Queen's first five albums to be re-released
March 2011 sees the re-release of Queens first five albums - one
of the most exciting and influential back catalogues of all
time.
Recorded in the maelstrom of the early 1970's London music scene
Queen created a groundbreaking and unique soundtrack that remains
globally influential today. Theatrical, imaginative, diverse,
melodic and unpredictable they had a sound and a look all of their
own.
Sitting alongside their contemporaries like Led Zep and David
Bowie, Queen set the standard for British rock in the 1970's and
became one of the most thrilling, glamorous and downright rock n
roll bands of all time, directly influencing a contemporary roll
call of artists from Foo Fighters & Axl Rose to Lady Gaga and
Katy Perry.
'Queen', 'Queen II', 'Sheer Heart Attack', 'A Night At The Opera'
and 'A Day At The Races' have been specially re-mastered and each
will be released as a standard CD as well as a deluxe 2 disc set
which will feature new bonus content. Each deluxe album will be
released on iTunes featuring bonus tracks plus additional sleeve
notes, unseen pictures and videos.
From the pure raw rock of 'Queen' through to the majestic anthems
on 'A Day At The Races', the first five albums highlight the
diverse talent, musical ambition and already global success of a
band made up of some of the best songwriters, musicians and
performers of all time.
'Queen', recently nominated by Dave Grohl as his favourite album
of all time, was recorded in the same studio that David Bowie was
recording Ziggy Stardust. Because they didn't have any money, the
album was recorded on Bowies downtime, so Queen were literally
recording at 3AM after Bowie had gone to bed. 'Queen' is their
heaviest album, influenced by The Who, Hendrix and Led Zep and
contains some of their hardest rocking songs, and also some of
their most imaginative. Like all subsequent Queen albums, no two
songs sound the same and there are mixtures of light and shade, the
band teasing one minute with a lullaby, then blowing your head
off.
'Queen II' is the real beginning of Queen as we know it. It's the
first time we hear the multi layered overdubs, the harmonies, the
varied musical styles (ballads, folk, blues, thrash metal, pop and
rock, it's all there). It also includes their first hit single
'Seven Seas of Rhye', which led to the first of many iconic
performances on Top of the Pops. The band recorded 'Queen II' in
just over a month in 1973 ahead of its release in 1974. The album
cover was shot by legendary photographer Mick Rock and inspired by
a Marlene Dietrich portrait. The image was later brought to life in
the revolutionary Bohemian Rhapsody video.
'Sheer Heart Attack', Roger Taylor's favourite Queen album, was
released in 1974 and reached Number 2 in the UK. Prior to this
Queen were mostly considered a heavy rock band, but this album
experimented with a variety of musical genres, including music
hall, heavy metal, ballads and ragtime. At this point Queen started
to move away from the progressive tendencies of their first two
releases into a more radio-friendly, song-orientated style,
illustrated by 'Killer Queen', which was their biggest hit at that
point reaching No 2 in the UK. It also went to No 12 in the US
Billboard Charts, the first of many hits there. A song about a
high-class call girl, it contains the guitar solo that Brian May is
most proud of and won Freddie his first Ivor Novello
Award.
'A Night at The Opera', named after the Marx Bros film, is widely
acclaimed as one of the greatest albums of all time. Exceptional on
every level, musically, lyrically and artistically, Queen took the
strongest elements of their previous two albums to make the
ultimate winning combination. The most expensive album ever
recorded at that time, it delivered rock, opera, heavy metal,
romance, ballads, pop, sci-fi folk, music hall, 'trad jazz' and
even the National Anthem. The album contains perhaps the most
famous rock song of all time, 'Bohemian Rhapsody' which went on to
spend fourteen weeks and number one, be voted Song of the
Millennium, become the only song in history to reach Xmas No 1
twice and sell a million copies on two separate occasions. Queen
also recorded the first official pop promo for 'Bohemian Rhapsody'
as they were on tour and could not appear on Top of The Pops and
this video paved the way for MTV and VH1.
By 1976, Queen were back in the studio recording 'A Day At The
Races', which was written and recorded by Queen at their happiest,
riding on the crest of a wave and loving every second. The album is
an infectiously jubilant piece of music full of love, optimism and
good old fashioned rock and roll. Like 'A Night at the Opera' it
again borrowed the name of a Marx Bros movie, and its cover was
similar to that of 'A Night at the Opera', a variation on the same
Queen Crest. It reached number one on the British charts and
features the classics 'Tie Your Mother Down', Freddie Mercury's
personal favourite composition 'Somebody To Love' and 'Good
Old-Fashioned Lover Boy'
