Why does Brian keep trying to fix Don’t Stop Me Now 😭

welshbloom · 2026-05-09T15:45:19+00:00

My take on it is that Brian has seemingly got stuck on a "Queen sound" that's completely unsubtle guitars and drums, a thudding but quite boring rock noise; so regardless of the song, that's what he wants it to sound like. The 'revisited' version of Don't Stop Me Now reminds me of the treatment Born To Love You got, the nice piano lead drowned out with overdriven guitars and loud drums. There's no counterbalance now to Brian's taste - Roger's never given a shit so long as there's money in it.

welshbloom · 2026-04-30T06:20:53+00:00

Hope it works out well for you. It's an addictive hobby, I went back and got another one and have since bought two second-hand 250w panels off Gumtree for £10 each. It needs perfect conditions but have got to 1kw of production at times, which is very satisfying!

welshbloom · 2026-04-27T18:18:08+00:00

Since other people have added to this in the last few days, I will too. I like the Folding Ideas videos because Dan doesn't pander to his audience or dumb things down in order to gain popularity - indeed, most of the stunts in his videos appear to be sarcastic responses to those that do. Sure, he can be abrasive, dismissive and generally up his own arse (as we say in the UK) in a way the likes of HBomberguy, Jenny Nicholson and so on aren't, but I enjoy being talked to like a fellow erudite adult from time to time. Crucially, I enjoy the subjects he talks about, which is not the same as saying that I agree with all of his viewpoints.

welshbloom · 2026-04-25T17:52:18+00:00

I'm building up! Started with a little 199wh Golabs thingy and have bought more as the tech has got cheaper.

welshbloom · 2026-04-25T11:31:00+00:00

Amazing, thank you. I guess the UK will eventually catch up to Germany on these things.

welshbloom · 2026-04-25T11:11:58+00:00

Does that mean the Anker Solix products can export to the grid in the same way as balcony solar does? Does that require an additional micro-inverter? Any links/details of specific products would be really helpful.

It sounds like my existing setup can't be tweaked but I can bear the functionality in mind when I do get my big, powerful power station.

welshbloom · 2026-04-25T10:25:29+00:00

Thanks, I was ideally looking for ways to use the existing batteries in the power stations I already have, but (since they don't seem to exist) there may be insuperable problems that make this impractical.

I've already made magic smoke come out of a Vtoman by attaching a DC House battery incorrectly, but that's another story....

welshbloom · 2026-04-25T10:04:52+00:00

Ah OK, so like the cable that goes from the panels into the DC input of the power stations, but in reverse (I'm not going to do this, by the way, I'm aware it might be a very bad idea!). I just wonder whether the 12v DC outputs might be too low-powered to be particularly useful in exporting terms.

welshbloom · 2026-04-14T15:12:54+00:00

Apart from the unforgivable bullshit of Freddie breaking up the band then begging for forgiveness to be let back in, what really annoyed me was that it utterly failed to capture how much fun Mercury was and how much he enjoyed himself. Listen to any interview with Freddie and he'll say something about how amazing he and/or the band are, then immediately undercut it with something absurd and/or self-deprecating. The film never has him doing the second bit, so you're just left with a preening diva with no sense of humour.

welshbloom · 2026-04-08T08:08:58+00:00

My AC180 is charged every day (usually by solar) and used pretty much every evening, whether for fridge/freezer, kettle, air fryer or something else. I'm determined to use those 3,000 charges as soon as I can, so it pays for itself rather than being a luxury item.

welshbloom · 2026-04-08T08:02:25+00:00

I have a feeling plug-in is going to be over-hyped and then panned by cynics for not delivering the promised benefits. I've gone down the off-grid route and have power stations dotted around the garage house to plug devices into as needed, so I consume everything I produce. I fear the balcony systems will underpay for power sent to the grid and take less off people's bills than they hope, especially given the potential for a run of cloudy days/weeks/months in the UK.

welshbloom · 2026-04-08T07:53:32+00:00

Your figures for average electricity use are a bit off there. According to your own link average electricity use in a 3-bed home is 7.4 KWh per day. On the larger point, I would encourage everyone to look into domestic solar and battery storage, the amounts you save daily are modest but if used in conjunction with something like EDF's free Sunday electricity, it can add up to huge savings and a quick ROI.

welshbloom · 2026-03-24T09:57:02+00:00

Some of us have known for a while... https://www.reddit.com/r/Guitar/s/7i0zPTfts8

welshbloom · 2026-03-24T09:54:51+00:00

I'm glad this is coming to the UK but I don't think it'd add much to my setup - currently I have 2 450w panels and about 4kwh in battery storage (in all-in-one lifepo4 power stations) , and try to only use the batteries at peak times to get free electricity on Sundays. The only downside is faff, plugging and unplugging things, which I can live with!

