AnyBlogDotCom: Queen album by album

While enjoying some of their singles (particularly "Seven Seas of Rhye") I've generally had a bit of a problem with Queen. I tend to see them as playful rock-pop with no authenticity or seriousness. A bit like Bat Out Of Hell, or even The Barron Knights. That's not to say that I don't like some of their songs - but I take Queen the same way I take Sweet - just throwaway commercial rock-pop. Entertaining enough now and again in small doses, but it's hard to take an album load, especially when it's wrapped up in semi-prog-rock and heavy-metal clichés, and the band seem to have no interest in developing anything new or interesting, just in making music that appeals. So I struggle with them. But they are very popular, liked by a wide section of the buying public, so I shall work my way through the albums to see if I can get into them, beyond the occasional single.

I'm up to the third album, and feeling that they are a blend of 10cc and The Who. Or, having now gone through all the albums again, 10cc and The Sweet. Sometimes there's a touch of AC/DC or even Led Zeppelin. But, mostly, it's the professional, smart, commercial pop-rock of 10cc.

There's a lot of overblown bombast and showmanship about Queen, which is appealing on a primitive level - and, from most of the band, especially Mercury, there is a sense of fun and tongue-in-cheek about their music style; though May appears to be more serious, and I can't tell if he's doing a deliberately cliched screeching electric guitar, or if he's seriously thinking of himself as some kind of Hendrix rock god. Anyway, I have found, going through their entire oeuvre, that they are entertaining and fun. Not always - almost all albums have a lot of mediocre filler - but they can put out on pretty much all albums at least one killer pop-rock song. I can't say I like all the killer pop-rock songs, and I can't even say that the ones I really like ("Bohemian Rhapsody", "Seven Seas of Rhye", "Under Pressure", "You're My Best Friend", etc) particularly move me, or that I find essential. There are similarities, for example, between "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven"; but while I enjoy "Bohemian Rhapsody" with grinning pleasure like Wayne's World, when I hear "Stairway to Heaven" I feel I am in the presence of one of the great artistic achievements of humanity, and I am touched with ecstasy and admiration - sometimes such that I have goosebumps and tears in my eyes.

After trawling through various polls and forums, it's 100% clear that "Bohemian Rhapsody" is the band's most loved and respected song. It is far ahead of anything else they have done. It deserves the love and respect. It is an extraordinary piece of work. It's inevitable that the album the song came from, A Night at the Opera, is the most popular album; and it does contain several good songs, such as "You're My Best Friend", though, as is common with Queen albums, there's too much filler for it to be really regarded as a classic album. Queen are best approached via a Greatest Hits album, or even a live album. The best studio album in my view is the one the band made with love and care after Mercury died, Made in Heaven. There is a unity about the album lacking in the rest of the band's output. There's a beautiful focus and seriousness - no bombast or cheeky fun. A delicate and beautiful album full of emotion and tenderness and love.

In conclusion I see Queen as a professional, talented, great fun singles band with a compelling front man, and a skilled guitarist, who - with "Bohemian Rhapsody" - made one of the most extraordinary pop-rock singles of the 20th century. Albums to listen to are Greatest Hits (1981), Live At Wembley '86 (1992), and Made in Heaven (1995).

Wikipedia:

Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1970. Their classic line-up was Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), Roger Taylor (drums, vocals) and John Deacon (bass). Their earliest works were influenced by progressive rock, hard rock and heavy metal, but the band gradually ventured into more conventional and radio-friendly works by incorporating further styles, such as arena rock and pop rock.
Before forming Queen, May and Taylor had played together in the band Smile. Mercury was a fan of Smile and encouraged them to experiment with more elaborate stage and recording techniques. He joined in 1970 and suggested the name "Queen". Deacon was recruited in March 1971, before the band released their eponymous debut album in 1973. Queen first charted in the UK with their second album, Queen II, in 1974. Sheer Heart Attack later that year and A Night at the Opera in 1975 brought them international success. The latter featured "Bohemian Rhapsody", which stayed at number one in the UK for nine weeks and helped popularise the music video format.
The band's 1977 album News of the World contained "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions", which have become anthems at sporting events. By the early 1980s, Queen were one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world. "Another One Bites the Dust" (1980) became their best-selling single, while their 1981 compilation album Greatest Hits is the best-selling album in the UK and is certified eight times platinum in the US. Their performance at the 1985 Live Aid concert has been ranked among the greatest in rock history by various publications. In August 1986, Mercury gave his last performance with Queen at Knebworth, England. In 1991, he died of bronchopneumonia – a complication of AIDS, and Deacon retired in 1997. Since 2004, May and Taylor have toured under the "Queen +" name with vocalists Paul Rodgers and Adam Lambert.
Estimates of Queen's record sales range from 170 million to 300 million records, making them one of the world's best-selling music artists. In 1990, Queen received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music from the British Phonographic Industry. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. Each member has composed hit singles, and all four were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2005, Queen received the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors. In 2018, they were presented the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

