Billboard noted that the energy never flags and the music is expertly rendered throughout
• Cashbox found the high-harmony heavy metal sound unmistakable, while each song sounds totally different from the next
• Record World said these artists do it all masterfully
• Record Mirror's Robin Smith compared the album to winning the men's singles at Wimbledon
• Rolling Stone was glad to hear a Queen album with songs rather than anthems, but felt the band could not bend enough to fit the music
• The Washington Post gave a scathing review, calling it a supposed comeback after five years of dismal albums
• Smash Hits' Steve Taylor was equally dismissive, calling the middle of the album utterly unoriginal corn

Reappraisal

• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine said the disco rock blends showed a band turning decidedly toward pop
• Erlewine called it a grand, state-of-the-art circa 1980 pop album that still stands among the band's most enjoyable records
• AllMusic later named The Game as Queen's best album of the 1980s
• PopMatters' Evan Sawdey called it a regular rock album

Records

• Number one on the US Billboard 200, the only Queen album to reach that position
• Best-selling studio album in the United States, with four million copies sold
• 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' was the band's first number one on the Billboard Hot 100
• 'Another One Bites the Dust' reached number one in the US and number 7 in the UK, with about 7 million copies sold worldwide
• Creem readers voted the album the seventh greatest of 1980
• Nominated for two Grammy Awards in 1981; 'Another One Bites the Dust' won the American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Single
• In 2008, Out ranked the album number 28 of 100 in a poll of influential figures

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' was written as a tribute to Elvis Presley while Mercury relaxed in a bath at the Bayerischer Hof Hotel in Munich
• 'Dragon Attack' was the B-side of the UK single of 'Another One Bites the Dust', chosen for its similar funk rock style
• 'Save Me', written by May for a friend whose marriage had ended, peaked at No. 11 in the UK Singles Chart
• 'Coming Soon' was started during the Jazz sessions
• The alternate cover photo was used on the 1998 Crown Jewels box set

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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