Before 1979, Queen had never used synthesisers on their albums. Beginning with "The Game", Queen began using Oberheim OB-X synthesisers on their songs, including "Play the Game" and "Save Me", and continued to do so. On "Hot Space", the band went even further, introducing the drum machine for the first time. A departure from their trademark seventies sound, most of "Hot Space" is a mixture of rhythm and blues, funk, dance and disco, while the rock songs continued in a pop rock direction similar to their previous album (an exception is the song "Put Out the Fire").