Queen

Thanks to SF Signal for mentioning an awesome collection of Astounding Science Fiction and Analog Magazine covers, going back to the 1930s. (Start here.) That alone would be cool, but SF Signal happened to use this particular ASF cover in their post:

From October 1953. Which, if you’re a Queen fan, you’ll immediately recognize as being the inspiration for this:

News of the World, of course, released in October 1977. There’s more to the story, actually, since the original artist agreed to redo the illustration for the album! From Wikipedia:

The album’s cover was a painting by award winning American sci-fi artist Frank Kelly Freas. [Drummer Roger] Taylor had an issue of “Astounding Science Fiction” (October 1953) whose cover-art depicted a giant intelligent robot holding the dead body of a man. The caption read: “Please… fix it, Daddy?” to illustrate the story The Gulf Between by Tom Godwin. The robot killing the man was likened to a child injuring a bug and looking up at his parents saying “what have I done?”. The painting inspired the band to contact Freas, who agreed to alter the painting for their album cover, by replacing the single dead man with the four “dead” band members (Taylor and Deacon falling to the ground). The original painting (also called The Gulf Between) features on the cover of Freas’s collection of art As He Sees It (Paper Tiger, 2000).

I’ll admit it: I am a sucker for bombastic rock ‘n’ roll. Give me a “Bohemian Rhapsody” or “Cherub Rock” or “November Rain” any day, and the goosebumps will start cascading up and down my arms while I lift them triumphantly in the air during the loud parts.

Ahem.

I am also a sucker for the pseudo-historical trappings of Steampunk and Goth, whether thought-provoking literature, simple style, movies, or music.

Not that I wander around in a top hat and waistcoat muttering about the economic situation on the Subcontinent, much less sit in the dark burning black candles, but I think it’s a cool subculture.

Taking those two pieces of information about me, you can probably guess what I think of the song and video for “The Black Parade” by My Chemical Romance.