QUEEN

It's very hard to rate these CD's in the context of being essential prog rock discs, etc. Queen is and will always be my favorite band...as a matter of fact I already have my tickets for Queen's show in NJ in October. This album would get a 4 as a rock record, but as a prog record the rules are changed!!

Let's just review the CD itself and let you decide. This debut was released in 1973, although the majority of the material was written between 1971 and 1972. Several tracks were dated even earlier, showing up in slightly different versions with Freddie's pre-Queen band "Wreckage" and Brian and Roger's pre-Queen band "Smile." I figure I'll just pick the several so-so songs first, as the remainder of the album is very strong, especially for a debut. The worst tracks in my opinion are the almost punk tune "Modern Times Rock And Roll", "The Night Comes Down" (which is oddly enough the original demo for the song - all further attempts at recording this tune didn't turn out right), and "Jesus."

Now for the good stuff - everything I didn't name above. "Keep Yourself Alive" was released as Queen's first single and showcases Brian's distinct guitar sound along with a short drum solo from Roger Taylor. "Doing All Right" was originally recorded as a "Smile" song in 1969 but greatly upgraded for Queen's release. A great invitation to listen to Queen's harmonies!!! "Great King Rat" and "Liar" are two of the album's heavier tracks, with "Liar" ranking high on the list of best Queen songs. "Liar" was also an older tune, dating back to Freddie's previous band around 1968. Live versions of this included all kinds of jamming and extensions...a showpiece of their very early shows. The same goes with "Son & Daughter", a great heavy track that played better on stage!! The album ends with an early instrumental teaser of "Seven Seas Of Rhye" which showed up in its full glory on "Queen II."

The bonus tracks on this disc are some of the best, as most others only included terrible rap remixes and other assorted nonsense, but here we get the previously unreleased song "Mad The Swine." Not anything thrilling to a casual listener but a true gem for a die hard Queen fan. Also included was a Long Lost Retake of "Keep Yourself Alive." Although not mentioned in the CD, this version seems to have been recorded around 1977, possibly for a BBC session.

This is a great debut and a wonderful way to get associated with Queen's early sound. A little tid bit - The cover was actually taken from a live photo of Freddie circa 1971 at a very early Queen show, the photos on the reverse were taken mostly in Freddie's apartment!