Queen (album)
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| Queen | |||||
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| Studio album by Queen | |||||
| Released |  July 13, 1973 September 4, 1973 |
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| Recorded | 1971-1972 Trident Studios De Lane Lea Studios |
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| Genre | Hard rock, progressive rock, glam rock | ||||
| Length | 38:36 | ||||
| Label | EMI, Parlophone (Europe) Elektra, Hollywood (US) |
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| Producer | John Anthony Roy Thomas Baker Queen |
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| Queen chronology | |||||
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| Alternate cover | |||||
United States cover
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| Singles from Queen | |||||
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Queen is the self-titled debut album from the English rock band Queen, released in 1973. It was recorded at Trident Studios and De Lane Lea Studios, England, with production by Roy Thomas Baker (as Roy Baker), John Anthony and Queen.
The album was influenced by the seaside rock, hard rock and heavy metal of the day and covers subjects such as folklore ("My Fairy King") and religion ("Jesus"). Lead singer Freddie Mercury composed five of the ten tracks. Lead guitarist Brian May contributed four songs, including "Doing All Right" which was co-written by Smile bandmate Tim Staffell. Drummer Roger Taylor composed and sang "Modern Times Rock and Roll." The final song on the album is a short instrumental version of "Seven Seas of Rhye." The full version, including vocals, appeared on the band's next album, Queen II. The band included the comment 'No synthesizers' on the album sleeve, as some listeners had mistaken their elaborate multi-tracking and effects processed by guitar and vocal sounds as synthesizers. Bassist John Deacon was credited on the sleeve notes of the original vinyl release as "Deacon John", as Mercury and Taylor thought this may make him sound more interesting.
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[edit] History
Queen had been playing the club and college circuit in and around London for almost two years when the band used a chance opportunity to test out De Lane Lea Studios' new recording facilities to put together a polished demo tape of five songs: "Keep Yourself Alive," "The Night Comes Down," "Great King Rat," "Jesus" and "Liar." Despite its quality, no record company would take them on, except for a low bid from Chrysalis Records, which they used to try to entice other companies.
They were finally taken aboard in 1972 by Norman and Barry Sheffield, who were setting up Trident Studios. However, they were allowed to record only during the studio's downtime,[1] when the paying artists had left, which was usually between 3am and 7am. One day, while waiting for use of the studio, Freddie Mercury was asked to record vocals by producer Robin Cable, who was working on a version of "I Can Hear Music" and "Goin' Back." Mercury enlisted Brian May and Roger Taylor to record the tracks. These recordings were released on a single under the name Larry Lurex.
The downtime arrangement lasted from June to November of 1972. The limitations led the band to focus on completing one track at a time. Problems arose almost immediately. The band had thought highly of the De Lane Lea demo tracks, but producer Roy Thomas Baker asked them to re-record the songs with better equipment. "Keep Yourself Alive" was the first to be re-recorded, and Queen did not like the result. They recorded it once again, but in the mixing sessions no mix met their standards until engineer Mike Stone stepped in. After seven or eight failed attempts, Stone's first try met with Queen's approval. He would stay on to engineer and eventually co-produce their next five albums. The first re-record of "Keep Yourself Alive" was later released by Hollywood Records in the United States, titled "(Long Lost Re-take)," with Brian May's approval. Another track proved problematic — "Mad The Swine" was recorded for the album, yet Baker and Queen disagreed on the quality of the percussion. With the issue unresolved, the track was left off the album. It re-surfaced in 1991 as both the B-side to the "Headlong" CD single in the UK, and on the Hollywood Records re-release of the album. The version of "The Night Comes Down" which appears on the album is, in fact, the De Lane Lea demo recording,[1] as its quality was apparently up to the standards of the rest of album's recordings.
