Sheer Heart Attack
Encyclopedia
Sheer Heart Attack is the third album by the British rock
group Queen
, released in November 1974. It was produced by Queen
and Roy Thomas Baker
and distributed by EMI
in the United Kingdom, and Elektra
in the United States.
The album launched the band to mainstream popularity both in the UK and internationally: the first single, "Killer Queen
" reached #2 in the British charts and provided Queen with their first US Top 20 hit, peaking at #12 on the Billboard singles chart
. Sheer Heart Attack was also the first Queen album to hit the US Top 20, peaking at #12 in 1975. Digressing from the progressive
themes featured on their first two albums, Sheer Heart Attack featured more conventional rock tracks and marked a step towards the classic Queen sound. In recent years, it has been listed by multiple publications as one of the band's best works.
, but time restrictions meant that the song was not ready for inclusion on an album until Sheer Heart Attack. The title is something of a pun: Brighton rock
is a long, cylindrical sugar candy
traditional to that seaside resort
. The term was also iconic in UK pop culture as the title of a dark Graham Greene
thriller/noir novel later adapted into a successful film starring Richard Attenborough
as a teenage sociopath.
The song, the first track on the album, tells the story of two young lovers meeting in Brighton
on a public holiday
. Jenny cannot linger because she is afraid her mother will find out "how I spent my holiday", but afterwards "writes a letter every day"; Jimmy, eager on the day, is not so happy with her "nothing can my love erase": now he is the one afraid of discovery by "my lady".
The song is probably best-known for its lengthy guitar solo interlude. This featured May's technique of using multiple echoes used to build up guitar harmony and contrapuntal melodic lines. The studio version only contains one "main" guitar and one "echoed" guitar for a short section, but live, he would usually split his guitar signal into "main" and two "echoed", with each going to a separate bank of amplifiers.
Variations of this solo often featured during live Queen concerts, either as part of a rendition of Brighton Rock, a medley of it with some other songs (as witnessed on the News of the World
tour where it segued after Mercury's multiple echoed vocal solo at the end of "White Man" and May's solo would segue into "The Prophet's Song" or "Now I'm Here
"), or on its own as a guitar solo.
In the late 70s, the guitar solo was adapted to include some bass and drums, including a timpani
solo by Taylor (from October, 1978 to November, 1981). In 1980 and 1981, the solo was included as a medley with "Keep Yourself Alive
", before becoming a performance in its own right. During the recent tour of Queen + Paul Rodgers
, a modified version, incorporating bits of "Chinese Torture" (from the album The Miracle) and the introduction from "Now I'm Here" was featured in the concerts. The live piece is often between nine to thirteen minutes long.
consisted of Taylor's drums, Mercury's piano, Deacon's bass, and May's Red Special
guitar. It's a typical Taylor track about youth and rebellion. In addition to showcasing the out-of-phase tone capabilities of the Red Special, it also includes echo effects with May's guitar, like in "Brighton Rock". The last couple of guitar notes overlap into "Flick of the Wrist". The original working title
s for the song were "Teen Dreams" and "Young and Crazy".
The song, together with "Tenement Funster" and "Flick of the Wrist", was covered by Dream Theater
on the Bonus Disc of their album Black Clouds & Silver Linings
.
, it was recorded during the last week of the sessions, with May playing piano. The song relies a lot on delay machines, foreshadowing "The Prophet's Song". The song opens with a lone, guitar riff, and is followed by choir-like vocal harmonies and overdubbed guitar parts.
" and the A Night at the Opera
album in general. It is built in three parts: the introduction, which contains fast piano arpeggios, very high-toned screams by Taylor plus vocals harmonies, the second part which is a slow love song, featuring slowed-down vocals by Mercury, and the third part, based on vocals harmonies singing "leave it in the lap of the gods", with more screams by Taylor. Those screams were thought to be made using synthesizers, and to prove they were not, Taylor would reproduce them in live performance every night. Throughout the entire song, wind effects can be heard.
