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''The Cosmos Rocks'' is the only studio album by Queen + Paul Rodgers (and Queen's sixteenth studio album overall), released on 15 September 2008. It contains 14 new tracks written by
Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury an ...
, Roger Taylor, and Paul Rodgers. This is the first studio album of new material from the two remaining members of Queen since 1995′s '' Made in Heaven''.


History

The band entered Roger Taylor's Priory studio in late 2006, having completed the American leg of a world tour. Sessions were initially scheduled around Rodgers' other touring commitments. On tour, the band had debuted a new song, "Take Love", which did not make the album. On his solo tour, Rodgers debuted songs such as "Warboys" and "Voodoo". John Deacon's retirement meant that bass duties were shared between Rodgers and May. The first single, "
Say It's Not True "Say It's Not True" is a song by Queen + Paul Rodgers, released on World AIDS Day, 1 December 2007 as the lead single from the supergroup's sole album, ''The Cosmos Rocks''. The song was written by drummer Roger Taylor and features all three memb ...
" was released nine months before the album. The second, "
C-lebrity "C-lebrity" is the second single from ''The Cosmos Rocks'' album by Queen + Paul Rodgers. The song reached #1 on the UK Rock Singles Chart. Overview The song was released on September 8, 2008 and is available on CD, 7" Vinyl and digital download ...
" was previewed on '' Al Murray's Happy Hour'' in April, five months before the album. The album's release came 17 years after the death in 1991 of former Queen singer
Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in th ...
. "It had some great stuff on it," Taylor recalled. "I just think that Paul's more blues and soul – one of our favourite singers, ever, but, when it boils down to it, he wasn't the perfect frontman for us. I felt the album was badly promoted by EMI, who were falling to bits at the time. We were on tour in Europe, and I went into record stores and we weren't in them. And I remember being furious, thinking, 'Why did we make this fucking record?'"


Singles

Three singles were released from the album: * "Say It's Not True" was the
lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release ...
from the album, released in the UK on 31 December 2007; it reached #90 in the British charts although had been available as free download for some time. Its video features many clips of the suffering in South Africa as well as clips from
Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...
's
46664 46664 was a series of AIDS benefit concerts played in honour of Nelson Mandela by South African and foreign musicians between 2003 and 2008. Origin The second time that Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island was in 1964, and he was the 466th ...
concerts. The single was released for the 46664 charity, with all proceeds being donated there. * "C-lebrity" was released as the album's second single on 8 September 2008, reaching number 33 on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. Its B-side was a recording of "Fire and Water" live in Japan. * "We Believe" was released as a promo single in Italy, and reached number 4 in the Virgin radio charts. It was edited down from its original 6-minute album version to less than 4 minutes.


Critical reaction

''The Cosmos Rocks'' received mixed reviews. According to critic review aggregator
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the album received an average review score of 42/100, indicating "Mixed or average reviews". Alexis Petridis of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...
'' gave it two out of five stars, stating, "the lyrics were stupid, trite, a bit offensive and bound to have an undermining effect on whatever musical efforts they put behind it". Conversely, ''
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, f ...
'' gave it a 7/10 review, stating, "Paul Rodgers breathes new life into Queen, while still keeping the band's tremendous legacy intact as they soldier forth with new material into the 21st century". '' Mojo'' gave it three stars, stating, "Occasionally they stumble, as on the clunky 'Warboys.' But with Rodgers imperious, Queen's second coming is vindicated".


Tour

The "Rock the Cosmos Tour" began in September 2008 to promote the release of this album. The opening date was recorded for a DVD release, and was broadcast across digital video theatres across the United States on 6 November 2008 under the title "Let the Cosmos Rock". The tour included one of the largest open-air concerts in
Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...
, which garnered 350,000 people. Over the course of the tour, Queen played to just short of a million viewers.


Track listing


Original release

All regular tracks credited to Queen + Paul Rodgers.


Limited edition bonus DVD (Super Live in Japan – Highlights)

# "Reaching Out" (Hill, Black) # " Tie Your Mother Down" (May) # " Fat Bottomed Girls" (May) # " Another One Bites the Dust" (Deacon) # " Fire and Water" (Rodgers, Andy Fraser) # " Crazy Little Thing Called Love" (Mercury) # " Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)" (May) # " These Are the Days of Our Lives" (Queen) # " Radio Ga Ga" (Taylor) # " Can’t Get Enough" ( Mick Ralphs) # " I Was Born to Love You" (Mercury) # " All Right Now" (Rodgers, Fraser) # " We Will Rock You" (May) # " We Are the Champions" (Mercury) # "
God Save the Queen "God Save the King" is the national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, b ...
" (Traditional; arranged by May) Note: The Japanese edition includes a CD audio version instead of the DVD.


Personnel

*
Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury an ...
– guitar, backing and lead vocals, bass, keyboards, piano * Roger Taylor – drums, backing and lead vocals, percussion, keyboards * Paul Rodgers – lead vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, piano, harmonica * Taylor Hawkins – backing vocals on "C-lebrity""Foo Fighters Taylor Hawkins Guests On Upcoming Queen + Paul Rodgers Album." Komodo Rock, 3 September 2008
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Charts


Certifications


Formats

* Standard CD * Special edition CD and DVD * Tour edition (Queen Online only) * Gatefold vinyl * iTunes Music Store edition


References


External links

*
Queen official website: Discography: ''The Cosmos Rocks''
includes lyrics of all non-bonus tracks. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cosmos Rocks 2008 debut albums Hollywood Records albums Parlophone albums Queen + Paul Rodgers albums