I began listening to Queen in late July 2021. Queen and Deep Purple have the impressive distinction of being the only artists with five or more albums reviewed where not a single one is reviewed as a B- or higher.
Queen (1973): D+
Queen II (1974): C-
Sheer Heart Attack (1974): C+
A Night at the Opera (1975): C
A Day at the Races (1976): C+
Queen (1973):
Despite Brian May's often convincing skills on guitar and Freddie Mercury's legendary voice, which he hasn't gotten close to grasping by the way, I don't enjoy a single one of these songs. Mercury's over-the-top vocals on the album's ballads ruin what could have been a few decent songs and May's and Taylor's contribute some of the most disastrous backing vocals I've ever heard. Worst of all, pitiful lyrical efforts such as "Great King Rat," "My Fairy Queen," and "Jesus" help place the songs amongst some of the most revolting recordings of all time. Doesn't help they're shooting for the moon either. D+
Queen II (1974):
For a band whose main attraction is over-the-top, why does everything they do sound underwhelming and wimpy? Instead of May's guitar being dirty, thick, or heavy, it’s consistently quiet and clean. Such a fix would have hardly mattered though--a mere teacup of water in the Sahara. Despite the album being closer to the classic Queen sound, such constant use of multi-layered vocal overdubs make me want to slam my head against a concrete wall and Freddie sounds like the most pretentious asshole in music. I haven't hated the beginning of a discography so much since Black Sabbath and I have less hope it will turn around. C-
Sheer Heart Attack (1974):
There's very little on the album to hate--I can't let "She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos)" off the hook though, can I?--mostly because they've transitioned to more of a hard rock sound instead whatever circus marching band outer-space theatrics they were doing before. It also has a decent song, "Killer Queen," where the band's vision begins to materialize into listenable music. Still, the band so consistently makes use of dynamic song structures I barely have time to get into a groove and though I've felt May was talented from the start, I'm being more and more queued into his prowess and respect in the guitar world, particularly for his work on this album. And I just don't get it. C+
A Night at the Opera (1975):
Is this really the masterpiece everyone drools over? After taking themselves seriously for so long, Queen can't make "Seaside Rendezvous" as fun as it should be, "I'm in Love with My Car" is a perfect example of a band focused on the wrong things, and "The Prophet's Song" starts off fine but suddenly transitions into a completely uncalled for three minute a cappella piece followed by all the glitter needed for a six year-old's birthday party. "Bohemian Rhapsody"? A decent song, which was better when it was the only Queen song I had to listen to in a given week. The acoustic numbers are okay too. But the most expensive album to make up until that point didn't get so costly from two acoustic numbers. It got there by over-embellishing everything else. C
A Day at the Races (1976):
Crucify me if you must, but this is the first album where the band has executed their songs to the fullest. Freddie Mercury doesn't have any half-assed vocals, the guitar is pretty satisfying, and the over-embellishment doesn't end up sounding gaudy. All of these improvements do little to nothing, however, to change my enjoyment of this band. I've always objected to their aim in concept and that they've finally figured out how to achieve it only means I can't also criticize their shortcomings. But since this is my site and I force myself to babble even when no asked, the two best songs, "Tie Your Mother Down" and "Somebody to Love," should be shorter. C+