. It was the first song credited to all four members of Queen. This track is known for its fast tempos and heavy distortion, thus being a precursor to speed metal
. Music magazine Q
described "Stone Cold Crazy" as "thrash metal
before the term was invented". The song was played live at almost every Queen concert between 1974-1978.
Def Leppard
covered this song (and sung by bassist Rick Savage
) for a Wal Mart bonus EP for their cover album, Yeah!.
Neko Case
performed a country version of the song on her 1997 solo début album, "The Virginian."
. The song's title alludes to the then-recent hit "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" by the American singer-songwriter Jim Croce
(little known in Queen's native UK) who had died in a plane crash the previous year. The song was played live in a different arrangement that shortened the song and was, except for the very end and one other line, purely instrumental. May's ukelele-banjo would be brought onstage especially for this song.
. The song's finale features what May referred to as "New York nightmare sounds", which include NYC police vehicle sirens and deep-breathing sounds which accompany the closing bars.
".
commended "Brian May's multi-tracked guitar, Freddie Mercury's stunning vocalising and Roy Thomas Baker's dynamic production work", calling the album "a no-holds barred, full-scale attack on the senses". Circus
referred to the album as "perhaps the heaviest, rockingest assault on these shores we've enjoyed in some time". Rolling Stone
offered a mostly positive review, giving the album a 3/5 star rating, and concluding, "If it's hard to love, it's hard not to admire: This band is skilled, after all, and it dares". John Mendelsohn
was unimpressed, writing, "I hunted all over both sides of this latest album for something, anything, even remotely as magnificent as "Keep Yourself Alive
" or "Father to Son", only to end up empty-eared and bawling". As 1974 drew to a close, the album was ranked by Disc
as the third best of the year and placed joint #24 of the 60 albums to appear in NME's end-of-year list.
Allmusic awarded the album 4.5/5 stars, writing, "the theatricality is now wielded on everyday affairs, which ironically makes them sound larger than life. And this sense of scale, combined with the heavy guitars, pop hooks, and theatrical style, marks the true unveiling of Queen, making Sheer Heart Attack as the moment where they truly came into their own". Mojo
awarded the album 4/5 stars, noting that it was "often overlooked in favour of A Night at the Opera
," and calling it "equally stellar". Q
awarded the album 5/5 stars, calling it "indispensable" and "one of the great pop/rock admixtures of the '70s". The BBC wrote, "they stretched contemporary production methods to their very limit with multi-layered vocals and guitars and Freddie’s vaudevillian streak finally emerged... this was the album that finally saw Queen find their true voice".
(*) designates unordered lists.
During Queen's first North American Tour (as a support band for Mott the Hoople), May fell ill with hepatitis
(he had been infected with an unclean needle during a vaccination before the Australian tour), but he continued to work from hospital. When he was fit, the work continued in studio, but then he fell ill again, this time with a duodenal ulcer. When May was recovering after an operation, the next tour had been cancelled. He felt guilty, and was a bit nervous that someone would replace him in the band. Much to his relief, no one in the group had even considered it. All three members were continuing on recording without May at the time. Production planning had left a lot of spaces in the songs for May's solos. When he felt well enough, he returned and completed the tracks with guitar solos and backing vocals.
would come to an end after almost 40 years. According to Universal Music, all Queen albums are to be remastered and reissued in 2011.
The supporting bands consisted of Styx
, Kansas
, Hustler, and Mahogany Rush
.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
group Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
, released in November 1974. It was produced by Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
and Roy Thomas Baker
Roy Thomas Baker
Roy Thomas Baker is a multiple award-winning Anglo-American music producer, songwriter, arranger and Recording Academy Governor, who has produced Platinum and Gold certified pop and rock records from the 1970s to the present.- Career :Baker began his career at Decca Records in England at the age...
and distributed by EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
in the United Kingdom, and Elektra
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
in the United States.
The album launched the band to mainstream popularity both in the UK and internationally: the first single, "Killer Queen
Killer Queen (song)
"Killer Queen" is a song by British rock band Queen. Written by pianist and lead singer Freddie Mercury, it featured on their 1974 album Sheer Heart Attack, and also appears on the band's compilation album, Greatest Hits. When released as a single, "Killer Queen" was Queen's breakthrough hit,...
