FROM THE CRYPTS - CELEBRATING PAST ALBUM RELEASES in the HISTORY of HARD ROCK & HEAVY METAL…
On November 8, 1974, Queen released their third full-length studio album Sheer Heart Attack via EMI Records in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States.
Digressing from the progressive themes featured on their first two albums, the album featured more pop-centric and conventional rock tracks and marked a step towards the "classic" Queen sound. It was produced by the band and Roy Thomas Baker and launched Queen to mainstream popularity in the UK and throughout the world.
After the release of Queen II, the group embarked on a promotional tour with Mott the Hoople. However, in the middle of the tour, Brian May became severely ill, forcing the entire tour to end early. Much of the album was written while May was recovering in hospital; nonetheless, the album's first single Killer Queen reached No. 2 in the British charts and provided them with their first top 20 hit in the US, peaking at No. 12 on the Billboard singles chart. Sheer Heart Attack was the first Queen album to hit the US top 20, peaking at No. 12 in 1975. The album has been acknowledged for containing "a wealth of outstanding Hard Rock guitar tracks". Retrospectively, it has been listed by multiple publications as one of the band's best works and has been deemed an essential Glam Rock album.
"Nobody knew we were going to be told we had two weeks to write Sheer Heart Attack. And we had to – it was only thing we could do. Brian was in hospital." — Freddie Mercury
Background:
As previously mentioned, after completing their second album, the group embarked on their Queen II Tour as a support act for Mott the Hoople. They toured extensively throughout the UK, at which point the two groups decided to tour through the US, in what was Queen's first US tour. The two bands would remain on friendly terms for the rest of their career, with Ian Hunter performing All the Young Dudes at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. They played their first US show on April 4 in Denver, Colorado, as a support which Freddie Mercury reportedly disliked, saying "Being support is one of the most traumatic experiences of my life". However, at the climax of the tour in Boston, Brian May was discovered to have hepatitis, possibly from the use of a contaminated needle during vaccinations the group received before travelling to Australia. The remainder of the tour was subsequently cancelled and Queen flew back home, where May was hospitalised.
In June, the band gathered together at Trident Studios to start rehearsing material for the album. Koh Hasebe interviewed Mercury, Taylor, and Deacon when they were rehearsing on June 13. At the beginning of July, May would join them for rehearsals. The band were just preparing to record, as they did on 7 July. The band trekked three and a half hours to get to the Rockfield Studios in Wales. The band would record ten backing tracks at Rockfield Studios, finishing on July 28. At the start of August, work shifted to Wessex Sound Studios. Work would not last long, as May, who was starting to feel uneasy, went to a specialist clinic on August 2. He collapsed at the clinic, as a result of a stomach ulcer. May would be operated on the following day, but discharged from the hospital soon after so he could recover at home. While the band were overdubbing at Wessex, May booked studio time at AIR Studios. While he was at this studio, he recorded Dear Friends, and She Makes Me. In the meantime, Taylor and Deacon made an appearance at a Motor Rally in EMI on August 11. By late August, May was working with the band again, and the rest of the band would add their parts to the songs May recorded. There was still one song that needed to be recorded as the band worked into September, and that was Now I'm Here. The band recorded the backing track for this one at Wessex, and saved it for the mixing.
Mixing commenced in the middle of September. The band were still overdubbing at this point, and had hired someone to deliver the tapes from studio to studio via motorcycle. The heart of the mixing sessions took place at Trident Studios, and a majority of songs were mixed in about one to two days. Brighton Rock on the other hand was mixed in four days. Six hours worth of mixes were created amidst the ninety-six-hour period. Each song was cut up into little edited sections that were about fifteen to twenty seconds in length. At this point, Trident had just installed a 24-track machine in their studio. It had been around since 1972, but was not functioning until 1974. In fact, the album was Trident's first 24-track project. Even though Trident had expanded their recording flexibility by eight tracks, it still wasn't enough to mix each track individually. Bring Back That Leroy Brown had 70 vocal tracks and had to be mixed down to accommodate with the 24-track mixer. During this time on September 20, it was announced that the band were attempting to secure a release for November 1, even though it was seeming less like it would be able to make it to that date. On October 22, the band mixed Now I'm Here, which was the last thing to be mixed. May would do an interview the next day (which was published on October 26) that explained what finishing the album was like. In total, the band used four different studios in the making of Sheer Heart Attack. Most of the backing tracks were recorded at Rockfield, two backing tracks and some guitar overdubs were recorded at AIR Studios, most of the overdubs and one backing track was recorded at Wessex, and the mixing was done at Trident Studios.
