Queen truly did come out of the dawn of the 70's with a blast. Her majesty gracefully enters the throne full power and strong, taking on the challenge of finding a spot among the Rock greats. I bowed my head graciously and allowed myself to indulge in the creations her highness brought to the royal table. Queen's basic stylistic elements are here already including Mercury's theatrics, May's distinctive and creative guitar work, and multi-part song structures present on many songs.
"Keep Yourself Alive" is a great fast rock song which despite not featuring anything groundbreaking like their later work, is an amazing display of Brian's guitar work, a drum solo from Taylor that matches with the amazing vocals of lead singer Freddie Mercury. Despite lacking in the theatrics and operatic flamboyance to come, it was fairly produced and an early staple at concerts!
"Great King Rat", "Liar", "Son and Daughter" are all heavy tracks that come in like a storm swirling in all directions with catchy hand-clap beats, fiery guitar licks and thunderous drums while Mercury adds a flavor to each song with the uniqueness and range of his voice and some unique clever lyrics, while "My Fairy King" (which takes lines and references the story of The Pied Piper of Hamelin), "The Night Comes Down", "Doing All Right" all showcase the tempo changes, complex chord structures, and genre bending the band would embrace later on.
Queen is truly an amazing debut that is totally worth a listen and though it does sound a bit like a lot of other bands that were more groundbreaking at the start of the 70's (Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Aerosmith all can be heard on here), it is a great starting point.
| 1 | Keep Yourself Alive / 91 |
| 2 | Doing All Right / 87 |
| 3 | Great King Rat / 95 |
| 4 | My Fairy King / 80 |
| 5 | Liar / 95 |
| 6 | The Night Comes Down / 80 |
| 7 | Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll / 87 |
| 8 | Son and Daughter / 90 |
| 9 | Jesus / 74 |
| 10 | Seven Seas of Rhye / 65 |