" reached #2 in the British charts and provided Queen with their first US Top 20 hit, peaking at #12 on the Billboard singles chart
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
. Sheer Heart Attack was also the first Queen album to hit the US Top 20, peaking at #12 in 1975. Digressing from the progressive
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
themes featured on their first two albums, Sheer Heart Attack featured more conventional rock tracks and marked a step towards the classic Queen sound. In recent years, it has been listed by multiple publications as one of the band's best works.
Track listing
Brighton Rock
Brian May wrote "Brighton Rock" in 1973 before the completion of Queen IIQueen II
Queen II is the second album by British rock group Queen, released in March 1974. It was recorded at Trident Studios, London in August 1973 with co-producers Roy Thomas Baker and Robin Cable, and engineered by Mike Stone....
, but time restrictions meant that the song was not ready for inclusion on an album until Sheer Heart Attack. The title is something of a pun: Brighton rock
Rock (confectionery)
Rock is a type of hard stick-shaped boiled sugar confectionery most usually flavoured with peppermint or spearmint. It is commonly sold at tourist resorts in the UK ; in Ireland in seaside towns such as Bray and Strandhill; in Gibraltar; in Denmark in towns such as Løkken and Ebeltoft; and in...
is a long, cylindrical sugar candy
Candy
Candy, specifically sugar candy, is a confection made from a concentrated solution of sugar in water, to which flavorings and colorants are added...
traditional to that seaside resort
Seaside resort
A seaside resort is a resort, or resort town, located on the coast. Where a beach is the primary focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort.- Overview :...
. The term was also iconic in UK pop culture as the title of a dark Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
thriller/noir novel later adapted into a successful film starring Richard Attenborough
Richard Attenborough
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...
as a teenage sociopath.
The song, the first track on the album, tells the story of two young lovers meeting in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
on a public holiday
Holiday
A Holiday is a day designated as having special significance for which individuals, a government, or a religious group have deemed that observance is warranted. It is generally an official or unofficial observance of religious, national, or cultural significance, often accompanied by celebrations...
. Jenny cannot linger because she is afraid her mother will find out "how I spent my holiday", but afterwards "writes a letter every day"; Jimmy, eager on the day, is not so happy with her "nothing can my love erase": now he is the one afraid of discovery by "my lady".
The song is probably best-known for its lengthy guitar solo interlude. This featured May's technique of using multiple echoes used to build up guitar harmony and contrapuntal melodic lines. The studio version only contains one "main" guitar and one "echoed" guitar for a short section, but live, he would usually split his guitar signal into "main" and two "echoed", with each going to a separate bank of amplifiers.
Variations of this solo often featured during live Queen concerts, either as part of a rendition of Brighton Rock, a medley of it with some other songs (as witnessed on the News of the World
News of the World (album)
News of the World is the sixth studio album by British rock group Queen, released in 1977. Containing hit songs "We Will Rock You", "We Are the Champions" and "Spread Your Wings", the album went 4x platinum in the US, 2x platinum in the UK, and achieved high certifications around the world as...
tour where it segued after Mercury's multiple echoed vocal solo at the end of "White Man" and May's solo would segue into "The Prophet's Song" or "Now I'm Here
Now I'm Here
"Now I'm Here" is a song by the English rock band Queen. The sixth song on their third album, Sheer Heart Attack, it was written by lead guitarist Brian May while he was in hospital with hepatitis. The song is noted for its hard riff and vocal harmonies. In the UK, the song hit #11 on the charts...
"), or on its own as a guitar solo.
In the late 70s, the guitar solo was adapted to include some bass and drums, including a timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
solo by Taylor (from October, 1978 to November, 1981). In 1980 and 1981, the solo was included as a medley with "Keep Yourself Alive
Keep Yourself Alive
"Keep Yourself Alive" is a song by English rock group Queen. Written by guitarist Brian May, it is the opening track on the band's debut album Queen . It was released as Queen's first single along with "Son and Daughter" as the B-side...