Other recordings from this period, such as two Smile tracks ("Silver Salmon" and "Polar Bear"), "Rock And Roll Medley" (a live encore staple from the era), and the infamous track "Hangman" (whose existence was long denied officially, beyond live concert recordings), have surfaced in the form of acetate pressings, now owned legitimately by private collectors. The song "Hangman" can be heard here:[2]
Though the album was completed and fully mixed by November 1972, Trident spent months trying to get a record company to release it. After eight months, they released it themselves in 1973. During this time, Queen had begun writing material for their next album but were disheartened by the current album's delay, feeling they had grown past that stage, even though the record-buying public was just getting wind of them. They recorded two BBC sessions during the interim. The first single, "Keep Yourself Alive" (the Mike Stone mix, now considered the standard album version) was released a week before the album[1] (UK dates, July 6 and 13th respectively). The track was edited for release in the US, from 3:47 to 3:30. The US single was issued in October. All countries had the B-side "Son And Daughter". The album was released in the US on September 4.
Elektra Records released a single of "Liar" in a heavily edited form (without the band's knowledge)[citation needed] on February 14, 1974, with the B-side "Doing All Right".
Elektra Records later re-issued the edited version of "Keep Yourself Alive" in July of 1975, this time with the rare double B-side (rare for a 7" single) of "Lily Of The Valley" and "God Save the Queen". Both versions are unique compared to the album versions.
Hollywood Records released a CD single featuring five versions of "Keep Yourself Alive" to promote the forthcoming "Crown Jewels" boxed set (1998). The versions on the CD are: "Long Lost Re-take," "BBC Session #1 Version," "Live Killers Version," "Album Version (Unremastered)" and "Album Version (1998 Remastered Version)".
[edit] Track listing
- Side one
- "Keep Yourself Alive" (May) – 3:46
- "Doing All Right" (May/Staffell) – 4:09
- "Great King Rat" (Mercury) – 5:41
- "My Fairy King" (Mercury) – 4:08
- Side two
- "Liar" (Mercury) – 6:26
- "The Night Comes Down" (May) – 4:23
- "Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll" (Taylor) – 1:48
- "Son and Daughter" (May) – 3:21
- "Jesus" (Mercury) – 3:44
- "Seven Seas of Rhye..." (Mercury) – 1:06
When originally issued on cassette, the running order was rearranged. Side one included tracks 1, 2, 5, 9 and 10, and side two included tracks 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8.
- 1991 Hollywood Records bonus tracks
- "Mad the Swine" (Previously Unreleased) (Mercury) – 3:21
- "Keep Yourself Alive" ('Long Lost' Re-take) – 4:04
- "Liar" (1991, Remix by John Luongo and Gary Hellman) – 6:26
The track list was different in the early stages of the album's mixing and compiling, most notably "Mad the Swine" segued from "Great King Rat", coming in over the final drum-roll; the original album recording of "Keep Yourself Alive" started off the album (i.e. the Long Lost Re-take); and the unused album version of "The Night Comes Down" co-produced by Roy Thomas Baker was included. Acetates reportedly exist of this early cut.
[edit] Keep Yourself Alive
Brian May wrote "Keep Yourself Alive" when the band had already been formed, but before John Deacon joined.[citation needed] According to what May said in a radio special about their 1977 album News of the World, he had penned the lyrics thinking of them as ironic and tongue-in-cheek, but their sense was completely changed when Freddie Mercury sang them.
It's been suggested by some fans and Queen scholars that Mercury could have helped on the musical songwriting, based on the fact that (as it's been recalled by former bassists and the band themselves) they were in a more collaborative period in the pre-studio days and Mercury was usually the one getting his way with structural ideas. While it's highly possible that he contributed ideas to the song (the modulation types and the expanded form are closer to his style than May's), the bottom line is that even in that case Mercury would be more a co-arranger than a co-writer per se (like George Martin on The Beatles' songs). [3]
[edit] Doing All Right
"Doing All Right" (also spelled "Doin' All Right" and "Doin' Alright") was originally a song from the British group Smile, which would later be known as Queen. It was written by Brian May and Tim Staffell.
The song changes many times throughout, from light pop music to acoustic guitars and even contains a section that could only be referred to as heavy metal.