AllMusic:

Few bands embodied the pure excess of the '70s like Queen. Embracing the exaggerated pomp of prog rock and heavy metal, as well as vaudevillian music hall, the British quartet delved deeply into camp and bombast, creating a huge, mock-operatic sound with layered guitars and overdubbed vocals. Queen's music was a bizarre yet highly accessible fusion of the macho and the fey. For years, their albums boasted the motto "no synthesizers were used on this record," signalling their allegiance with the legions of post-Led Zeppelin hard rock bands. But vocalist Freddie Mercury brought an extravagant sense of camp to Queen, pushing them toward kitschy humour and pseudo-classical arrangements, as epitomized on their best-known song, "Bohemian Rhapsody." Mercury, it must be said, was a flamboyant bisexual who managed to keep his sexuality in the closet until his death from AIDS in 1991. Through his legendary theatrical performances, Queen became one of the most popular bands in the world in the mid-'70s; in England, they remained second only to the Beatles in popularity and collectability into the '90s. Despite their enormous popularity, Queen were never taken seriously by rock critics -- an infamous Rolling Stone review labelled their 1979 album Jazz as "fascist." In spite of such harsh criticism, the band's popularity rarely waned; even in the late '80s, the group retained a fanatical following except in America. In the States, their popularity peaked in the early '80s, just as they finished nearly a decade's worth of extraordinarily popular records. And while those records were never praised, they sold in enormous numbers, and traces of Queen's music could be heard in several generations of hard rock and metal bands in the next two decades, from Metallica to Smashing Pumpkins.

Note: AllMusic scores are converted to a 10 scale to match my 10 scale.

The recordings: Albums and significant singles

Pre-Queen

Ghost of a Smile

Brian May and Roger Taylor formed Smile with Tim Staffell. This album was not released until 1998.

Queen

Queen released 15 regular albums along with a healthy dose of live and compilation albums, and around 72 singles of which around 25 reached the Top 10 in the UK. They had more than 30 Number Ones around the world. Their most successful single being "Bohemian Rhapsody".

Vocals are assumed to be Mercury unless noted otherwise.

Queen (July 1973)

A run of the mill early Seventies rock album. A bit of prog, a bit of hard rock, fairly melodic with an eye on pop - it could almost be an album by Sweet (such as Sweet Fanny Adams - 1974), or Mott The Hoople (such as Mott - 1973) or 10cc (such as Sheet Music - 1974), though a little rockier in a North American arena rock stylie such as Blue Oyster Cult (Tyranny & Mutation - 1973) or Aerosmith (Aerosmith - 1973), though not quite as raw as Scotland's Nazareth (Razamanaz - 1973), or the raw power of, well, Iggy Pop's Raw Power - 1973. I'm not suggesting it compares with any of those albums in quality, just in style and approach, to indicate that the band's sound at this time fitted in with a contemporary trend of hard rock. So, it's an acceptable album, and there are some Queen touches - the echoing lead guitar, mashed backing vocals, suggestions of the grandiose, etc., but it doesn't really stand out. The last track, "Seven Seas of Rhye", is an early instrumental version of their third single, which appears in full on the next album. It became their first top ten chart appearance after a mimed performance on TOTP in Feb 1974.

The more I listen to this the more I like it. It's certainly a competent rock album, and there's a little bit more going on in some of the songs than first appears. Opinions are all over the place with this album. Some fans and critics rank it among the band's best five albums, some rank it as amongst their weakest. Overall it ends up ranked 8 out of 15 - in the middle.

The best track is "Keep Yourself Alive", written by May, which has many Queen trademarks - a fairly straightforward, lively tune invigorated with May's phased and powerful guitar, Mercury's crystal clear and energetic vocals, and Taylor's crisp, simple, fast, and engaging drums. It comes, it goes, it's pleasing pop-rock with an incense whiff of prog in the aisles. It doesn't stay though. It's attractive when it's here, but it doesn't really make a lasting impression.

