Queen had an uncertain beginning in the ’70s, and then an uncertain ending. In between, they completed the band’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame resume.
Like many first albums, 1973’s gold-selling self-titled debut was occasionally spotty – but it showed thrilling promise. Queen began to live up to those standards with Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack, both released in 1974. The latter LP finally broke Queen in the U.S., reaching No. 12.
What their earliest albums lacked was a big single, but plenty were on the way. “Killer Queen” became Queen’s first-ever U.S. Top 20 hit in 1974. Then “Bohemian Rhapsody” broke all of the rules on the way to the Top 10 in 1975. Queen would release three more Top 20 singles while completing the group’s best three-album run.
READ MORE: Ranking Every Queen Album
Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon were at the peak of their powers for 1975’s A Night at the Opera, 1976’s A Day at the Races and 1977’s News of the World. Queen may have bitten off a bit more than they could chew with 1978’s genre-hopping Jazz, but the LP extended their run of consecutive platinum international Top 5 smashes to four in a row.
As you’ll see in the following countdown of Top 10 Queen ’70s songs, even the deep cuts on their best records were certifiable triumphs. Here’s a look back:
No. 10. “Seven Seas of Rhye”
From: Queen II (1974)
This song took a circuitous route to becoming Queen’s first U.K. chart entry, beginning as a forgettable instrumental sketch to close out their self-titled debut. The band then filled in more details in advance of an appearance on Top of the Pops. (“Seven Seas of Rhye,” like others found on Queen and Sheer Heart Attack, took place in a Tolkien-esque fantasy world envisioned by Freddie Mercury.) They were so encouraged by the response that a single was rushed out just two days later. When it soared to No. 10 in their homeland, Queen was suddenly emboldened toward their platinum-selling peak. A soon-to-be-famous meticulousness was beginning to take hold, as well. When Mercury learned that a rejected mix had been used on the single’s initial pressings for radio, he ordered them retrieved and destroyed.
No. 9. “Sheer Heart Attack”
From: News of the World (1977)
Casual fans tend to reduce Queen to their anthemic balladry. What’s missed was the group’s ability to unleash roundhouse after roundhouse of knuckle-sandwich heavy rock. “Sheer Heart Attack” pushed back against the then-nascent punk movement while mimicking the genre’s immolating abandon. It’s a flurry of sound, almost out of control, as pulse-quickening as its title promised. Taylor, who wrote the tune, plays with a machine gunner’s attention to destruction, while May unleashes a series of tornadic screeches. For Mercury, there’s no time for patented theatrics. He has to focus every bit of his energy – as does Deacon – just to keep up with the track’s furious pace. In the end, “Sheer Heart Attack” showed just how dangerous Queen always could be.
No. 8. “Don’t Stop Me Now”
From: Jazz (1978)
No, not jazz, thankfully. Instead, it was a curious album that found Queen traveling deeper into stadium rock, while also dipping a toe into disco. That made “Don’t Stop Me Now” feel like a comfy trip down memory lane. Queen’s past was far more interesting than most, so this Top 10 U.K. is again stuffed with cloud-bursting harmonies, Mercury’s delicately involving piano work and an intriguing musical feint: May’s only guitar contribution is the solo. Otherwise, he lays out as the remaining trio constructs a lean frame on which to hang the latest impishly Bacchanalian tale from Mercury.
No. 7. “We Will Rock You”
From: News of the World (1977)
Custom-designed for a sports arena near you, “We Will Rock You” begins with a caveman beat and a voice – and that’s really all there is, at least until May’s razored closing outburst. As with everything else they did, Queen carefully created this song’s famous rhythmic effect. They overdubbed themselves stomping on a drum riser and clapping, over and over again, then added a delay to make it sound like many people were taking part. Then, for a while in the late ’70s, they’d play an incredible sped-up version to open their concerts just to get everyone’s hearts racing. The accompanying video was shot at Taylor’s house in Surrey on the same day they filmed a clip for “Spread Your Wings.”