This is one of the few Queen songs to feature Brian May on the piano. He also played his old Hairfred acoustic guitar on this track and on later tracks such as "White Queen (As It Began)" and "Jealousy".
The band played this song as early as 1970, and it was notable as the first song Freddie Mercury played live on the piano. Staffell sang it in Smile's days and Mercury tried to sing in the same manner.
The version on the album At the Beeb features Roger Taylor singing lead vocals on the last verse.
[edit] Great King Rat
"Great King Rat" was written by Freddie Mercury. At the Beeb features a different version of the song recorded in December 1973. This song is an example on Queen's earliest sound, with lengthy, heavy compositions with long guitar solos and sudden tempo changes. In the middle part of the song, the lyrics contain some lines that can be interpreted as anti-religious, such as "Don't believe all you read in the Bible / You sinners get in line / Saints you leave far behind...". There was to be a song after this one called Mad the Swine and was to link seamlessly into each other (hence the drum solo at the end never has an ending), but the band and producer Roy Thomas Baker had a debate about the quality of the percussion of the song and in the end, it was never included in the album, until the 1991 US re-release.
[edit] My Fairy King
"My Fairy King", written by Mercury, deals with Rhye, a fantasy world created by vocalist Freddie Mercury and featured in other Queen songs, most notably "Seven Seas of Rhye".
"My Fairy King" is the first song on the album to feature Mercury's piano skills – while there was a piano on "Doing All Right", the part was played by guitarist Brian May. May was quite impressed by Mercury's piano playing on the track, and from this point on Mercury handled most of Queen's piano parts, with some exceptions.
Before writing this song Mercury was known as Freddie Bulsara, and this song is said to have inspired him to change his surname. Its lyrics contain a verse with the words "Mother Mercury, look what they've done to me." Brian May has said that after the line was written, Freddie claimed he was singing about his mother. Subsequently, Freddie Bulsara took the stage name Freddie Mercury. This was another attempt to separate his stage persona (extroverted monster, as Mercury himself once described it) from his personal persona (introverted, kind man). Due to the connections with Mercury's name, this song is somewhat a favourite amongst fans.
Written during the band's time in the studios, the song contains many voice overdubs and vocal harmonies, which Mercury was fond of. Drummer Roger Taylor also displays his vocal skills here, hitting some of the highest notes in the composition. The vocal overdubs technique would later be used in many Queen songs, most notably "Bohemian Rhapsody".
Mercury borrowed some lines from Robert Browning's poem, "The Pied Piper of Hamelin".[4]
[edit] Liar
"Liar" was written by Freddie Mercury in 1970 while still under the name Freddie Bulsara. It is considered by many to be one of the direct forerunners to "Bohemian Rhapsody", in terms of long melodies, acyclic form and dramatic changes in style and arrangement. It is one of the band's heavier songs.
As confirmed by the transcription on EMI Music Publishing's Off The Record sheet music for the song, this is one of the few Queen tracks of the 1970s to feature a Hammond organ.
Some people believe that John Deacon sang the "all day long" lines, since he did so in live versions and the video. However, on both, he was joined by Roger Taylor, Brian May and Freddie Mercury, therefore it isn't known if it was merely a visual trick or if actually Deacon did some uncredited backing vocals. In both live and the video, John would sing into Freddie's microphone.
[edit] The Night Comes Down
Brian May wrote the song shortly after the band's formation in 1970, following the break up of Smile. It was first recorded at De Lane Lea Studios in September of 1971, when the band was hired to test the studio's new equipment in exchange for being allowed to record proper demos in their attempt to find a record company. The agreement was mutually beneficial and Queen took full advantage of the state-of-the-art equipment to put five of their tracks to tape ("Keep Yourself Alive", "The Night Comes Down", "Great King Rat", "Jesus" and "Liar").
