| Daveboy35 22.04.2005 09:04 |
Queen debut album first arrived in july1973 but had been recorded very frantically and sporadically over a period of two years when the studio was free and not being used by anyone else which was mainly in the late evening or well into the night. So not the perfect setting to make your debut but queen as queen always were ever determined to crack on and with finally signing a contract with EMI they released the eponymous debut album 'QUEEN'. First track off the album is keep yourself alive written by brian may and the first single from the album,this track is brilliant early glimpses of brian's unique sound and playing freddie's vocal range and taylor and deacon easing rhythm through the song makes it enjoyable to listen to. Rejected no less than 5times by radio1 playlist it also failed to chart. Doing all right follows and another great track written back in late68 or 69 by then smile vocalist tim staffel and brian may this version however features freddie on vocalsand he delivers a great vocal and again great guitar playing by b. may, i wonder what would have happened if they released this instead of KYA i bet it would have charted!. Liar follows and doesn't disapoint piano-led with bursts of operatic vocals and a great intro by roger. The often slated 'jesus' takes queen to another dimension thankfully one they don't revisit until'all god's people' a story of the messiah told by freddie not a great track but IMO it features great guitar work by brian. Seven seas of rhye ends side1 with a short instrumental freddie hadn't put many words down and serves as a taster for the future. Great king rat opens side2 with feedback from brian and tells a story of Great king rat apparently he was born on the 21st of may multi-tracked guitars abound and freddie calling on people to not believe what they read in the bible,freddie a atheist? surely not. My fairy king a mercury penned tune takes us to the land of fairies with freddie announcing to the world that he's no more bulsara but "mother mercury". The night comes down recorded at dea lane lea studios as a demo arrives on the album a lovely track with melodic substance and a standout finish. Modern times rock n roll sees roger's debut on the album a quick song quite heavy in places and sets up the finale which is son and daughter. son and daughter written by may closes the album with freddie unsure if he's a boy or a girl and the first use of bad language exclaming that the women expects the man to work on a farm!!!!!, nice work by brian near the end with his tonal range it almost sounds like a organ but is actually his red special playing out the album. A mixed first album dominated by mercury and may compositions and one from taylor sees queen over produced,over amplified,overdubbed and extravagant in every sense but hey that's queen all over isn't it,NOTE (no-one played synthesizer) Thank you beautiful people good night god bless you. |
| Boy Thomas Raker 22.04.2005 09:54 |
Wow! That was the track listing in Britian and Europe? What an odd sequence. Over in the US and Canada it was: Side One Keep yourself alive Doing all right Great King Rat My fairy king Side Two Liar The night comes down Modern times rock nad roll Son and daughter Jesus Seven seas of rhye |
| mike hunt 22.04.2005 10:02 |
queen's first album is brilliant, one of the best debuts ever, sadly never a big hit. 'queen' is simply in my top 5 of favorite queen albums, not as polished as their later work, but the raw and heavy sounds make up for it , a young and hungry queen. ,great king rat' is tremendous, 'liar' is brilliant and 'fairy king' shows hints of the freddie mercury style we all know and love. great album. |
| Mr Fred 22.04.2005 15:11 |
Yeah great review. But I think that you should have given "Liar" and "great King Rat" more good credits, as they are the best on the whole album. When Freddie sings in GKR that you don't shall believe what is written in the bible, I think that means that great king rat thinks so, as he is a really great ugly rat. |
| brENsKi 22.04.2005 17:42 |
mike hunt wrote: queen's first album is brilliant, one of the best debuts ever, sadly never a big hit. 'queen' is simply in my top 5 of favorite queen albums,i agree mike i usually have it as my seocnd fave behind queen II. amazing how you always go back to what you always liked - remember thinking how much i liked innuendo but it kinda faded ...and i always go back to the first few albums upto and incl jazz the 70s rocked - like the 80s could only imagine |
| jcrawford79 22.04.2005 18:04 |
Truly an amazing album....nothing has ever sounded as gritty and mean as Son & Daughter. Reminds me of Sabbath when they were good...... |
| mike hunt 24.04.2005 03:06 |
i agree, my favorites are queen2, anato, sheer heart attack, queen, adatr, i think the first 8 are brilliant, including 'jazz' and 'the game'. 'innuendo' is also in the mix. |