No. 6. “Spread Your Wings”
From: News of the World (1977)
A power ballad that just trembles with emotion, “Spread Your Wings” was the first hint at composer John Deacon’s growing disillusionment with the music business. “The song has to do with a number of personal experiences from recent years. I’d rather not say in detail, because I don’t like to explain songs,” Deacon said in Queen: All the Songs. “It’s not always easy, let me tell you. You deal with a lot of things that are not always pleasant.” Deacon returned to private life following Mercury’s AIDS-related death in the early-’90s. His last Queen performance was during a single-song appearance with Elton John in the Ballet for Life in 1997.
No. 5. “You’re My Best Friend”
From: A Night at the Opera (1975)
Playing a barky Wurlitzer electric piano, Deacon opens “Best Friend” with a bubble-gum pop of sunshine — giving the tune a veneer so shiny that, at first, it’s difficult to pinpoint as a Queen song. If there were any doubts, though, in bursts Mercury – pushing his voice toward places that your average pop singer wouldn’t dare, sounding at times simply astonished and at others in the throes of a rapturous delight. May’s solo, meanwhile, is best described as a crafty wink. His drive-by burst of mirthful wonder is gone almost as quickly as it begins, becoming quickly obscured by the only thing that could – Queen’s soaring, impossibly luminous background vocals.
No. 4. “We Are the Champions”
From: News of the World (1977)
When Mercury initially tried out this power ballad, May admitted that its over-the-top braggadocio “had us on the floor laughing.” Then his bandmates realized Mercury was serious. After years of struggle, he was ready for a victory lap, comparing “We Are the Champions” to Frank Sinatra’s signature boast in “My Way.” “We have made it, and it certainly wasn’t easy,” Mercury later admitted. “No bed of roses, as the song says.” In a 1999 talk with Mojo, an incredulous May remembered saying, “You can’t do this, Fred. You’ll get killed.” Mercury’s reply? “Yes, we can.” He was right: “We Are the Champions,” often coupled with the stadium rocker “We Will Rock You,” became a Top 5 hit in both the U.S. and the U.K.
No. 3. “Somebody to Love”
From: A Day at the Races (1976)
No other band had the gumption to try something like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” or the gumption to follow it up with this. Queen took their multi-tracked vocal approach to a new zenith on a soul-searching, Aretha Franklin-style gospel number, piling the voices of Mercury, May and Taylor to heaven-touching levels. “You can imagine how long it took to do it – over and over and over again,” Mercury admitted in Somebody to Love: The Life, Death and Legacy of Freddie Mercury. “People probably think, ‘Oh, God, they’re in the studio again for four and a half months,’ but we think it’s necessary because it just has to be right, that’s all.” May goosed it all along with another flinty turn, as Queen found still another unlikely path to multi-platinum success.
No. 2. “Killer Queen”
From: Sheer Heart Attack (1974)
Queen’s first international smash holds nearly every piece of the group’s DNA. This is where most people first recognized the band’s knack for stratospheric four-part harmonies, for deliciously brazen salaciousness and for incredible studio wizardry. They were quickly moving away from the edgier sound of the first two Queen LPs, mainly because that brutish, straightforward style simply couldn’t contain their dizzying inventiveness. (What do you even call this? Cabaret power pop, maybe?) May’s multi-tracked solo alone remains a wonder of nervy guile. “‘Killer Queen’ was the turning point. It was the song that best summed up our kind of music, and a big hit, and we desperately needed it as a mark of something successful happening for us,” May later mused. “What can I say? It’s vintage Queen.”
No. 1. “Bohemian Rhapsody”
From: A Night at the Opera (1975)
Queen’s definitive song, “Bohemian Rhapsody” marries both of their principal musical impulses – oh, with a little opera to glue the hard and soft spots together. Mercury’s creative triumph was put together in an analog era when layering ideas like this turned into excruciating tests of will. Often, his bandmates admitted that they had no idea where this was even headed. Thankfully, the others bowed to Mercury’s then-unknowable, perhaps autobiographical vision, affectionately dubbing this “Fred’s Thing.” He drew in characters from literature, history and his boundless imagination, then surrounded them with enough musical details for an album-length concept. As such, it’s impossible to pigeonhole this song by genre, or even by subject matter. Whatever this was, it worked: “Bohemian Rhapsody” topped the U.K. charts for a then-unheard-of nine weeks.
Rejected Original Titles of 30 Classic Albums
Titles are more than just words on the album covers. They’re reflections of the music and themes inside – and sometimes they make all the difference in the world.
Gallery Credit: UCR Staff
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