One of Innuendo's guitar hefty moments, "The Hitman" was a song that went through the rigamarole before finally being unleashed. Freddie brought it in on piano and a longer version was recorded after Brian tweaked the riff, but with the band being unhappy with it, John Deacon then stepped in to completely re-arrange a version that was then re-recorded in its final form. I personally dig it even more than the more popular jam "Headlong", as far as the album's heavy tracks are concerned.
The second song on the eponymous Queen debut "Doin' Alright" is basically the band's one and only answer to soft California AM rock. It was birthed during the Smile days by Brian May and said band's vocalist/bassist Tim Staffell, and as the second track on Queen following "Keep Yourself Alive", it was clear from the get-go that their material was going to be as broad as it was gargantuanally layered. The heavy middle section though makes it feel nice and cozy amongst the rest of their hard rock songs of the day.
My favorite Queen jam to be left off an album and initially to see the light as a b-side only is Brian May's "I Go Crazy". It was omitted from The Works and tossed on the flip to "Radio Ga Ga" because for whatever reason, allegedly the rest of the band sans May disliked it, (to the point where John Deacon is rumored to have not even provided his always reliable bass duties on it). If such is the case, it baffles me since it is an awesome, driving bit of fun with lyrical name drops to both The Rolling Stones and Queen themselves.
On an album where Queen seemed hellbent on throwing every studio trick that they could come up with into the mix in order to make their music as grandiose as possible, the understated Brian May gem "Sweet Lady" provided a much needed, stripped down balance to A Night at the Opera. May simply wanted to write a hard rock song in waltz time and with a title like "Sweet Lady", it could be about any pick-your-favorite 70s groupie. I like it for its simplicity and proving that the band had the ear NOT to put operatic overtones where they did not belong.
The poster boy in song form for how different of a sound the band was going for on their 1982 record Hot Space was the opener "Staying Power". This is the only Queen jam to have a horn section on it, and it is the most blatantly dance-able, drum programmed, electronically funky song that they had yet done, or would perhaps ever do. Much in Freddie Mercury and also John Deacon's comfort zone, it represents a turning point for the group, not that they would stay in this pop sub-genre indefinitely. Yet I appreciate the risky messiness that both the song and Hot Space in general went for.
One of a handful of songs which Brian May busted out his Hairfeld acoustic on, (hence the wobbly "sitar" sound), Freddie Mercury's "Jealousy" was the final Jazz single put out, though for whatever reason it did not do any real business as such. This more or less makes it an undervalued album track, one of many from their impeccable 70s period. Freddie authored a healthy number of piano ballads then and later, and this one stands as a graceful one.
A gorgeous and rare Queen moment closed out The Works album in "Is This the World We Created...?". It poses a universally simple question to the listener, as it was written collaboratively by Brian May and Freddie Mercury after they watched news footage that exhibited poverty in Africa. Featuring only half of the band, (hence the rare part), it was performed live at every concert, (including their Live Aid performance), from The Works tour on, as it should.
Mythical elements running rampant on Queen's debut, "My Fairy King" was another that was lyrically set in the fictitious universe of Rhye, which Freddie made up to humor his inner fantasy nerd. He also grabbed the line mentioning "Mother Mercury" to change his own name, previously going by Freddie Bulsara when writing the song even prior to Queen officially forming. When most people think of this band's trademark vocal harmony aptitude, this monster can be presented as an ideal representation.
It is possible that one of the most lucrative Queen songs financially was the Highlander anthem "Princes of the Universe", which was likewise used in the syndicated TV series as its theme, leading me to believe that the royalty checks were long lasting to the Mercury estate. Freddie wrote it on his lonesome particularly for the film, (as a handful of other A Kind of Magic tracks were), and it is as massive sounding of a Queen rock joint as they ever did.
Here enters John Deacon, the songwriter. From this moment on, the last Queen member to join who consistently remained the most quiet in front of and behind the scenes penned an increasing number of songs per Queen album, many of which were colossal hits. "Misfire" is a downplayed Sheer Heart Attack breather yet right out of the gate, it was as strong if not more so then the rest of the band's other material. After all, "You're My Best Friend" was only an album away.