", before becoming a performance in its own right. During the recent tour of Queen + Paul Rodgers
Queen + Paul Rodgers
Queen + Paul Rodgers was a supergroup collaboration between Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen and Paul Rodgers...
, a modified version, incorporating bits of "Chinese Torture" (from the album The Miracle) and the introduction from "Now I'm Here" was featured in the concerts. The live piece is often between nine to thirteen minutes long.
Killer Queen
"Killer Queen" was written by Mercury as the band's first international hit. It is one of the few songs by Mercury for which he wrote the lyrics first. The band initially did the song without May while he was in the hospital, leaving spaces for whenever he felt better. Mercury played an upright "jangle" piano as well as a grand piano.Tenement Funster
"Tenement Funster" is Taylor's song on the album, as he sang the lead vocals. The backing trackBacking track
A backing track is an audio or MIDI recording that musicians play or sing along to in order to add parts to their music which would be impractical to perform live.-Uses:...
consisted of Taylor's drums, Mercury's piano, Deacon's bass, and May's Red Special
Red Special
The Red Special is an electric guitar owned by Queen guitarist Brian May and custom-built by May and his father. The Red Special is also sometimes named in reviews as the Fireplace or the Old Lady, both nicknames used by May when referring to the guitar. A guitar that would define May's signature...
guitar. It's a typical Taylor track about youth and rebellion. In addition to showcasing the out-of-phase tone capabilities of the Red Special, it also includes echo effects with May's guitar, like in "Brighton Rock". The last couple of guitar notes overlap into "Flick of the Wrist". The original working title
Working title
A working title, sometimes called a production title, is the temporary name of a product or project used during its development, usually used in filmmaking, television production, novel, video game, or music album.-Purpose:...
s for the song were "Teen Dreams" and "Young and Crazy".
Flick of the Wrist
"Flick of the Wrist" was the double A-side of "Killer Queen" but it was much less promoted and therefore not as popular outside the Queen fandom. The song includes Mercury singing octave vocals. When May returned to work having recovered from his hepatitis, he had not heard the song before he recorded his guitar and backing vocals. It is a heavy track with quite dark lyrics and an aggressive tone, something that may seem unusual for later Queen songs, but in the early days (especially on Queen II) Mercury and May would often write grim songs, such as "Great King Rat" and "Son and Daughter". At about 1:14 - 1:16, the line "Baby you've been had" can be heard. This line is also the opening to the next song on the album, "Lily of the Valley", making a 3-song overlap ("Tenement Funster" into "Flick of the Wrist", and 'Flick of the Wrist" into "Lily of the Valley").Lily of the Valley
"Lily of the Valley" features Mercury playing the piano and providing all of the vocals. The song has a reference to "Seven Seas of Rhye" in the line "messenger from Seven Seas has flown to tell the King of Rhye he's lost his throne".The song, together with "Tenement Funster" and "Flick of the Wrist", was covered by Dream Theater
Dream Theater
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would...
on the Bonus Disc of their album Black Clouds & Silver Linings
Black Clouds & Silver Linings
Black Clouds & Silver Linings is the tenth studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, released on June 23, 2009 through Roadrunner Records. It is the band's last album to feature drummer and founding member Mike Portnoy before his departure on September 8, 2010. The album was...
.
Now I'm Here
"Now I'm Here" is the band's second single in the album. Written by May while at the hospital, recalling touring with Mott the HoopleMott the Hoople
Mott the Hoople were a British rock band with strong R&B roots, popular in the glam rock era of the early to mid 1970s. They are popularly known for the song "All the Young Dudes", written for them by David Bowie and appearing on their 1972 album of the same name.-The early years:Mott The Hoople...
, it was recorded during the last week of the sessions, with May playing piano. The song relies a lot on delay machines, foreshadowing "The Prophet's Song". The song opens with a lone, guitar riff, and is followed by choir-like vocal harmonies and overdubbed guitar parts.
In the Lap of the Gods
"In the Lap of the Gods" is, according to Mercury himself, the direct prelude to "Bohemian RhapsodyBohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera...