"Doing Alright" is a quiet ballad that doesn't quite work. It was written for and by Smile, the earlier incarnation of Queen.

"Great King Rat" is a Mercury song, which has a distinct Queen sound.

Other debut rock albums in 1973:
* Beck, Bogart, Appice (I vaguely remember this)

* Bodacious DF

* 10cc - (not exactly a debut, as they released Thinks: School Stinks in 1971 under the name Hotlegs)

* Aerosmith

* All American Boy

* Buckingham Nicks

* Camel

* Bachman-Turner Overdrive

* Future Legends

* Greenslade

* Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. (I had this album, but not until 1975)

* Grinding Stone
* Gryphon

* Hope You Like It - Geordie

* The Marshall Tucker Band
* Montrose (gosh, I remember this album - I think I may have had it. I didn't like it!)
* New York Dolls ("mock rock"!)

* (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd)

* Ring Ring (ABBA's debut)

* Tales of Old Grand Daddy (early version of AC/DC)

* Wizzard Brew

* Yu Grupa

Released	13 July 1973
Recorded	December 1971, June – November 1972
Studio	De Lane Lea (London) Trident (London)
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal, progressive rock
Length	38:52
Language	English
Label	EMI Elektra
Producer	John Anthony Roy Thomas Baker Queen

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Keep Yourself Alive"	Brian May	Mercury with Roger Taylor and Brian May	3:46
2.	"Doing All Right"	May Tim Staffell		4:10
3.	"Great King Rat"	Freddie Mercury		5:41
4.	"My Fairy King"	Mercury		4:07

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
5.	"Liar"	Mercury		6:26
6.	"The Night Comes Down"	May		4:24
7.	"Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll"	Roger Taylor	Taylor	1:48
8.	"Son and Daughter"	May		3:24
9.	"Jesus"	Mercury		3:45
10.	"Seven Seas of Rhye..."	Mercury	instrumental	1:10
Total length:				38:41

Freddie Mercury – lead vocals (1-6, 8, 9), piano (4, 7, 9, 10), Hammond organ (5) (uncredited), backing vocals
Brian May – guitars, piano (2), backing vocals
Roger Taylor (credited as Roger Meddows-Taylor) – drums, percussion, lead vocals (7), backing vocals
John Deacon (credited as Deacon John) – bass guitar

Wikipedia
AllMusic: 6
Score: 3 1/2

"Seven Seas of Rhye"
(Feb 1974)

Queen's third single reached No 10 in the UK. This single was my first encounter with Queen, and I really liked it. And 50 years later, I still think it's one of Queen's best tracks. It's fresh, original, and exciting. It stood out then, and still stands out now.

Queen II (March 1974)

One side ("White") is written by May and has some folk influences, while side two ("Black") is written by Mercury, and is darker, harder, poppier, and more ambitious. Other than "Seven Seas of Rhye", the songs are not memorable, and this is not an album I'm likely to listen to again.

Listening again, I'm quite liking the serious rock of May's "White" side. I particularly like Taylor's "Loser", including his vocals. It's a fairly straightforward rocker, but it's well done. Mercury's side I'm finding a little brash and crude. However, this is a more considered album than the debut. The cover has become iconic, because it was used as part of the stunning video for the extraordinary "Bohemian Rhapsody".

Best tracks is obviously "Seven Seas of Rhye"; "The Loser In The End" comes in a faint second.

Released	8 March 1974
Recorded	5 August 1973 – 20 February 1974^[1]
Studio	Trident, London
Genre	Art rock, hard rock, glam rock, heavy metal, progressive rock
Length	40:42
Label	EMI Elektra
Producer	Roy Thomas Baker Robin Geoffrey Cable Queen

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Procession"	Brian May	instrumental	1:12
2.	"Father to Son"	May		6:14
3.	"White Queen (As It Began)"	May		4:34
4.	"Some Day One Day"	May	Brian May	4:23
5.	"The Loser in the End"	Roger Taylor	Roger Taylor	4:02

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Ogre Battle"	Freddie Mercury		4:10
2.	"The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke"	Mercury		2:40
3.	"Nevermore"	Mercury		1:17
4.	"The March of the Black Queen"	Mercury	Mercury with Taylor	6:33
5.	"Funny How Love Is"	Mercury		2:50
6.	"Seven Seas of Rhye"	Mercury		2:50
Total length:				40:45

