Queen: Radio Ga Ga (1984 Music Video) User Reviews

Nothing missing really, a quality music video

[Horst_In_Translation · 8/10 · 2 March 2019]

"Queen: Radio Ga Ga" is the title that gives us the name of the band featured in this slightly under 6 minute music video as well as the title of the song. It is definitely one of the more known, maybe most known works by the group around Freddy Mercury and I think the number of clicks it reached on youtube speaks for itself and yes I know it is not Despacito, but that's actually a good thing overall I suppose. The director is Emmy winner David Mallet by the way who worked with many very talented artists. And while, this is a relaly catchy song and the clapping rhythm idea was somewhat groundbreaking back then, you could say Queen invented it, something that is considered so normal today on concerts, sports events etc. the real threnght of this music video is the tribute that this is in favor of Metropolis, the silent movie from the middle of the first half of the 20th century that is considered one of Germany's best movies of all time and it is from the impressive Fritz Lang of course. This is really what a tribute music video should look like. It is not just the mix of scenes including the band (and their audience) and the shots from the film, but also how Mercury for example becomes part of the film on several occasions, so it is a bit of a journey back in time and it all looks very professional. But lets not ignore the basics here. Of course it would have been far more inferior without such a great song attached to it, there is no denying. As catchy as it gets, lyrics-wise well let's not talk about it, even if I am sure there is some hidden meaning. There is really only one somewhat negative aspect to this film and that is probably that Lady Gaga got the inspiration for her name from this one, but well her having a different name probably would not have changed anything really, so it is all good and honestly you cannot blame Queen or their director here for making Gaga popular. She is incredibly overrated honestly, but there is some priceless irony for sure to the fact that in the year when Rami Malek won the Oscar for playing Mercury, his film took a lot (awards) attention away from Gaga, most of all the Golden Globes Best Drama win of course. Now I am drifting away. Back to this song. If you for whatever reason have not seen it yet, then it is really high time you do. In my opinion, this is one of the best short films and music videos from 1984 (great year by the way brought some really crucial stuff) and probably also in the extended list of the finest from the 1980s, or at least the first half. Do not miss out under any circumstances.

Queen + Metropolis = Perfect match

[Rodrigo_Amaro · 10/10 · 3 April 2018]

Oh the sheer geniality of this one is beyond anything I've ever seen and hasn't been totally equaled (ok, "Smashing Pumpkins: Tonight, Tonight" gets quite near). But Mr. David Mallet's video alligned with the spectacular Queen plus Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" as a major influence and basis was of pure delight, fantasy and uncontrolled paralels. One of Queen's favorite moments both visual and sonorous, "Radio Ga Ga" demonstrated the impact a music video has on audiences, with heavy rotation on MTV next thing you know is that a whole crowd is doing the "All we hear is...Radio Ga Ga" routine clapping hands while Freddie Mercury commands his fans and followers. For those moments, he controlled audiences just by doing his magic used in the clip...just like the masters who control the city of "Metropolis". This whole previous paragraph should be enough to make you watch and rewatch the video. A tribute to one of the greatest sci-fi flicks of all time (another that wasn't topped yet in terms in becoming a reality since we still don't have flying cars or robots controlling our lives...but soon!), "Radio Ga Ga" is also a nostalgic view on the power of radio and how someday it would lose space when new technologies surface (Roger Taylor's lyrics are no longer a prediction, it's a stated fact), and also a bitter critique on how the visuals were becoming more important that what we used to imagine with the power of radio, the first magical media that allowed us to create scenarios through the songs, the plays and soap opera presented on the radio. Irony of ironies is that the video was so effective in mixing this duality between image and sound yet it become a major thing of which fans associated the band with. Maybe not entirely an irony, possibly they were proving a theory that was a real fact. But one may wonder: why "Metropolis" for such a song? Well, the music surely reflects the future just like Lang's movie did with its electronic sounds, a highly conscious concept - let's not forget that Queen and Giorgio Moroder developed a new soundtrack for "Metropolis" at that same time. It's not just images of the film, Mercury and gang intertwined with the film...there's also room for imagination, actors who play nostalgic characters who are fond of the past with a radio behind them while looking a nostalgic pictures from the past (which are Queen's old clips like "Bohemian Rhapsody and others) at the same time they wear gas masks cause the air is unfit to breathe anymore and another nuclear attack may happen at any moment - could it be a nod to the Cold War era and the paranoia of facing a possible fall of an atomic bomb? See, past, present and future are all tied together here, making of it this clip one of Queen's most thoughtful moments along with "Under Pressure". Well, someone here still loves this clip. 10/10

an event

[Kirpianuscus · 2 July 2021]

Each time when I heard it, I discover it as an event. A fundamental one. Sure, Metropolis footage, the voice of Freddie Mercury, the reference to middle class under World War II are precious pieces but somehing remains unspoken. It is a great song more for what iit suggest than for directly gives. That makes it just special, in profound sense.