" and the A Night at the Opera
A Night at the Opera (Queen album)
A Night at the Opera is the fourth studio album by the British rock group Queen, released in November 1975. Co-produced by Roy Thomas Baker and Queen, A Night at the Opera was, at the time of its release, the most expensive album ever recorded...
album in general. It is built in three parts: the introduction, which contains fast piano arpeggios, very high-toned screams by Taylor plus vocals harmonies, the second part which is a slow love song, featuring slowed-down vocals by Mercury, and the third part, based on vocals harmonies singing "leave it in the lap of the gods", with more screams by Taylor. Those screams were thought to be made using synthesizers, and to prove they were not, Taylor would reproduce them in live performance every night. Throughout the entire song, wind effects can be heard.
Stone Cold Crazy
"Stone Cold Crazy" was allegedly written by Mercury whilst in Wreckage, one of his pre-Queen bands. Queen played it live as early as 1972, but the song underwent many changes musically and lyrically before a studio version was recorded in 1974. Amusingly enough, nobody seemed to remember who wrote the lyrics when the album was released, hence they shared writing credit. The lyrics themselves deal with gangsters, making a reference to Al CaponeAl Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
. It was the first song credited to all four members of Queen. This track is known for its fast tempos and heavy distortion, thus being a precursor to speed metal
Speed metal
Speed metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from NWOBHM and hardcore punk roots. It is described by Allmusic as "extremely fast, abrasive, and technically demanding" music....
. Music magazine Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
described "Stone Cold Crazy" as "thrash metal
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
before the term was invented". The song was played live at almost every Queen concert between 1974-1978.
Dear Friends
"Dear Friends" was May's song featuring him on the piano and backing vocals, and Mercury providing lead vocals.Def Leppard
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Since 1992, the band have consisted of Joe Elliott , Rick Savage , Rick Allen , Phil Collen , and Vivian Campbell...
covered this song (and sung by bassist Rick Savage
Rick Savage
Richard "Rick" Savage is the bassist and one of the founding members of the English rock band, Def Leppard. He is called "Sav" to avoid confusion between him and the other Rick in the band, drummer Rick Allen. He and lead vocalist, Joe Elliot, are the only remaining original members of the band...
) for a Wal Mart bonus EP for their cover album, Yeah!.
Misfire
"Misfire" was John Deacon's first composition. Deacon played most of the guitars including the solo, and Mercury sang all the vocals.Neko Case
Neko Case
Neko Case is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her solo career and her contributions as a member of the Canadian indie rock group The New Pornographers....
performed a country version of the song on her 1997 solo début album, "The Virginian."
Bring Back That Leroy Brown
"Bring Back That Leroy Brown" was written by Mercury and features him on most of the vocals (with production techniques using tape speed to make it sound really low in the harmonies) as well as grand piano and jangle piano. May played ukulele-banjo and Deacon did a line with a double bassDouble bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
. The song's title alludes to the then-recent hit "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" by the American singer-songwriter Jim Croce
Jim Croce
James Joseph "Jim" Croce January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973 was an American singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and 11 singles...
(little known in Queen's native UK) who had died in a plane crash the previous year. The song was played live in a different arrangement that shortened the song and was, except for the very end and one other line, purely instrumental. May's ukelele-banjo would be brought onstage especially for this song.
She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettoes)
"She Makes Me" was written and sung by May with Deacon playing acoustic guitarsSteel-string acoustic guitar
A steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound...
. The song's finale features what May referred to as "New York nightmare sounds", which include NYC police vehicle sirens and deep-breathing sounds which accompany the closing bars.
In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited
With its powerful chorus and stadium rock-esque sound, "In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited" could perhaps be considered the forerunner to "We Are the ChampionsWe Are the Champions
"We Are the Champions" is a power ballad written by Freddie Mercury, recorded and performed by British rock band Queen for their 1977 album News of the World. One of their most famous and popular songs, it remains among rock's most recognisable anthems...
".
