We are the Champions (Mercury)/We will rock you (May)

(Wow, 10th April... long time, huh)?

These two could perhaps be the uber-Queen songs: they formed the climax of every Queen show from when they were released (and Rock You, in a speeded-up guise, was the start of them for many a year, too) and perhaps their two most iconic songs: it's difficult to listen to either of them without picturing Freddie strutting his stuff on a stadium stage.

But how do they fayre as singles?

Or, more correctly, how do they fayre as a single, since We Will Rock You wasn't originally released in its own right.

Well, let's start with Champions. And, well, it's hard not too imagine that Freddie wrote this specifically for the end of a Queen show, or a Cup Final or whatever. It's also hard not too be rather cynical about this; the whole seems so calculated, from the simplistic words (in each chorus, the tag line is repeated at least four times) to the school playground-melody. The whole thing seems almost programmed to push all the right buttons for a huge crowd.

Yet it works. And possibly only someone like Freddie, with his keen sense of crowd-pleasing crowd showmanship, could do it and get away with it. Which he does. Just. Because, if truth be told, there's nothing much here: Freddie shows off by switching from the C minor verse to the F major chorus and throwing a few chromatic chords in; Brian gives it his all, especially during the last chorus, where his guitar almost screeches out of the speakers; and the drums and harmonies blare out.

But, however tounge-in-cheek it is and however well it worked at the end of a Queen concert, it's not a classic piece of music by any account. 6

Rock You is a crowd-pleaser in a similar vein. In fact, Brian May admitted as much in an interview with Uncut magazine, where he described it as "a song that the audience could participate in". Apparently, the lyrics are about "the ages of man and the ultimate futility of violence".

But that doesn't seem important.

From the foot-stamp/hand-clap backing (remember: no drums) to Freddie's snarling vocal, there's a lot to like here. It's short, lodges in your brain like an ice-pick covered in super-glue and even survided a cover by 5ive. And that moment when the guitar that's been building up during the last chorus finally crashes in is glorious.

Of course, it's just as cynical and calculated as Champions (or seems that way, at least), but it has just that little bit more charm to pull it through. 8

Videos: The video for Champions was filmed in super-rubbish-o-vision that makes everone look very weird in front of a live audience. The group then played a 45-minute set for the fans who'd turned up. The Rock You video was one of two filmed in Roger Taylor's back garden on what appears to be a freezing cold day. Keep an eye out for John Deacon's groovy dancing!