Review Summary: Keep Yourself Alive, the bands first ever single release, is classic Queen a catchy riff with excellent & clever wit in hand
Keep Yourself Alive, the bands first ever single release, is classic Queen a catchy riff with excellent & clever wit in hand. This is what Queen at their best are about jangling cool 3-4 minute catchy pop tunes. OK there are examples where they would break that barrier & I am sure all you Queen fans will be sure to tell me as soon as this review is up but in general Queen were brilliant Pop musicians.
What they weren't were heavy metalers or alternative rockers, techno boppers or whatever else the band attempted to be throughout their career. Yes there are albums where they attempted to break out of their Pop mold but each time they would lead to disastrous results and usually it would be the Pop element of each release that would stick out.
So we come to their debut the self titled Queen, an attempt at a heavy metal debut that falls way short. Queen's first album showcases all the bands problems. On a cool day they can write great Pop such as the forementioned Keep Yourself Alive, and there are times when they can break out of that shell and make a cool tune (Great King Rat,Liar) but the rest is either average (Doing all right, My Fairy King, The Night comes down, Son & Daughter) or disastrous (Modern Times Rock & Roll, Jesus).
The band attempt to be a Heavy Metal band without ever really being heavy & although Brian May is a fine guitarist he by no means has the ability to constantly through out an album belt out a great riff after another like a Iomi or Page could (Other better guitarists around at the time).
The album ends up a bit of a mess but dispite this there is light at the end of the tunnel, Seven Seas of Rhye a simple yet catchy Piano/Guitar instrumental showcased what direction Queen should take with their next project but sadly the band would take themselves to seriously or maybe not seriously enough throughout their career to make that true gem of an album.
Their debut still has some elements that we would associate with Queen, extended harmonies, May's unique if at times limited guitar style. But sadly at times Queen out cliche themselves and alot of the tricks by albums end turn out to indeed be tired & cliched.
OK so here's a little more detail on the songs
KEEP YOURSELF ALIVE
Mentioned this already but a great track, instant classic that created a blue print Queen would use for years to come. 5/5
DOING ALL RIGHT
I guess this is ok even if it has elements of Sabbath in it. As said before Brian May is a good guitarist but not a great one and neither is his attempt at a heavy metal solo here. 2.5/5
GREAT KING RAT
Love the chorus but Freddie's vocals seem to be fighting with him though. He seems to try & be more like Robert Plant than Freddie Mercury. 2.5/5... Yes I did praise the song but looking back maybe it isn't as good as I first remembered.
MY FAIRY KING
The first Queenesque song of the album since Keep Yourself Alive. Decent enough but again every time the band go on about fairies & goblins you can't help but think of a band who did that 10 times better. 2/5
LIAR
If you're gonna do Zeppelin this is how you do it. One of the rare times May gets it right in his solo. Plus the all day long in the middle section is one of the rare moments where the band seem to be coming into their own. 4/5
THE NIGHT COMES DOWN
Decent enough mellow tune and how cool is it to hear a John Deacon solo for a change? One of the highlights of the album. 4/5
MODERN TIMES ROCK 'N' ROLL
Roger Taylor takes over with the vocals here & it isn't one of his better days. Another Zeppelin attempt gone wrong. 1/5
SON AND DAUGHTER
I want you to be a woman... Another stand out track. Mercury finally comes into his own her & Roger Taylor proves more than an efficent back. Glimpses of Queen's soon to be brush with vocal harmonies. 4/5
JESUS
Oh... this is truely terrible. Trouble being that yes in person Queen may seem like funny people but when you try to enforce humour on music it normally ends up like this... missing the point and ends up sounding daft and silly but ultimately boring. Humour is best when the person giving the joke isn't laughing. 1/5
SEVEN SEAS OF RHYE
A kinda glimpse of what was to come well not in part 2 but Queen's music in general. But as this is an instrumental that actually served no purpose I have to be cruel. 1/5
Which gives this album an average of 2.7.
Ok Queen were trying to find themselves and they are hardly the first band to delge into their influences but sadly they ended up on this album and many others being poor copies.