Probably most people's initial exposure to Queen in 1973 was the debut album's opening track and first single "Keep Yourself Alive". Right from the starting line, the song's author Brian May's exclusive guitar sound and ingenuity was front and center, along with Freddie's voice of course, both of which combined must have caused many to do a double take. Live, "Keep Yourself" would provide Roger Taylor with a drum solo spot at times, expanding upon the break that is present in the studio version.
"Bohemian Rhapsody's" iconic legacy aside, numbers do not lie and still Queen's biggest selling single was John Deacon's blue-eyed funk "Another One Bites the Dust". Roger Taylor had his qualms about it, (not at all a fan of Deacon insisting on having a dead, fat drum sound), and it was yet another departure from the band's usual fair, though by 1980 they had already proven themselves fearless in genre hopping. None of their other outside the box experiments paid off to the literal extent of "Dust", and even though I have heard it a billion times, no one can deny that its booty-shaking catchiness.
Funky bass lines present once again with Roger Taylor's "The Invisible Man". This was nearly the title track for The Miracle, but that was changed mere weeks before the album was released, probably for the best. Hardly one of Queen's deeper songs lyrically, (Taylor admitted to simply coming up with it whilst reading the very same H.G. Wells novel), it name drops each of the band members, has a hooky a cappella intro, and Scatman John covered it. Need I say more?
The recording surroundings provided some spontaneous inspiration for Freddie's complex and goofy "Bicycle Race". He penned it while watching the Tour de France in Montreux where the band was held up as tax exiles to work on Jazz. Then at some point, they had the idea to film a promotional video of the song featuring sixty-five naked women having their own staged bicycle race around Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium. Similar to "Killer Queen", Freddie crammed more quirky changes here into a three-minute pop song than anyone would even dare.
Queen's then career long refusal to utilize synthesizers was compromised on The Game's near title track "Play the Game", which opens with a slew of coinciding synth noises before beginning this piano serenade proper. Freddie would revisit the lyrical perspective on this song on later tracks such as "It's a Hard Life" and even "You Don't Fool Me" which emerged on Made In Heaven. For the first go-round though, he keeps it simple and empathetic to "the game of love" that all us humans partake of at some point or another in our lives.
One of the band's most frequently performed live pieces was the A Day at the Races opener "Tie Your Mother Down". On stage, Queen would stick to their more reasonable-to-perform songs as opposed to their elaborately pieced together studio creations. So by that logic, the straight-ahead guitar-stationed "Mother" consistently appeared in the set list. The title stuck as songwriters often just sing the first words that come to mind over some music when the initial inspiration hits, but Freddie being the silly bloke that he was insisted on May keeping it for good.
Feeling that Highlander needed some music composed for the film's villain Kurgan, Brian May took what he had that made it into the movie and expanded it to become what I would consider to be A King of Magic's best heavy moment, "Gimme the Prize (Kurgan's Theme)". Several lines from the film appear in the album mix which one could argue are distracting, (though to me, not so much). It is just a textbook Brian May track though, with all of his guitar staples driving it home.
Freddie Mercury took a go at writing an Elton John song with the big Jazz single "Don't Stop Me Now", crafting another massive hit in the process. It is a song that comes from the core of Freddie's proud lifestyle of grabbing everything and everyone by the balls and "having a good time". Brian May only soars in to provide the axe solo like a mighty warrior, with no rhythm guitar track otherwise needed.
Throwing a blues song into the mix on News of the World makes all the sense considering that album's diversified track listing, which is where "Sleeping on the Sidewalk" comes in. Brian May has admitted that it was the fastest and easiest song that he ever wrote or recorded, the track being slammed together in one take minus any of Freddie's involvement. That in itself is rare, but so is the utter looseness of the song and the fact that there is even a few technical mistakes on it, with John Deacon hitting a few bum notes near the end.
"I Want It All" was one of the few The Miracle cuts to be fully written before entering the studio. Though the title was allegedly a direct quote from Brian May's second and current wife Anita Dobson, this is not so much of a relationship musing as another empowering anthem, something that Queen was prone to pound out on a regular basis. Along with "Was It All Worth It", it is the single heaviest Queen song on the album or conceivably the heaviest song in their entire body of work.
