Artist: Queen
Label: EMI Records
Release: 1974
Runtime: 39:09
Rating: 5/5
Just eight months after Queen’s second album, »Sheer Heart Attack« came crashing into the world. It all felt like the boys were in a real hurry, since they were sinking deeper and deeper into money trouble. The album serves up a few songs that were written back when the first two records were made, but that couldn’t be squeezed in earlier because of the time crunch in the studio. So there was no shortage of ideas. You can hear right from the first listen that this is a different album. »Sheer Heart Attack« is the first album with a signature sound, the one the band stays recognizable by from here on and the one we’re used to from the “evergreens” Queen. Maybe also because the recording sessions were more relaxed, since they could fit the studio dates around their private lives more easily. What we have here is a more marketing-minded creation. It’s packed with songs that grab you fast. They aren’t complicated at first glance and slide straight into the listener’s ears. »Sheer Heart Attack« wears the right name and not a »number«, and it was made almost without Brian May! He was recovering from hepatitis, which he supposedly caught on the American tour. Even though his part of the recording happened late in the whole process, you’d never say it affected the quality. The album is superb. Definitely one of their better works. If you’re a bit sick of all the notorious Queen hits, this is a real breath of fresh air for a listener looking for something more than those.
Even though the foundation stayed the same: drums, bass, guitar, piano, vocals, vocals and once more vocals; you can hear an extremely mature approach. The tracks have a certain endearing mustiness. A truly unique studio sound that we can’t pin on anyone but “the Queens”. Of course, the famous producer Roy Baker surely had a lot of fingers in the pie too. »Sheer Heart Attack« has ballad passages, rocker rhythms, progressive touches, piano interludes and even swing rhythms.
It kicks off just as a rock band’s album should: fast and punchy. A superb guitar riff intro gets joined by the lead singer’s falsetto . A sweet little love story makes you wonder why the song is called Brighton Rock (the track had quite a few other working titles). Lyrics aside, the title fits the song like a glove. The track is like a great arcade game, where something is happening all the time. You couldn’t pick a better opener. Next up is the street-smart Killer Queen. This song seems written straight for Freddie. With it, compared to the previous two albums, Queen widened their creative reach and offered up a new stylistic challenge. The playful bouncing rhythm and the chatter about a queenie conjure up a good dose of pop and rock. And once again the band’s drummer, Roger Taylor, got his moment in the spotlight. Tenement Funster is a good track and gives a counterweight to the rest with its different tempo. It’s the first part of a trilogy. The second and third parts are Flick of the Wrist and Lily of the Valley. Roger’s vocal alone is fantastic. A lovely rebellious track. In it the listener notices a subtle, truly brilliant use of, let’s call it, wrong notes. It’s a tool that can otherwise sound really jarring. But not here. Bravo, boys. Next comes the second part of the so-called medley. Flick of the Wrist has a very gripping lyric. It floats along nicely, since it’s just so easy to listen to Freddie’s exceptional vocal alongside the exceptional backing vocals. Heavy riffs lead to the ballad finish of Lily of the Valley. A song of longing, it carries a reflection on the band’s past ideas, mentioning “seven seas” and “king of the Rhye”. Worth mentioning that the prog giants Dream Theater did a cover of the trio as a special bonus of the »Black Clouds and Silver Linings« package. Next up is the album’s second single. That’s Now I’m Here. A pleasant rock and roll track that reminds us the boys were still perfectly capable of producing a rocker. In the song, Brian wanted to put words and tone to his current life circumstances, which were colored by touring. Once again we witness the multilayered nature of what the band does, as Lap of the Gods finally creeps into our ears. With its more progressive note, it serves up the melancholic slice of the cake. It feels like a sort of ancestor of Prophet Song and Bohemian Rhapsody from the upcoming album. Roger’s otherworldly vocal takes the lead. It blends nicely with the other voices and the whole thing slides into the melancholy of Freddie’s vocal, colored with a bizarre effect. The track starts flowing nicely, and in the background we once again spot the drummer’s “Himalayan” vocals. Heavy metal follows. Stone Cold Crazy is said to sing about the lead singer’s personality (which is very familiar to us today). It’s one of the best tracks the band ever released. At least in the opinion of the author of this piece. Fast riff, infectious hooks, short and effective solos. What more could anyone want. The lullaby Dear Friends calms the overheated listening and sets the stage nicely for the endearing Misfire. Interesting that bassist John Deacon picked up the guitar for this one. Right at this point on the album, the question comes up: what can the Queen crew not do creatively? And the next step takes your breath away again. Swing! Of course, we haven’t heard that on the album yet. Bring Back that Leroy Brown follows the previous track so nicely that you don’t want the album to ever end. The track gives you the feel of a musty London pub on some Friday night. Time for love melodies again with the song She Makes Me. A rather dull track with the sounds of New York unfolding in the background. There isn’t much going on musically, and it works more as a personal love confession than anything else. No worries, that’s part of the album »Sheer Heart Attack« too, and that’s just as it should be. It’s musical expression from that period of their lives. We’ve arrived at the last stop, called Lap of the Gods (Revisited). A lovely confessional track with that tantalizing element that gets a crowd going and pulls it into a shared singalong. Reviewers online link the song to We Are the Champions. It’s true that it smells a bit like it, but yours truly isn’t convinced. A perfect ending to a perfect album. With melodies that make you want to sway with your loved ones on New Year’s Day. And for a finale, one more unexpected big bang. Thank you, Queen.
If you haven’t managed to listen to the album yet, do it right now! This is definitely a creation you need to run through your ears more than once, because it brings a whole heap of stylistic layers of music (in terms of creative expression), so many that they’re really hard to take in right away. It’ll please demanding listeners as well as people drawn to simpler music. It seems like the previous sentence can’t be true. But it is anyway.
Lineup
Freddie Mercury – lead and backing vocals, piano, jangle piano
Brian May – guitars, piano, banjo ukulele, vocals
Roger Taylor – drums, percussion, lead and backing vocals
John Deacon – bass guitar, acoustic guitar, rhythm and lead guitar on Misfire, double bass guitar
Production
Roy Thomas Baker & Queen
Tracklist
- Brighton Rock
- Killer Queen
- Tenement Funster
- Flick of the Wrist
- Lily of the Valley
- Now I’m Here
- In the Lap of the Gods
- Stone Cold Crazy
- Dear Friends
- Misfire
- Bring Back that Leroy Brown
- She Makes Me
- In the Lap of the Gods … Reviseted
