Queen - The Kings of Rock and Roll

Freddie Mercury, Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor. Together they were Queen, the greatest rock band the world has ever seen. Leaving aside the fact that they were one of the biggest-selling bands of all time, they produced some of the most enduring music of any band ever; they were absolutely electric live, even managing to steal the show at Live Aid; and, in Freddie Mercury, they had a front-man whose vocals were unmatched and his stage presence was pure magic.

Sadly, Freddie died in 1991 at only 45 years old. This tragedy robbed us all of a genuine legend and cut short a career that still had much to offer.

I have been a Queen fan all my life. Their music has always been with me. I knew every word of Bohemian Rhapsody when I was just 5 years old, and my mom used to give me 10p to sing it. I had the A Night at the Opera album, and I wrote on the inner cover, just above the four little pictures of the band, “Queen is the besde.”

I would recommend everyone owning at least one Queen album; so, if you don’t mind, I’m going to give my two penn’orth on them. Here’s a list of their albums in chronological order:

1973 – Queen: Their debut album. I can’t understand why it wasn’t massive. It’s just one quality song after another; my highlights being Keep Yourself Alive, Liar, and The Night Comes Down. John Deacon is listed as Deacon John on this album. Apparently, a record executive thought it sounded better. John hated it.

1974 – Queen 2: I think this is one for someone who’s already got a few Queen albums, because it’s their least accessible, despite containing brilliant tracks like Seven Seas of Rhye, March of the Black Queen, and Funny How Love Is.

1974 – Sheer Heart Attack: The behemoth that was Queen was starting to gather speed now. This is one of their best early albums and contains their breakthrough hit, Killer Queen, as well as Now I’m Here, and one of my favourite songs; the anthem, In the Lap of the Gods…Revisited.

1975 – A Night at the Opera: What can I say about this album? It’s arguably their best piece of work, with every single track a winner. There’s not a single weak one on the album. Highlights are THE ENTIRE ALBUM, but if I had to choose three, I’d say Bohemian Rhapsody – of course; a song regularly found at number one in any survey or chart of the best song of all time, and deservedly so. Then I’d say The Prophet’s Song, and I’m in Love with my Car. But don’t forget, this album also includes the hit single, You’re my Best Friend, as well as the gorgeous Love of my Life, and ’39. The album is bloody brilliant; so buy it.

1976 – A Day at the Races: Like a continuation of A Night at the Opera. This probably explains why the covers are co-ordinated. But this album is strong enough to stand up on its own, and puts up a good argument as to why it should be their next best album. Like its predecessor, it contains an embarrassment of riches. Somebody to Love – do I need to say anything about this track? Really…? Okay, it’s one of their fucking best, and its gospel inspired vocals are mind-blowing. But the album starts with Tie Your Mother Down – and I defy anyone to listen to this track without banging your head, because it’s irresistible. My third pick would be Teo Torriate (Let us Cling Together) because it’s got a great melody and a real sing-along quality to it. But I’d have to mention the beautiful You Take my Breath Away; Brian May singing Long Away, and Roger Taylor’s Drowse.

1977 – News of the World: Queen must really have been eating their greens throughout this period, because they were just going from strength to strength. On this album, you’ll find We Will Rock You, We Are the Champions, and Spread Your Wings. Oh yes; the album is really that good. And that’s not mentioning It’s Late, Sheer Heart Attack, and All Dead, All Dead.

1978 – Jazz: This is generally regarded as one of their weaker albums; and I think it does represent a slight dip in form. But it can’t be all that bad when it’s got Fat Bottomed Girls, Bicycle Race and Don’t Stop Me Now on it.

1980 – The Game: This album seems to get a lot of bad press – unfairly so, in my opinion. It’s a bloody good album, and shows the band evolving their music rather than churning out the same stuff over and over again. Bear in mind, this album has tracks like, Play the Game, Save Me, and Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Oh, and there’s another little one you might have heard of, called Another One Bites the Dust.

1980 – Flash Gordon (Soundtrack): Flash…ah-aaah; saviour of the universe.

1981 – Queen’s Greatest Hits: The UK’s biggest-selling album of all time. It sold over 5.4 million in this country alone, and more than 25 million worldwide. I don’t think I need to say anymore, do I?

1982 – Hot Space: Hmm…this one probably gets my vote for Queen’s weakest album. I think with this album they weren’t evolving so much as trying to be someone else instead of Queen. But it’s not a BAD album. It’s got Under Pressure on it, so it can’t be that bad. There’s also Las Palabras de Amor (The Words of Love), and I quite like Cool Cat.

1984 – The Works: This was not a return to form; it was a fucking work of musical art. My God, what a fantastic album this is. This is Queen being Queen again, and doing what they do best – rocking and rolling the shit out of everybody. And it was only the first step in their domination of the eighties. Radio Ga Ga, Hammer to Fall, I Want to Break Free, Is This the World we Created, Tear it Up, Machines (Back to Humans). Sorry, I’ve done almost the entire track-listing; but trust me when I tell you it really is that good.

1986 – A Kind of Magic: And the Queen juggernaut just rolls on. This was a kind of cross between a studio album and a soundtrack for the movie, Highlander. But who gives a shit when it produces classics like A Kind of Magic, Friends will be Friends, and the heart-breaking Who Wants to Live Forever?

1989 – The Miracle: This is one of those albums that just gets better every time you hear it. You get a sense that the band were really up for this album, and it shows in the eclectic mix of tracks they produced, experimenting with soul and funk on tracks like My Baby Does Me and The Invisible Man. This album has been quite divisive in terms of hardcore fans’ reactions; but I don’t know how anyone could be unhappy when you’re presented with tracks like, I Want it All, Breakthru, The Miracle, and my favourite on the album, the brilliant Scandal.

1991 – Innuendo: This was released in the year Freddie died. And talk about going out on a high!!! This is Queen at their very best, and is a serious contender for their best album. The title track is a six and a half minute epic in the mould of Bohemian Rhapsody, and while it may not have had the impact of its predecessor, it is still fucking awesome. Then you’ve got tracks like Headlong, I Can’t Live With You, and I’m Going Slightly Mad, which serve as solid reminders of why Queen are such an important part of rock history. Tracks like All God’s People, These Are The Days of Our Lives, and The Show Must Go On took on a more poignant significance when news of Freddie’s death broke. But they are all painfully beautiful songs, and Freddie’s vocals on The Show Must Go On were arguably the best of his career.

1995 – Made in Heaven: There’s very little “new” stuff on this album. It’s a mix of the last things Freddie wrote and recorded, along with re-workings of b-sides and a couple of Freddie’s solo songs. But it’s all good, solid stuff; there’s no filler. Highlights for me are I Was Born to Love You, Too Much Love will Kill You, and A Winter’s Tale – the last song Freddie ever wrote. But towering over them all is the tour-de-force which is Mother Love. This is another track that takes on a heart-breaking significance when you think about what happened. This is the last song Freddie ever recorded, and he was too ill to finish it. It’s a song that will alternately put a lump in your throat and send a chill down your spine. Freddie’s vocals on the middle eight in particular defied his illness while making the hairs on the back of my neck tingle.

So, that’s my summary of Queen’s albums. I’m sorry, but I don’t have any bile or hatred when it comes to Queen; they were, are and always will be the besde.