Queen by Queen
Queen is the eponymous debut album by British rock group Queen, released in July 1973. It was recorded at Trident Studios and De Lane Lea Music Centre, London, with production by Roy Thomas Baker (as Roy Baker), John Anthony and Queen. The album was influenced by the progressive rock, hard rock, and heavy metal of the day and covers subjects such as folklore ("My Fairy King") and religion ("Jesus"). Lead singer Freddie Mercury composed five of the ten tracks, guitarist Brian May composed four songs, including "Doing All Right", which was co-written by Smile band-mate Tim Staffell and drummer Roger Taylor composed and sang "Modern Times Rock and Roll". The final song on the album is a short instrumental version of "Seven Seas of Rhye". The band included the comment 'No synthesisers' on the album sleeve, as some listeners had mistaken their elaborate multi-tracking and effects processed by guitar and vocal sounds as synthesisers. Bassist John Deacon was credited on the sleeve notes of the original vinyl release as "Deacon John", as Mercury and Taylor thought this might make him sound more interesting.
The pomp-rock giants awake for their brilliant second decade. After a fairly muted start—the pop-funk excellence of 1981 Bowie collaboration “Under Pressure” a highlight—mid-80s standouts “Hammer to Fall” and “One Vision” recapture their harmonic, hard-rocking best. They struck another rich vein of stupidly infectious pop-rock (“I Want To Break Free”, “Radio Ga Ga”) until Freddie Mercury’s deteriorating health prompts the dignified sadness and stoicism of “The Show Must Go On”.
