Queen / Paul Rodgers The Cosmos Rocks

2008, the first thing you notice about The Cosmos Rocks, the much anticipated first album from rock legends Queen + Paul Rodgers is "all tracks written by Queen and Paul Rodgers" and "produced and performed by Brian May, Paul Rodgers and Roger Taylor" (indicating that between them they played all instruments, including bass - Paul and Brian swapping duties). This is obviously not a case of Rodgers lightly stepping in to fill a vocal gap, as some might have been drawn to assume would be the case when the three of them got into the studio together. No, this is a full bodied, group endeavour: May, Rodgers and Taylor in a totally democratic union, even down to equally sharing the credits. The album's dedication to legendary Queen front man 'Freddie Mercury,' shows the band mates still feel his presence strongly enough to dedicate this entirely new work to him, nearly 13 years on from Queen's last studio album!