ROGER TAYLOR - Deeply Relaxed Melancholic

7. November 2021

Roger Taylor Queen

ROGER TAYLOR - Tiefenentspannter Melancholiker

Roger Taylor used the Corona pandemic to finish his first solo album in eight years. The surprising thing: "Outsider" comes up with some unusual brooding, but partly also political songs. Enough material for an interview with the Queen drummer

Especially for people without money, the Corona pandemic is known to be a nightmare - for people with money, on the other hand, it often offers a welcome opportunity to tackle things for which there was previously not enough time. This was also the case for Queen drummer Roger Taylor: Without concert commitments, the well-fed 72-year-old with the full white beard suddenly had unexpected capacities free. He invested them in his sixth solo album, but also in a sailing trip on the Mediterranean for several months. Accordingly, he presented himself deeply relaxed in the conversation with eclipsed, in which, in addition to the new work, the topics of age and death and, of course, Freddie Mercury, which has been standing in his garden for some time.

eclipsed: After so much forced vacation in the Balearics: How come your new songs turned out relatively melancholic and introspective?

Roger Taylor: Maybe it's a consequence of age. You just get a bit calmer and tend to reflect on life - on the things you've experienced, enjoyed, but perhaps also regretted. It's probably a slightly more adult perspective than I used to have. At the same time, I'm into nostalgia combined with a bit of sadness. I find that very appealing.

eclipsed: Whereas in the closing "Journey's End" you deal with your own half-life. Are you worried about death?

Taylor: Sure I do! That song was one of the last ones I recorded for the album - and who knows, maybe it's the last one I recorded in general. But at the same time, there's a certain hope and confidence in it - that everything we're experiencing might turn out for the better and I can go out satisfied

eclipsed: Freddie once professed that he would rather go to hell than heaven - that would be far more interesting. Do you share this point of view?

Taylor: That's a good point. There's guaranteed to be the more exciting guys - and no boring priests. Although ... who knows? But that's a great answer. I'll go with Freddie.

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