Queen

Sheer Heart Attack

1974

Personnel:

Freddie Mercury:
Vocals, piano, jangle piano, vocal extravaganzas

Brian May:
Guitars, vocals, piano, genuine George Formby ukelele-banjo, guitar orchestrations

Roger Taylor:
Drums, vocals, percussion, screams

John Deacon:
Bass guitar, double bass, acoustic guitar, almost all guitars on "Misfire"

Queen had steadily progressed from second line hard rockers to first class showmen, and this album reaps the benefits. While there were references to hard rock (and even early metal on "Stone Cold Crazy"), the band's MO was gradually shifting to something much more theatrical. Firstly, Mercury's obvious familiarity with the Broadway musical was more pronounced in his pieces, particularly in the faux-showtune "Bring Back Leroy Brown", and the smarmy bourgeois hit "Killer Queen". Also, the band's arrangements were much tighter, almost classical. The vocal parts were meticulously performed, and May's guitar-as-orchestra techniques were vastly improved.

After this, the band would never look back. Each album became increasingly well-produced, and the band was ever more popular. Many fans choose this as a favorite, perhaps because it captures Queen at the moment of transition from idiosyncratic baroque rockers to assured superstars.

Killer Queen: The band's first international hit, and a snappy tune to boot. The vocals had gotten tighter, and Mercury's lyrics were nothing less than clever. Also, here marks Queen's first acknowledgement to the Broadway, vaudeville, and British musichall styles that would make their presence known on every album the band did until The Game.

Tenement Funster: The first classic Roger Taylor tune, and arguably his finest until "Sheer Heart Attack" (which, oddly, was not on this album). Dirty rocker that laments just about everything except his new purple shoes and rocking at "Smokies'". It's amazing that so much attention was placed on Mercury because it was obvious to Queen fans that the band had more than one charisma hound. All kidding aside, Taylor may have been Queen's best all-around rock singer, and his musky tenor suits this stuff to a tee.

In the Lap of the Gods: No wait, this is Queen's most underrated song! An absolutely astounding intro featuring the band's finest (and most bombastic) vocals to date, leads to a rare subdued verse section, with Mercury's woozy solo professing his love for an unnamed benefactor. Just why everything falls into the lap of the gods is not clear, but when the group harmonies come back, we're all swept away into a rich custard of sweet overkill.

A Night at the Opera

1975

Personnel:

Freddie Mercury:
vocals, vocals, Bechstein Debauchery and more vocals

Brian May:
guitars and orchestral backdrops

Roger Taylor:
percussion, vocals

John Deacon:
electric bass

Queen were superstars in Europe, and rising ever quickly to that status in America. Their tours sold out weeks in advance, their songs got lots of radio exposure everywhere, and when they ditched their old record company and management and signed with megacorporation EMI, they pretty much blasted into the rock upper echelon.

It should be noted that even though they used six studios to record this album, and with "Bohemian Rhapsody" spending countless weeks at number one, A Night at the Opera isn't markedly better than Sheer Heart Attack -- it's just bigger. The range of the tunes is broader, from straight hard rock ("Death on Two Legs"), to light pop ("You're My Best Friend") and torch songs ("Love of My Life"), to even fake trad-jazz ("Good Company"). Because of this genre-hopping, the album lacks a bit of the glue that held together previous albums, but is certainly no less entertaining for it. And in the end, what else could we ask from them?

Seaside Rendezvous: Queen does Shirley Temple, or possibly Lawrence Welk on this send-up of the 20s-era Hollywood dance number. Besides Mercury's carefree gadabout lead vocal, the main shows are his and Taylor's string and brass harmony vocalizations. If it could be sung, Queen probably did it, and with more white sass than you could muster in three lifetimes.

The Prophet's Song: One of the last real pseudo-prog epics the group did, almost a throwback to Queen II. In keeping with group tradition, just what message this prophet is bringing to the people is unclear, but it something to do with an earth-shaking human zoo - I think. In any case, what you're likely to remember is the rather amazing Mercury a capella performance in the middle of the piece: just his voice, looped and looped, until it sounds like you've been sent to some kind of fairy-tale opera tune-up.

Bohemian Rhapsody: It all seemed to come together in 1975 for Queen. They were stars in England and the U.S., and each record was bigger than the last. Logically, the centerpiece of this album should be at the end, and if you can imagine a better song to remember Queen by, you're probably thinking of the wrong Queen. In summary: Mozart + Zeppelin + sheer Freddie = a big fat hit.

News of the World

1977

Personnel:

Freddie Mercury:
vocals, piano

Brian May:
guitar, backing vocals

Roger Taylor:
drums, backing vocals

John Deacon:
bass guitar

Queen was on top of the world. Everywhere they went they were superstars, and Mercury was even awarded a prestigious Ivor Novello songwriting award for 1975's "Bohemian Rhapsody". In Europe, the band were afforded a brand of celebrity usually reserved for real royalty, and they even performed in a benefit attended by Elizabeth II in England. However, the press, never exactly supporters of the group, were now starting to point to Queen as examples of everything bad in 70s rock music. New acts like the Sex Pistols, The Clash, and Patti Smith were quickly making Queen's brand of entertainment rather obsolete.