In 1972, Trident Studios signed Queen to a recording contract which limited them to only down-time studio access (when paying artists weren't recording) and they began working with producer Roy Thomas Baker. Baker and Studio owners/management Norman and Barry Sheffield insisted on re-recording the five De Lane Lea demos. A new studio version of "The Night Comes Down" was recorded, but in the end, it was decided that the De Lane Lea version was still superior and this was the version which appears on the debut album. As of 2006, the unused Roy-Thomas-Baker-produced version remains unreleased and has not even surfaced on bootlegs.
Bootleg recordings of the original De Lane Lea demos are in circulation and the difference in quality of "The Night Comes Down" is noticeable compared to the 1973 LP and even more so against the latest series of digital remasters from Parlophone and Hollywood Records of that album. Otherwise, the demo is the same mix as appeared on the demo tape, with little to no alteration (the quality of the bootlegs makes it difficult to tell if the improvements are from proper mastering or additional mixing).
In 1998, Queen released "Queen: The Eye". The PC computer game features four discs with tracks playable on regular CD players. An edit of the familiar version of "The Night Comes Down" is among the tracks used in the game. This version is the first minute and a half of the track, before a phased fade out.
The song follows what would become trademark Brian May themes such as coming-of-age, nostalgia over the loss of childhood to the past and the difficulties of life as an adult. Other May songs which deal with similar issues would be: "Some Day One Day", "Long Away", "All Dead, All Dead", "Leaving Home Ain't Easy", and "Too Much Love Will Kill You", among others.
There is also what could be an ambiguous reference to "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", in the lyric: "When I was young it came to me; And I could see the sun breaking; Lucy was high and so was I; Dazzling, holding the world inside." May is admittedly a Beatles fan and has commented in numerous interviews on their impact on him.
[edit] Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll
The lead vocal is performed by drummer Roger Taylor, who wrote the song. The song was re-recorded on two occasions for the BBC. The first was in December 1973 and broadcast on John Peel's show. This version was released on the 1989 Queen album At The Beeb, and sounds very similar to the original album version. The second re-recording was done in April 1974 and broadcast on Bob Harris's show. This version has not seen the light of day outside of bootleg recordings and it differs in style from the original album version, has a slower tempo and includes extra vocals from Freddie Mercury.
[edit] Son and Daughter
"Son and Daughter" was written by guitarist Brian May. It is also the B-side for the single "Keep Yourself Alive". Written in 1972 for their first album and a regular feature in Queen's live set until well into 1975, the song originally housed Brian May's famous guitar solo. The solo features in both 1973 BBC sessions' (Queen's second and third sessions respectively) versions of "Son And Daughter". The album version of the song does not feature the guitar solo (thereby keeping the song to a tight, marketable, three and a half minutes). The solo wouldn't be properly recorded until 1974, for the track "Brighton Rock" of their Sheer Heart Attack album. Until this time, and occasionally afterwards, the guitar solo would take over the middle of "Son And Daughter" during concerts, allowing the rest of the band a bit of a rest and costume change.
The third BBC session would eventually see an official release in 1989, along with Queen's first BBC session, under the title Queen at the Beeb. "Son And Daughter" ends off the session and the album, complete with the guitar solo, running over seven minutes. Because this version was originally recorded for radio broadcast, Mercury censors himself, singing, "Buckle down and a-shovel it!" instead of the original lyric, "shovel shit!". The second, unreleased BBC session version of the song hears Mercury sing, "Shovel shhhhh...".
Unlike other songs from Queen's early period which crept back into circulation in the live set of their '84 through '86 tours, such as "Liar", "Keep Yourself Alive", "The Seven Seas of Rhye" and "In The Lap Of The Gods...Revisited", "Son And Daughter" stayed off the set-lists after Queen's hit singles began to dominate their live show. The song is indicative of their very earliest sound, influenced by blues rock and heavy metal.
[edit] Jesus
The lyrics tell part of the story of Jesus of Nazareth – a fact made more interesting given that composer and singer Freddie Mercury was a follower of Zoroastrianism. The track features a two-chord rhythm section during the verses with a long instrumental break toward the end of the song. Because of the effects created by Brian May's Red Special guitar, among other things, many early followers of Queen viewed the band as something of a psychedelic rock band.