Reception and legacy
NME wrote, "A feast. No duffers, and four songs that will just run and run: Killer Queen, Flick of the Wrist, Now I'm Here, and In the Lap of the Gods...revisited“. The Winnipeg Free PressWinnipeg Free Press
The Winnipeg Free Press is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Founded in 1872, as the Manitoba Free Press, it is the oldest newspaper in western Canada. It is the newspaper with the largest readership in the province....
commended "Brian May's multi-tracked guitar, Freddie Mercury's stunning vocalising and Roy Thomas Baker's dynamic production work", calling the album "a no-holds barred, full-scale attack on the senses". Circus
Circus (magazine)
Circus was a monthly American magazine devoted to rock music. It was published from 1966 to 2006. In its heyday the magazine had a full-time editorial staff that included some of the biggest names in rock journalism, including Paul Nelson, David Fricke, and Kurt Loder, and rivaled Rolling Stone in...
referred to the album as "perhaps the heaviest, rockingest assault on these shores we've enjoyed in some time". Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
offered a mostly positive review, giving the album a 3/5 star rating, and concluding, "If it's hard to love, it's hard not to admire: This band is skilled, after all, and it dares". John Mendelsohn
John Mendelsohn
John Ned Mendelsohn is an American writer, journalist, musician and graphic designer, best known for his rock criticism in Rolling Stone. Critic Barney Hoskyns has called him "one of the funniest writers in English"....
was unimpressed, writing, "I hunted all over both sides of this latest album for something, anything, even remotely as magnificent as "Keep Yourself Alive
Keep Yourself Alive
"Keep Yourself Alive" is a song by English rock group Queen. Written by guitarist Brian May, it is the opening track on the band's debut album Queen . It was released as Queen's first single along with "Son and Daughter" as the B-side...
" or "Father to Son", only to end up empty-eared and bawling". As 1974 drew to a close, the album was ranked by Disc
Disc (magazine)
Disc was a weekly British popular music magazine, published between 1958 and 1975, when it was incorporated into Record Mirror. It was also known for periods as Disc Weekly and Disc and Music Echo ....
as the third best of the year and placed joint #24 of the 60 albums to appear in NME's end-of-year list.
Allmusic awarded the album 4.5/5 stars, writing, "the theatricality is now wielded on everyday affairs, which ironically makes them sound larger than life. And this sense of scale, combined with the heavy guitars, pop hooks, and theatrical style, marks the true unveiling of Queen, making Sheer Heart Attack as the moment where they truly came into their own". Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
awarded the album 4/5 stars, noting that it was "often overlooked in favour of A Night at the Opera
A Night at the Opera (Queen album)
A Night at the Opera is the fourth studio album by the British rock group Queen, released in November 1975. Co-produced by Roy Thomas Baker and Queen, A Night at the Opera was, at the time of its release, the most expensive album ever recorded...
," and calling it "equally stellar". Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
awarded the album 5/5 stars, calling it "indispensable" and "one of the great pop/rock admixtures of the '70s". The BBC wrote, "they stretched contemporary production methods to their very limit with multi-layered vocals and guitars and Freddie’s vaudevillian streak finally emerged... this was the album that finally saw Queen find their true voice".
Accolades
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die is a musical reference book edited by Robert Dimery, first published in 2005. The most recent edition consists of a list of albums released between 1955 and 2010, part of a series from Quintessence Editions Ltd... |
UK | 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die | 2005 | * |
| Classic Rock Classic Rock (magazine) Classic Rock is a British magazine dedicated to the radio format of classic rock, published by Future Publishing, who are also responsible for its "sister" publication Metal Hammer. Although firmly focusing on key bands from the 1960s through early 1990s, it also includes articles and reviews of... |
UK | The 100 Greatest British Rock Albums Ever | 2006 | 28 |
| The 200 Greatest Albums of the 70's (20 greatest of 1974) | 2006 | * | ||
| Kerrang! Kerrang! Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper... |
UK | Poll: The 100 Best British Rock Albums Ever | 2005 | 8 |
| The 100 Greatest Rock Albums Ever | 2007 | 45 | ||
| Mojo Mojo (magazine) MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music... |
UK | 100 Greatest Guitar Albums | 2002 | 72 |
| 70 of the Greatest Albums of the 70's | 2006 | * | ||
| The 100 Records That Changed the World | 2007 | 88 | ||
| NME NME The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles... |
UK | Poll: Greatest 100 Albums of All Time | 2006 | 63 |
| Radio Caroline Radio Caroline Radio Caroline is an English radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly... |
UK | Poll: Top 100 Albums | 1977 | 50 |
| Trouser Press Trouser Press Trouser Press was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow Who fan Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" ... |
US | Best Albums of the 1970s | 1980 | * |
| Virgin Virgin Group Virgin Group Limited is a British branded venture capital conglomerate organisation founded by business tycoon Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding... |
UK | Poll: All Time Album Top 1000 Albums | 2000 | 492 |
(*) designates unordered lists.
