Hi all,
Bought a new turntable and the first thing I played was my original release Sheer Heart Attack LP.
Just sitting and listening to it, through good quality headphones and turntable was amazing, and I reckon it is the best first side to any Queen album. Does anyone else agree?
The opener is brilliant, followed by Killer Queen, Roger's best early track, one of Freddie's best heavy tracks, the beautiful ballad that is Lily of the Valley and closes with Now I'm Here. No filler, no crap.
Only issue is the production is a bit of a mixed bag. The two Brian rockers are quite muddy, with set back bass and drums. Probably on purpose to get a 'wall of sound' effect. However, Killer Queen is one of their best sounding songs, and the others are produced well. Any comments on the production?
I know the second side of SHA is weaker, so it isn't my favourite album, but the first side is bloody amazing and represents everything Queen were until that point and would be for the next few albums.
Not a chance - side 2 of SHA flows beautifully, and Leroy Brown particularly is where their penchant for genres of times past really takes flight. I wouldn't change a note.
The first five or six Queen albums are perfect. After that the filler starts showing up.
I've always preferred side 2 tbh. Took me a few years to 'get' Brighton Rock. Thought it was a terrible opening track for a long time. It's over 40 years since I first heard it. It's reasonable that my tastes have changed since.
She Makes Me serves as a great bit of tension and build up before the big release on In the Lap of the Gods Revisited. Definitely the ultimate closer to a Queen album. Sheer Heart Attack is a masterpiece from front to back.
The Real Wizard wrote:
Not a chance - side 2 of SHA flows beautifully, and Leroy Brown particularly is where their penchant for genres of times past really takes flight. I wouldn't change a note.
The first five or six Queen albums are perfect. After that the filler starts showing up.
I couldn't agree more, while the first side is perfect side 2 is almost as good. Leroy Brown Is one of my all time favorites. My least favorite is She Makes Me and I don't even dislike that one.
Sheer Heart Attack is an album I've never really warmed to like ANATO or ADATR. I think that it could be how short the tracks are. By the time you get into them they're nearly over - I still really like the songs but I just wish some of them were a little bit longer as the whole album to me sounds like two medleys instead of two sides.
Me? Queen II is the best. ANATO is up there but has almost become a victim of it's own success. The Game is fantastic to smash out at high volume on my commute home. The Works has very very highs and very very lows, Sheer Heart Attack is fucking brilliant (Dear Friends though.. WTF?) And I have a soft spot for The Miracle because it is the first Queen album I bought on release day..
ANATO was the very first Queen album I listened to and that has always been one of my favourites. ADATR is my all time favourite. If you want to know where SHA ranks in my list, probably halfway or the lower half - what that means is I like it as much as I like The Works which is my favourite 80s album.
I always get the impression (which isn't necessarily true) that it was a rush job because the tracks feel to me incomplete because they are so short. Brian's illness certainly hindered recording which probably made them more pressured to complete the album on time before the tour began.
Dear Friends is beautiful but I agree with everything else. The Miracle I always found to be a weaker album, but for some reason I listen to it a lot. That was the first album I bought from them on first day of release In 89 and was disappointed. At that time It was all about early Queen. It did grow me over time though.
Young Music Fan wrote:
ANATO was the very first Queen album I listened to and that has always been one of my favourites. ADATR is my all time favourite. If you want to know where SHA ranks in my list, probably halfway or the lower half - what that means is I like it as much as I like The Works which is my favourite 80s album.
2 great albums Opera and Races, but give SHA a proper listen, It's a brilliant record. Taste do change over time. When I first got Into Queen It was all about the first 4 records, Queen, Queen 2, SHA and Opera..Races I thought was a weak version of Opera. Now It's a top 3 album for me. I have a feeling over time you'll see the excellence of SHA.
Young Music Fan wrote:
ANATO was the very first Queen album I listened to and that has always been one of my favourites. ADATR is my all time favourite. If you want to know where SHA ranks in my list, probably halfway or the lower half - what that means is I like it as much as I like The Works which is my favourite 80s album.
2 great albums Opera and Races, but give SHA a proper listen, It's a brilliant record. Taste do change over time. When I first got Into Queen It was all about the first 4 records, Queen, Queen 2, SHA and Opera..Races I thought was a weak version of Opera. Now It's a top 3 album for me. I have a feeling over time you'll see the excellence of SHA.
Yes I probably will. Queen II was the second album I had and there are some great moments on that record too. In the past year or two when I was able to listen to Queen albums in their entirety more frequently, I've grown to really like Made In Heaven so that probably completes my Top 3 after Races and Opera. I'd say Q2 and Q1 complete my Top 5.
The other albums change all the time. Though I'd have to be honest and say my least favourite albums are Flash Gordon, A Kind Of Magic, The Miracle, Innuendo and Hot Space - probably in that order too. For some reason I really enjoy FG but perhaps that could go a couple of places lower in my list at times.
Magic and Miracle contain some of my all time favourite Queen tracks but also some of (in my opinion) weakest Queen songs.
Dear Friends is a beautiful lullaby. Part of the appeal of Queen. One of my faves but not everyone's cup of tea. better than virtually everything post '80.