Always loved this tune, cheesy patches aside.
Always loved this tune, cheesy patches aside.
If it isn't Krautrock, it's krap.
"And it's only the giving
That makes you what you are" - Ian Anderson
^I love that one, as Brian May has said there's an added poignancy in that Mercury knew he was dying at the time he wrote that lyric. (I like that he got in the bit about Jimi Hendrix, one of his early heroes.) The closing solo section with the phasing and then the coda is my favourite part.
The album itself has some great singles but 'Was It All Worth It?' aside, nothing much else....some absolute garbage, in fact!
The thing with Mercury's mid 80s solo work, there were some strong songs consistently hobbled by bad, demo-like keyboard sounds. I'm surprised Mercury never caught this at the time, really. Made In Heaven took some of the better ones and vastly improved them (although I'm not sure about that speeded-up vocal bit on 'I Was Made To Love You'). 'Living On My Own' was also a UK Number 1 a few years earlier with a sort of dance-pop remix which was again much better than the original version.
There shouldn't have been any others, even the third Greatest Hits is poor beyond the odds and ends not on GHII. Did anyone buy those pointless Deep Cuts albums...three volumes of album tracks, just buy the bloody albums instead!!Originally Posted by JKL2000
Last edited by JJ88; 12-01-2018 at 10:02 AM.
Yeah. One finds other qualities to appreciate in Queen’s music while attempting to identify what is proglike.
And it doesn't have to be prog to be good.
Quite true, but it's always a good thing to include a little nod to prog in the opening post. Otherwise you get the usual suspects waving their dicks around and screaming, "No, it's not prog. Bad thread, bad thread! Worst band ever."
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
The sheer amount of time signature changes (at one point in the song two different time signatures, 8/8 and 12/8, are played simultaneously) and the choral vocals in "March of the Black Queen" warrants Queen inclusion in the prog pantheon. There are actually few rock songs I've ever heard that are this insane, compositionally speaking. Throw in the rest of Queen II, Queen's debut, and parts of Sheer Heart Attack and A Night at the Opera for music I would consider prog.
"And your little sister's immaculate virginity wings away on the bony shoulders of a young horse named George who stole surreptitiously into her geography revision."
Occasional musical musings on https://darkelffile.blogspot.com/
Brilliant piece ^
Lots of love for Queen II. And rightly so.
Somehow I always felt that there was some potential in Queen that was never realized. But it doesn't matter. And perhaps that was their greatest achievement, to rise themselves above any formal criticism so that it wouldn't matter. They played on their own rules.
Listening to Queen (debut) today. Doesn't get a lot of discussion and seems overlooked. The production isn't all that great, but it's damn good. It's all there in that debut, the vocals, guitars, the arrangements, etc.
I've tried listening to some of their later albums from the 80s and early 90s. Aside from some rocking tunes I find them kinda lightweight and just nothing that makes me want to buy those albums. The Queen I love is from the 70s, when they had long hair and the insane guitar harmonies dominated.
For me the debut doesn't have the 'studio as an instrument' factor which would become a hallmark of what would follow. A few weak songs like 'Jesus' and that pointless 'Seven Seas Of Rhye' preview aside, it's a good bunch of songs, though. And they had equally good songs they'd recorded as Smile which could have been used instead of the weaker ones...'Polar Bear' was given a run-through with Mercury but never made the cut.
I recently watched a Queen documentary, or maybe one of several Brian May interviews on YT and he explains why the debut album sounds Lo-Fi. The first album was recorded in a 4 track studio, so all that mixing down and overdubbing affected the final product. Still, even at that stage they were brilliant and original.
For me, "Jesus" is redeemed by the rocking middle section. It just sounds like Queen are jamming at full thrusters during this bit, more than on any other part of that album. For me, the weakest track is "Modern Times Rock and Roll"... it's a decent riff but Roger Taylor couldn't really do anything memorable with it, and his vocals, such as they are, are buried in the mix, not helping it much. Fortunately it's short.
The first Queen album is indeed pretty good. "Liar" is tremendous, "Son and Daughter" does the Zeppelin blues-rock thing proud, and "My Fairy King" shows off what Mercury does best and would only hone to perfection. I think the lo-fi thing adds to its charm (it's a bit of the same curse that Genesis's Nursery Cryme has)
"Arf." -- Frank Zappa, "Beauty Knows No Pain" (live version)
Queen were progressive but disguised as a glam/rock band. The vocal fugues alone attest to their progressiveness. They're not symphonic, they're Opera Prog.
