C.K. Burch's Blog, page 3
July 1, 2017
behindthegrooves:On this day in music history: June 30, 1980 -...
On this day in music history: June 30, 1980 - “The Game”, the eighth studio album by Queen is released. Produced by Reinhold Mack and Queen, it is recorded at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany from June - July 1979, February - May 1980. Having parted ways with longtime producer Roy Thomas Baker, Queen begin working with German producer and engineer Reinhold Mack (credited as “Mack”) on their next album. Also opting for a change of locale, the band record at Giorgio Moroder’s Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, recording on and off for the next eleven months. Sporting a more streamlined, pop oriented sound than their previous album “Jazz”, it becomes the bands biggest selling album in the US. It spin off three singles including the chart toppers “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “Another One Bites The Dust”. Original vinyl LP pressings feature the album jacket printed with an aluminized “silver foil” finish that is discontinued on later copies of the album in order to save on manufacturing costs. The original UK EMI CD feature an alternate cover photo with drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Brian May striking slightly different poses. As well as being a musical departure from their previous work, it also sees lead singer Freddie Mercury undergoing a dramatic image makeover during this period. Mercury cuts his once shoulder length hair (at times sporting a mustache) and eschewing his more flamboyant stage costumes for jeans, white T-shirts and tank tops. The album is most recently remastered and reissued on CD 2011, containing a second disc featuring live tracks, B-sides and a demo track. It is also reissued as a 180 gram vinyl LP in 2016. “The Game” spends five weeks at number one on the Billboard Top 200, and is certified 4x Platinum in the US by the RIAA.