Freddie Mercury – lead vocals (2, 3, 6-11), backing vocals (2-4, 6-11), piano (2, 7-11), harpsichord (7)
Brian May – electric guitar (all), backing vocals (2, 4, 6-11), acoustic guitar (2-5, 10), lead vocals (4), bells (9), piano and organ (2)
Roger Taylor (credited as Roger Meddows-Taylor) – drums (all but 8), backing vocals (2, 4-11), lead vocals (5), additional vocals (9), gong (3, 6), marimba (5), tambourine (2, 11) percussion
John Deacon – bass guitar (all but 1), acoustic guitar (2)

Wikipedia
AllMusic: 8
Score: 4

"Killer Queen" (Oct 1974)

The band's fourth single reached No 2 in the UK, top 10 in various countries, No 12 in America. It's an OK song.

Sheer Heart Attack (Nov 1974)

Queen starts here. A little goes a long way, and by the second half I've had enough (and it doesn't help that the best songs are all on Side One). But the band are starting to stand out. For a number of Queen fans, this is the band's best (or, mostly, second best) album (before they became famous with all that nasty pomposity and pop!), and it does contain some energy, and is probably one of the most cohesive and well structured of Queen's albums.
All four band members get a writing credit on this album.
Best track - "Killer Queen".

Released	8 November 1974
Recorded	7 July – 22 October 1974
Studio	Trident (London) Rockfield (Monmouthshire) AIR (Westminster) Wessex Sound (Highbury New Park)
Genre	Hard rock
Length	38:41
Label	EMI Elektra
Producer	Roy Thomas Baker Queen

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Brighton Rock"	Brian May	Mercury with Brian May	5:08
2.	"Killer Queen"	Freddie Mercury		3:01
3.	"Tenement Funster"	Roger Taylor	Roger Taylor	2:48
4.	"Flick of the Wrist"	Mercury		3:19
5.	"Lily of the Valley"	Mercury		1:43
6.	"Now I'm Here"	May		4:10

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
7.	"In the Lap of the Gods"	Mercury		3:20
8.	"Stone Cold Crazy"	Mercury May Taylor John Deacon		2:12
9.	"Dear Friends"	May		1:07
10.	"Misfire"	Deacon		1:50
11.	"Bring Back That Leroy Brown"	Mercury		2:13
12.	"She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettoes)"	May	May	4:08
13.	"In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited"	Mercury		3:42
Total length:				38:41

Freddie Mercury – lead vocals (1, 2, 4-11, 13), backing vocals (1, 2, 4-11, 13), piano (2-5, 7, 11, 13), Hammond organ (6), jangle piano (2, 11)
Brian May – electric guitar (all but 9), backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 13), piano (6, 9), lead vocals (12), acoustic guitar (12), banjolele (11)
Roger Taylor – drums (all but 9), backing vocals (1-4, 6, 7, 9, 13), percussion (2, 4), triangle (2), wind chimes (2), lead vocals (3), tambourine (4), timpani (7)
John Deacon – bass guitar (all but 9), acoustic guitar (3, 7, 10, 12), electric guitar (10), double bass (11)

Wikipedia
AllMusic: 9
Score: 4

"Now I'm Here" (Jan 1975)

The band's fifth single reached 11 in the UK, and top 20 in three other European countries.

"Bohemian Rhapsody"
(Oct 1975)

The band's sixth single, and their most famous and most successful. No 1 in seven countries, and No 2 in the US. This is what people think of when they think of Queen. Plodding and cliched, yet thrilling and audacious. Queen did good songs after this, but nothing on this scale. This, including the video they made for TOTP, is their finest moment and will be remembered.

A Night at the Opera (Nov 1975)

Some good songs here, but the overall feel is partly commercial and partly theatre-land. Admire the professionalism of it, but it's a little too much 10CC and not enough Cream or Led Zeppelin. There's a lack of authenticity here, a lack of connection, a lack of art (though plenty of artifice), and a lack of genuine emotion. Good individual songs, but a lack of any sense of this being an album. Pop as product? Yes. Rock music? No. But take it for what it is, and it's an effective album - albeit with way too much filler. Not one I'd want to listen to again (better to have a Queen Greatest Hits album, and skip the dross in between the decent songs), but one that is not bad.
The bulk of the writing is, as usual, shared between May and Mercury, but Taylor and Deacon both provide a song.
Contains "Bohemian Rhapsody", and is widely regarded as their best album with their undisputed best song. "I'm In Love With My Car", by Taylor, shows an influence of Pink Floyd. deacon's "Best Friend" is a lovely song - very much 10cc; a friend gave it to me as a gift at the time it came out.

