Queen
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Forum Name: Proto-Prog and Prog-Related Lounge
Forum Description: Discuss bands and albums classified as Proto-Prog and Prog-Related
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=96326
Printed Date: April 27 2024 at 19:03
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Topic: Queen
Posted By: ole-the-first
Subject: Queen
Date Posted: December 15 2013 at 03:09
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It's a bit strange to see that discussions about Queen discography are rather scarce here, although it's among the 'biggest' bands on the archives, both commercially (competing with The Beatless, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd) and rating-wise (with two of their albums in Prog-Related top-5). Queen is one of my favourite bands of all time, forming my musical pantheon alongside with King Crimson, Steven Wilson and Peter Hammill. I find Queen's classic albums one of the most interesting releases of good ol' 70's, with Queen II peaking as one of my all-time favourite LP's. Their first five albums are very progressive (in all senses of that word), with a lot of experimentation and surprising eclectism (from music hall to ballad to opera to heavy metal, sometimes all in one song), and it's even very strange that the commercial success have found that band with Bohemian Rhapsody, one of their weirdest songs. Their first albums are full of sudden emotional and stylistic changes, with technically excellent playing and, starting from late 1974, superior production (the first two albums, unfortunately, are not that perfect in terms of sound quality). Although they turned very poppy in 80's, they still remained quite eclectic, and, unlike Rainbow or Uriah Heep, who turned into plain AOR bands, Queen still remained rather unpredictable even on their poppiest albums. My ratings: Queen I 8/10 Queen II 10/10 Sheer Heart Attack 10/10 A Night at the Opera 10/10 A Day at the Races 10/10 News of the World 7/10 Jazz 8/10 The Game 5/10 Flash Gordon 4/10 Hot Space 7/10 The Works 6/10 A Kind of Magic 6/10 The Miracle 8/10 Innuendo 9/10 Made in Heaven 8/10 ------------- This night wounds time. |
Replies:
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: December 15 2013 at 10:03
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I never really got into Queen back in the day and I can still recall when my friend George played the first one for me when it came out and then the second one later. Solid rock but it never captured my fancy even though many people played them in the old days when I was at their house parties.
Having said that the first 5 albums are all good solid rock with some prog edges here and there with some nice album concepts.
To this day I own no Queen...always meant to pick up Queen 2 and Night At The Opera but I prolly wouldn't play them very often. ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: Tuzvihar
Date Posted: December 15 2013 at 12:35
I love them since being a little kid! It's my first musical fascination! I own all their albums! 
------------- "Music is much like f**king, but some composers can't climax and others climax too often, leaving themselves and the listener jaded and spent." Charles Bukowski |
Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: December 15 2013 at 16:16
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i loved Queen from the moment I heard of them (first LP)! Queen II is my personal favorite. I play much of their catalog on guitar for practice. I also email with Brian May about climate change and astronomy (I have an astronomy background and was always impressed that he went on to earn his Ph.D. in the field!). He's accessible through his website. Last email he said: On Sep 8, 2013, at 5:35 PM, Brian's Soapbox wrote:
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Posted By: Horizons
Date Posted: December 15 2013 at 16:48
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I can't stand them.
------------- Crushed like a rose in the riverflow. |
Posted By: smartpatrol
Date Posted: December 15 2013 at 16:48
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A Night at the Opera is a masterpiece, the other three I've heard are great, too (Jazz, A Day at the Races, and Sheer Heart Attack). Other than that I know most of their singles and do plan to expand my Queen knowledge in the future
------------- http://bit.ly/1kqTR8y" rel="nofollow">  The greatest record label of all time! |
Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: December 15 2013 at 18:21
Check out the first LP, "Queen," and the second, "Queen II." I think these are their best in terms of rock! The later material is very over-produced. Anthem songs include "Liar" on the first LP and "Ogre Battle" on the second. Good stuff!
