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Hot Space
Studio album by Queen
Released 21 May 1982
Recorded June–July 1981
December 1981 – March 1982
Mountain Studios, Montreux, Switzerland
Musicland Studios, Munich, Germany
Genre Rock
Length 43:29
Label EMI/Parlophone (Europe)
Elektra, Hollywood (US)
Producer Queen, Arif Mardin, Mack and David Bowie
Queen chronology
Flash Gordon
(1980)		 Hot Space
(1982)		 The Works
(1984)
Singles from Hot Space
  1. "Under Pressure"
    Released: 26 October 1981
  2. "Body Language"
    Released: 19 April 1982
  3. "Las Palabras de Amor"
    Released: 1 June 1982
  4. "Calling All Girls"
    Released: 31 July 1982 (US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand only)
  5. "Staying Power"
    Released: July, 1982 (Japan, US only)
  6. "Back Chat"
    Released: 9 August 1982
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 2.5/5 stars[1]
Rolling Stone 3/5 stars[2]
Stylus (favourable)[3]
The Washington Post (favourable)[4]

Hot Space is the tenth studio album by British rock band Queen, released in May 1982. Marking a notable shift in direction from their earlier work, Queen employed many elements of disco, pop music, R&B and dance music on Hot Space, being partially influenced by the success of their 1980 hit "Another One Bites the Dust".[5] This made the album less popular with fans who preferred the traditional rock style they had come to associate with the band.[6]

Queen's decision to record a dance-oriented album germinated with the massive U.S. success of "Another One Bites the Dust" (and to a lesser extent, the UK success of the song too).[5] The album's second single "Body Language" did peak at No. 11 on the U.S. charts.

"Under Pressure", Queen's collaboration with David Bowie, was released in 1981 and became the band's second No. 1 hit in the UK.[7] The song was a separate project and recorded ahead of the album, before the controversy over Queen's new sound (disco-influenced rock music).[8]

In July 2004, Q magazine listed Hot Space as one of the top fifteen albums where great rock acts lost the plot.[9] Most of the album was recorded in Munich during the most turbulent period in the band's history, and Taylor and May lamented the new sound, with both being very critical of the influence Mercury's manager Paul Prenter had on the singer.[10] Estimated sales of the album currently stand at five million copies.

Contents

[edit] Album styles and genres

Before 1979, Queen had a "no synthesiser" policy on their albums (because people would confuse Brian May's multi-tracked guitar effects with synthesisers).[11] Beginning with The Game album, Queen began using Oberheim OB-X synthesisers on their songs ("Play the Game" and "Save Me" are examples), and continued to do so on Hot Space. A departure from their trademark seventies sound, most of Hot Space is a mixture of funk, funk-rock, dance, disco and R&B – while the "rock" songs continued in a pop-rock direction similar to their previous album (an exception is the song "Put Out the Fire").[2][5] Disliking the new sound, May and Taylor were very critical of the influence that Paul Prenter, Mercury's personal manager between the early 1980s and 1984, had on the singer.[10]

[edit] Song information

[edit] Staying Power

Main article: Staying Power

The horn arrangement for "Staying Power" was added by Arif Mardin (who also produced Chaka Khan and added horn sections to Bee Gees and Aretha Franklin records).[12] "Staying Power" would be performed on the band's accompanying "Hot Space Tour", albeit much faster and heavier, with real drums replacing the drum machine and guitars and keyboards replacing the horns (this arrangement contained no actual bass guitar, as John Deacon played guitar in addition to Brian May; the bass sound for this arrangement was played on a Roland Jupiter 8 keyboard). It was also played on Queen's The Works Tour, albeit less frequently than on the Hot Space Tour. In Japan, the band released "Staying Power" as a single in July 1982. The song was also issued as a single in the US, in November 1982. It failed to chart in either countries. Mr Mardin's contributions were recorded in New York.

[edit] Dancer

The bassline of "Dancer" was played on a synthesiser (an Oberheim OB-Xa) by writer/guitarist Brian May. The song itself – a fusion of rock and disco – is something of a follow-up to "Dragon Attack" from the band's 1980 album The Game in that it fuses heavy elements of music with danceable ones, as Led Zeppelin did.[12] The phone message at the end of "Dancer" is in German, and was recorded in a hotel room in Munich; it roughly translates to "good morning, this is your wake-up call". The lyrics of "Dancer" are also notable for being the only ones on the album that make reference to the album title itself.[13]

[edit] Back Chat

Main article: Back Chat

"Back Chat", written by bassist John Deacon, is the track most influenced by black music. In addition to normal bass duties, John also plays rhythm guitar, electric piano and synthesiser on the song. As a single, it stalled at 40 on the UK charts. On the video commentary on Greatest Video Hits 2, Roger Taylor makes it clear that he hates the music video for it.

