Queen: Sheer Heart Attack - 1974

 

1974's Queen II had been a most impressive, but not particularly noticed album. Here, it all started to change. The chart single from the previous collection, the jaunty Seven Seas Of Rhye, saw more people paying attention to this interesting band. Later that year, the huge hit single Killer Queen started the era of Queen dominance. Now I'm Here followed as another hit, making Sheer Heart Attack a popular album purchase. 

The singles aren't its only treasures, however, and it remains my favourite album of theirs. Toning down the "fairies and elves" lyrics by now, concentrating on rockier themes and music, this was probably their purest "rock" album. 

Let's get out the Moët & Chandon.....🥂

The album's opener, the sprawling Brighton Rock, with its extended Brian May guitar noodling in the middle, on to the classily flamboyant Killer Queen, through Roger Taylor's dense rock in Tenement Funster! to the mighty, grandiose, catchy but also heavy Flick Of The Wrist, the old "side one" was a already proving to be an absolute corker. Finishing off with the melodic mini-song Lily Of The Valley and the huge heavy rock punch of Now I'm Here, Queen were laying down some serious credentials now. 

Classically flamboyant, Killer Queen was possibly the wider world's first encounter with Freddie Mercury's grandiose foppery. It was to become typical of Queen in the way they merged rock with baroque. There was something proggy about that, for sure, but Queen also had an ear for a concise pop song. No proggy meandering here, this made for a perfect single and gave the group their first really big hit, rightly so, it was great. 

Now I'm Here was possibly the heaviest of their singles (with the exception of Innuendo, maybe, in places). It name-checks old touring mates Mott The Hoople in its "down in the city just Hoople and me" line too. It is one I have always loved. Proper Queen rock. When Queen rocked they were at their best.

The old "side two" was another breathless romp through several shorter songs, similar to side two of Queen II, bookended by the anthemic, singalong pair of Lap Of The Gods songs. Stone Cold Crazy was a couple of minutes of almost punky breakneck thrash and Bring Back That Leroy Brown saw the first unfortunate signs of Freddie Mercury's obsession with 1920s vaudeville. There was also the brief but melodic interlude of Dear Friends. 

She Makes Me (Stormtrooper In Stilettoes) was an underrated Brian May "heavy" track and the short, unremarkable but melodic Misfire was the first of quite a few, and latterly much better, John Deacon songs. The whole feel of the thing was very Abbey Road-ish in its concept (again), but, despite that, it still retains a considerable amount of originality. 

The whole "chocolate box"-cornucopia of different styles approach was unique to Queen, in many ways. Along with Queen II, this was Queen's finest work committed to album and that is including the multi-million selling follow up A Night At The Opera. This was a more enjoyable work, in my opinion. 

You know, if I could take one Queen album to a desert island, I would probably choose this one, despite my previously expressed liking for side two of Queen II. At the time, 1974-75, Queen really rocked, as their Live At The Rainbow release, featuring two shows from 1974 and A Night At The Odeon, from 1975 convincingly prove. Freddie Mercury kept confounding this, however, by the composing of many vaudeville-style whimsical songs that made the "we're a rock band" quote he uttered at the time somewhat questionable. Would Led Zeppelin have come up with Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon? Would they heck as like.