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smartpatrol wrote:Posted By: ole-the-first
Date Posted: December 15 2013 at 21:49
Jazz is a neat album (and it's really good actually), but usually fails to hold my attention in comparison with the first five albums. 'Innuendo' is a great album and for me it's virtually on the same level with 'A Night at the Opera', but 'Delilah' totally ruins it a totally out-of-place tune, I wish they would keep it for B-side or something like that. The rest of 'Innuendo' is as good as 'A Night at the Opera' (btw, I remember, Mikael Εkerfeldt was citing 'Innuendo' as a major influence on Opeth). ------------- This night wounds time. |
Posted By: Svetonio
Date Posted: December 16 2013 at 00:16
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I'v never been a fan of Queen. Too much of mediocre pop. Though, these four songs I loved to hear on fm radio: |
Posted By: ole-the-first
Date Posted: December 16 2013 at 01:10
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^I doubt there was any pop on their first albums, and as for singles, to judge Queen on their pop hits is like to judge Genesis on 'We Can't Dance'. ------------- This night wounds time. |
Posted By: Svetonio
Date Posted: December 16 2013 at 03:05
LOL the Genesis case in even worse - that's the band who were disappointed their entire fan base with that mediocre pop. |
Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: December 16 2013 at 10:13
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Queen II is my favourite Queen album, mainly for the Nevermore/Black Queen/Funny how love is.. triology on side 2 of the vinyl. All their 70's albums were pretty good imo. Their are moments of genius on Night at the Opera. That said, I won't be heart broken if I never here Bohemian Rhapsody again. ------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy! |
Posted By: HolyMoly
Date Posted: December 16 2013 at 10:25
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They were my favorite band at one point (my teens, in the 80s). I have a
tougher time listening to them now, some of their eclecticism just
feels a wee bit gimmicky to me today. But when they were good, they
were great. I still get a good thrill out of News of the World and
Sheer Heart Attack, my two favorite albums. The debut is pretty awesome
too, as is Queen II. I have mixed feelings about Night at the Opera -
it may be their ultimate statement and quintessential album but Freddie
seems to go a bit overboard on it, which grates on me a bit nowadays and
makes me understand why there are people who don't like the band. A Kind of Magic is the last album I really paid attention to (and it was pretty good). I recently checked out Innuendo and frankly I just couldn't stomach it. My time with Queen has passed, I think. But I still enjoy the majority of their better albums, and I'm particularly a fan of Roger Taylor's contributions to the band. ------------- My other avatar is a Porsche It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle if it is lightly greased. -Kehlog Albran |
Posted By: Gerinski
Date Posted: December 16 2013 at 15:06
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Also one of my favourite bands at a certain time in my youth and I still love much of their music, particularly the early stuff of course. From Queen I to A Day at the Races there's nothing mediocre. News of the World was a bit ruined by the mega-popularity of anthems We Will Rock You / We Are the Champions, but it was still a pretty good album, and Jazz was also very good (except for the mediocre Fun It). The list of great Queen songs would be longer than that of some of our beloved classic bands... even relatively uncelebrated songs such as You Take My Breath Away, Dead On Time or In The Lap Of The Gods (both parts) are masterpieces to my ears. But as complete album, Queen II is also my favourite.I didn't care much for them after Jazz, there are some good songs in The Game and later albums but they became a different kind of animal. Brian's work with the guitar was revolutionary and even to this day there are few guitarists who have attempted similar stuff. Unforgetable the quote on all their albums up to Jazz, 'no synthesizers'.
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Posted By: HemispheresOfXanadu
Date Posted: December 17 2013 at 01:44
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I've been meaning to check out more of their stuff since stumbling across I'm Going Slightly Mad on one of our best of Queen CDs.