[edit] Body Language

Main article: Body Language (Queen song)

"Body Language" is atypical among Queen songs, being the sole single released by the band that does not include guitar (save for during the closing strains, which are made more prominent throughout the 1991 remix). Mercury, who composed "Body Language" on synth bass, had previously explored the instrument's potential with his contributions to the Flash Gordon soundtrack.[14] The "Body Language" video, featuring scantily clad models writhing around each other, proved somewhat controversial and was banned in a few territories. The song also appeared in the 1984 documentary film "Stripper", being performed to by one of the dancers.

[edit] Action This Day

"Action This Day", one of two Roger Taylor songs that appear on the album, was clearly influenced by the New Wave movement/style current at the time; the track is driven by a pounding electronic drum machine and features a saxophone-like synthesiser solo, played by producer Mack on an Oberheim OB-Xa. "Action This Day" takes its title from a Winston Churchill catchphrase that the statesman would attach to urgent documents, and recapitulates the theme of social awareness that Taylor espoused in many of his songs. The band performed "Action This Day" live on the Hot Space Tour with a more conventional arrangement, replacing the drum machine and bass synth with a rock rhythm section. The verse are duets between Roger Taylor and Freddie Mercury, and the chorus is sung by both.

[edit] Put Out the Fire

"Put Out the Fire" is an anti-firearm song written by Brian May, with lead vocals by Freddie Mercury, with Brian May singing lead vocals in falsetto at the end of each verse. May recorded its guitar solo under the influence of alcohol (after many unsuccessful attempts).[14] Though never released as a single, "Put Out the Fire", the album's most 'traditional' Queen song, later appeared on the Queen Rocks compilation in 1997. A new video was also produced for the accompanying video compilation, featuring a live performance of the song intercut with footage of fire and explosions.

[edit] Life Is Real (Song for Lennon)

Mercury wrote "Life Is Real" as a tribute to John Lennon, whose murder in 1980 had also previously prompted the band to perform his song "Imagine" on tour. Like Lennon's songs, "Life Is Real" features a sparse piano-based arrangement and a melancholy tone. It is also one of the few Queen songs whose lyrics were written before the music ("Killer Queen" being another). The title may be a reference to the lyric "love is real", from Lennon's 1970 song "Love". It contains the slightly offensive line "... Loving like a whore". It begins with three bell-like piano notes, meant to recall the opening bells in Lennon's "(Just Like) Starting Over", and "Beautiful Boy". Also, the first two words, "Guilt stains..." are virtually identical interval-wise (though in a different key) to Lennon's first two notes in his song, "Mother".

[edit] Calling All Girls

Main article: Calling All Girls

The first Roger Taylor song (however with Mercury on vocals) to be released as a single (albeit in selected countries, including the United States and Australia, but not the United Kingdom), "Calling All Girls" failed to create much of an impact on the charts where it peaked at No. 60 in the U.S., despite having an entertaining music video based on the George Lucas film THX 1138. Taylor composed "Calling All Girls" on guitar, and played the feedback noises during the song's break.[14] Queen never performed the song in Europe, and a live recording from Japan in 1982 is commercially available on the Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl DVD, where "Calling All Girls" accompanies the photo gallery. The single was released in July 1982 and reached No. 33 in Canada and No. 60 in the US. This song is notable for its use of "record scratching", heard with the repeated phrase "This message is...", likely a nod to emergent rap and hip-hop sounds then beginning to reach the mainstream.

[edit] Las Palabras de Amor (The Words of Love)

Main article: Las Palabras de Amor

Brian May's lyrics for "Las Palabras de Amor" were inspired by Queen's close relationship with their Ibero-American fans, and have been interpreted as an allegory for the Falklands War.[12] (actually the album was released during the war, and must have been recorded long before the war started) A Top 20 hit in the UK, "Las Palabras de Amor" marked the band's fourth appearance on Top of the Pops (the first, second and third being for "Seven Seas of Rhye", "Killer Queen" and "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy"). For this mimed performance May is seen playing a grand piano though on the recording there are only synths (played by May). May also sang lead vocals for the harmonised line "this time and evermore".

[edit] Cool Cat

"Cool Cat", written by Freddie Mercury and John Deacon, originally featured David Bowie on background vocals and even a few lines of rap during the middle eight. According to Mercury in a 1982 television interview, Bowie was unhappy with the results and requested them to be removed. All the instruments are played by Deacon. On the album version, Mercury sings the entire song in falsetto.[15] The alternate take with Bowie's vocals still intact is widely available on various bootleg recordings[16] and surfaces from an early 1982 vinyl "Hot Space" test pressing from the USA. This is also the only Queen studio track on which John Deacon uses the popping technique.

