Blue Rock

  • 1. Bad Attitude
  • 2. New Dark Ages
  • 3. Dirty Mind
  • 4. Baby It's Alright
  • 5. Ain't Put Nothin' Down
  • 6. The Also Rans
  • 7. Millionaire
  • 8. Put it All Down to Love
  • 9. Hand of Fools
  • 10. Life Changes

‘Blue Rock’ was recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in Box, England, between February and August 1991, and was produced by Mark Wallis.

The album contains ten tracks written by the individual band members, rather than the collaborative efforts of the previous album, and features additional musicians – included Geoffrey Richardson (violin / viola) and Helen Liebman (cello) on the tracks ‘Baby It’s Alright’ and ‘Life Changes’, and Andy and Clare Yates (backing vocals) on ‘Baby It’s Alright’ and ‘The Also Rans’.

The third and final Cross album was released in Germany only on September 9th 1991. It was preceded in August by the only single to be lifted from the album, in Roger’s ‘New Dark Ages’ – this too was a single exclusive to Germany. A promotional video directed by Paul Voss and shows Roger playing guitar.

A second single (again for Germany only) was proposed for October 1991, but this was withdrawn due to Freddie Mercury’s illness. The release was to have been an edit of ‘Life Changes’ (on CD only), the album version of ‘Life Changes’, and an unreleased song called ‘Heartland’.

A new tour began in October 1991 and took the band to Finland, Sweden and Switzerland and 16 dates in Germany. Although playing a shorter set on this tour, much of the ‘Blue Rock’ material featured, as well as more familiar songs like ‘Man On Fire’, ‘Power To Love’ and ‘Top Of The World Ma’.

Following the precedent set the previous December, with the Astoria show in December, the concert at Düsseldorf on October 22nd was audio recorded and released on cassette tape as the second official ‘Bootleg’ release via the Queen Fan Club. Both cassettes are now rarity items and much sought after by collectors.

In July 1992 The Cross played a one-off show in England at the Gosport Festival, playing a set comprised of eight cover versions, and featuring guest vocalist Bob Geldof on ‘Honky Tonk Woman’.

To end the year, the band played two special concerts for the Queen Fan Club in December at London’s Marquee Club, with guests including Roger Daltrey, Tim Staffell and Brian May. Again. The shows featured similar material to the show in Gosport in July, but also included a seasonal rendition of John Lennon’s ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’.

In July 1993, The Cross returned to the Gosport Festival in July to play a one-off gig. It was to be their final concert as The Cross with Roger and the show was titled Final Destination, after the song – which also ended the show. New additions to the set included Queen classics ‘A Kind Of Magic’ and ‘We Will Rock You’, and covers of ‘Kansas City’ and Mott The Hoople’s ‘All The Young Dudes’.

A one-off Cross reunion set, featuring all original band members, was announced in July 2013, and is scheduled to take place in December at the annual SAS Band show in Guildford, Surrey, England. The event will celebrate 20 years since the five musicians met.