Queen Introduction
Few bands can embody the richness of the world rock scene in the 1970s as thoroughly as QUEEN. QUEEN is like a variety show hall, perfectly integrating glam rock, progressive rock, classical music and heavy metal. This four-piece band from the UK is committed to exploring the gorgeous and exaggerated (and homosexual tendencies) artistic style, creating a form of rock music with a strong operatic color, the lead singer's sexy and choir-like voice, and the layers of foreshadowing. Keyboards and gorgeous guitar solos are their hallmarks. QUEEN's music has extraordinary imagination, is majestic and a little weird, and has a variety of styles. You can hear the shadow of almost all European music forms (traditional and modern) in their music. However, QUEEN's broad music is actually all expressed in traditional rock methods. For many years, their albums have claimed that "synthesizers have never been used" in their albums, which faithfully retains the characteristics of the hard rock band from the LED ZEPPELIN period. Although in the 1980s, the band also began to try more keyboards, they never touched electronic music, because electronic music was what those "real rock" bands disdained.
It is worth mentioning that because the lead singer Freddie Mercury is a complete homosexual, the overall style of the band tends to be luxurious, and the arrangements often imitate the gorgeous atmosphere of classical music, which is reflected in their The famous song Bohemian Rhapsody. Mercury was a flamboyant homosexual who engaged in indecent acts in the bathroom until his death from AIDS in 1992. His sexual attitude is fully reflected in QUEEN's music, which can be seen in their hazy lyrics. Ironically, QUEEN’s anthem about homosexuality, We Are The Champions, has become a classic celebration song to promote sportsmanship and Olympic champions. We can still hear this song from time to time at various sports events to this day—— However, this is also due to Mercury's legendary life and operatic stage performance. He made QUEEN one of the most well-known bands in the mid-1970s. In the UK, until the mid-1990s, QUEEN was still the second most famous rock band after BEATLES.
Despite QUEEN’s reputation, they seem to receive little praise from music critics and the media. Continuous criticism did not reduce QUEEN's popularity. Even until the late 1980s, QUEEN still had a large number of fans outside the United States. In the United States, the band's peak period came in the early 1980s, a period after they had released a series of moderately successful albums throughout the previous decade, none of which were well received at the time. The sales volume was astonishingly large. QUEEN's music has a profound influence and can be found in several generations of hard rock/heavy metal bands in the past 20 years, from METALLICA to SMASHING PUMPKINS.
QUEEN originally evolved from the psychedelic hard rock band SMILE. In 1967, guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor joined the band SMILE. When the band's lead singer Tim Staffell left the band in 1971, May and Taylor formed a band called QUEEN with Freddie Mercury, the lead singer from the former WRECKAGE band. After a few months, bassist John Deacon joined and the band began some rehearsals. About two years later, when all four members of the band had graduated from college, they wasted no time writing, rehearsing, and performing. In 1973, they released their first album, Queen, produced by Roy Thomas Baker, and embarked on their first tour.
The music in Queen was straight up hard rock/heavy metal, which didn't attract much attention at the time.
The album Queen II released in 1974 achieved unexpected success in the UK. Before the album was released, the band performed the song "Seven Seas Of Rhye" on the famous British TV music program Top Of The Pops. The song itself and the performance were very good. Soon after, the song rushed to the top 10 of the charts and made them popular. The Queen II album rose to number five on the charts. In order to cooperate with the release of the album, QUEEN began to tour in the United States, mainly as a warm-up for MOTT THE HOOPLE. QUEEN's fancy and psychedelic stage performances undoubtedly won the recognition of American audiences, and the album also reached No. 43 on the American charts.
The band then released the album Sheer Heart Attack (Sudden Heart Attack), the single Killer Queen quickly became the runner-up in the UK charts, and the album itself also reached the same position in the charts. . The album also performed well in the United States, laying the foundation for the huge success of the 1975 album A Night At The Opera.
A Night At The Opera (Night at the Opera) is the most classic album of the Queen band. The band spent a lot of energy on the production of this album. It is reported that this is the most expensive production in the history of rock music. An album. Among them, the famous single Bohemian Rhapsody has become QUEEN's signature track. It constantly adds large heavy metal guitar riffs and solos to the gorgeous soundtrack that resembles an opera chorus. This is QUEEN's typical style. The production process of the song also reflects QUEEN's typical attitude of striving for excellence. They spent 3 weeks recording and added a lot of background dubbing to the song's track, so that after the recording was completed, In some places on the master tape, the magnetic powder is so thin that it can be seen through. Queen first experimented with the conceptual approach in the video for Bohemian Rhapsody and invested a huge amount of money in it. However, the rewards for Queen were also considerable: the single quickly rose to the number one position in the UK charts. , and stayed at this position for a full 9 weeks, and eventually broke the record for the longest stay at the top of the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, the song and the album were also a huge success, reaching the top 10 and becoming both a platinum single and a platinum album. Even more than ten years later, in 1992, this Bohemian Rhapsody still ranked second on the US singles chart for several weeks.