[edit] Under Pressure

Main article: Under Pressure

A now famous duet with David Bowie, "Under Pressure" was the result of an impromptu jam session in the band's studio in Montreux.[8] When it was released in 1981, "Under Pressure" reached No. 1 in the UK singles chart.[7] Freddie Mercury was the primary director of this track, with him and Bowie as the main lyricists (each writing the lines they sang). Part of the chord progression is based on a rough demo of an unreleased song "Feel Like".[17] The songwriting is credited to all five participants.

[edit] Track listing

Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Staying Power"   Freddie Mercury 4:10
2. "Dancer"   Brian May 3:46
3. "Back Chat"   John Deacon 4:31
4. "Body Language"   Mercury 4:29
5. "Action This Day"   Roger Taylor 3:33
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Put Out the Fire"   May 3:15
2. "Life Is Real (Song for Lennon)"   Mercury 3:39
3. "Calling All Girls"   Taylor 3:53
4. "Las Palabras de Amor (The Words of Love)"   May 4:26
5. "Cool Cat"   Deacon, Mercury 3:26
6. "Under Pressure" (with David Bowie) David Bowie, Deacon, May, Mercury, Taylor 4:02

[edit] Charts

[edit] Chart positions

Chart (1982) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[18] 15
Austrian Albums Chart[19] 1
Canadian Albums Chart[20] 6
Dutch Albums Chart[21] 1
French Albums Chart[22] 7
German Albums Chart[23] 5
Italian Albums Chart[24] 9
Japanese Albums Chart[25] 6
New Zealand Albums Chart[26] 5
Norwegian Albums Chart[27] 3
Swedish Albums Chart[28] 4
UK Albums Chart[29] 4
U.S. Billboard 200[30] 22
U.S. Billboard R&B Albums Chart[30] 40

[edit] Year-end charts

Chart (1982) Position
Austrian Albums Chart[31] 17
Canadian Albums Chart[32] 46
French Albums Chart[33] 14
Italian Albums Chart[24] 54
UK Albums Chart[34] 51

[edit] Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Austria (IFPI Austria)[35] Gold 25,000x
United Kingdom (BPI)[36] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[37] Gold 500,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

[edit] Personnel

  • John Deacon – bass guitar, synthesisers, rhythm guitar, drums, electric piano, programming
  • Brian May – lead guitar, synthesisers, piano, backing vocals, synth bass on "Dancer", lead vocals (falsetto lines on "Put Out the Fire" and lead harmony on "Las Palabras de Amor")
  • Freddie Mercury – lead vocals, piano, synthesisers, synth bass on "Staying Power", keyboards
  • Roger Taylor – drums, drum computer, programming, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Action This Day", keyboards and rhythm guitar on "Calling All Girls"

With:

  • David Bowie – lead vocals, percussion and keyboards on "Under Pressure"
  • Arif Mardin – "Hot and Spacey" horn arrangement and production on "Staying Power"
  • Mack – production, keyboard programming on "Action This Day"

