"Sure, the material is so derivative it hurts (listen to guitarist Brian May cop riffs from Jimmy Page, Black Sabbath’s Tony Lomi, Jimi Hendrix, and Mick Box and you’ll see what I mean)"
How is Queen's material copied? They're pretty much the most original band I've ever heard.
Also a different review:
06-20-1974 – Queen II – Rolling Stone (Issue 163)
by KEN BARNES
Queen is a reasonably talented band who have chosen their models unwisely. On “Side Black,” they venture into a lyrically muddled fairy-tale world with none of Genesis’s wit or sophistication. They’ve also appropriated the most irritating elements of Yes’s style — histrionic vocals, abrupt and pointless compositional complexity, and a dearth of melody. “Side White” is quite an improvement, containing many of the same muddled tendencies, but with the saving grace of timely and well-chosen power chords and some rather pretty tunes. But the album remains a floundering and sadly unoriginal affair.
I just don't understand why the media hounded Queen for their diversity. Their diversity is the reason they're my favorite band. But nooooooo, their first album was mainly heavy rock, so now they have to only do heavy rock. What kind of logic was that?
Have you listened to Queen live in early 1974? I can see why such reviews came from - although it's difficult to read it objectively with 40 years of hindsight.
Queen Freddie Forever wrote:
"Sure, the material is so derivative it hurts (listen to guitarist Brian May cop riffs from Jimmy Page, Black Sabbath’s Tony Lomi, Jimi Hendrix, and Mick Box and you’ll see what I mean)"
How is Queen's material copied? They're pretty much the most original band I've ever heard.
Their albums, yes. But on stage in 1974 they sure weren't.
They played Son And Daughter, which is influenced by early Sabbath. One could easily say the same thing about the middle section of Father To Son. See What A Fool I've Been was a 12 bar blues that was nowhere near as good as early Zeppelin. And Brian's style hadn't fully formed by then. He was very much influenced by Page and Hendrix, and he wore it on his sleeve. Music journalists weren't in the wrong to point this out.
By 76 or 77 you'd be out of your mind to say Queen didn't have their own thing going on, but in 74 I can easily see how people would peg them as copycats.
SHA review from the same magazine:
"The more I listen to Sheer Heart Attack, the third album from Queen, the more I realize bow much I under-rated it a few months back when it was first released. Side one in particular is a delight, with Brian May’s multi-tracked guitar, Freddie Mercury’s stunning vocalizing and Roy Thomas Baker’s dynamic production work teaming up in a no-holds barred, full-scale attack on the senses."
This one is much more positive