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Even to this day, there is simply no band like Queen. With four incredibly creative members who met at university, this English quartet absolutely redefined what was acceptable in pop/rock music. With layers of stylistic and instrumental influences, the band’s major hits jumped from hard rock excess to operatic theater, show tunes and beyond.
Underpinned by the unbeatable rhythm section of Roger Taylor and John Deacon, Queen began as a hard-rock unit with thundering drums and bass that propelled songs like ‘Keep Yourself Alive’ and the propulsive ‘Tie Your Mother Down’. As the 70s unfolded, Queen’s Night at the Opera album turned the rock world on its ear with the Taylor-led ‘I’m in Love With My Car’ and the seminal ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. Layered vocals and choirs of violin-like electric guitars created a sound unlike anything anyone had heard before.
As the 80s opened up, John Deacon became the band’s secret weapon on at least two hits as the instantly recognizable bass-lines on ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ and ‘Under Pressure’ consumed the airwaves and anchored two massive hits in the band’s catalog.
Then there was Brian May. The now doctor of astrophysics was a modern-day Mahler when it came to composing layers of pitch-perfect harmony guitars. With an explosion of curly black locks and a home-made guitar constructed from an old mantle-piece, May’s incredible guitar work spanned gutsy rock riffs a la ‘One Vision’, symphonic layers of guitar texture like those in ‘Killer Queen’ and ‘God Saved the Queen’, and even rockabilly and funk in ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ and ‘Another One Bites the Dust’. To say Brian May was a good guitar player was like saying Rembrandt made some nice pictures. His work is instantly recognizable, virtuosic and still jaw-dropping over 30 years later.
And, of course, we come to Freddie Mercury. Born Farokh Balsara, Freddie met up with his three band mates while studying graphic design. After creating the band’s signature logo, he would go on to record staggering vocal performances on pieces like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘The Show Must Go On’; and even while deathly ill, nailed the incredibly powerful vocal on ‘It’s a Beautiful Day’ on the posthumously released Made In Heaven album. Mercury is generally considered to be one of the greatest pop/rock vocalists to ever come down the line, and his ability to wail over hard-rock, but croon over show tune-inspired pieces like ‘Bicycle Race’ are still incomparable even today.
While Queen has hit the stage in years since with monster vocalists like Paul Rodgers and Adam Lambert, the heyday of groundbreaking work in the 70s and 80s absolutely redefined what could be done in rock and pop music, and forever changed the shape and scope of classic rock over the ages.
write by Lagan