“Bring Back Leroy Brown”
This fun Freddie Mercury–penned track alludes to the Jim Croce classic “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” and has a bright swing feel that could be straight out of a musical cabaret act. It really shows off Taylor’s versatility. He nails dozens of kicks throughout this fast and tricky song and proves that he could’ve been a big band drummer or ably fit into any theatrical pit band if Queen hadn’t worked out so well for him. Honky-tonk piano, upright bass, ukulele-banjo, and a smokin’ drummer all add up to a rollicking good time.
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
This song is probably about as close as most DRUM! readers will ever get to the opera.It’s either one of the best rock songs ever written or one of the campiest and over the top, depending on your tastes. It may be a bit of both, but it’s about as much fun as any song can get. It’s one of those rare gems that you actually have to resist singing along to. There are tons of time-signature changes so if you want to jam along with it I wish you luck and offer a bit of advice — you’d better count. This song has more twists and turns than a Formula 1 racecourse and, as always, Taylor shifts gears at every turn and handles it all with aplomb.
