7 January

Was Bohemian Rhapsody the ‘best’ movie? Fascinating for me, because this is what Queen always do, force people to think about what’s good and what isn’t. That’s been their entire career, in music and now in film too. I don’t think this is just about personal taste, there’s something more interesting going on. I think Queen are like *the* Queen, in that they aim to be something for everyone, from serious musos to those who just want a pop thing to dance or sing along to. That was partly why they chose the name Queen, and the ‘pomp’ that critics hate is them appealing to something deep inside all people. People love magnificence, splendour, spectacle, those things transcend differences. Queen are of the ages, and most critics and musicians are focused on the here and now. It’s rare for artists now to aspire to be universal, to speak to everybody. Music is mostly territorial, defining smaller sub-groups of people. It takes real intelligence, genius, to be successfully universal. Whereas so often a band or artists might sing about some ‘serious’ issue of the day, or some personal problem they’re having, and be seen as profound. They’re mostly not.