How about some QUEEN?

[Robert****]

Queen - one of my favourite bands ever. Too bad Freddie had to leave us so soon. Brian May is an amazing guitar player as well, but honestly, the band's success had a lot to do with Freddie Mercury.

I like their song writing - so cool, inventive, original. Very often also very advanced.

So, any QUEEN fans here??

Here's a real ROCK tune! Wicked good.



This a great tune.


They sure could play live too!



One of their later songs that I really like -

[Katastrophe]

"Stone Cold Crazy" is one of my Queen faves!

Talk about a versatile band, that could do everything, with amazing harmonies and guitar work!

Brian May is a rare individual in the rock world, having earned a PhD, on top of all his guitar accomplishments.

Great post, man!

[Radioboy950]

One of the best classic albums ever is "A Night at the Opera".
Interestingly, one of my favorite tracks, I'm in love with my car, featured Roger Taylor on vocals (I believe).
Freddie was Queen, and one heck of an artist. That voice...

[marnold***]

"A Night at the Opera" is probably my favorite of theirs. Here some of my favorites, though more obscure, the first two are from "Opera":

'39


The Prophet's Song


Flick of the Wrist

[sunvalleylaw]

I really like Queen, though they left my catalog for a while. I rediscovered them after taking up guitar, and realizing how much I like Brian May's tone. A big influence on others too.

[FrankenFretter***]

I've been a Queen fan for a long time, but mostly their more uptempo stuff. Brian May is amazing. The solo on Brighton Rock is one of my all-time favorites. Yeah, good post Robert!

[deeaa*]

I can't say I'm a fan of Queen, actually I don't think I've listened to all their music, but I'm a big fan of Freddie, who IMO was and still reigns supreme as the kind of rock vocalists. Incredible range and power, I don't think anybody out there could match his range, or if they can match the range, they can't deliver the power, and if they can deliver the power, they can't match the range :-)

I do dig many of their songs a lot, but as a whole it's all a touch too theatrical for my music taste. Great band, still.

[Eric***]

I think I'm with Dee on this one. Queen just hasn't clicked with me for some reason, and the theatrical nature of their music might have something to do with it.

I know there's a lot to like, and I've tried. Maybe some day.

[kidsmoke*]

Love the band. Surprised to see so many shout outs for Night at the Opera, didn't realize it was on ANYONE else top's list.

I consider May a genius. Mercury, no doubt, delivered the goods like no one else could, but I believe May was the primary composer all along.

[Tig***]

I feel that they were one of the best rock bands ever, even if I don't connect to some of their songs. I can't stand watching them with Paul Rodgers, however.

Freddie was the most talented singer in rock and roll, period. I've always loved Brian May's arrangements and guitar playing.

Guitar World magazine included a feature called "Legends Salute 30 Legends". Steve Vai saluted Brian May.

“I don’t think enough is really said about the brilliance of Brian May’s guitar playing, inthe sense that it’s overshadowed by the music itself. The Queen II album was one of those pivotal moments that just nailed me to the wall.

“He’s probably one of the top identifiable guitar players, even more so than Beck, Page, and Clapton. They’re all so identifiable, but Brian May has such a tone in his head and in his fingers. It speaks volumes. His contribution to orchestrated guitars is unprecedented. There was nothing like it before him. To me, it was like when Edward Van Halen came along and reshaped the sound of electric guitar. That’s what I heard in Brian May’s playing. It’s something that’s inherent in the brain of the guitar player.

“I remember working with Frank Zappa for the first time. I had just moved out to Los Angeles, and nobody knew me. I was 21. I went out to the Rainbow Bar and Grill, and Brian May was there. I couldn’t believe it. I mustered up every little bit of courage and went up to him and said, ‘Thank you so much for everything you’ve done. I play guitar. I’m here in town with Frank Zappa.’ He said ‘Oh really? Why don’t you come down to our rehearsal?’

“I went down and he brought me up on the stage, and he let me play the guitar-the guitar that he built with his dad [the “Red Special”]. I couldn’t even believe that I was touching this instrument! He was so kind and so warm, and for who? This kid, you know? And I played his guitar, and it sounded like Steve Vai. Then when he played it, it sounded just like Brian May. It was very apparent to me that his tone is in his fingers and his head.

