Queen - It's A Hard Life (EMI)

I unashamedly admit to having always liked Queen. The last two singles were brilliant, but this is a cynical repetition of past glories with a beginning that could be "Bohemian Rhapsody" and an overall feeling of lethargy. The New Seekers made a record like this once. (Eleanor Levy, Record Mirror, July 28, 1984)

Having gone all modern on "Radio Ga Ga" and then all peculiar on "I Want To Break Free", Queen finally return to the style of old with a lush ballad featuring a breathy, operatic Freddie Mercury and one of those sumptuous Brian May guitar solos. Suddenly, it's 1975 all over again and life doesn't seem so hard after all. Or does it? (Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, August 2, 1984)