Top 5 Queen Albums

Its no secret that Queen is my favourite band and as of last week it has been 50 years since John Deacon joined Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor and Brian May and the official line up of Queen was complete. So I’ve decided to do my top 5 today on their albums, as they have 13 studio albums to chose from its was no easy task. 

Number 5

A Day At The Races

A Day at the Races is Queens 5th Studio album. Recording taking place between July and November 1976, it being released December 10th 1976. It peaked at Number 1 in the UK, Japan and the Netherlands, as well as being voted 67th best album of all time by the British public in 2006. The album consists of 10 songs…Tie Your Mother Down, You Take My Breath Away, Long Away, The Millionaire Waltz, You and I, Somebody to Love, White Man, Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy, Drowse, and Two Torriatte (Let us Cling Together). Its very difficult for me to chose just one song as my favourite as the album is so varied and really has something for everyone and as much as I love Somebody to Love (which I’m sure you’ve all heard) and Drowse which isn’t as well know but I would also highly recommend my favourite is Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy written by Freddie, staring with a vocal accompanied by piano intro with the bass and drums adding on, it really is a rollercoaster of a song and one of the most audibly pleasing. The song was performed during one of the bands Top of the Pops appearances in June 1977. It was also perfumed on their A Day at the Races Tour and News of the World Tour. 

Number 4

Jazz

This is Queen’s 7th album, recorded from July to October 1978, and released November 10th of the same year. It reached number 2 in the UK charts and sold over 5 million copies worldwide. The album cover design was suggested by Roger, who saw a similar design painted on the Berlin Wall. The album is comprised of 13 tracks… Mustapha, Fat Bottomed Girls, Jealousy, Bicycle Race, If You Can’t Beat Them, Let Me Entertain You, Dead on Time, In Only Seven Days, Dreamers Ball, Fun it, Leaving Home Ain’t Easy, Don’t Stop Me Now and More of That Jazz. Now when it comes to my favourite song as much as I admire and commend Queen for their incredible artistry but my chosen song is my favourite as it links to a fond memory. When I was younger, I was on holiday with my family and one of the night entertainment was a Freddie Mercury impersonator. He was brilliant and this was one of my first interactions with anything Queen and he sang Fat Bottomed Girls and sang over to our table and commented “Theres none here by the way”. Its such a funny and vivid memory and makes me enjoy the song even more. 

Number 3

Sheer Heart Attack

This is Queens 3rd studio released album. Recording took place between July and October 1974 and it was released November 8th 1974. The album is more pop centric and features conventional rock tracks in comparison to their previous two albums, marking a step toward the ‘classic’ Queen sound. It has been listed by multiple publications as one of the bands best works and deemed an essential glam rock album. There are 13 tracks on the album… Brighton Rock, Killer Queen, Tenement Funster, Flick of the Wrist, Lily of the Valley, Now I’m Here, In the Lap of the Gods, Stone Cold Crazy, Dear Friends, Misfire, Bring Back That Leroy Brown, She Makes Me and In the Lap of the Gods…Revisited. My favourite track on the album is Killer Queen. It was the bands first international hit and is one of the few songs that Freddie wrote the lyrics before the music. The lyrics are so clever and they way Freddie makes them rhyme and work together is incredible . The actual music works so perfectly with the lyrics and makes it a very easy lesson. It was another one of their songs that was performed on Top of the Pops after charting as a single.

Number 2

A Night At The Opera

One of Queens most famous albums and is home to their first and most iconic song Bohemian Rhapsody. The album was recorded from August to November of 1975 and was released on November 21st of the same year.  The band recorded the album in 7 different studios over the 4 month period. They also spent a month rehearsing in a barn that is now known as the iconic Ridge Farm Studio. It was reportedly the most expensive album ever made at the time, with the estimated cost of £40,000. They album consist of 12 songs…Death on Two Legs, Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon, I’m in Love with My Car, You’re My Best Friend, ’39, Sweet Lady, Seaside Rendezvous, The Prophet’s Song, Love of my Life, Good Company, Bohemian Rhapsody and God Save the Queen. Now their are multiple songs on the album that I love but my favourite has to be Seaside Rendezvous purely for the immense talent just on that track. It was written by Freddie and is known for its instrumental bridge around half way through, This section is performed entirely by Freddie and Roger using their voices alone. Freddie imitates woodwind instruments like the clarinet and Roger bass instruments like the tuba, trumpet and at one point even the kazoo. The ‘tap dance’ section is performed by both on the mixing desk with thimbles on their fingers. If this doesn’t prove their insane talent then I don’t know what will. 

Number 1

News Of The World

In at number 1 is News of the World. This is Queens 6th studio album. It was recorded between July and September 1977, being released October 28th 1977. The album went 4x platinum in the US reaching number 3 on the Billboard 2000, it reached number 4 in the UK albums chart. It has sold over 10 million copies and remained one of the bands best selling albums. It is also home to two of their biggest UK singles, We Are The Champions and We Will Rock You which are now regarded as rock anthems. The album is comprised of 11 tracks…We Will Rock You, Sheer Heart Attack, All Dead, All Dead, Spread Your Wings, Fight From The Inside, Get Down Make Love, Sleeping on the Sidewalk, Who Needs You, It’s Late and My Melancholy blues. Now when it comes to picking favourites, as much as I tried I couldn’t narrow it down to just one! My first favourite is Sheer Heart Attack. This is the song their 3rd album was named after however Roger didn’t feel like the song was ready yet and kept working on it finally fitting it into this album. I love how crazy this song is, its the perfect one to play at full volume. Freddie sings the main verses whilst Roger sings the chorus. My other favourite is It’s Late, it was written by Brian and was his idea of treating a song as a three act theatrical play. He does this brilliantly and I have to say one of my favourite parts is the finale, it brings it all together and really just screams Queen. 

Although this weeks top 5 has been a little different to previous, I hope you like it and if you haven’t listened to any of these albums give them a go.