Queen (1973)

I'm reading a biography of Freddie Mercury and am inspired to listen to Queen's albums, starting with their first, pseudonymous release in 1973. It was an interesting hybrid of glam, prog-rock, and hard rock, and while it is distinctly a Queen album, some of the styles on the album would not last long.

It kicks off with "Keep Yourself Alive," which may be the best first song on a debut album, at least since "Rock and Roll" by Led Zeppelin. The chugging guitar by Brian May and then Mercury's vocals make it a song that I never tire of.

The album contains some straight ahead rock numbers, including two written by May (who also wrote "Keep Yourself Alive"), "The Night Comes Down" and "Son And Daughter." Roger Taylor wrote another rock song, appropriately titled "Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll."

Mercury's contributions are what made the album pop out from other bands. The prog-rock song "My Fairy King" seems quaint now, almost a self-parody:

"In the land where horses born with eagle wings
And honey bees have lost their stings
There's singing forever Lion's den with fallow deer
And rivers made from wine so clear
Flow on and on forever
Dragons fly like sparrows thru' the air
And baby lambs where Samson dares
To go on on on on on on"

The song also refers to "Mother Mercury," which is where some believe Fred Bulsara, as he was known then, took the last name that everyone would know him by.

He also wrote "Great King Rat," another character-driven song that seems to be a riff on Old King Cole as if he were a disease-ridden criminal:

"Great King Rat died today
 Born on the twenty first of May
Died syphilis forty four on his birthday
Every second word he swore
Yes he was the son of a whore
Always wanted by the law"

I think Mercury's strongest composition on this debut record is "Liar," which is a thumping rock number but has some of the over-dubbed vocals that would become Queen's trademark.

Many critics thought Queen sounded a bit like a cross between David Bowie and Led Zeppelin. I read that Mercury, while a salesman at a clothing shop, sold Bowie a pair of boots. Of course a few years later they would team on a song called "Under Pressure."

Queen's debut album peaked at 24 on the UK charts, but only got to 83 on the US charts. They would always be more popular in England than America. But it was successful enough that they went back in the studio for a follow-up.

Queen is not a great album, but in retrospect it does show the promise of what was to come.