Queen (album)
Queen | ||||||||||
Vinyl - USA - 1st edition. |
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Queen is the self-titled first studio album of Queen. It was produced by Roy Thomas Baker, John Anthony, and Queen, and published by EMI and Electra on vinyl on 1973-07-13. The genre of the songs include progressive rock, hard rock, and heavy metal. The theme of the songs include fantasy and mythology from Freddie, growth, rebellion, and drug use from Brian, and appreciation for hard rock music from Roger. John Deacon didn't have a song on this album. Many of the songs on the album were written prior to the band coming together.
The band members are credited in rather unusual names on the album. This is the first album to feature "Freddie Mercury" rather than his birth name, Farrokh Bulsara. Roger Taylor is credited with his full name, "Roger Meddows-Taylor," with the middle and surnames separated by a dash. John Deacon is credited as "Deacon John" because Freddie insisted it sounded better (he would demand his proper name for the next album). Only Brian May has his named listed in the typical way.
In this still early stage of the band's career, some fans incorrectly assumed they were a Christian rock band because of the songs Jesus, Son & Daughter, and potentially from the unreleased demo of Mad the Swine. Although these tracks can be construed as promoting Christianity, it's unlikely. Freddie was raised as a Parsi Zoroastrian, not a Christian, and I think this is merely a reflection of Freddie's love of mythology at the time. Brian's quote from the Gospel of Matthew is probably just a reflection of the pervasive Christian influence in the UK at the time.
Contents
Personal
Own? | Yes. US vinyl, Hollywood Records CD, original master in the Crown Jewels. |
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I bought this album in the early-middle of my Queen obsession. It felt like a less-refined version of Sheer Heart Attack and Queen II, which I had bought prior. Although, I still enjoyed the music quite a bit and listened to it many times.
Track Listing
Track | Title | Writer(s) | Vocals | Rank | Rating |
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A1 | Keep Yourself Alive | Brian May | Freddie Mercury with lines from Roger Taylor and Brian May | 2 | |
A2 | Doing All Right | Brian May, Tim Staffell | Freddie Mercury | 5 | |
A3 | Great King Rat | Freddie Mercury | Freddie Mercury | 4 | |
A4 | My Fairy King | Freddie Mercury | Freddie Mercury | 6 | |
B1 | Liar | Freddie Mercury | Freddie Mercury | 3 | |
B2 | The Night Comes Down | Brian May | Freddie Mercury | 1 | |
B3 | Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll | Roger Taylor | Roger Taylor | 7 | |
B4 | Son and Daughter | Brian May | Freddie Mercury | 8 | |
B5 | Jesus | Freddie Mercury | Freddie Mercury | 10 | |
B6 | Seven Seas of Rhye... | Freddie Mercury | Instrumental | 9 |
The album's total score is 422.