Review Summary: Her majesty graces the stage with a sparkling, furious entrance and laying the groundwork for what was to come next in her ruling.
The 1970s was a new period for Rock music. This was the age without
Jimi Hendrix, without
The Beatles, and Rock was looking for a new leader to revolutionize music history. Bands such as
Led Zeppelin and
The Who as well as
Pink Floyd were putting out albums that were instant classics among Hard Rock, Progressive Rock, and other styles and we saw the rise of other new faces such as
Aerosmith,
AC/DC, the rise of Punk Rock and finally,
Queen.
Her majesty gracefully entered the throne full power and strong, taking on the challenge to make herself announced among the best. I bowed my head graciously and allowed myself to be overtaken by the creations that her highness had brought to the royal table. Queen’s basic stylistic elements are already here. Mercury’s theatrics, May’s distinctive guitar sound, and multi-part song structures are present on many of the best songs.
Quickly, my ears were blessed with the serene, stunning guitar work of Brian May on the albums first cut
"Keep Yourself Alive" which is a nice quick rock song which though it doesn't feature anything super unique or artistic like their later work, is an amazing hard rocker with a fun drum solo from Roger Taylor that leads flawlessly into a quick guitar solo from Brian which combines with the fantastic vocal performance of lead singer Freddie Mercury. It lacked the theatrics and campy operatic flamboyance of what was to come, but it was catchy, fairly produced and an early concert staple!
"Doing All Right" is a phenomenal showcase of the intricacy of Queen's work, and is a rather long piece featuring contrasting moods of a aggressive in-your-face rocker and other bits where it is tranquil. It's explosive and features many changes in tempo to keep things interesting with Brian shredding and wailing the absolute hell out of his guitar before going back to the almost dreamy-like feel of the softer part, before exploding again in the listeners face and giving them a jam feast of Hard Rock greatness.
"Great King Rat" flies in the scene with an impressive guitar lick from Brian May followed by Roger Taylor pulverizing his drumkit in an almost tribal-like feel. All this makes for an amazing showcase of the talent of these two, but the main interesting part here is Freddie Mercury's lyrics which give a glimpse of the majestic, almost fantasy-like theme that Freddie would come to use a lot in his songs. While
"My Fairy King" closes off side 1 of the LP and features the iconic "Mother Mercury" line which Freddie would adopt as his stage name. This song tells a beautiful story while showing the phenomenal falsetto of his, and is very poetic even taking lines and referencing the story of
The Piped Piper of Hamelin and shows off a lot of tempo changes and Segments of different music styles and feels very theatric and flamboyant which would serve as a stepping stone for
"Bohemain Rhapsody" later on.
"Liar" comes on like a storm, swirling in all kinds of directions as the song opens with a catchy hand-clap beat before lightning strikes the ground and the sound of the thunderous drums and fiery guitar attack full blow as Mercury belts out some of his greatest early lyrics and the song slows down before bursting at its seams into a delicious hard lick followed by bassist John Deacon contributing a bass solo that hooks you in like a fish in water.
The album slows with
"The Night Comes Down" which is a very artsy, slower song that feels very 60s Beatlesque and even references
"Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" from the famed
"Sgt. Peppers", its a very poetic and beautiful song about reflecting on youthful innocence and coming to terms with the time that has passed and the way you once viewed the world has been lost and changed now as an adult. This song features genius lyrics from Brian such as "Once I could see the good in me/The black and the white distinctively/Colouring, holding the world inside/Now, all the world is grey to me"
"Son and Daughter" is a heavy metal song that isn't anything unique or stunning but it sure as hell rocks and manages to be one of their heaviest. With a composition that sounds as if Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath had a baby, Brian May's lyrics tell of a tale on how when he was little his parents expected a girl so they made him behave that way while other peers tried to get him to act more like a boy, while
"Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll" is a rather quick headbanger from Roger Taylor clocking in at just two minutes being another not-so-unique song or a great showcase of talents but is still a well-written and produced fun piece and is about the story of the songs protagonist dreaming of becoming a rock star.
"Jesus" is another fantasy-themed song penned by Mercury and features some of Brian's guitar work thats incredible and critics at the time mistook as synthesizer, and the album ends with a interesting albeit kind of pointless glimpse at what's to come with an instrumental of the unfinished
"Seven Seas of Rhye". For all the positives with the instrument playing, composition work, and innovation on the strongest tracks, the production does hold the full potential of the band down and sounds rather muddy and quieting instruments in the mix at times alongside the vocals.
Overall this album is incredible, and even manages to be one of the *BEST* debut albums of all time from any band, definitely within the top 20. And I highly recommend a listen.
Rating: 4/5