------------- https://twitter.com/ProgFollower" rel="nofollow - @ProgFollower on Twitter. Tweet me muzak. |
Posted By: ole-the-first
Date Posted: December 17 2013 at 03:21
Yup, their 80's stuff was much weaker, and 'The Game' is probably their weakest record (not counting 'Flash Gordon', which is a soundtrack). But finally in late eighties-early nineties they've finally came back to their earlier style, so thankfully they've finished their career with this: ------------- This night wounds time. |
Posted By: ole-the-first
Date Posted: December 17 2013 at 03:28
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As for 'News of the World', it has some great tracks, such as 'Sheer heart Attack' (usually hated by fans, but it's my favourite track from that album), 'It's Late' and tongue-in-cheek 'Who Needs You', but I rather hate 'We Will Rock You' and 'We Are the Champions'. On the other hand, heavy 'fast' version of We Will Rock You is still pretty good (it's a shame that they decided to put the minimalist 'slow' version on the LP instead of the fast one): ------------- This night wounds time. |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: December 17 2013 at 03:36
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For me, Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack shine out, Night At The Opera has its moments but half of the album leaves me cold (Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon? 39? Seaside Rendezvous? Good Company? ... really?!) ------------- What? |
Posted By: ole-the-first
Date Posted: December 17 2013 at 04:33
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^Tracks like 'Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon' or 'Seaside Rendedvouz' are very jokey, with their own humoristic charm. There's no need to take them seriously, but technically they're still very interesting (especially the imitation of string jazz orchetra done by the single guitar overdubs).
------------- This night wounds time. |
Posted By: I-Juca Pirama
Date Posted: December 19 2013 at 05:53
You'll see my avatar and will know if I like the band. It was the second rock band I got interested into. Changed my life. 
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Posted By: King Only
Date Posted: January 08 2014 at 21:47
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One of my favorites from QUEEN, from the QUEEN ROCK MONTREAL concert DVD... Freddy really doing his thing... |
Posted By: uduwudu
Date Posted: January 18 2014 at 00:28
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With Queen their heaviest and most progressive is just fine. A pop song such as "You're MY Best Friend" is as fine a pop song as say The Prophet Song. I think, along with ELO, Queen are the ultimate result of eclectic Beatle-esque influenced pop / rock. Some of the songs are just not rock at all and this may confuse rock fans. Although it would do the same thing in jazz if Be Bop fans heard swing on Miles' albums. But this is freedom for ya... Seaside Rendezvous is more 1930s vaudeville than 70s rock. It's probably fit on Pepper more. And that is definitely not a 70s rock album, and I don't mean it's date. I suppose one way of accepting these "odd" numbers on their albums is the same mindset that can be used to take the odd moments in Supper's Ready and understand that to be a great number. Favourite Queen moment... the Jazz poster and banned video for Bicycle Race...  or the second album. Hard to tell the difference. |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: January 18 2014 at 01:01
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Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: January 18 2014 at 08:29
------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: KingCrInuYasha
Date Posted: January 25 2014 at 13:04
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I have all their 70s albums in one form or another and thought they rocked during that time. ------------- He looks at this world and wants it all... so he strikes, like Thunderball! |
Posted By: AEProgman
Date Posted: January 25 2014 at 21:03
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Was a fan during their first 4 albums, lost interest after that. Really liked Queen II the best of the bunch. I remember the vinyl album was like twice as thick as a standard album for some reason. ------------- 
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Posted By: clarkpegasus4001
Date Posted: March 18 2014 at 15:11
I tend to agree with this. The first Queen album is pretty good too. The vast majority of Queen tracks are too poppy for me. Orge Battle is my fave Queen track, I love that intro and main riff!  ------------- Tony C. |
Posted By: Kati
Date Posted: March 18 2014 at 23:53
Oh wow, ole-the-first  I love Queen, great forum topic. I too think they are brilliant from the obvious bohemian rhapsody to love of my life/too much love will kill you, but not less either the silly songs like bicycle race and fat bottomed girls, love them all.  Also the fact that Queen produced many memorable tunes i.e. we will rock you... they used the drum tune so well here and made it into a tune too.... tum tum tack, tum tum tack, we will, we will rock you..... Freddie's vocals were incredible and heartfelt and Brian May produces the most memorable tunes too! 
