Hot Space (1982)
1. Staying Power
2. Dancer
3. Black Chat
4. Body Language
5. Action This Day
6. Put Out the Fire
7. Life is Real (Song for Lennon)
8. Calling all Girls
9. Las Palabras de Amor (The Words of Love)
10.Cool Cat
11.Under Pressure
Well, it was probably inevitable. Even the greatest bands eventually stumble, and for Queen, that moment came with Hot Space. Coming off the global success of The Game — arguably their most eclectic and commercially accessible album — the band seemed poised to head in just about any direction. Unfortunately, the one they chose was directly onto the dance floor.
To be fair, Queen had dipped a toe into funk and disco before. Another One Bites the Dust proved they could pull it off brilliantly. The problem here is that they don’t just dip a toe — they cannonball into the genre, and the result feels more like a concession than a progression. While The Game managed to blend its genre experiments with Queen’s trademark rock flair, Hot Space is split down the middle — half dance record, half Queen trying to remember who they were.
Not surprisingly, the blame game began almost immediately. The story goes that Freddie Mercury and John Deacon were the main drivers behind the album’s funkier direction, while Brian May and Roger Taylor resisted. Whether or not that’s true, the album certainly sounds like a compromise. Side one is all sleek, synthetic grooves and rubbery basslines, while side two tries — with varying degrees of success — to course-correct.
The only modest standout from the first half is the single Body Language, which is more suggestive than substantial. The rest? A series of mid-tempo, synth-driven tracks that feel more like demos for a club act than finished Queen songs. The energy is flat, the hooks are weak, and the band sounds disengaged. If you’re listening for May’s guitar, you might want to bring a magnifying glass.
Side two opens with Put Out the Fire, a politically-tinged rocker that finally lets May stretch a little. It’s not a classic, but at this point it feels like a relief. Life Is Real is a somber tribute to the recently deceased John Lennon that’s surprisingly tender, and Las Palabras de Amor shows the band hasn’t entirely forgotten how to write a solid ballad. But even here, the mood never quite lifts. It’s all a bit cautious, as though the band is trying to please everyone and pleasing no one in particular.
The album closes with Under Pressure, a duet with David Bowie that — unsurprisingly — towers over everything else here. It was recorded months earlier and added to the album almost as an afterthought, but it’s the one track that has any real spark. It also serves as a reminder of what Queen was still capable of when all cylinders were firing.
In the end, Hot Space feels like two EPs mashed together: one you’d rather not listen to, and one that’s just good enough to keep you from writing the whole thing off. The band would recover, of course, but this was the first time they truly felt out of step — with their audience, with each other, and with themselves.
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