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Reviews > Queen + Paul Rodgers Music Reviews > 11-XX-2008 - The Cosmos Rocks - Record Collector

Bad Company versus Queen - kind of
by Tim Jones

Rating: **** (Excellent)

The 14 tracks from the first full studio collaboration between Bad Company's Paul Rodgers and Queen are pleasing, if not mindblowing - a grower rather than an instant hit. Proceedings kick off rather bewilderingly with the Status Quo-do-Queen of Cosmos rockin', while Still Burnin' veers more towards Rodgers' past, albeit with a Will Rock You-esque rhythm base. Small then showcases Brian May's electric prowess, while Battlefield effects populate the thoughtfull Warboys. We Believe has a martial tone too, albeit in a latterday BJH, radio-riendly kind of way, but 70s glam runs through Call Me, before the slow blues of Voodoo, and Some Things That Glitter, which puts the spotlight on Rodgers at the piano.

It's not until track 12 that the epic Say It's Not True rekindles the pomp of Queen of old, followed bythe harmony-rich Surf's up... School's Out. Ending on a high note, then, but it may take some plays to get used to the idea that QPR is very much a meeting of equals.