Search - Queen :: We Will Rock You / We Are the Champions

DEJ JAM CLASSIC Remix

OscarNCurtisJr | Baltimore MD | 11/27/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This version of Queen's classic singles was never intended for it's rock genre audience.This was made for those of us that appreciate and love hip-hop and hard rock.



The legendary Rick Rubin does an excellent job remixing these classics.It's definately worth a listen and good to have for your music collection."

If Andy Kaufman did remixes...

Croc O'Dile | California | 05/05/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Let's face it. The people complaining about how bad this is apparently failed to read the front cover stating "Ruined By Rick Rubin". Don't be fooled, people. This is Rubin doing his best Andy Kaufman: being intentionally irritating for laughs.



While it can be debated whether the amusement of hearing Rick mess with two classic Queen songs merited an actual release, here it is.



Both mixes are best enjoyed if you do not really take them seriously. The purposely lo-fi crappy turntable effect at the beginning could be a nod to being a kid and listening to Queen records on crappy record players, nostalgia and all that. The painfully odd out of place sound effect after the record scratch is only there to let the listener know that, as Huey Lewis once imparted, "Sometimes bad is bad." Rick's tongue is firmly in his cheek. The song's ending jam session is a joke unto itself: it starts out promising as the drums kick in, momentarily getting the listener's hopes up, before degrading into a horrible self-indulgent mess of a guitar solo. It's as if Wayne and Garth from Wayne's World, or the Wyld Stallyns decided to cover and "improve" upon the song. It's supposed to suck, get it?



Even worse, or better depending on how you look at it, is the "remix" of We Are The Champions, which is SO badly done that there is no way in hell it was anything but intentionally terrible. The tacked on James Brown sample isn't even timestretched to match the beat, so it's added and dropped continuously throughout the song just before it goes too badly out of time. How anyone can listen to Freddie solemnly sing about paying his dues while James punctuates with "Ain't it funky!" at the end of each line and NOT crack up is beyond me. It's a Mad TV sketch without the video. No, it's ain't funky, but it's pretty damn funny, but if you're a purist, avoid this at all costs.



If you look at this like Rick Rubin poking fun at music that I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he is fond of, it works a lot better than actually judging it on the caliber of it's technical or musical merits. Most people who hear this are probably either people who assume it was supposed to be a legit remix and hate it, people who will see it as justification for their hatred of remixes, or people like me who just put it on for an occasional laugh."