Queen - Every album, every song (On Track)

Queen  Every Album, every Song (On Track)

Andrew Wild

I haven’t seen the film Bohemian Rhapsody yet despite several recommendations, yet when this slim 140-page volume dropped through my letterbox I beamed.  Sheer Heart Attack is one of my favourite albums and I bought the single Crazy Little thing Called Love but only Andrew Wild could explain to me why.  He calls it “a retro boogie rockabilly juggernaut" and this precision made the reading of this book as joyful a surprise as seeing a kaleidoscope for the first time.

With a critical eye, an abundance of facts (who knew there was a stylophone on Seven Seas of Rhye?) and opinions, he explains Queen’s appeal and simultaneously develops each character of the band through their songs, attributed quotations, and access to the original 24-track master tapes.  There isn’t any place to hide for the author – every generation knows their music and Andrew Wild revels in this type of challenge as he’s also written about Pink Floyd and The Beatles in the same series.

The early years show that Queen were professional in their attitude right from the start spending day and nights on their harmonies. Their first album  was a “Beautifully cut jewel…ready to go” - Electra boss Jac Holzman 1973. Even so, Brian May was self-critical the band  “sometimes fell into the trap of over-arrangement”.  The opinions of the author and comparisons to other bands are mind-expanding and make the book not just for Queen fans but for all music fans.

Wild describes the sound of Queen on Queen II coalesces into three styles, rocker, the ballad, and the anthem.  His detailed analysis of the album track by track has made me put this album onto my wish list.  I hadn’t linked A Night at the Opera and A Day At The Races ( which Wild argues are very similar in content) with the Marx Brothers films of the same name either.

The author also substantiates the similarity of All The Young Dudes (Mott The Hoople) and In The Lap of The Gods by explaining that Queen actually toured with Mott the Hoople.  He also compares Another One Bites The Dust  with Good Times by Chic especially in the driving bass line.  He suggests that Queen weren’t always as original as their singles suggest but doesn’t denigrate the artist but leaves it up to the reader if they agree.  Queen may have taken inspiration from Led Zeppelin , Rolling Stones ,Deep Purple ,Black Sabbath, Abba, Rush, Jimi Hendrix and Chuck Berry but they could hardly be successful in their own right if they were mere plagiarists of all these acts.  It also discounts the music-hall style of a number of songs like Bring Back Leroy Brown, Lazing on A Sunday Afternoon and Seaside Rendezvous. which allowed Freddie Mercury to fully express his charisma in performance.

The book is respectful of the artist and praises them for their intelligent lyrics, harmonies, shifting dynamics, multiple guitar work and recording techniques.  I would have preferred the album artwork alongside the commentary rather than the centre pages to break the book into more digestible pieces but no doubt in common with many factual books, this allows the publication costs to be kept down.

One Glorious Day - Live Aid (13 July,1985) in four pages refreshes the reader why Queen were so revered (they always delivered), why they gained a new set of fans and propels the reader through the second half of the book.

Wild reveals the diagnosis of Mercury with AIDS in April 1987.  His account of the work Queen put in on the tracks that would make up their final three albums before Freddie passed away, gives the reader a fresh appreciation of their music and the personalities of this national treasure.

NE