Item: The Cosmos Rocks
Rating: 4
Author: rollingstone

4.0/ 10

“Queen's first studio album in 13 years sounds a little like the band's old albums, with stomping rockers, over-the-top power ballads and pyrotechnic solos difficult to replicate on Rock Band. But one thing's missing: late frontman Freddie Mercury, whose charisma Bad Company's Paul Rodgers can't match. Under Rodgers' command, Cosmos Rocks evokes an unmemorable stretch […]”

Queen's first studio album in 13 years sounds a little like the band's old albums, with stomping rockers, over-the-top power ballads and pyrotechnic solos difficult to replicate on Rock Band. But one thing's missing: late frontman Freddie Mercury, whose charisma Bad Company's Paul Rodgers can't match. Under Rodgers' command, Cosmos Rocks evokes an unmemorable stretch of drive-time radio, with slow songs like "Say It's Not True" recalling Air Supply. The classic-rock clichés aren't all Rodgers' fault: Original band members helped write tracks like "Still Burnin'," a generic bar-band jam laced with chestnuts like "music makes the world go 'round." Queen 2.0 are competent enough to rock arenas, but don't expect a repeat of the glory days.