Queen

My all time favorite band. They have given me so much to love. They get a lot of hate for their lack of “good albums” but give me another band who could churn out something as good as their debut, or an of their other albums by that matter. Bohemian Rhapsody quite literally changed the course of pop music as to what a single could be, and while it wasn’t the first 6 minute single, what they were able to fit in in only 6 minutes, has gone on in world culture history. And their live shows are some of the greatest ever.

Freddie, Brian, Roger and Deacy.

God save Queen.

I am an album person and this is more a song band than an album band. Nevertheless, they are great .

From zwiebel 08/13/2022 04:08

im neither fan of Queen nor Freddie Mercury they are just not my cup of tea, but even i can recognise that in music world they are legends. they should be at least in top 20 bands. they dont have a masterpiece album? fine , just rate as high as possible their greatest hits and problem is solved. BEA site and its community proves once again that they are biased twords some albums/bands and neglect other far more accomplished

Grandes canciones distribuidas en discos irregulares.

Like with Elvis, Queen's ranking on this website is lower than it should be as they were more of a singles band. 'A Night at the Opera' is one of the best albums of all time though and 'Queen II' and 'Sheer Heart Attack' are also great if you enjoy deliberately over the top rock music (which Queen were one of extremely few to do well I think).

The band also really stand out for how good their live shows were (check out the 1975 Christmas Eve Hammersmith one) , and their 24-minute set at Live Aid is considered by many to be the greatest live performance in the history of popular music

One of the greatest bands ever, but they never had a masterpiece album, which keeps them fairly low on this site. One of the best singles bands ever

I want to comment on the fact that 80's Queen seems to be dismissed on this website, which I think is a mistake.

First, I agree that 70's Queen was awesome, all of their 70's albums are either good or great (and that definitely includes their debut).

However, few great artists from the 70's has managed to stay relevant in the 80's (see Genesis, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, even Bowie). But for me, Queen did exactly that! Even though their 80's output is different than their 70's (of course, how could it not?), it is still definitely worth a listen. In fact, I could even argue that their 80's albums are as good if not even better than their 70's, with the exception of "A Kind Of Miracle" which is king of mehhh.

I mean "The Game", awesome album, probably my favorite of theirs.

"Hot Space", not nearly as bad as some people make it sound to be. Yes, there are 1 or 2 songs in this album we could have done without, but as a whole, this album is pretty revolutionary. The production is really impressive and has really aged well, the synth work is really tasty and forward thinking.

"The Works", still great.

"The Miracle", very good production and the same songwriting skills we've heard since 1973.

It might be because I'm a bassist and I really love the work of John Deacon, which really shines in the 80's. Or it might be because I was born in 1990, so I've heard it all in retrospective. But I think Queen has been an awesome band for a very long time. I would argue that all of their albums are either good or great, with the exception of "A Kind Of Miracle" and "Innuendo". Both those albums suffer from an outdated production and that's what hurt them, even though the songwriting is still good on those two.

From BozoTyrannus 05/15/2020 15:03

I'm going to be exactly the guy the former comment is talking about and say that Queen is more a singles/live performances band than an album band. Great stuff, just never cohesive enough for my tastes to sit and enjoy a whole LP.

From InsanityPrawnBoy 05/09/2020 02:55

Ah, Queen. What a group. What a bunch of talent. Totally unique.
Some here have said they're a singles group, but I disagree. Sure, they had excellent singles (Queen's Greatest Hits has to be thee best greatest hits album ever), but to say they were a singles group is a serious oversight. Their 70s albums (in particular their initial run of albums), many artists would've given their right arm to have come up with albums that great - from the debut through to A Day At The Races, all of which were consistently brilliant (Especially Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack and A Night At The Opera). And after the initial run, there's some fine (and fun) albums, News Of The World, Jazz, The Game, The Works, and Innuendo spring to mind.
In north America, their popularity dipped off in the early to mid 80s due to the luke-warm reception to Hot Space, Freddie not wanting to tour there, and the payola issues which meant their new material wasn't getting airplay (radio airplay was vital if you wanted to sell a single in the 80s). Globally (outside North America) Queen remained huge and went from strength to strength - something which a lot of the major 70s acts didn't manage to do.
Now what you personally prefer is subjective. However, some - mostly those in the U.S - claim that the group are so successful because of the movie, but if you stop and think about that, it's a ridiculous claim. The evidence of their success was there long before the movie. Worldwide they'd outsold Zeppelin, Floyd, and The Stones - and were about to overtake Madonna in sales back in 2017. And again, before the movie, they were the most streamed legacy act along with The Beatles and Jackson. See the Chartmasters analysis link regarding any of this info: https://chartmasters.org/2017/10/best-selling-artists-albums-and-singles-of-all-time/18/
Did the Elton John movie have the same success? No. As much as I love them, I don't think a Zeppelin or The Rolling Stones or even Beatles movie would have the same level of success these days either. Queen's music is timeless and Freddie Mercury remains a fascinating character with outstanding talent.
All in all, Queen were a superb group, deserving of their place in music history as one of the all time greats.

From ChrisPBacon 03/27/2020 00:20

Queen is great, but would not be in my top 10 favorites. Since the Bohemian Rhapsody movie came out, people are ranking them up there with the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and even the Beatles. What great album does Queen have, other than "A Night at the Opera"?I remember playing Queen in the 80s, and being ridiculed. Now the're the greatest band of all time.