“He’s a class act from head to toe, and it shows in his playing. I can listen to any player and pantomime their sound, but I can’t do Brian May. He’s just walking on higher ground.”

[kidsmoke*]

Very cool Tig. Thanks for posting that. May was recently interviewed for "Fresh Air" on NPR. Very interesting interview.

As I was reading that Vai article, it occured to me, I often say, "this song or that solo" was pivotal in making me want to play guitar. Ironically, it was probably Brian May that kept me AWAY from the guitar as a teen, cuz, basically, what was the point? His orchestrations were so lush, I just couldn't (can't !) imagine what it takes to play like that. Like Vai, I always felt there was everyone else, then May. Technically. My true teen guitar hero, in the late 70's, was Reverend Gibbons, but that's another thread.

[R_of_G]

I feel that they were one of the best rock bands ever, even if I don't connect to some of their songs. I can't stand watching them with Paul Rodgers, however.

Brian May's tone is a huge influence on my views on tone, and a contributing factor to my use of a Vox amp.

[sunvalleylaw]

I do dig many of their songs a lot, but as a whole it's all a touch too theatrical for my music taste. Great band, still.

I understand the feeling about the theatrical. I loved them when they were first out in the 70s (when my freshman teams did poorly at sporting events, the team on the bus would sing We are the Losers (champions) on the way home to drive the teacher/coaches crazy. But then I lumped them in with other arena rock I was tired of, and put them in the dust bin in favor of punk and other 2 minute music for a long time. But then I heard that May tone again. Can't deny it.

[guitartango]

Amazing sound with a Vox AC30 and a treble booster. Freddie was a great song writer and preformer, you will never see a band like them.

[syo***]

I remember as a kid when "Killer Queen" came out. I couldn't get enough of that song. Just blew me away with how inventive it was. Fortunately it was all over the radio for awhile and just turning the dial for a few seconds usually got me another piece of it. Finally went out and bought the 33 (edit: meant 45. Thanks Tig... I'm getting old...) which led to all their albums up to News of the World. After that, I think both Queen and I changed a bit, so I didn't have too much interest after that. Thought the best was over after Night at the Opera really.

They were defintely in my top 3 for a year or two. Nothing like them before or since. I should dust them off and give them a listen.

I consider May a genius. Mercury, no doubt, delivered the goods like no one else could, but I believe May was the primary composer all along.

I think Freddie was responsible for Bohemian Rhapsody, Killer Queen, Somebody To Love, Crazy Little Thing Called Love among many others. Not too shabby for the greatest asian rocker of all time. May is of course brilliant too.

[Tig***]

Bohemian Rhapsody came out and I bought the 45, which was rare for me even as a 6th grader. Talk about a song that completely blew me away?!

I think Queen suffered from over exposure later.

[marnold***]

I loved how Rolling Stone (the mag, not the band) always crapped over Queen's releases in their reviews, but then when Freddy died they fawned all over him. FWIW, my favorite Queen albums (and I have quite a few) would be

1. A Night at the Opera
2. The Game
3. Sheer Heart Attack
4. A Day at the Races

After The Game and their Greatest Hits album, I lost interest in most of their 80s stuff. I've got "Classic Queen" which has about all the newer stuff that I need. There are some great songs from that era though like "I Want It All" and "Hammer to Fall."

John Deacon was one of my early bass heroes, especially for bass lines on "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Dragon Attack."

[Robert****]

I dig
Queen II
A Night at the Opera
A Day at the Races

But all their albums have tunes worth gold, although there are usually a few duds on most of their albums too.

[deeaa*]

Oh yeah the sound...Brian's sound is the perfect example, IMO, of how little do you need drive in the end.

I watched this studio bit back in the day where May was playing these powe chords thru his Vox and the booster, and it was sounding nigh clean with lots of overtones. And then the camera - without a break - moved to the studio room, and you hear the tone with all the compression and studio verb and all - and it's the thickest biggest drive you ever heard.

That's the day I ditched all my distortions and ever since it's been OD only, sounds that sound pretty clean alone, but with the band and recorded and compressed can sound very very driven. Still, it's all just cascading gain stages and very very mild OD's all the way, never distortion even when it might sound like it when it's mixed in.