Love 70s Queen, especially 'Live Killers' which is a must for any fans of good live rock, but once they hit Flash Gordon territory it was as good as over (bar One Vision & Innuendo and a couple of others).

I sort of agree with you Simon in terms of Queen as a whole. I don't agree with your comment about post A Kind of Magic. The Miracle and more specifically Innuendo are decent albums. I also have not met any die hard Queen fans but I'm sure they will come out of the woodwork today.

Who's next on your 'Bands to pick on' list? I'm guessing The Eagles. All good though Simon. After all it's just your opinion.

Strong words! I agree that Queen is like chocolate cake - good stuff, but if you have too much in one sitting you'll regret it. I'd also agree that not all the Queen output was good, but you can say that about a lot of bands. For me though, the sound of Queen was Brian May, and I think this review skimmed over the fact that Mercury actually was a brilliant singer. In the world of popular music a really good singer is rare, and should be accorded some respect.

My favourite Queen album is Spilt Milk by Jellyfish.

As you know I'm a huge Queen fan, but like you it's mostly their earlier stuff that gets the most airtime in my house/car/iPod. A Kind Of Magic was a fantastic album, but it was the last of the greats; subsequent recordings left a bit to be desired, although now and again a single (I Want It All & The Show Must Go On, transparent commentary on Freddie contemplating and refusing to accept his own mortality) would go against the grain, but for the most part a great deal of that work was, as you say, embarrassing. The most embarrasing part is the dogged attempts by May and Taylor to continue to cash in, revealing themselves as the dinosaurs they've become, instead of allowing Freddie's legacy the dignity it deserves... something John Deacon figured out pretty quickly and good on him too.

However, it doesn't diminish the brilliance of their work in the 70's and early 80's. They were unique; no-one can say otherwise, and fans you may view as "Sanctimonious, with their Freddie-was-the-best logic" I prefer to think of as recognising one of the 20th centuries greatest and most charismatic frontmen.

I prefer to ignore much of their later work, in much the same way I pretend that Bruce Springsteen never made Working On A Dream, that way I can continue to view them through my rose-coloured glasses. The great thing about music - anyone's music - is that inalienable RIGHT of fans to reject reality and keep their idols on their pedestals, as a certain memorial service held today demonstrates.

But I don't look good on a soapbox, so down I get.

They had a really good run of albums until News of the World (Day at the races is my favourite) but then slipped a few gears. Jazz was awful, The Game an improvement, and Hot Space was the last straw for me. I still love Live Killers and I think they were a creative, occasionally stunning band with a fantastic live show. But oddly enough, I don't find myself with any of their music in my collection any more and the only time I ever hear them is on radio, which is strangely fitting. That said, I do think they are a better band than you give them credit for. Forget about Kiss, Queen did camp dress-ups better than almost anyone.

Some rather sweeping statements about Freddie Mercury there with seemingly little evidence of basis in fact?

"He never cared about being in the band....As far as he was concerned he could have had any old poodle-haired guitarist and whoever on bass and drums."

Is this your opinion? It appears as if you are presenting this as fact and I'm not entirely sure it's true to be honest.

Surely every bad with a fairly large number of albums will turn out some bad songs now and again?

I really like news of the world; it was a great album.

I'd rather listen to Queen than Michael Jackson.

I wish he was still alive as when he died for a solid year radio stations played Queen. Drove me mad. "I want to ride my bicycle" what sort of drivel was that. Made me take my car to work instead.