| Banquo 24.04.2005 04:30 |
I also love the 'piano led' Liar!?! |
| brENsKi 24.04.2005 06:13 |
jcrawford79 wrote: Truly an amazing album....nothing has ever sounded as gritty and mean as Son & Daughter. Reminds me of Sabbath when they were good......it's an amzing phenomenom - that debuts always sound raw but full of potential led zep, queen, sabs, pistols - christ - even Oasis - there's something about "finally getting the chance to record" that brings out all the energy and life the second album is usually a contrast - the production is important and the kitchen sink gets thrown in - result a highly-polished better produced version of the debut ...which is why i love queen and queen II |
| djaef 24.04.2005 08:23 |
Brenda, where DID you get your album from?? By the tracklisting, I'd have to imagine you pieced it together very poorly from misnumbered mp3s you downloaded off some deluded teenagers in Boston... |
| Daveboy35 24.04.2005 12:03 |
No thomas my information is correct i've just gone by my tracklisting from the orignal cassette which as a running order of: KYA, Doing all right,liar,jesus,seven seas of rhye Great king rat,my fairy king,the night comes down,modern times rock 'n'roll son and daughter. It was distributed by a company called FAME and indeed the tracklisting is indeed odd and i have no idea why they did this, i have had this version for years and went from this rather than the 'Well known' version so apologies to you if it seem strange. |
| Daveboy35 24.04.2005 13:26 |
And just to prove a point i've found this on the web and it has the same tracklisting that i have i hope it clears up any confusion. link And thomas when you say facts to what are you referring to? |
| djaef 24.04.2005 17:47 |
BRENDA wrote: No thomas my information is correct i've just gone by my tracklisting from the orignal cassette...That's the thing Brenda. It's NOT the original cassette. I'd forgotten about the FAME re-issues, and God knows why anyone would mess with the running order, but believe me - this is not the correct running order. This is a joke. Try listening to the album in the correct order. It will probably sound funny if you've gotten used to hearing it in the Fame order, but it's the way Queen wanted you to hear it, so give it a go. |
| antiden 25.04.2005 02:44 |
What a shitty and wrong statements!!! "My fairy king a mercury penned tune takes us to the land of fairies with freddie announcing to the world that he's no more bulsara but "mother mercury". - are you crazy?? Freddie had nothing to announce in this song, just listen to it carefully! Brian officially said that Freddie had decided to change his name after the track, because "Mother Mercury" had meant to be HIS MOTHER (as Freddie had said)... "Son and daughter written by may closes the album with freddie unsure if he's a boy or a girl" - do you have problems with sexual orientation? The song is definetely NOT about what you have written. BRENDA, stop putting your very SUBJECTIVE reviews! Each of us has his own thoughts & visions. If everybody put his reviews there would be endless topics... |
| Daveboy35 25.04.2005 02:54 |
You take my reviews as you like but i write them with 'tongue in cheek' style cause i don't take it too seriously and as i TRY to explain a song i elaborate from time to time,after all it's only opinion. With regards to "mother mercury" i was referring to the point that after writng my fairy king freddie announced his name change from bulsara to mercury but again in my own way,though i take your point it might give out info which might not be true. With the fame reissues i have heard the proper running order before on vinyl and i am sure i still have it somewhere and it sounds brilliant,but i went from the re-issue instead. (banging head on table as we speak) |
| dragonzflame 25.04.2005 05:19 |
My name is in The Night Comes Down. Therefore it is good. |
| Live Killer 25.04.2005 08:25 |
Yeah, Queen is also one of my absolute favourites. And its kind of strange, because its the first queen album I own. Its a really good and balanced album, whit all the tracks having a high standard. I like all the tracks really much, especially Doing allright (maybe the best track on the whole album), my fairy king, the night comes down. An amazing album overall. |
| great king rat 1138 25.04.2005 12:37 |
BHM 0271 wrote: Wow! That was the track listing in Britian and Europe? What an odd sequence. Over in the US and Canada it was: Side One Keep yourself alive Doing all right Great King Rat My fairy king Side Two Liar The night comes down Modern times rock nad roll Son and daughter Jesus Seven seas of rhyeNo, you're quite right BHM 0271, it's the same track listing here in britain. I think someone's a bit confused! This is by far my favourite album. The opening riff on keep yourself alive is the ultimate hook. I love doing alright, although I actually think I prefer the smile version (check out 'Ghost of a Smile' - Dutch CD released in the late 90s) it's much more chilled out than the queen version. |
