The Cross

THE CROSS

Their first album was "Shove It"

Originally, Roger had planned to release another solo album, but decided to form a band named The Cross and released it as a Cross album. However, the album was almost completed and this explains why the other band members had virtually no input on the record.

The album features Queen members Freddie Mercury (singing lead vocals on "Heaven for Everyone"), Brian May (playing lead guitar on "Love Lies Bleeding") and John Deacon (playing bass guitar on a few tracks), who collaborated with Taylor on the album.

The album was poorly received by fans and critics and hit the bottom of the charts, peaking at 58 at the UK Albums Chart. After two weeks it dropped off the chart. In the US, it failed to chart at all.

All songs written by Roger Taylor.

Mad Bad and Dangerous to Know was the second album released by The Cross, appearing in 1990. Unlike the previous album, they decided to abandon the dance influences and recorded a straight rock album. This was the first album to which each member of the band contributed, though Roger Taylor's contribution was considerably smaller because he was busy promoting The Miracle. Unusually, (Clayton Moss) sang lead vocals on one track, instead of Taylor.

Like Shove it, the album sold poorly and EMI Records decided to drop them so they had no label anymore in the UK.

In Germany, a limited box set (only 50 were made) was released which contained a CD single, video, stickers and press information.

Blue Rock is the third and last album released by The Cross. Like Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know, Blue Rock is a straight rock album which is currently out of print and has become a hard-to-find item. Spike Edney contributed a lot more to the record, writing or co-writing seven of the ten tracks of the album.

Because of the failure of their previous albums, Blue Rock was only released in Germany, Japan, Italy (vinyl only) and France (cassette only). Blue Rock, too, failed to sell many copies. This contributed to the disbanding of The Cross two years later.