Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am not sure about this one honestly. I gave it four stars as it is very well written. But my issues stem with many unsubstantiated statements, conjecture and maybe some made up stuff. The bibliography is well ordered, but it still seems thin. What follows has many SPOILERS, you have been warned. Some issues with the book: 1. How could anybody know when Freddie Mercury caught HIV? There is a chapter in the book which tries to pin it down to 1982, and maybe sometime in July or August. Aside from that being a very morbid thing to do, it is IMPOSSIBLE to know when the guy caught that awful disease. Maybe just the fact he caught the disease and died should be enough! No sources to back up this claim. 2. About sex....that is most of what the book concentrates on. Freddie did this or did that. It also makes claims that Freddie was starting to get really promiscuous by 1975. However, other books about Queen have not stated this as fact, it was always the late 1970s.. Is this just conjecture and if not, where are the SOLID sources on this? This book just seems to care all about Freddie Mercury and his sexual practices......it is obsessed with that aspect of Freddie. 3. Album sales. Queen was a very big band, with estimates putting sales anywhere from 150-300 million albums worldwide. That is all good and well, but the book states that A Night At The Opera sold 12 million units worldwide. The sources I found claim only 6 million, but who really knows. The point being, where is this information being pulled from? Were the authors making this up as they went? Just look at the bibliography in the back and you will not find answers to most of this stuff. You will find the authors pulling from other books written about Queen, from earlier works that were published before this one. But it just feels like stuff was written, without proper citation or research. 4. It is about the music isn't it? Why is it all books about Queen always concentrate on Freddie Mercury and his sexuality? This gets old and is not very interesting. I don't care what sexual preference the man had, I care about the music Queen put out, and some of Freddie's solo work, that is it! John, Brian and Roger are always mostly ignored in these books and that is a shame. Brian May has so many memorable solos and riffs. The same for the massively underrated John Deacon and his famous bass parts. Roger Taylor is a good and competent drummer who also sang some awesome backup vocals or even sang whole songs. Who doesn't love "I'm In Love With My Car," or "39"? Each of the four members contributed much to the band, not just Freddie. They were truly a "supergroup" before the term was invented. So out with the bad and in with the good: 1. The parts about the beginnings of HIV and AIDS, in Africa, in the early 1900s, are very well researched and interesting. This is one of the best histories I have read about the HIV epidemic, and is done well. To clarify, I mean about the earliest known history of the disease in humans. 2. The book is written in a very unique narrative style. It writes about events with Queen and at the same time writes about events in the HIV/AIDS crisis; events that take place either in the same year or within a couple years of each other. This part works very well in the book. 3. It is really thick on the HIV/AIDS information, but in simplified terms. To me, the book really feels like a companion piece to the excellent, and now 30 years old, And The Band Played On by Randy Shilts. It feels similar to that book, though not as thick. Almost like part II with Queen and Freddie Mercury as the sideshow. 4. STL spends a lot of time talking about all the great 1970s Queen music, which is really cool. My issue is though is they only seem to spend time on the famous tracks, not the less famous ones unfortunately. Seriously, it is about the music and anybody that claims fandom, outside of the Greatest Hits, would know that the first 4 albums are just amazing. Queen II is solid all the way through, so is Sheer Heart Attack, and the first album is one of the most varied and interesting debuts from a famous band I have ever heard. By the time the book comes around to The Game, it is full speed ahead and gives very little background on the albums after The Game. Not tons on Flash, or the uneven Hot Space (I actually like this album and feel Freddie turns in an amazing vocal performance on it). Many books on famous bands always do this. They spend lengthy chapters on the early albums of a band, then rush to the finish line while compressing information about the later works. There were stories to be told about the later albums, but most of this was shelved in favor of the HIV/AIDS talk about Freddie, which is disappointing. The last 3 albums Queen did in the 80s have some excellent tracks, despite being uneven albums. Think such tracks as Gimme The Prize, It's A Hard Life, Princes of The Universe, I Want It All, Breakthru, Was It All Worth It etc. 5. About Live Aid....how many more good things can be said about Queen and Live Aid? The book does a good job of describing the lead up to the concert, and the performance itself. In summary: I give this a barely recommend, despite the 4 star rating. It is well written, but makes many assertions that are not based on hard facts and sources. You won't learn a lot more than what is in other books on Queen. You will learn some new and interesting things about HIV/AIDS (The theories about where the disease began are quite good), so that is a plus. It does go way too far on the sexuality issue with Freddie. This is so disrespectful to Freddie Mercury and his memory. Yet......the books on Queen cannot seem to get away from FOCUSING about it. Freddie Mercury is possibly the greatest singer of all time, regardless of genre. Talk about his greatness and don't give us conjecture about what is going on in his head....whatever. I liked "Is This The Real Life" quite a bit more than this. This is worth a read for hardcore Queen fans, and maybe rock fans in general. And while it has some emotional gut punching, it doesn't carry the force that And The Band Played On does (I highly recommend this book). It is all about the music for me, and Queen has that in spades.....great music and songs and albums! Last update: Get the book. After rewatching the dog-s**t that is Bohemian Rhapsody, my review just doesn't seem correct. That movie completely downplays the history of Mercury and Queen and the sexuality going on here. What I now realize is how much Freddie and his sexuality, was part of the music. I know, this was hiding in plain sight, but I get it now. Yes, the music matters, but so does the truth. This book, while the bibliography could be much better, at least attempts the truth while the movie bends the truth at every opportunity (except for Live Aid and the making of the Bohemian Rhapsody song). The book isn't a character assassination of Mr. Bad Guy like the movie......argh! If you read this far, buy it! Thanks for reading and stay safe.