| great king rat 1138 25.04.2005 12:39 |
Mr Fred wrote: Yeah great review. But I think that you should have given "Liar" and "great King Rat" more good credits, as they are the best on the whole album. When Freddie sings in GKR that you don't shall believe what is written in the bible, I think that means that great king rat thinks so, as he is a really great ugly rat.As you may have guessed, that is my favourite queen song ever, closely folloed by liar (especially the live Earls Court 77 version) and Save Me |
| deleted user 25.04.2005 13:47 |
I haven't got Queen, News of The World, Jazz, A Kind Of Magic and The Miracle albums yet. So do you think I should get Queen next? |
| great king rat 1138 25.04.2005 14:00 |
most definitely, not just because personally I think it's the best Queen album, but also because the best place to start is generally at the beginning! I say buy it. Today. Then let us know what you think of it. |
| mike hunt 26.04.2005 10:41 |
i think 'the night comes down' is one of the best vocally i heard from freddie, great range in that song. |
| deleted user 26.04.2005 12:35 |
great king rat 1138 wrote: most definitely, not just because personally I think it's the best Queen album, but also because the best place to start is generally at the beginning! I say buy it. Today. Then let us know what you think of it.I've bought it. It should arrive by Friday, so I'll let you know what I think of it... |
| Joker 26.04.2005 13:03 |
i thought " Queen in nuce " was their first album? |
| Daveboy35 26.04.2005 13:30 |
No freddie2 queen is their first official album and even though i haven't got "queen in nuce" i gather it contains early smile,larry lurex tracks. |
| goinback 28.04.2005 04:00 |
Well this is strange: The EMI UK 8-track also has the same track sequence Brenda gave: link (I really need to update that page one of these days...I have a lot more pix, and one of the Hot Space tapes is labeled incorrectly....) What were the FAME cassette reissues? (I couldn't tell from the website.) Were they from EMI or a different company? |
| great king rat 1138 28.04.2005 04:10 |
BRENDA wrote: No freddie2 queen is their first official album and even though i haven't got "queen in nuce" i gather it contains early smile,larry lurex tracks.Personally, I think that Queen in Nuce is a bit of a waste of money. The Larry Lurex tracks are available elsewhere in better quality, as are Mad the Swine and See What a fool I've been. The quality on the Smile Tracks is awful, so it's much better to get 'Ghost of a Smile', where the quality is near perfect, and you get all 6 tracks that are known to have been recorded. All good fun though! |
| Joker 28.04.2005 12:17 |
i agree with you great king rat even though i have Queen in nuce i dont really listen to it because the Quality does suck on it |
| deleted user 28.04.2005 16:20 |
<B><font color=salmon>:Dust:Biter:</B> wrote:It has been dispatched...great king rat 1138 wrote: most definitely, not just because personally I think it's the best Queen album, but also because the best place to start is generally at the beginning! I say buy it. Today. Then let us know what you think of it.I've bought it. It should arrive by Friday, so I'll let you know what I think of it... ;D |
| great king rat 1138 29.04.2005 03:38 |
Excellent! You're in for a treat! |
| deleted user 29.04.2005 14:46 |
Ah ha it has arrived!! It's a great album! I have just listened to all the tracks. I think my favourites so far would be: My Fairy King The Night Comes Down Doing All Right Oh and Great King Rat All of them really... It's a very sweet album, despite all the hard rock stuff. I think it's more friendly than Queen II, because it's not quite so complicated, but I can't decide which album is my favourite... |
| great king rat 1138 30.04.2005 05:02 |
<B><font color=salmon>:Dust:Biter:</B> wrote: Ah ha it has arrived!! It's a great album! I have just listened to all the tracks. I think my favourites so far would be: My Fairy King The Night Comes Down Doing All Right Oh and Great King Rat All of them really... It's a very sweet album, despite all the hard rock stuff. I think it's more friendly than Queen II, because it's not quite so complicated, but I can't decide which album is my favourite...I'm glad you like it. Listen to it a few more times, and I'm sure you'll start to be blown away just like I was! If you like doing Alright, you should try to get hold of Ghost of a Smile and hear the Original version. I personally believe it's even better! |
| ANAGRAMER 30.04.2005 06:10 |
why are you doing this? |
| deleted user 30.04.2005 08:48 |
because we feel like it |