Album #1



Album: Sheer Heart Attack 
Artist: Queen
Released: 1974
Label: EMI Records
Genre: Glam rock

If your only knowledge of Queen is "Bohemian Rhapsody" or their best-selling greatest hits albums, this album will rock your socks off. Even if you're not wearing socks. The band seems to be finding their voice in this one, with some tracks wildly shifting the genre while still somehow remaining consistent. 

And if you didn't know astrophysicist Dr. Brian May could play guitar (save for that killer bridge in "Bohemian Rhapsody")? Give this album a listen. It's hard. It's fast. It's frenetic. The best part? It predates A Night at the Opera. It's Queen finding their footing early on and cementing it It's a brick on the gas pedal that doesn't let you breathe until "Lily of the Valley" portion of a three-song medley, segueing into the Side A closer "Now I'm Here". 

But you thought you could relax? Nope. Bam. Side B kicks off with "In the Lap of the Gods" hitting on a powerful upper vocal overdub that just gets weird in the best way possible. The album closer "In the Lap of the Gods...Revisited" sent chills down my spine and is one of the strongest album closers I've ever experienced. I was actually mad that my Spotify picked up and started a new song afterwards. Sort of like experiencing that post-coital cigarette only to have your balls dunked in ice cold water.  

I was a Queen fan before listening to this album, I'll be a Queen fan after listening to this album. But I'm much more of a Brian May fan after this one. 

Rating: 4.5 stars

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Album #7

Image
  Album: I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You Artist:  Aretha Franklin Released : 1967 Label : Atlantic Genre:  Soul To the person who hurt Aretha Franklin, I hope you know that she took that pain and transformed it into one of the best albums I've heard all year, if not in my entire life. The lead off "Respect" is a powerhouse that leads you in to a musical odyssey of a woman who has known pain. Are all the songs Aretha originals? No. But she takes them in and makes them her own with that voice that could silence a deafening crowd.  The song "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" moved me to a point that I had to pull over my car and just cry. The word beautiful doesn't do it justice. The gospel-like singing overdubbed to the organ creates an atmospheric experience that I've yet to see in other albums.  The entire album just invites you in to share the emotion of Franklin. Her journey. Her pain. Her joy. I have zero notes for this album and I'm sad that I
Read more

Album #3

Image
Album: White Blood Cells Artist:  The White Stripes Released : 2001 Label : Sympathy for the Record Industry  Genre : Garage rock This album gave me whiplash. I've known of the combo of Jack White and Meg White for years. Knew a bunch of their more popular songs. Enjoyed 'em even ("Icky Thump" is a personal favorite)! So I thought this album was going to be a slam dunk. Then I started listening.  Okay, lead off with "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground". Not bad. "Hotel Yorba"? Seems we've pegged our style of a stripped down, basic musical approach. Not that I expected much different (like I said, I knew the White Stripes' music going into this one), but it felt very... one note. Took until "Fell in Love with a Girl" to slough off that mantle, before exploding into a rollicking album that gained back at least half a star rating.  I'll be the first person to tell you my opinion on music is heavily affected by how I'm feeling a
Read more

Album #5

Image
  Album: The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society Artist:  The Kinks Released : 1968 Label : Pye Genre: Folk pop This one was a unique album for me this early in the marathon. I've heard of the Kinks but never really listened. And yet this album felt like I'd been listening to it my whole life. The influences are there. This album wasn't just popped onto the 1001 list because it sold well; it was here because if inspirations leave fingerprints, this album left DNA samples, hair samples, fingerprints, and a signed affidavit of its influence. Beyond the legacy it left through the remaining late 60s and through the 70s onward, musically this album made me nostalgic for a world I never lived in. It's decidedly English (apparently brought about by a blacklisting of performing in America around the time of the recording), but it made me yearn for a quiet country cottage and a simple life. A life that, as the title implies, may be in need of protecting or may even
Read more