Song Overview:
The album noticeably shifts away from the Progressive Rock themes of its predecessors, and has been categorised as Hard Rock and Glam Rock. The Daily Vault described it as "an important transition album" because it showcased "what the band would soon become while giving a nod to their hard-rock past," while Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic observed that although there are still references to the fantasy themes of their earlier works, particularly on In the Lap of the Gods and Lily of the Valley, "the fantasy does not overwhelm as it did on the first two records".
Killer Queen was written in a single night, which contrasts with the "ages" it took to write The March of the Black Queen as Mercury put it, while John Deacon would write his very first song, Misfire. Brighton Rock was written during the making of Queen II, Stone Cold Crazy had its genesis in Mercury's pre-Queen band Wreckage, and Mercury had written Flick of the Wrist during May's absence. Sheer Heart Attack was also the first album in which all four band members contributed songs; Stone Cold Crazy was the first song in which all four band members would receive a writing credit.
Brighton Rock was written by Brian May during the Queen II sessions, but was not recorded at that time as the group felt it would not fit with the rest of the album. Lyrically, it tells the story of two young lovers named Jenny and Jimmy meeting in Brighton on a public holiday. Mods travelling to Brighton on bank holidays was a popular narrative at the time, such as The Who's Quadrophenia. Jenny cannot linger because she is afraid her mother will find out "how I spent my holiday", but afterwards "writes a letter every day"; Jimmy, eager on the day, is not so happy with her "nothing can my love erase": now he is the one afraid of discovery by "my lady".
The song includes an unaccompanied guitar solo interlude, which makes extensive use of delay to build up guitar harmony and contrapuntal melodic lines. It grew out of May's experimentation with an Echoplex unit, as he had been attempting to recreate his guitar orchestrations during live performances of Son and Daughter. He had made modifications to the original unit so that he could change the delay times, as he felt that it wasn't the length he needed, and ran each echo through a separate amplifier to avoid interference.
The studio version only contains one "main" guitar and one "echoed" guitar for a short section, but live, May would usually split his guitar signal into "main" and two "echoed", with each going to a separate bank of amplifiers. The guitar solo on this song has been performed live at most concerts by Queen or May, either as part of this song, in a medley with another, or as a standalone piece. May also performed some of the solo at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
It is considered to be one of May's finest solos, with Guitar World ranking it 41 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time. The song was notably used in the 2017 film Baby Driver, being one of the favorite songs of the main character Baby and played during the film's final action scene.
Killer Queen was written by Freddie Mercury and was the band's first international hit. It is one of the few songs by him for which he wrote the lyrics first, which are about a high class prostitute. The band initially recorded tracks for the song without May, because he was recovering in hospital from a duodenal ulcer, leaving spaces for him to fill when he was able to. Mercury played a jangle piano as well as a grand piano. It was performed on Top of the Pops after charting as a single.
Roger Taylor wrote Tenement Funster about youth and rebellion and sang lead vocals, while John Deacon played the song's prominent acoustic guitar parts in May's absence. The song segues into Mercury's Flick of the Wrist (which was a double A side along with Killer Queen), and then into a softer, piano-based Mercury song, Lily of the Valley, making the three songs a medley.
Now I'm Here was written by May while hospitalised, and recalls the group's early tour supporting Mott the Hoople. It was recorded during the last week of the sessions, with May playing piano.
In the Lap of the Gods was written by Mercury and featured multiple vocal overdubs from himself and Roger Taylor. The song features one of the highest notes on the album, sung by Taylor. Other than the name, it is completely unrelated to In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited.
Stone Cold Crazy was one of the earliest tracks that Queen performed live, and had several different arrangements before being recorded for Sheer Heart Attack. No band member was able to remember who had written the lyrics when the album was released, hence they shared writing credit, the first of their songs to do so. The lyrics themselves deal with gangsters, making a reference to Al Capone. The track has a fast tempo and heavy distortion, presaging Speed Metal. Music magazine Q described Stone Cold Crazy as "Thrash Metal before the term was invented". The song was played live at almost every Queen concert between 1974 and 1978.
Metallica covered the song as their contribution to the 1990 compilation album Rubáiyát: Elektra's 40th Anniversary. This cover version was later used as a B-side of their Enter Sandman single and subsequently won a Grammy Award; it also appeared on their covers/B-sides album Garage Inc. The Metallica version of the song is more aggressive than the original; they also slightly altered the lyrics, adding two uses of the word "fuck" and changing the more humorous lines for more violent lyrics, such as "walking down the street/shooting people that I meet/with my fully loaded tommy gun". James Hetfield once performed it together with Queen & Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath (singing Metallica's altered lyrics) at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. Metallica also played the song as an encore during their 1991–93 Black Album tour; it appears on the live CD Live Shit: Binge & Purge and the 2009 live DVD Français Pour une Nuit.
Dear Friends is a ballad written by May and sung by Mercury.