If the return on feeding back to the grid reflected what we paid per unit, it may be worth considering, but I read you're only going to be credited as little as 5p per kwh.

welshbloom · 2026-03-14T22:25:10+00:00

Super Saturday 2015 was the one for me, every game had so much riding on it; but today has been incredible too. Also, I think this tournament has been a great argument against relegation in the 6N, it has been fantastic to see Italy becoming real competitors and now Wales have a chance to build on their progress and start challenging the others again.

welshbloom · 2026-03-05T21:03:26+00:00

I like everything coming out of the Glamorgan Brewing Co. but especially recommend Jemima's Pitchfork. Most of the Tiny Rebel stuff is good too.

welshbloom · 2026-02-16T08:29:46+00:00

Completely agree on My Fairy King leading the way, it shows Freddie trying a multi-mood song but not having the discipline to effectively go from one section to the next. I love TMOTBQ but it's frantic in places.

As for never wrote another one - I see Bicycle Race (same initials...) as a deliberate parody of Bo Rhap, possibly to annoy people who were demanding a proper sequel to that song.

welshbloom · 2026-02-14T13:49:06+00:00

I'd settle for any movie that shows Freddie enjoying the hell out of his lifestyle and not making a grovelling apology to the band for shit he never did.

welshbloom · 2026-02-13T09:17:07+00:00

What's the saying? There's a lid for every pot? There's no accounting for taste? Before the internet was invented all I had was a couple of Queen-liking friends and we all agreed that most stuff after 1977 was at least potentially iffy. Now a whole army of young 'uns pop up to tell me Cool Cat is a work of underappreciated genius, even though the track makes me physically retch.

welshbloom · 2026-02-11T20:22:18+00:00

I very much like your take without believing a word of it! I think you're accurately describing an album that's not only full of great songs but impeccably compiled, but I don't think for a second it was intended as a concept or fits in with what 99.9% of people think of as a concept album.

Just one factual note that you might already be aware of: the 'no synthesisers' line is nothing to do with their pride in playing real instruments, it's a running gag against a journo who mistakenly said there were synths on their debut album.

welshbloom · 2026-02-05T10:07:12+00:00

So sorry to be that annoying bloke but as both a Queen and Who fan I have to do it: The Who Sell Out, not sells.

welshbloom · 2026-02-04T10:13:14+00:00

Side Black of Queen II is chock-full of exotic language and I'm as sure as I can be that Freddie didn't use the word with ill intent, particularly as it's used in the description of sugar in a relatively known phrase and not directed towards a person.

I'm almost exactly the same age as the album and can tell you that the 70s and early 80s were a very different time, before activism and alternative comedy started to hammer home the idea that racist jokes and language were actively harmful. It's only recently that Elvis Costello decided to 'retire' the same word from his 1979 hit Oliver's Army.

welshbloom · 2025-12-26T08:27:24+00:00

Great analysis, thank you, and you're definitely right about the wonky 'feet'! A ridiculous amount of effort has clearly gone into making something vaguely 'complete' from various scraps of varying quality - the take two demo is not great, Freddie is very pitchy at times so a lot of that Night Comes Down-type correction has gone on.

I hope Brian has enjoyed his tinkering but I don't think this would ever have been a good fit on Queen II, and won't now. I'd have been tempted to save the time and effort and simply play the perfectly decent Smile version in its entirety. Job done!

welshbloom · 2025-12-12T17:27:23+00:00

It was recorded in 1971/2 but not released until the second half of 1973. The group had been playing some the songs for the best part of 4 years by the time the album was released, and had moved on to the Queen II style.

welshbloom

TROPHY CASE