Queen comments on the record
Personnel
- Freddie MercuryFreddie MercuryFreddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...
: lead vocals, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, jangle piano - Brian MayBrian MayBrian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
: guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, backing vocals, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, ukuleleUkuleleThe ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
, banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, lead vocals on "She Makes Me", Hammond organHammond organThe Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
on "Now i'm here" - Roger TaylorRoger Meddows-TaylorRoger Meddows Taylor , known as Roger Taylor, is a British musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the drummer, backing vocalist and occasional lead vocalist of British rock band Queen. As a drummer he is known for his "big" unique sound and is considered one of...
: drums, percussion, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Tenement Funster", screams on "In the Lap of the Gods" - John DeaconJohn DeaconJohn Richard Deacon is a retired English multi-instrumentalist and song writer, best known as the bassist for the rock band Queen. Of the four members of the band, he was the last to join and also the youngest, being only 19 years old when he was recruited by the other members of the band...
: bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, electric guitar, all guitars on "Misfire", double-bass on "Bring Back That Leroy Brown"
During Queen's first North American Tour (as a support band for Mott the Hoople), May fell ill with hepatitis
Hepatitis
Hepatitis is a medical condition defined by the inflammation of the liver and characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. The name is from the Greek hepar , the root being hepat- , meaning liver, and suffix -itis, meaning "inflammation"...
(he had been infected with an unclean needle during a vaccination before the Australian tour), but he continued to work from hospital. When he was fit, the work continued in studio, but then he fell ill again, this time with a duodenal ulcer. When May was recovering after an operation, the next tour had been cancelled. He felt guilty, and was a bit nervous that someone would replace him in the band. Much to his relief, no one in the group had even considered it. All three members were continuing on recording without May at the time. Production planning had left a lot of spaces in the songs for May's solos. When he felt well enough, he returned and completed the tracks with guitar solos and backing vocals.
Chart performance
| Chart (1974) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Albums Chart | 6 |
| Dutch Albums Chart | 7 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart | 9 |
| UK Albums Chart | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 12 |
2011 re-issue
On 8 November 2010, record company Universal Music announced a remastered and expanded reissue of the album set for release in May 2011. This as part of a new record deal between Queen and Universal Music, which meant Queen's association with EMIEMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
would come to an end after almost 40 years. According to Universal Music, all Queen albums are to be remastered and reissued in 2011.
Tour
From 10 October 1974 through to 1 May 1975 the album was promoted on tour. The tour consisted of three legs and 77 individual shows, and was the band's first world tour.The supporting bands consisted of Styx
Styx (band)
Styx is an American rock band that became famous for its albums from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Chicago band is known for melding the style of prog-rock with the power of hard rock guitar, strong ballads, and elements of American musical theater....
, Kansas
Kansas (band)
Kansas is an American rock band that became popular in the 1970s initially on Album-Oriented Rock charts, and later with hit singles such as "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind"...
, Hustler, and Mahogany Rush
Mahogany Rush
Mahogany Rush is a Canadian rock band led by guitarist Frank Marino. The band had its peak of popularity in the 1970s, playing such venues as California Jam II together with bands such as Aerosmith, Ted Nugent and Heart....
.