Queen, the very first album that was released in 1973, with ten amazing tracks.

Side 1 includes:

1. Keep Yourself Alive (May)
2. Doing All Right (May, Staffell)
3. Great King Rat (Mercury)
4. My Fairy King (Mercury)

Side 2 includes:

1. Liar (Mercury)
2. The Night Comes Down (May)
3. Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll (Taylor)
4. Son and Daughter (May)
5. Jesus (Mercury)
6. Seven Seas of Rhye (Mercury)

Now in order to roll right into the album and talk about it, I must offer a bit of backstory first.

In 1968, Freddie, Brian, and Roger were all together, working on bits and pieces, going through several bassists, they finally landed on one, by the name of John Deacon in 1971, cementing the band's final lineup, which played their first show on July 2, 1971.

"While on the path to their extraordinary first album, Queen served as somewhat of a test band for London's De Lea Studios, an arrangement that benefited them in the form of an uncommonly professional demo session. Signing on with Norman Sheffield and his brother Barry, who ran Trident Studios, boosted the band's reputation as studio specialists and essentially provided free hours of otherwise expensive studio time. Although the band had to toil during off-hours, the arrangement resulted in the Queen record, issued on Trident-associated EMI in summer 1973 after months of shopping it.

Labels that passed missed out on what is considered one of the great debut records of all time. At the ballad end of the spectrum, "Doing All Right" had roots in Smile and a '60s psychedelic, folk, and even blues vibe was apparent. But "The Night Comes Down" proved Queen's ability to write rich and unusual melodies and turn on a dime into prog and nascent heavy metal. What's more, demonstrating the strength of the De Lane Lea sessions, the band opted for that earlier version of this classic for the final record.

But more than anything, Queen is an album of flash, thespian, prog metal before the term "heavy metal" was even in play. Throughout, Queen touched upon various tropes, tendencies, and tempos of early metal, applying a sense of gravitas consistent with the band members' and the regal air of their band name.

But the rich banquet of dishes the band brought to their feast would shortly prove too varied for a society in love with fast food, and Queen would be passed over, as, indeed, would the band's even fussier follow-up.

But years on, "Liar" and "Keep Yourself Alive", nowhere near hits in their day, would become, arguably, two of the top dozen most beloved chestnuts of the band's extensive oeuvre, go-to classic-rock radio staples whenever a bracing blast of Brian May id needed to wake up those stuck in rush hour traffic.

Despite its monumental significance, Queen has so far only been certified gold in both the US and UK, demonstrating the alright importance of a hit single to the success of an album. Still, the band's debut lives on in the hearts and minds of Queen fans who revel in the record's exploration of plush dynamics, from classical and folk flights of fancy to the most crushing of power-chorded heavy metal.

In its sense of purpose, Queen is representative of any act's first record--a canvas on which the paint is applied feverishly and thickly. As the band evolved, they learned where to let in more light; but as a first statement, Queen remains a bold demonstration of density, almost unparalleled among debut records."*

As a fan of this album, I couldn't agree more, especially as a debut album.

Putting those outlandish songs out there such as, "Great King Rat" and, "My Fairy King", as a debut album is very risky. Most people would think you're mad to put out something like that, especially since those kinds of songs aren't even all that popular.

It's new, it's very unique. However, May being the huge Black Sabbath fan he is (and now best friends with Tony Iommi, and still fanboys over him--literally, check his comments on Tony's Instagram), he wrote quite a few songs like them, yet still trying to find out his own unique style, for example, "Son and Daughter". It's a very heavy song, especially for it's time when The Beatles had just broken up (officially in 1970), and Black Sabbath had just been founded (officially in 1968) so the music era had just taken a turn from psychedelic music to quite the hard, heavy rock, so I think it's hard to put out a debut album in the middle of these music transitions.