For their part, the band were toning down the productions. It's not as if "We Are the Champions", for example, is somehow less bombastic than their other hits, but it was more to the point (in a way), and didn't really feature much of the baroque embellishment for which they had become known. Still, except for some preliminary stabs at disco and fake punk, Queen was very much in their own world, and fans of the albums up to this point shouldn't be disappointed.

We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions: Before it became the soundtrack to sporting events everywhere, this dynamic duo was a breath of fresh air for Queen. Whereas "Killer Queen" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" were fairly camp, these songs seemed like genuine rock statements, and may present the clearest idea of what the band was ultimately all about. Of course, per the usual routine, it's not really obvious just who Queen is rocking in the former tune, or who they are competing with in the latter, but I can't remember anyone arguing the points.

Sheer Heart Attack: Another good Roger Taylor tune, though the fact that it shares its title with the band's third LP has doubtlessly confused more than one fan. However, the music is nothing like anything Queen had ever done, or would do in the future: faux-punk, with raging guitars and a lightspeed beat. There aren't any opera vocals, but there is some cool harmonizing in the chorus, and a fantastic solo drum break. Breakneck stuff, and if you only know Queen for the hits, you're missing out.

Get Down, Make Love: Significant because it was the group's first real concession to disco and the emerging changing of the popular guard from the dazed and confused to the tuned-in and transient. Mercury became increasingly fascinated with all things sexual as the years passed, a trend that didn't wane even through the band's final years. This one's a definite heavy breather, and although it doesn't really mesh with hard rock and standard Queen balladeering on the rest of the album, you can't say it's less distinctly Freddie.

Jazz

1978

Personnel:

Freddie Mercury:
vocals, piano

Brian May:
guitar, vocals

Roger Taylor:
percussion, vocals

John Deacon:
bass guitar

The one member who always seemed to on top of trends was Roger Taylor. His "Fun It" and "More of that Jazz" aren't exactly songwriting triumphs, but should be crystallized as examples of late 70s pop-rock. Elsewhere, John Deacon continued his study in MOR male heartbreak with "In Only Seven Days", and May's "Leaving Home Ain't Easy" may be the single most tear-jerking moment in their canon.

Jazz is a very interesting Queen album: on the one hand going ten directions simultaneously, and on the other so obviously idiosyncratic that its rewards seemed out of touch with the rest of rock. As a whole, the best since Opera, with which it shares a general lack of cohesion, but somehow just doesn't seem as regal.

Fat Bottomed Girls: Hand it to Queen, they didn't limit their flair for overstatement to any particular demographic group. As the times changed, so too did the band's odd assimilation of disparate popular styles. This one is sort of like The Eagles crossed with Led Zeppelin meeting Freddie at the cheesecake factory. Tongue-in-cheek or impassioned plea to end world hunger? You be the judge.

Bicycle Race: For what it's worth, probably the last mini-opera the band ever put to tape, though some would argue that after "Bohemian Rhapsody" it was done anyway. However, they still had a few tricks up their sleeves, such as the pop-culture references to Star Wars and Jaws, and the cool massed bike bells in the middle. A good time had by all if you let them, and why would anyone deny Mercury his toys?

Don't Stop Me Now: Sex machine, Broadway style. Just think of what Flashdance could have been had Mercury been in charge. Truthfully, this may be the only overtly homosexual song the band did, but if you just want to think of it as "outgoing", that's OK too. Bouncy, footloose, fancy-free, and that disco breakdown in the middle will leave you breathless. Get down, make love, they say!

The Game

1980

Personnel:

Freddie Mercury:
Piano, Vocals

Brian May:
Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals

John Deacon:
Bass, Guitar

Roger Taylor:
Drums, Vocals

Although a fair amount of Queen backlash had set in, the band were certianly not forgotten by the public. Their concerts continued to sell out, and the band members continued their rather extravagant lifestyles. However, popular trends were quite different than when the band had first hit the rock market in the early seventies. Disco, punk, and new wave were all the rage, so in retrospect, Queen's decision to can the theatrics of previous efforts in favor of a more streamlined, contemporary sound is not surprising.

Big hits included "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", both being more straightforward than what the band had been known for playing. While The Game became a top seller, and even got them some crossover appeal, it was really the last blockbuster for them in America (though certainly not in Europe), and hereafter they would have to step down from their regal status as kings of rock pomp and circumstance at the feet of younger, trendier competition.

The Game: From the beginning, you can tell this isn't your average Queen album. Mercury comes in accompanied by piano, oddly subdued, proclaiming that it's a free world and we should let ourselves go. Could it be that he was beginning to feel the strains of a rather unrestrained lifestyle? Perhaps, but this tune doesn't suffer, as its highly melodic and vaguely Beatlesque chorus serve as reminders that at heart, the band were always 60s romantics with just a touch of melodrama.

Another One Bites the Dust: The band ran head on into disco, and came out with this blatant homage to Chic and the dancefloor cautionary tale. It was a fairly unusual John Deacon tune in that his style was generally less flashy and immediately distinctive than that of his bandmates, though that bassline is certainly a testament to his underestimated contributions to their music. Following suit, however, is the general confusion over who is biting the dust, and why they have to go down.

Sail Away Sweet Sister: One of May's finest moments, at least vocally. This slightly sentimental rocker was never a hit, but features a killer transition from the bridge into the solo section, and then one of Brian's best (if not flashy) guitar solos. Despite their rep as kings of bombast, the band really could play it straight when it came to classic rock performance, and general songwriting craft.