After A Night At The Opera, QUEEN got a taste of what it was like to be a superstar, and they also got all the benefits that this status could bring, including their endless dance parties and extravagant weddings. The lifestyle has become an eternal legend in the rock music scene. However, all this did not affect their progress and efficient work at all. In the summer of 1976, QUEEN held a free concert in London's Hyde Park, setting a new attendance record. A few months later they released the hit single Somebody To Love, from the album A Day At The Races. This album can be said to be a clone of A Night At The Opera, but it still achieved excellent results, becoming number one in the UK charts and rising to number five in the United States.
Over the next five years, the tireless QUEEN produced dozens of hit singles and several platinum albums.
Having gained so much love and adoration from fans around the world, they were met with resistance from some critics, especially when they expressed an egregiously conservative attitude towards the punk movement. However, fans still bought QUEEN's album. The album News Of The World, which included two Top 5 singles We Are The Champions and We Will Rock You, became a top 10 album in 1977. . The 1978 album Jazz almost repeated the same success, with the singles Fat Bottomed Girls and Bicycle Race becoming international hits, despite public outcry over the band's gimmick of a naked female bicycle race. dissatisfied.
In the early 1980s, QUEEN still maintained a very popular status. In 1980, they released the album The Game (Game). Some changes occurred in their music style. They added more soft slow songs and The light and cheerful songs are quite far away from heavy metal. Re-successful singles Crazy Little Thing Called Love and Another One Bites The Dust propelled The Game album to the top of the US charts, a breakthrough success for QUEEN. However, when people discovered that this was just a cute and flattering album, they began to lose interest in QUEEN. Many of the band's original loyal fans changed their tune, especially in the United States. The direct consequence was that they were released in the same year. A later album of purely instrumental music for the film Flash Gordan received an unusually lukewarm response. In 1981, with the help of David Bowie, QUEEN successfully gained a foothold in the turbulent waves of new wave music. The single "Under Pressure" topped the British charts. This was their other hit since Bohemian Rhapsody. The number one single was included on the 1981 Greatest Hits album and the 1982 album Hot Space. However, the Hot Space album did not arouse much enthusiasm, because it was still a lighthearted album, neither popular nor elegant. The 1984 album The Works (works) showed more rock elements, but people's response to it was still tepid. Only the single Radio Ga Ga from the album achieved certain success. These unsuccessful experiences led them to decide to leave Elektra and sign with Capitol.
Seeing that their market in the United States is shrinking and it is also struggling to survive in the UK, QUEEN decided to open up other markets. They set their sights on Latin America, Asia and Africa, and the potential huge markets in these places are often What rock bands ignore. In 1985, QUEEN once again entered the attention of British audiences due to their outstanding performance on the Live Aid tour to rescue African refugees. The following year, QUEEN released a new album Kind Of Magic (A Kind of Magic), but the album had an impact on the American market. ended in failure. The 1989 album The Miracle was a similar hit in the United States. Although the album's rock content had increased, it still lacked real power. However, 1991's "Innuendo" finally became a hit and won the band fame in the United States. It reached the top 30 of the charts while achieving a gold record. Of course, this was still much smaller than their success in Europe. UK, they easily topped the charts. This rich and colorful album regains the style of QUEEN back then, with both powerful heavy metal and operatic rock that is typical of QUEEN.
But this outstanding album is now considered a comeback for the band, as a huge shadow gradually fell over this extraordinary band.
In 1991, QUEEN was no longer as active as before. At this time, rumors about the physical condition of lead singer Freddie Mercury were flying everywhere. On November 22, he finally confirmed to the outside world that he had contracted the disease. AIDS. Two days later, Freddie died.
In the spring of 1992, the remaining members of the band performed a memorial concert at Wembley Stadium. The number of viewers of this live concert broadcast to the world reached more than 100 million. In addition to the three members of QUEEN, the lineup also included David Bowie, Elton John, Annie Lennox, DEF LEPPARD and GUNS 'N ROSES. This performance raised millions of dollars for the foundation established by Freddie during his lifetime, and the money will be used for AIDS research. This performance also made the 1975 single Bohemian Rhapsody once again become popular, rising to the runner-up position in the US charts.
After Freddie’s death, the band members remained silent for a period of time. In 1993, Brian May released his second solo album, Back To The Light, ten years after his first solo album. years. Roger Taylor released some music in THE CROSS band, while John Deacon decided to quit playing. However, the three members reunited in 1994 to record and synthesize Freddie's posthumous songs. The lead vocals of these songs were all recorded by Freddie in his hospital bed. In 1995, this album called Made In Heaven was released. Due to its special commemorative significance, this album caused a buying frenzy around the world, especially in Europe. There is no doubt that this is QUEEN’s last album. Zhang's studio work.
QUEEN had a certain influence on heavy metal bands in the 1980s and 1990s, and its unique operatic rock set the direction for later progressive metal. Their gorgeous stage performances and luxurious lifestyle are often imitated by future generations. But the band's final tragedy also served as a shocking wake-up call.