Plus, they were one of the very few bands (in my opinion) to actually have that intelligence about them. They weren't there to just " rock 'n' roll, take drugs and have sex" all the time, no, I don't think that was in their mindset at the time. I think they were there to actually create music for the world and do what they love. And when you look back at their concerts, they're very clean, they know what they look like they're doing, and they are very articulate about their craft, unlike Led Zeppelin, when you look at their concerts, Jimmy Page is sloppy and is a mess unlike their studio versions, and Robert Plant looks high twenty-four/seven. Yes, Jimmy Page is an amazing guitarist, but sometimes he and the other members are quite sloppy when it comes to their craft, unlike Queen.

Yes, Queen has their mess-ups too, but there's something different about them then all of the rest. I can't put my finger on it, but the dedication to their debut album proves it. I mean, if you look at Led Zeppelin's first album, it's honestly not even that unique. Most of the songs start off with a short chord progression from Jimmy, or a moan from Robert Plant, meanwhile Queen offered piano parts, screaming from Roger, or clapping and that amazing percussion part from "Liar". Don't get me wrong, I love Led Zeppelin, I'm just saying Queen offered a better first debut album.

Now back to the album. Let's look at Side 1.

"Keep Yourself Alive" written by Brian May gives us a very good rhythm guitar at the start, followed by the lead guitar, and then Roger, John, and Freddie.

It introduces us to Queen's amazing sound. A staple on Queen is Brian's guitar harmony, which we hear quite often in this song (which we hear at 1:18-1:20, repeating throughout the song). Brian is one of the few first guitarists to actually make a harmony(s) with their guitar. Whenever you hear a clean guitar harmony, you know its most likely Brian May playing. Also, we're introduced to Roger's playing and his drum ability.

That solo is very hard to play (at least from what I've heard), and Roger approaches it with a rolling style, very simple yet unique.

And John has a very simple bass line, yet still enjoyable.

And then there's Freddie. Freddie has an astonishing tenor tone (even though he's more of a baritone) and really sings up there. In my opinion, he's got an amazing voice here, even though he's just developing it. Most say his voice is better in the '80s (which I agree with), but here you can really see how raw it is, and how new Queen has actually started out. It's so interesting. To me, the reason why I like Queen so much is that I can actually understand what they're saying. Freddie has such a clear tone and pronounces things so clearly that I can understand him, unlike Robert Plant, who mumbles half of everything he sings (sorry Robert, I still love you).

As their first song, this is the song they tried to make happen with the album, but unfortunately, it flopped. It was the single that was released to debut on the album, but many people didn't find it too appealing.

So the album Queen didn't get anywhere until De Lea, which was just a studio wanting Queen to try out their stuff, so luckily Queen was able to play, and EMI noticed them.

Anyway, back to Side 1. As a whole side, there are two "intermediate" songs, which are "Keep Yourself Alive" and "Doing All Right", and then two completely different songs on the opposite side of the spectrum which are "Great King Rat" and "My Fairy King".

"Keep Yourself Alive" and "Doing All Right" are such late '60s; very psychedelic, meanwhile "Ogre Battle" and "My Fairy King" are two totally different stories.

I've heard somewhere that Freddie was writing a book on the side in his free time, and "Great King Rat" and "My Fairy King" came from the stories, as well as "Seven Seas Of Rhye", which is from the second side. Although I'm not 100% sure of that, so someone fact-check me if you want to.

Now, GKR and MFK are two very heavy metal songs, and very unique. They both bring something new to the table, especially in this era. You don't hear high-pitched screaming from men (usually) and harmonies (I know about The Beatles, okay, I know they harmonized just liStEn), and that squealing guitar sound from Brian.

It's just something totally new that was brought to the table and changes the game forever.

Anyway to Side 2. I'm sure you're all thrilled to hear about it.

"Liar". Yes, the one John Deacon solo song we all stan.

This song is a whole shenanigan. For its time, (as well as KYA) its fresh, original, powerful, and they make a left turn where others would make a right. When you think you know where they're going to go, they go someplace else. It's a good heavy song, which starts out kind of like KYA, expected to just be kind of a guitar and drum song, but no, it takes a whole other turn. Like, from a zero to a hundred real quick. You hear those harmonies with the instruments and Freddie's voice at 3:35, then at 3:40 you hear Brian's guitar solo, and then the song flips at 4:15, giving Queen their title: Unpredictable.

