Happiness? (Roger Taylor album)

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Happiness?
Roger Taylor Happiness.jpg
Studio album by
Roger Taylor
Released5 September 1994
StudioCosford Mill [1]
Genre Rock
Length48:15
Label Parlophone, EMI
Producer Roger Taylor
Josh Macrae (co-producer)
Roger Taylor chronology
Strange Frontier
(1984)		Happiness?
(1994)		 Electric Fire
(1998)
Singles from Happiness?
  1. "Nazis 1994"
    Released: 25 April 1994 [2]
  2. "Foreign Sand"
    Released: 19 September 1994 [3]
  3. "Happiness?"
    Released: 14 November 1994
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Music Week Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
NME 2/10 [5]

Happiness? is the third solo album by English musician Roger Taylor, best known as the drummer for the band Queen. It was his first album outside of Queen since releasing Blue Rock with the Cross in September 1991. It reached #22 in UK album chart.

Contents

Taylor collaborated with Japanese musician Yoshiki on the song "Foreign Sand".

Controversy

Although released as a single, the lyrics of the track "Nazis 1994", attacking neo-Nazism, were deemed so controversial that it was banned by UK commercial radio stations. Additionally, it was banned from being advertised and many record stores refused to stock the single. Ironically, the publicity aided in the album's success. [6]

Track listing

All songs written by Roger Taylor, except "Foreign Sand" written by Taylor and Yoshiki.

  1. "Nazis 1994" – 2:35
  2. "Happiness" – 3:17
  3. "Revelations" – 3:44
  4. "Touch the Sky" – 5:04
  5. "Foreign Sand" – 6:53
  6. "Freedom Train" – 6:12
  7. "You Had to Be There" – 2:55
  8. "The Key" – 4:25
  9. "Everybody Hurts Sometimes" – 2:52
  10. "Loneliness..." – 2:25
  11. "Dear Mr. Murdoch" – 4:19
  12. "Old Friends" – 3:33

Personnel

All tracks except Foreign Sand:

Foreign Sand:

Singles

"Nazis 1994" - (UK No. 22)

"Foreign Sand"- (UK No. 26) (Japan No. 13)

"Happiness?" - (UK No. 32)

Charts

Chart (1994)Peak
position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [7] 71
Scottish Albums (OCC) [8] 47
UK Albums (OCC) [9] 22

References

Happiness Liner Notes@ http://www.queenpicturehall.com/albums/r03h.shtml

  1. 1 2 AllMusic review
  2. ↑ "New Singles". Music Week . 23 April 1994. p. 37.
  3. ↑ "New Singles". Music Week . 17 September 1994. p. 37.
  4. ↑ Jones, Alan (3 September 1994). "Market Preview: Mainstream - Albums" (PDF). Music Week . p. 19. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
  5. ↑ Harris, John (17 September 1994). "Long Play". New Musical Express . p. 55.
  6. ↑ Roger Taylor Biography on Yahoo! Music, December 2009, archived from the original on 11 August 2011
  7. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Roger Taylor – Happiness?" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 27, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 27, 2025.
  9. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 27, 2025.
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