Released	21 November 1975
Recorded	August–November 1975
Studio	Various London studios
Genre	Progressive rock, pop, hard rock
Length	43:08
Label	EMI Elektra
Producer	Roy Thomas Baker Queen

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to...)"	Freddie Mercury		3:43
2.	"Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon"	Mercury		1:08
3.	"I'm in Love with My Car"	Roger Taylor	Roger Taylor	3:05
4.	"You're My Best Friend"	John Deacon		2:50
5.	"'39"	Brian May	Brian May	3:30
6.	"Sweet Lady"	May		4:01
7.	"Seaside Rendezvous"	Mercury		2:13

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"The Prophet's Song"	May		8:21
2.	"Love of My Life"	Mercury		3:38
3.	"Good Company"	May	May	3:26
4.	"Bohemian Rhapsody"	Mercury		5:57
5.	"God Save the Queen"	traditional, arr. May	instrumental	1:11
Total length:				43:03

Freddie Mercury – lead vocals, piano
Brian May – electric guitar
Roger Taylor – drums
John Deacon – bass guitar

The Story of Bohemian Rhapsody BBC documentary;

Wikipedia
AllMusic: 10
Score: 5

A Day at the Races (1976)

Similar to A Night at the Opera, though not as good. A collection of 10cc type pop-rock songs. Again, Mercury and May turn in four songs each while Deacon and Taylor contribute one each.

Released	10 December 1976
Recorded	12 July – 24 August, 5 - 16, 20 September - 19 November 1976
Studio	The Manor, Sarm, Wessex Sound, Advision
Genre	Hard rock, pop
Length	44:24
Label	EMI Elektra
Producer	Queen

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Tie Your Mother Down"	Brian May		4:48
2.	"You Take My Breath Away"	Freddie Mercury		5:09
3.	"Long Away"	May	Brian May	3:34
4.	"The Millionaire Waltz"	Mercury		4:54
5.	"You and I"	John Deacon		3:25

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
6.	"Somebody to Love"	Mercury		4:56
7.	"White Man"	May		4:59
8.	"Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy"	Mercury	Mercury with Mike Stone	2:54
9.	"Drowse"	Roger Taylor	Roger Taylor	3:45
10.	"Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)"	May		5:50
Total length:				44:04

Freddie Mercury – lead vocals, piano
Brian May – electric guitar
Roger Taylor – drums
John Deacon – bass guitar

Wikipedia
AllMusic: 7
Score: 4

News of the World (1977)

As with previous albums this contains some successful singles, though the rest of the songs are less interesting. There is little connection between the tracks with all four members of the band writing the songs, so creating a diverse feel, from the imitation Sweet of "Sheer Heart Attack" to the jazzy, smoky, Fifties blues of "My Melancholy Blues". There is something about Queen which reminds me a bit of 10cc and a bit of of ABBA - all three are able to write professional, attractive, and very commercial songs, and they are all identifiable by their sound, yet there is little depth, little soul, little art, little poetry, little genuine character in what they do, and no authenticity. This album is cold, professional, distant, yet contains "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions", so it sold well, and while the album doesn't hold together as an album, there is enough here for an undemanding fan to enjoy.

Released	28 October 1977
Recorded	6 July – 16 September 1977
Studio	Sarm (East London) Wessex Sound, London
Genre	Hard rock, arena rock
Length	39:10
Label	EMI Elektra
Producer	Queen Mike Stone

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"We Will Rock You"	Brian May		2:01
2.	"We Are the Champions"	Freddie Mercury		2:59
3.	"Sheer Heart Attack"	Roger Taylor	Mercury and Roger Taylor	3:26
4.	"All Dead, All Dead"	May	Brian May	3:10
5.	"Spread Your Wings"	John Deacon		4:34
6.	"Fight from the Inside"	Taylor	Taylor	3:03

Side two

No.

Title

Writer(s)

Lead vocals

Length

"Get Down, Make Love"

Mercury