"Liar" to this day, is still a song played on the radio and enjoyed by several Queen fans. I just wish it would have been that song to come out as a single instead of KYA.

Along with "Liar", there's " Son and Daughter", which is heavier (and something I've already talked about), and "Jesus".

Most people don't like listening to it for some reason, but personally, I love the song and I wish my church played it not gonna lie lol, but it's just as an important song as their other ones, like Richie Unterberger states here in the book, Queen Album By Album, " Well, "Jesus", even though it's not going to stick in someone's memory as well as "Liar" and "Keep Yourself Alive", is still an important song because it has the most pronounced operating quality of any track on the record. In fact, you could imagine it as part of a rock opera, but it just doesn't happen to connect with other songs on the record. It seems like it should be part of a story like maybe it's the gutsy rock version of Jesus Christ Superstar.

Some people might see that as a fault of Queen, like maybe they could come up with something like Dark Side of the Moon or Quadrophenia, a record where the songs had a connective thread. Nonetheless, the song on its own has an epic, biblical feel. What bigger topic can you choose in the western world than Jesus? When you look at the lyrics, it's not especially controversial, but a lot of people in the United States would consider it controversial to have any rock song about Jesus that's not like Christian or gospel rock song.

In songs like "My Fairy King" and "Great King Rat", it sounds like its part of a story, but you're only getting a small portion of it. As well, the intro to " My Fairy King", that's where some of that classic art rock thing comes in, primarily with the piano-dominated intro and the falsetto vocal." Which is something I totally agree with. "Jesus" is a very important song, and should be recognized more.

Now onto Roger's song, "Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll". Roger... I think he has got to be the most guy dude out of the four of them. For a man who looks like a lady (er, did), he sure knew how to write songs like a dude.

Brian wrote sad songs, Freddie wrote crazy songs, and John wrote nostalgic songs, while Roger wrote guy songs.

Seriously.

"I'm In Love With My Car", " Fun It", etc, etc. This has got to be a very, guy song because it has that certain grit to it. It's very gritty and somewhat "nasty", and it just has that fast, rock 'n' roll feel to it. Roger has always had that touch with songs, as well as one of my personal favorites: "Sheer Heart Attack". Plus, Roger has that sort of Rod Stewart voice. It's very gritty and has that guy tone to it.

To the opposite ends of this side, are "The Night Comes Down" and "Seven Seas Of Rhye".

TNCD is a very ballad piece, compared to the other songs on this record. It's nice and slow and really gives Freddie a chance to show off his vocals. There's Brian's careful acoustic guitar, and slow steady beat of Roger's drums.

The harmonies are very well constructed, and it's just a well-written song. It really sets a path for Queen's other rock ballad songs, such as "Nevermore" and "Teo Torriate (Let Us Cling Together)". Its all about the musicality in this song and less about how much guitar or shredding there is in this song, even though there is a change of pace at 3:50, but it doesn't last for long.

Now... For the song, everyone's been waiting for... "Seven Seas Of Rhye".

This was just a practice run.

It's not the real thing. It's just an instrumental, painting the way for the next one. Like the movie Bohemian Rhapsody portrays, it's supposed to be showing Queen recording their first album, right? This scene?

This version is actually the Queen 2 version and not the Queen version. It would have been accurate if they were recording for Queen 2, but it's not lol. I'll talk more about "Seven Seas Of Rhye" in the next chapter ;)

*Sources:
-Wikipedia
-Queen Album by Album by Martin Popoff

Here are the Queen songs:

Keep Yourself Alive

Doing All Right

Great King Rat

My Fairy King

Liar

The Night Comes Down

Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll

Son and Daughter

Jesus

Seven Seas of Rhye

"Queen songs tend to be about very personal things: personal dreams and personal ambitions."
-Brian May-