Queen has always been an intensely personal thing to me. It was something I never really shared for many years (well, about thirty of them). This was because Queen's music was important to me and was my escape when needed, my support when needed, and something to just go quietly insane to on occasions.
It seems as if Queen in Australia was always a personal thing - I had no idea of the amount of Queen fans in this country until we started AussieQueens - and more come out of the woodwork every day. I have spent the last decade or so collecting every piece of Queen music I could get and have now got a good collection of commercial items and a fantastic collection of, shall we say, non-commercial items.
There's not a day when I don't have Queen music running through my head (much to the annoyance of my co-workers when I start rapping out the WWRY beat on the desk ) (I have converted two of them 'though). I enjoy listening to the music, watching the videos & reading about them (although I get TOTALLY PISSED OFF that every documentary & book concentrate on Freddie's sexuality rather then his musical genius or Queen's innovation & dominance of music. Last year I became so annoyed that I began my own Freddie site which looks at all his other qualities to the exclusion of his sexuality. I feel a little better - at least somewhere there is a record of Freddie without trying to work out exactly when he 'became gay' and how that affected everyone. The poor guy is dead - listen to his music, enjoy his wit and wisdom and leave his bloody private life to him and his memory. That goes for all the cash-in friends too.
A little off the topic, but I really irks me.
I am lucky my lovely wife also likes Queen (and it didn't take too long to convert her...) but I still find it a personal experience - personal to the extent that I can get jealous if someone gets something that I haven't got or want. Stupid really, but that's the price of fanatacism I guess.
I will admit, I am a Freddie fan uppermost, yet I prefer his Queen work to a lot of his solo work: I assume because of the sound difference and the feeling of life that is in the Queen works. This doesn't mean that I don't like the rest - I do, and respect them very much. Brian's guitar work is enveloping and takes me places that little other music does. Interestingly enough, I also enjoy and collect Celtic folk music and Brian's guitar work often has the same affect on me that the folk music does. I guess that it is one of the stated influences of the band (and one that is not commonly known).
Roger seems to be the 'boy toy' around this site, but personally I love his drumming style and much of his singing. As he says, there's nothing more boring then a long drum solo - but I can listen to his and enjoy it.
As for John, many people believe that he is not really a part of Queen - I think he is essential to the Queen sound and the Queen existence. His bass playing was perfect for the group it is instantly recognisable, and instantly binds the music together.
Off topic again. Oh well, I'll get back to it another night as it's late and I'm tired.
Good Night, My Dears.