Rock Classics is back
Today - It has been a while again -another issue of my Rock Classics Series - I think a fit for the creative people here. Here we are with a legend rock band from the UK. Some might be surprised they come only at #38 of the series. I have to admit they were not one of my favourites but they played a huge role with legendary hymns especially used for sports parties. Here come my personal favourites of the band from movie surroundings and other personal stories. Freddie Mercury was a hero and Brian May is one of the best guitar guys I ever heard. But before some key facts in short about the band.
Foundation of the band
The story of Queen begins in the mid-1970s, when guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor had little success with their band "Smile". Lead singer of the band at that time was Timm Staffell, who was friends with a young man named Farrokh Bulsara. Bulsara was very fond of the band and became the lead singer in 1970 when Staffell decided to quit - and changed his name to Freddie Mercury. When Mercury was able to convince Brian May and Roger Taylor with his mixture of rock and operetta, only bassist John Deacon, who joined in 1971, was missing. In addition to his own name, Mercury also changes the name of the band and the four young men now call themselves Queen. In their homeland they quickly find fans and travel through London and the surrounding area. They send a demo tape to the record company EMI, which signs the new band.
Breakthrough in the music business
With their first album "Queen I" (1972) they didn't reach the desired success yet and the album flopped in Europe.
When the album "Queen II" came onto the market in 1974, the desired breakthrough in the British music business was achieved and landed at number five on the local album charts. In the same year the album "Sheer Heart Attack" is released, which contains titles like "Killer Queen" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" - the best song of 1976. With the latter title, they even write music history: with a length of almost six minutes and a song that resembles an opera rather than a classical rock song, the composition can stay at number one in the British charts for a whole nine weeks. Now at the latest, the band is celebrating international success.
With the release of the song "We Are the Champions", composed by Freddie Mercury, they reach thousands of people. With further songs like "We Will Rock You" and "Another One Bites The Dust" the four-piece band proves that they don't shy away from diversity in music, and that they also master it.
Already in 1981 Queen released their first Greatest-Hits album, which is still the most commercially successful album in Great Britain.
Stage spectacle at concerts
Queen are especially famous for their concerts, which fill arenas and stadiums all over the world and especially convince with special productions, which are the work of Freddie Mercury. Performances at Wembley Stadium, Hyde Park and the Rock Festival in Rio were made even more extraordinary by provocative clothing such as tight suits, wide tank tops and make-up.
Disco beats instead of rock operetta
At the beginning of the eighties another milestone was added to the band's profile when they composed the song "Under Pressure" with musician David Bowie, which became a world hit.
In 1982 they recorded the album "Hot Space", which was very different from their previous albums. The recordings take place in Munich, which at that time was strongly influenced by disco beats, which is also reflected on Queen's album. Mercury lived at this time alternately in New York and Munich, where he could live out his homosexuality freely. However, the band has dared too much and the press and fans begin to condemn the work of the four-piece group. However, the song "Life is Real" contained on the album can convince many of them, as it is dedicated to John Lennon who has just been shot.
Back to the roots
In 1984, however, they win back their fans with the album "The Works", which is stylistically similar to the first albums again. One year later they played in front of 250.000 spectators at the "Rock in Rio"-Festival and shortly afterwards at Bob Geldof's Live Aid concert in London in front of more than 70.000 people. The twelfth album of the group "A Kind Of Magic" is also a complete success and reaches the top 5 position on the album charts in five countries - and is also awarded platinum and gold. In 1987 the four band members went their own ways and Freddie Mercury wrote the opening title of the 1992 Olympic Games, which was interpreted by Montserrat Caballé.
Here are my three favourite Queen songs
Another Ones bites the dust is one of the songs with the most stunning bass guitar. One vision is simply a perfect rock song and the Highlander hymn is reminding me about my youth so much!
