Queen

Album by Album

Martin Popoff

• Publisher: Voyageur Press
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9780760362846
• Topic: Medios de comunicación y artes escénicas
• Subtopic: Música «rock»

A thoughtfully curated and gloriously illustrated retrospective of the band's studio releases, Queen, comes just in time for the 45th anniversary of their debut LP and biopic. Formed in 1970, Queen went on to become one of the most popular—and most successful—rock bands of all time. Even following the untimely death of beloved and magnetic frontman Freddie Mercury, and nearly 50 years after their formation, interest in the band has continued, evidenced by scores of reissues, arena tours with surviving members, and a feature-film biopic. In this new installment in Voyageur Press's Album by Album series, rock journo Martin Popoff convenes a cast of 19 Queen experts and superfans to discuss all 15 of the band's studio albums (including their soundtrack for the 1980 film Flash Gordon). Panelists include Queen experts, rock journalists, musicians, and record industry figures. The results are freewheeling discussions delving into the individual songs, the circumstances that surrounded the recording of each album, the band and contemporary rock contexts into which they were released, and more. Theengaging text of this beautifully designed book isillustrated throughout with rare live performance and candid offstage photography, as well as scads of rare Queen ephemera. The Album by Album series is a unique approach to the rock bio, injecting the varied voices of several contributors. The results have even the most diehard fans rushing back to their MP3 players (or turntables) to confirm the details and opinions expressed!

1 QUEEN

WITH DEREK SHULMAN, DEE SNIDER, AND RICHIE UNTERBERGER

RELEASED JULY 13, 1973

SIDE 1

1. Keep Yourself Alive 3:42

(MAY)

2. Doing All Right 4:11

(MAY, TIM STAFFELL)

3. Great King Rat 5:42

(MERCURY)

4. My Fairy King 4:06

(MERCURY)

SIDE 2

1. Liar 6:25

(MERCURY)

2. The Night Comes Down 4:24

(MAY)

3. Modern Times Rock ’n’ Roll 1:49

(TAYLOR)

4. Son and Daughter 3:22

(MAY)

5. Jesus 3:45

(MERCURY)

6. Seven Seas of Rhye 1:15

(MERCURY)

PERSONNEL:

FREDDIE MERCURY – vocals, piano;

BRIAN MAY– guitars, piano, vocals;

JOHN DEACON – bass guitar;

ROGER MEDDOWS-TAYLOR – percussion, vocals

Recorded at TRIDENT STUDIOS and DE LANE LEA STUDIOS, London

Produced by JOHN ANTHONY, ROY BAKER, and QUEEN

The path to Queen’s monumental first album was traveled swiftly and with flair. A brief review of the facts is in order.

In 1968, with their eyes on promising futures, Brian May had completed an honors-level Bachelor of Science in Physics, and Roger Taylor had switched from dentistry to biology, also completing a BSc.

Meanwhile, Farrokh “Freddie Mercury” Bulsara’s pathway to rock ’n’ roll royalty was a bit more colorful. Born in present-day Tanzania, Freddie spent much of his childhood in India before the family returned to Africa. Eventually, however, the family fled the Zanzibar Revolution to Britain, where Freddie obtained an art and graphic design diploma and set about making a go of it in music, singing with the likes of Wreckage and the unfortunately named Sour Milk Tea.

Around the same time, Brian, Roger, and a bassist/vocalist named Tim Staffell saw some promise as Smile, recording a couple of demos before Staffell was off to join folkies Humpy Bong. Freddie convinced Brian and Roger not to give up, and the three convened as Queen, with Bulsara (soon to become Freddie Mercury) inspired by a line from the band’s soon-to-be-classic “My Fairy King.” After running through several bassists, the band played their first gig on July 18, 1970, before John Deacon (with a degree in electronics) auditioned for the band at a lecture room at Imperial College. He entered the Queen fold in February 1971, cementing the band’s classic lineup, which played their first show on July 2, 1971.

Queen rehearses for their first major tour, opening for Mott the Hoople.

The classic Queen lineup was codified when bassist John Deacon (center) entered the fold in February 1971.

While on the path to their remarkable first album, Queen served as somewhat of a test band for London’s De Lane Lea Studios, an arrangement that benefited them in the form of an uncommonly professional demo session. Signing on with Norman Sheffield and his brother Barry, who ran Trident Studios, boosted the band’s reputation as studio specialists and essentially provided free hours of otherwise expensive studio time. Although the band had to toil during off-hours, the arrangement resulted in the Queen record, issued on Trident-associated EMI in summer 1973 after months of shopping it.

Labels that passed missed out on what is considered one of the great debut records of all time. At the ballad end of the spectrum, “Doing All Right” had roots in Smile, and a ’60s psychedelic, folk, and even blues vibe was apparent. But “The Night Comes Down” proved Queen’s ability to write rich and unusual melodies and turn on a dime into prog and nascent heavy metal. What’s more, demonstrating the strength of the De Lane Lea sessions, the band opted for that earlier version of this classic for the final record.

But more than anything, Queen is an album of flash, thespian, prog metal before the term “heavy metal” was even in play. Throughout, Queen touched upon various tropes, tendencies, and tempos of early metal, applying a sense of gravitas consistent with the band members’ and the regal air of their band name.

But the rich banquet of dishes the band brought to their first feast would shortly prove too varied for a society in love with fast food, and Queen would be passed over, as, indeed, would the band’s even fussier follow-up.

But years on, “Liar” and “Keep Yourself Alive,” nowhere near hits in their day, would become, arguably, two of the top dozen most beloved chestnuts of the band’s extensive oeuvre, go-to classic-rock radio staples whenever a bracing blast of Brian May is needed to wake up those stuck in rush hour traffic.

First reported flyer for a Queen gig, Carnon Downs Festival, Truro, UK, August 21, 1971.

Despite its monumental significance, Queen has so far only been certified gold in both the US and UK, demonstrating the almighty importance of a hit single to the success of an album. Still, the band’s debut lives on in the hearts and minds of Queen fans who revel in the record’s exploration of plush dynamics, from classical and folk flights of fancy to the most crushing of power-chorded heavy metal.

In its sense of purpose, Queen is representative of any act’s first record—a canvas on which the paint is applied feverishly and thickly. As the band evolved, they learned where to let in more light; but as a first statement, Queen remains a bold demonstration of density, almost unparalleled among debut records.

POPOFF: To kick things off, take me back to 1973. This band Queen shows up. Wha...