For this blog post I will be talking about the band Queen. I had a really big phase with this band around the beginning of high school, so it will be a blast from the past, but I do sometimes still listen to this artist. 

Queen was one of the first musical groups where I really spent a lot of time listening to and discovering the deeper songs on the album. Also propelling my listening taste into certain genres of music. 

The revival of Queen followed quickly with the release of the biographical film Bohemian Rhapsody. Now personally I think it was a good movie, a bit dramatized, obviously that was done for the movie, but other than that I think it inspired a new wave of listeners. 

I really found myself drawn to the earlier albums and time frame from the band’s career. I would say that there definitely was a shift in the discography around the turn of the 80’s, so I do tend to sort of think of the band’s career in two different shifts. Nevertheless, Queen are a great example of a band with longevity that really went until they could not any more. Even though Queen is still touring now they have a different lineup, so this post will only be focused on the first, original lineup. 

The first album I will be mentioning is A Night At the Opera. The 1975 release is a really great album because in many ways it is very complex with many of the songs having many overdubbing layers and harsher lyrics. On the other hand, other songs are rather simple and focus on more rudimental aspects of life. This pairing makes for a very interesting listen. My favorites off this album are “Love of My Life”, “Seaside Rendezvous”, and the obviously epic “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

The album that follows A Night At the Opera, A Day At the Races, was heavily criticized during its time, but I still really enjoy that album, depending on the day, even like it better than its predecessor. 

News of the World, debuting in 1977, is also such a great album and features one of my favorite Queen songs. “My Melancholy Blues” is a beautiful ballad. It is a rather slower song, but the melody that rings through the song is unlike anything I’ve listened to prior. 

Queen is such a great band, they have so many hits, but also so many hidden gems that deserve just as much attention!