[edit] Seven Seas of Rhye...
Mercury had half-written the song when the first album was recorded and completed it for the second album.
[edit] Songwriting trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
With exception of "My Fairy King" and the instrumental "Seven Seas of Rhye", all of the tracks in the album were part of the band's live set in early days. The album can be divided into three different periods of songwriting:
- Songs composed before the band was formed: "Doin' All Right" (taken from the repertoire of the May/Taylor/Tim Staffell's band Smile)
- Songs composed after Roger Taylor, Freddie Mercury and Brian May founded Queen, but before John Deacon joined: "Keep Yourself Alive", "Great King Rat", "Liar", "Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll", "Son and Daughter", and "Jesus".
- Songs composed after John Deacon joined the band: "The Night Comes Down".
"My Fairy King" was a germinal idea before Deacon joined the band (while the bassist was Barry Mitchell) but wasn't completed until they went to the studio.
"Liar" recycles one riff from Mercury's pre-Queen song, "Lover".
Chris Chesney, lead guitarist of Mercury's pre-Queen band Sour Milk Sea, revealed the following during a Q&A session on the official Queen website: "Brian [May] did nick a riff (was it for ‘Liar’?) and on a video shoot rather sheepishly (but very honestly) apologized to me."
There were some tracks already written by the time of the first album sessions, but remained unreleased or saved for future recordings. Those include:
- "Hangman": Written by Freddie Mercury & Brian May in 1970. Performed live multiple times during their early career, but was never recorded on any album. Some bootlegs exist though.
- "Stone Cold Crazy": Recorded later on in 1974 for the band's third album.
- "White Queen": Written in late 60s but not recorded until 1973 for the second album.
- "Ogre Battle": Performed live as soon as 1972 but kept until the second album, as they wanted more freedom in the studio to perfect it.
- "Father to Son": Written during the album sessions and performed during the tour, but Queen waited with recording it so that they could do it the way they wanted, similar to what they did with Ogre Battle.
[edit] Queen about the record
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This section does not cite any references or sources. (October 2007) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
| “ | So we really had matured as a group and had our audience before the press caught on to us. I think that actually gave us a better start because we were better prepared. | ” |
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—Brian May |
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| “ | The album took ages and ages – two years in total, in the preparation, making and then trying to get the thing released. | ” |
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—Brian May |
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| “ | There were lots of things on the first album I don't like, for example the drum sound. There are parts of it which may sound contrived but it is very varied and it has lots of energy. | ” |
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—Roger Taylor |
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[edit] Personnel
| Freddie Mercury | lead & backing vocals, piano, electronic organ, tambourine |
| Brian May | electric guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals, piano on "Doing All Right" |
| Deacon John | bass guitar |
| Roger Taylor | percussion, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll" |
| John Anthony | producer, backing vocals on "Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll" |
| Roy Thomas Baker | producer, sound engineer |
| Mike Stone | sound engineer |
| Ted Sharpe | sound engineer |
| Dave Hentschel | sound engineer |
| Louie Austin | sound engineer ("The Night Comes Down") |
| Douglas Puddifoot | photography |
| Nobody played synthesizers. |
[edit] Charts
| Country | Charts | Sales | ||
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| Peak position | Weeks | Certification | Sales | |
| United Kingdom | 24[1] | 18[1] | Gold[5] | 350,000 |
| United States | 83[1] | 9[1] | Gold[6] | 800,000 |
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g Queen – Queen (HTML) (English). QueenOnline.com. Retrieved on 2006-11-23.
- ^ Hangman at YouTube
- ^ Queen – Keep Yourself Alive (HTML) (English). QueenOnline.com. Retrieved on 2006-11-23.
- ^ Robert Browning. The Pied Piper of Hamelin. London: Frederick Warne and Co., 1888, lines 246-248. (website of Indiana University)
- ^ BPI Certified Awards.
- ^ RIAA. Gold & Platinum.
