Bet on Lucky Herb to show? Click on this link to see if you win ... on the main Queen page ... A Day at the Aspic Overall Album Score: 8.6 out of 10 Another Marx Brothers movie ... another Queen album ... another one bites the dust ... A Day at the Races is almost exactly like A Night at the Opera, and such is a wooooonderful fact! Queen hardly undergoes sophomore-itis, either, as this is very similar-in-quality of A Night at the Opera. Like A Night at the Opera, I also have quite a history with this album! ... I purchased this one used a few months after buying and loving A Night at the Opera, but for some reason, I really hated it. ... I mean, clearly, it's not as good as A Night at the Opera, but there are some really good songs on here! ... I probably just didn't give it much of a chance. At any rate, there is a whopping handful of songs on here that I love. "Somebody to Love" is easily the best, but then there's also a Queen-ian hard rock classic "Tie Your Mother Down" and another light 20s pop ditty "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy." I'm also quite partial to the poppy "Long Away," the theatrical "You and I," and the rather pretty "Drowse." All the rest of the songs on here are very good, too. Although, "Teo Torriente" is a bit overblown in the theatric realm, and "White Man" is just weak (and my vote for the worst song on the album). All in all, though, Queen gives us another fun classic for all of us classic rock fans to sink our decayed little teeth into! Overall Album Score: 8.6 out of 10 (Queen delivers A Night At the Opera, part II with almost as much awesomeness as the first.) Average Song Score: 8.7 (More good Queen tunes! ... Hurrah for the good Queen tunes!) Album Tilt: 8.5 (There are a few dull moments in this generally solid Queen album ... again, Queen produced something that's fun to listen to.) Artist Rating: 8.5 (Eh, it's the same thing as A Night At the Opera, but I suppose you might have been able to discern that from the album titles alone!) Track Reviews Tie Your Mother Down 9.5/10 Waaaaah waaaaaaah waaaaaaaah!!! Hey! Do you want to hear my university's alma mater? ... Ahem ... Our Alma Mater, Wichita Stands Proudly on the Hill (even though there aren't any hills in Wichita) Our sons and daughters bow to thee (hmmm... apparently, I procreated and didn't know about it) Our hearts with praise we fill (I really only want my heart filled with blood, but I guess some praise in there won't kill me ... alcohol sure doesn't) Then hail our Alma Mater! Hail thee, grand and true, (isn't it stupid for an Alma Mater to praise itself ... dangit, Wichita State Freaking University is stupid), Long wave the Yellow and Black, Oh Wichita, here's to you (for being really stupid and making me drop physics a semester ago, because one of your professors was a real jerk). You might be wondering what that had to do with Queen. And the answer is absolutely nothing. But ... Oh, look! Queen once wrote a song entitled "Tie Your Mother Down!" It sounds a bit insultish, actually ... you know, with the two words "Your Mother" in there consecutively. But it's not insultish. It's a hard-rock song! (Hurray for thee Alma Mater Hard Rock ditty!) And it's really good, too. I don't give 9.5 ratings to averagely good songs, you know. ... Before I waste more time, I'd better carry on with the next track review ... "You Take My Breath Away." You Take My Breath Away 8/10 ...This song is about suffocation by plastic wrap. This is a very slow, theatric song. It's kind of boring. (Undoubtedly, I thought this was verrrrry boring way back in 2001 when I first bought this album.) But today, I can appreciate the song for its nice tune ... and I even reckon that there's a tiny bit of feeling in the presentation of the track! ... So all hail Alma Mater You Take My Breath Away! (The one by Queen and not by Berlin.) Long Away 9/10 I love this tune! ... It's well-written with a lot of hooks in it. The lyrics are really stupid, but ... if you listen to Queen for their lyrics, then you've got serious mental issues. ... "Long Away" is a good song that I loooove listening to! The Millionaire Waltz 8/10 This is a pretty good song that reminisces the old-time 20s-pop excursions from A Night At the Opera ala "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon," except this is heavier and more dramatic. I don't care for it totally, but it's a fairly decent track I suppose. You and I 9/10 This is a very strong song! It's a rather signature theatrical-rock tune for Queen. The tune is really good, and I also like the presentation of the song. It's no Queen Qulassic, but it's a good side note for them. Somebody to Love 10/10 Now here's the Queen Qulassic! Easily, the radio classic on this album is also the best song on the album! It's got a very good tune, and the theatrical quality of this one exemplifies the entire reason that Queen is so utterly beloved. White Man 7/10 I swear ... Queen has at least one bad song per album ... Well, then again, this song really isn't **bad**, but I don't like it much at all. The tune isn't that catchy. The hard rockingness of it isn't cool enough to make up for that. Hmmm... It's no bomb, though, I guess. Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy 9.5/10 And, this is a good old-fashioned Queen song! It's another old-style 20s-pop song ... and it's really very good (and a near-10)! I love the tune very very much. The lighthearted feel of it is really fun, too. Yes ... a very good Queen tune. Drowse 9/10 Hey! ... I really like the melody of this one, too! (Really ... Queen had melody-writing skills down packed.) I even like the presentation of it a lot. The electric guitars come in at just the right times and the falsetto vocals are somehow appropriate. Love it! Teo Torriate 7.5/10 This isn't altogether a bad song. It's a bit overlong and boring, but I enjoy the tune overall. ... I'm not about to give it a Silver Medal in the Summer Olympics, though. Have any thoughts about your day at the races? Send them here!

All reviews are copyrighted by the author, Michael Lawrence. He's a silver medalist in the Summer Olympic event: Doing Stuff That's Not Normally Considered Athletic.