You had the time, you had the power4 Out Of 5 Stars
Pulling themselves up after the commercial disappointment of "Hot Space" meant two things for Queen in America. The first was a major return to the pomp of their glory days, the second was a label change to Capitol. The band strikes a serious pose on the cover of "The Works," the the first single made them sound like they were ready to get back to business. "Radio gaga" is now notorious for two reasons: it was the last Queen US Top 40 single (prior to the reissue of "Bohemian Rhapsody" and inspired a young New Yorker to take that song's last name and claim it for herself.
There's also a question of the album's focus. The nine songs sound more of a piece than "Hot Space" did, from the aching closer "Is The The World We Created" to the worldwide hit "I Want to Break Free" (the single/video mix, which is substantially different than the original, makes one of the reissue's bonus tracks). While both "The Game" and "Hot Space" seemed consumed with dance synths, this time they hold that to the goofy "Machines/Back To Humans." Probably the smartest move of all was tossing the drum machine out the window and letting Roger Taylor back to his drum kit. As Queen's 80's discs go, "The Works" is one of the better ones.
As for the bonus discs, the real surprise is the remixed versions of "I Want to break Free" and the harder rocking version of "Hammer To Fall." There's a B-Side, "I Go Crazy" that has the laugh-inducing line "but I don't wanna go see Queen!" and finally, the Christmas single "Thank God It's Christmas," which was only available before on the lackluster third volume of greatest hits. A pair of live cuts round out the disc. Overall, a nice set of extras.
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