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Posted By: The Dark Elf
Date Posted: March 19 2014 at 20:38
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I really enjoy everything from Queen I through A Night at the Opera. After that, there was a song or two of interest per album. Really, they pretty much went straight to hell after A Night at the Opera. One of the greatest cliff dives in rock for me -- their decline or my dislike for their material being precipitous. ------------- ...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology... |
Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: March 20 2014 at 00:11
We have Ogre Battle in common, friend! I often use that riff to make sure my 6-string is properly tuned. Oddly enough, it was Freddie Mercury, and not Brian May, who came up with that riff! Aw hell, here it is! |
Posted By: Jim Garten
Date Posted: March 20 2014 at 03:40
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Ironically, after listening to no Queen for a long long time, dug out 'Live Killers' this morning, rocked all the way to work then saw this thread - back in 1979, these guys were on fire on stage (and yes, I know there are many overdubs, but hey...). Favorite album probably Night At The Opera - everything from all out camp (...Sunday Afternoon), pure prog rock (Prophet Song), folky (39) to pure anger (Death On Two Legs) & all points between. They went in a different direction during the 1980s but until then, one of my favorite bands of the period -------------  Jon Lord 1941 - 2012 |
Posted By: Prog 74
Date Posted: March 20 2014 at 11:02
I've always had a hard time getting into Queen. A little too theatrical and campy for my tastes though I haven't heard Queen II which a lot of people recommend. Maybe that album will change my mind? 
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Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: March 20 2014 at 18:39
Not an expert on them though my friends played them quite often in the 70's so I have heard the first 5 or 6 many times.
I suppose Queen 2 or Sheer heart Attack are good places to start...but maybe the Queen fans can offer a better opinion. ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: March 20 2014 at 18:48
I guess that's why their biggest selling album is Greatest Hits Vol 1.
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Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: March 20 2014 at 18:54
------------- 
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Posted By: Chris S
Date Posted: March 20 2014 at 19:05
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News Of The World was the last great album from Queen. The best vocalist of all time possibly? ------------- ...As I venture through the slipstream, between the viaducts in your dreams...[/COLOR] |
Posted By: Whathefoxtrot
Date Posted: April 12 2014 at 20:44
| It kinda scares me that people from my generation (I'm born in 1992) don't really know about Queen or even know Bohemian Rhapsody. Even someone who isn't that knowledgeable about music like me can get a grasp on Queen. |
Posted By: Mirror Image
Date Posted: April 12 2014 at 21:10
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Never have liked Queen or even seen what the big attraction was to their music, but I certainly won't be arguing with any Queen fans, because, while I don't enjoy their music, they do possess a certain musicality that is respectable. ------------- Music is enough for a lifetime but a lifetime is not enough for music. - Sergei Rachmaninov |
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: April 14 2014 at 02:03
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I was a fan ironically until they released Bohemian Rapsody (wtf was that about?!). I loved them as a hard rock band and Seven Seas Of Rye still does it for me. Roger Taylor had a unique style with the way he uses the bass drum. One of the best single bass drum players ever. As people know (or might guess) I am a fan of Muse and Matt Bellamy and the boys are so obviously massive Queen fans that it almost hurts. Dom tries to get that Taylor bass drum style into his playing but he never quite manages it. I like the fact he at least attempts it though.
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Posted By: stegor
Date Posted: April 17 2014 at 21:19
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I heard Stone Cold Crazy on the Classic Rock station yesterday. My alarm clock radio woke me up with it. I can't believe how heavy that song is. I got the feeling the DJ accidentally played the wrong track. I didn't recognize it at first cuz it's been a long time, but it sure woke me up. |