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By far one of the greatest English rock bands of all
time, the eclectic Queen started out in 1968 as a band called Smile
(London area). Farrokh Bulsara (aka Freddie
Mercury), joined the band in 1970, and encouraged the band to change
their to Queen. Initially, Queen's demo recordings were rejected
by record execs, but by 1973, the band released their
self-titled debut album.
Although the album was not a huge success, it did receive good press.
You might remember the song "Keep Yourself Alive" from this release.
It was the band's 1974 release, Queen II, that
featured the famous Bohemian Rhapsody image of the band that has often
been parodied. The biggest hit song from this release was the song
"Seven Seas of Rhye", and the album charted at number 5 on the UK
charts. Sheer Heart Attack, also released in 1974, charted
at number 2 on the UK charts and went Gold in the USA (this was their
first album to bring them critical acclaim from the USA). This
album featured the hit songs "Killer Queen", "Now I'm Here",
as well as "Stone
Cold Crazy", which was re-made by Metallica years later (the song
was a precursor to speed metal and was not changed much by Metallica).
In 1975, Queen released the album A Night at the Opera.
It was this album that featured the songs "Love of My Live", "You're My
Best Friend", and of course "Bohemian Rhapsody" (this song, at the time
of this writing, was the third best selling UK single of all time and
considered by many to be the greatest song of all time). Their
1976 release, A Day at the Races, featured the hit songs "Tie
Your Mother Down" and "Somebody to Love". Queen was at the top of
their game, filling stadiums with as many as 150 thousand fans. In
1977, Queen released News of the World, which featured the hit
songs "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions". The band's
1978 release, Jazz, featured the hit songs "Bicycle Race", "Don't
Stop Me Now", and "Fat Bottomed Girls". The hit songs "Crazy
Little Thing Called Love" (the band's first number 1 hit in the USA) and
"Another One Bites the Dust" were released in 1980 on the album The
Game. It was Michael Jackson who suggested to Queen that they
release "Another One Bites the Dust" as a single, and it stayed at
number 1 in the USA for three weeks.
In 1980, Queen also released the soundtrack for the movie
Flash Gordon. The song "Under Pressure", which featured David
Bowie, was released on Queen's 1982 release, Hot Space.
Other songs you may remember include "One Vision" from the 1985 album by
the same name, "A Kind of Magic", "Friends Will Be Friends", "Princes of
the Universe (originally from the Highlander soundtrack), and "Who Wants
to Live Forever" from their 1986 release, A Kind of Magic.
The song "I Want It All" was released in 1989 (The Miracle) and
"The Show Must Go On" and "Innuendo" were song released on Innuendo.
It was by the late 1980's that fans began to recognize
Freddie Mercury's illness (AIDS). He died in 1991. Queen's
final album featuring Mercury was the album Made In Heaven, which
was released in 1995 and featured recordings from 1991. The songs
"Too Much Love Will Kill You" and "Heaven for Everyone" were from this
release. As the years have gone by, Queen has continued to perform
sans Mercury. At the time of this writing, the Queen Discography
was as follows:
1973: Queen
1974: Queen II
1974: Sheer Heart Attack
1975: A Night at the Opera
1976: A Day at the Races
1977: News of the World
1978: Jazz
1979: Live Killers
1980: The Game
1981: Greatest Hits
1980: Flash Gordon Soundtrack
1982: Hot Space
1984: The Works
1985: The Complete Works
1986: A Kind of Magic
1986: Live Magic
1989: The Miracle
1989: At the Beeb Live
1991: Innuendo
1991: Greatest Hits II
1992: Live at Wembley 1986
1992: Classic Queen
1992: The 12" Collection
1992: Box of Tricks
1994: Greatest Hits I & II
1995: Made in Heaven
1995: Ultimate Queen
1997: The Best II
1997: Queen Rocks
1998: The Crown Jewels
1999: Greatest Hits III
2000: The Platinum Collection Greatest Hits I, II, & III
2004: Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl
2007: Queen Rock Montreal Live
2007: The A-Z of Queen Volume 1
2008: The Singles Collection Volume 1
2009: The Singles Collection Volume 2
2009: Absolute Greatest
2010: The Singles Collection Volume 3
2010: The Singles Collection Volume 4
2011: Deep Cuts, Volume 2 (1977-1983)
2011: Deep Cuts, Volume 3 (1984-1995)
2012: Hungarian Rhapsody: Queen Live in Budapest 1986 |