Misfire was John Deacon's first individual composition for the band, and featured him playing most guitars.
Bring Back That Leroy Brown was written by Mercury and features him playing grand piano and jangle piano, as well as multiple vocal overdubs. May played a short section on ukulele-banjo and Deacon played a line on the double bass. DRUM Magazine commends Taylor's drum work, calling it a good example of his versatility. "It really shows off Taylor’s versatility. He nails dozens of kicks throughout this fast and tricky song and proves that he could’ve been a big band drummer or ably fit into any theatrical pit band if Queen hadn’t worked out so well for him. Honky-tonk piano, upright bass, ukulele-banjo, and a smokin' drummer all add up to a rollicking good time." The song's title alludes to the then-recent hit Bad Bad Leroy Brown by American singer-songwriter Jim Croce who had died in a plane crash the previous year. The song was played live in an arrangement that shortened the song and was, except for the very end and one other line, purely instrumental. May's ukulele-banjo was brought onstage especially for this song. An a cappella version was released as part of the 2011 remaster of the album.
She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos) was written and sung by May with him and Deacon playing acoustic guitars. Its finale features what May referred to as "New York nightmare sounds", which include NYC police vehicle sirens and deep-breathing sounds which accompany the closing bars.
In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited was Mercury's first attempt to write a song that the audience would sing along to, similar to the more successful We Are the Champions. It was one of the set closers from 1974 to 1977. In the 1986 Magic tour it was performed again in a medley which would segue into Seven Seas of Rhye.
Subsequent Tour:
Queen toured from October 30, 1974 to May 1, 1975 to promoted Sheer Heart Attack. The tour consisted of three legs and 77 individual shows, and was the band's first world tour.
The supporting bands consisted of Styx, Kansas, Hustler and Mahogany Rush.
Critical Reception:
NME wrote,
“A feast. No duffers, and four songs that will just run and run: Killer Queen, Flick of the Wrist, Now I'm Here, and In the Lap of the Gods...Revisited.”
The Winnipeg Free Press commended;
“Brian May's multi-tracked guitar, Freddie Mercury's stunning vocalising and Roy Thomas Baker's dynamic production work”, calling the album “a no-holds barred, full-scale attack on the senses.”
CIRCUS referred to the album as “perhaps the heaviest, rockingest assault on these shores we've enjoyed in some time.”
Rolling Stone wrote;
“If it's hard to love, it's hard not to admire: this band is skilled, after all, and it dares.”
John Mendelsohn was unimpressed, writing;
“I hunted all over both sides of this latest album for something, anything, even remotely as magnificent as Keep Yourself Alive or Father to Son, only to end up empty-eared and bawling.”
As 1974 drew to a close, the album was ranked by Disc as the third best of the year and placed a joint No. 24 of the 60 albums to appear in NME's end-of-year list.
AllMusic later said;
“the theatricality is now wielded on everyday affairs, which ironically makes them sound larger than life. And this sense of scale, combined with the heavy guitars, pop hooks, and theatrical style, marks the true unveiling of Queen, making Sheer Heart Attack as the moment where they truly came into their own.”
Q Magazine called the record "indispensable" and "one of the great Pop/Rock admixtures of the '70s.”
Pitchfork wrote;
“Sheer Heart Attack not only improves on every aspect of their sound suggested by the first two records, but delivers some of the finest music of their career...this is the band at the height of its powers.”
Jon Bryan of Backseat Mafia described it as “the first album where Queen got it unarguably right”, noting that “such obvious arrogance suited them.”
Benjamin Ray of the Daily Vault felt that “Queen somehow manages to sound like every rock band of the 70s on here, including RUSH, Zeppelin and even Uriah Heep.” However, he noted the difference was that “Queen actually tries to be pretentious and bombastic, and often they are so over the top one can't help but be entertained”, finally concluding that it was “their most fun and showcases everything they did right.”
The BBC wrote;
“they stretched contemporary production methods to their very limit with multi-layered vocals and guitars and Freddie's vaudevillian streak finally emerged... this was the album that finally saw Queen find their true voice.”
Rock historian Paul Fowles wrote that Sheer Heart Attack “saw the band become increasingly focused on the emerging cult figure of Mercury” and his “unique brand of Rock theater”, especially on the single Killer Queen.
“The album is very varied, we took it to extreme I suppose, but we are very interested in studio techniques and wanted to use what was available. We learnt a lot about technique while we were making the first two albums. Of course there has been some criticism, and the constructive criticism has been very good for us. But to be frank I'm not that keen on the British music press, and they've been pretty unfair to us. I feel that up and coming journalists, by the large, put themselves above the artists. They've certainly been under a misconception about us. We've been called a supermarket hype. But if you see us up on a stage, that's what we're all about. We are basically a rock band.” — Freddie Mercury
Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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