[edit] Miscellaneous

[edit] References

 This article uses bare URLs for citations. Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains verifiable. Several templates and the Reflinks tool are available to assist in formatting. (Reflinks documentation) (August 2011)
  1. ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine Hot Space Allmusic. Retrieved 2 August 2011
  2. ^ a b Hot Space Rolling Stone. Retrieved 3 August 2011
  3. ^ Queen – Hot Space Stylus Magazine. Retrieved 3 August 2011
  4. ^ A Glorious Queen The Washington Post. Retrieved 3 August 2011
  5. ^ a b c Queen – Hot Space Stylus Magazine. Retrieved 31 May 2011
  6. ^ Prato, Greg. "Hot Space Review". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r687305/review. Retrieved 5 December 2006. 
  7. ^ a b Chart Stats – Queen And David Bowie Retrieved 9 June 2011
  8. ^ a b Lowry, Max (13 July 2008) The ones that got away The Guardian. Retrieved 3 August 2011
  9. ^ "15 Albums Where Great Rock Acts Lost the Plot". Q magazine. July 2004. Archived at rocklistmusic.co.uk
  10. ^ a b O'Casey, Matt, dir. (2011) Queen – Days of Our Lives. Part 2. BBC. Queen Productions Ltd. Retrieved 31 May 2011
  11. ^ Roy Thomas Baker & Gary Langan Interview Sound On Sound. Retrieved 3 August 2011
  12. ^ a b c Miccio, Anthony. "On Second Thought". Stylus. http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/queen-hot-space.htm. Retrieved 5 December 2006 'Staying Power' marked the band's first and only collaboration with Arif Mardin – whose previous credits include working with Chaka Khan, The Bee Gees and Aretha Franklin – and is the only song in Queen's catalogue to feature an authentic horn section. The original demo of the track featured a guitar instead of horns.. 
  13. ^ "Queen – The Complete Words". http://www.queenwords.com/lyrics/songs/sng12_02.shtml. Retrieved 5 December 2006. 
  14. ^ a b c Obrecht, Jas. "Brian May Interview". Guitar Player (January 1983), archived at Andy's Queen page. http://www.pcpki.com/queen/articles/bhm8301.html. Retrieved 5 December 2006. 
  15. ^ Milward, John (10 June 1982). "Hot Space Review". Rolling Stone, issue 371. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/queen/albums/album/193117/review/5946715/hot_space. Retrieved 5 December 2006. 
  16. ^ "Queen Demos of Released Tracks (A-L)". http://www.ultimatequeen.co.uk/Songs/queendemos1.htm. Retrieved 5 December 2006. 
  17. ^ "Queen Demos of Released Tracks (M-Z)". http://www.ultimatequeen.co.uk/Songs/queendemos2.htm. Retrieved 5 December 2006. 
  18. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. 
  19. ^ http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Queen&titel=Hot+Space&cat=a
  20. ^ Queen" and "Hot" and "Space" and "Top Albums/CDs" Library and Archives Canada
  21. ^ http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Queen&titel=Hot+Space&cat=a
  22. ^ http://www.infodisc.fr/Album_Q.php
  23. ^ http://www.charts.de/album.asp?artist=Queen&title=Hot+Space&cat=a&country=de
  24. ^ a b "Hit Parade Italia – Gli album più venduti del 1982" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. http://www.hitparadeitalia.it/hp_yenda/lpe1982.htm. Retrieved 3 October 2011. 
  25. ^ a-クイーン "– Yamachan Land (Archives of the Japanese record charts) – Albums Chart Daijiten – Queen" (in Japanese). 30 December 2007. http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~yamag/album/al_queen.html a-クイーン. Retrieved 14 September 2011. 
  26. ^ http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Queen&titel=Hot+Space&cat=a
  27. ^ http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Queen&titel=Hot+Space&cat=a
  28. ^ http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Queen&titel=Hot+Space&cat=a
  29. ^ http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=40276
  30. ^ a b http://www.allmusic.com/artist/queen-p5205/charts-awards/billboard-albums
  31. ^ "Austriancharts.st – Jahreshitparade 1984". Hung Medien. http://austriancharts.at/1984_album.asp. Retrieved 1 August 2010. 
  32. ^ "Top 100 Albums '82". RPM. 25 December 1982. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.6170&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=mhe12pta2k83e08udtq66ot062. Retrieved 6 December 2010. 
  33. ^ "Les Albums (CD) de 1982 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. http://www.infodisc.fr/B-CD_1982.php. Retrieved 2012-01-29. 
  34. ^ "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". http://chartheaven.9.forumer.com/a/complete-uk-yearend-album-charts_post21.html. Retrieved 3 October 2011. 
  35. ^ "Austrian album certifications – Queen – hot Space" (in German). IFPI Austria. http://www.ifpi.at/?section=goldplatin.  Enter Queen in the field Interpret. Enter hot Space in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
  36. ^ "British album certifications – Queen – hot Space". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx.  Enter hot Space in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go
  37. ^ "American album certifications – Queen – hot Space". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22hot+Space%22.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  38. ^ Queen: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock p.170. Retrieved 9 June 2011
  39. ^ Thriller´, de Michael Jackson, sigue imbatido 25 años después
  40. ^ Queen most loved band The Guardian. Retrieved 3 August 2011
Preceded by
Tug of War by Paul McCartney		 Dutch Mega Chart number-one album
22 May 1982		 Succeeded by
Select by Kim Wilde
Preceded by
Eye in the Sky by The Alan Parsons Project		 Austrian Chart number-one album
1 June 1982		 Succeeded by
Neuzeit by Various artists
Hot Space
Related articles
Songs

Side one: Staying Power · Dancer · Back Chat · Body Language · Action This Day

Side two: Put Out the Fire · Life Is Real (Song For Lennon) · Calling All Girls · Las Palabras de Amor (The Words of Love) · Cool Cat · Under Pressure
Queen
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Greatest Hits (1981) · Greatest Hits II (1991) · Classic Queen (1992) · The 12" Collection · Queen Rocks (1997) · Greatest Hits III (1999) · Stone Cold Classics · The A–Z of Queen, Volume 1 · Absolute Greatest (2009) · Deep Cuts (Volume 1 · 2 · 3) (2011)
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The Complete Works (1985) · Box of Tricks (1992) · Ultimate Queen (1995) · The Crown Jewels (1998) · The Platinum Collection (2000) · The Singles Collection (Volume 1 (2008) · 2 (2009) · 3 (2010) · 4 (2010))
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