Couldn't disagree more. It was their Communication Breakdown. It fits right in with Jesus. I like the whole album.
I used to kind of dismiss Queen's debut, but over time that has changed a lot. First seven tracks, to me, are pretty killer! Yeah, production isn't perfect, but the songs themselves I think are wonderful.
Modern Times R&R is OK for what it is, and sets that sort of template of Roger as the "rocker" which would play out over the next five or six albums. It's probably the least of his songs on the classic Queen records, but it's fun. After that, though, things get a bit spotty. Son & Daughter is fine, but it seems to end too abruptly. Jesus is an interesting track, but also seems a bit underdeveloped. One would almost wish one of these was left off in order to more fully develop the other. The Seven Seas outro is also kind of a nothing bit.
So for me, the album starts of really strong, and ends on a sort of "meh" note. But man, songs like Liar, Great King Rat, Doing Alright, and the others are pretty classic Queen in my book. Overall, I ranked this album above others like Day the Races and News of the World. Not quite up there with Queen II, SHA, or NatO, but not far behind in my book.
Bill
Both of the first two Queen albums suffer from them having been recorded on the cheap. The band's managers owned a recording studio, Trident Sound, but the band basically couldn't afford to rent the studio like anyone else, so they were stuck in whenever there was open time in the studio that was booked, usually working at night.
Also, those two albums were recorded on 8-track, and as such the vocal and guitar harmonies come out sounding a bit flat. For instance, on Procession, the guitars don't sound as "huge" as they should, if you know what I mean, probably because Brian had to keep bouncing the guitars down, so there's a lot of phase cancellation that causes everything to sound smaller than it should.
By contrast, by the time of Sheer Heart Attack, they were recording on 16 track, so everything sounded better. Also, the success of Seven Seas Of Rye allowed them to actually spend some money by booking actual studio time so they could spend the time making everything sound right. And have Roy Thomas Baker in the control room probably didn't hurt things either.
It's only pointless because the track list for Queen II changed. The original plan was that Queen would start with Seven Seas Of Rye, so having the first album end with the instrumental, then having it picked up with the full length version on the second album was meant as a sort of conceptual continuity. But as things developed, they ended up sticking all of Freddie's songs on side two, and as such, the continuity was broken.that pointless 'Seven Seas Of Rhye' preview
Note also that the Queen II version of Seven Seas Of Rye ends with them singing the same sea shanty which opens Sheer Heart Attack.
They put out remasters a few years ago, apparently with bonus tracks. I never picked them up because, well, I've got the old versions of the albums, on Hollywood Records (with those stupid "bonus" remixes). I therefore can't tell you how they sound, as such.
I'm sure they have put all the albums out in a box, years ago, like in the 90's, I think.
absofuckinglutely
Queen's debut is somewhat raw like Camel's debut was as well. and in many ways, it's no wonder why they're probably my faves from both bands.
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Tracks
Most of Queen II
My Fairy King
Brighton Rock
She Makes Me
Innuendo
Prophet Song
Teo Torriate
Albums
Excellent
- Queen II
- Sheer Heart Attack
- Queen
Hmm, middling
- A Night At the Opera
- A Day At The Races
Blimey!
- News Of The World
Jesus Christ!
- Jazz
The rest unranked
I was in my local record store a few days ago. Usually, there're two or three rows of Queen discs for sale, but since the movie came out, they've sold like hotcakes. The only one left was one with Paul Rogers for $1.95. lol
Despite having horrendously negative critiques, the movie is a good hit in Continental western Europe.
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Insert the title of any 80s Queen album in that sentence and the sentence still worksDespite having horrendously negative critiques, the... a good hit in Continental western Europe.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
For me, Queen has moments of brilliance surrounded by campy, vaudevillian tracks. Even on their classic records, there are cringe-inducing interludes that I have to skip. I'm also not a fan of the operatic vocals. They just seem out of place. That said, the high points are stratospheric. Brian May is, indeed, a maestro and a great riffmeister!
Good Day ~
BUT....that, for me, is part of the brilliance of the band. The vocals and layering! As an example might be the very beginning of 'You take my breath away' AND yeah riffs a plenty!
Something for everyone.. for sure!
Carry On
Chris Buckley
Queen had diversity in their songs. 4 song writers with different styles and background.
you had rockers, ballads, speed metal, punk, funk, R&B, show tunes, etc....
there was always something for someone.
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