Sheer Heart Attack - Queen
I put Queen in the same category as ABBA; I can quite happily listen to their greatest hits, but I don’t feel the need to listen to any of their studio albums in full. Both bands seem to be regularly scoffed at by “serious” music fans, the impression I get is that both are somehow penalised for being able to write incredible singalong songs that you never tire of hearing
In the case of Queen, an incredible run from the mid-70s to the late 80s brought them one hit after another, and how can anybody not admire songs of the quality of “We Are The Champions”, “Another One Bites the Dust”, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “A Kind of Magic”? They are, quite simply, British rock and pop royalty.
Sheer Heart Attack is a new album for me, “Killer Queen” being the only song that I am familiar with here. Listening to this album has been an interesting experience. My first listen, whilst moving like a slug in traffic on the Mancunian Way, was enjoyable. In that half-listening state, some great guitar riffs and solos jumped out at me, but strangely on subsequent listens, it didn’t grab me until a final 4th listen. Maybe some of these songs would embed themselves after a few years repeat plays.
“Brighton Rock” seems like a guitar noodle-fest without much song structure, and Freddie Mercury’s chipmunk vocals didn’t help the song. “Tenement Funster” is better, from its acoustic arpeggio opening, bass and power chords drive that the song, and the way that it flows seamlessly into the piano of “Flick of the Wrist” is impressive. The vocals arrangement and performance combined with the guitar in the chorus makes this one of the more enjoyable songs on the album.
“Now I’m Here” is another catchy guitar-driven number with some satisfying riffs from Brian May. Speaking of May, he certainly has a distinctive sound – the short solo during the opening of “In The Lap of the Gods” being a good example, and whilst this song is a bit hit and miss for me, the vocal arrangement is somehow influenced both by Pink Floyd and The Beach Boys, which is a neat trick.
I enjoyed “Stone Cold Crazy”, which is a dynamic song with furious hard rock guitar riffing throughout. “Bring Back Leroy Sane Brown” had an early 20s jazz feel with the piano and ukulele. Despite a nice vocal, “She Makes Me” drones on for longer than it should.
There are lots of changes in style across the songs on this album, which I generally like, but there are so many of them that the album feels less cohesive because of them. There is plenty to enjoy here, but this scattergun approach to the sound means that 7/10 is the highest that I will go.
