DEEP CUTS, VOLUME 1 (1973-1976)

"Deep Cuts, Volume 1 (1973-1976)" is a compilation album of Queen that was released in 2011. It makes part of a trilogy of compilation albums from the band that covers some of the best tracks made by Queen during their entire career. As its name indicates, this compilation album is the volume one of that trilogy and only covers tracks between 1973 and 1976. It means that "Deep Cuts, Volume 1 (1973-1976)" has only tracks that were originally released on the first five studio albums from the band, their eponymous debut album "Queen" which was released in 1973, their second and third albums "Queen II" and "Sheer Heart Attack", respectively, which were both released in 1974, their fourth album "A Night At The Opera" which was released in 1975 and their fifth album "A Day At The Races" which was released in 1976.

"Deep Cuts, Volume 1 (1973-1976)" has fourteen tracks. "Ogre Battle" is from "Queen II". This is a hard rock song, one of the Queen's heaviest songs ever made by them. It has one of the greatest and most violent guitar riffs made by Brian May, which clearly shows one of the first precursor lines of heavy progressive metal. "Stone Cold Crazy" is from "Sheer Heart Attack". It's a heavy metal rock song with many and sudden musical changes and great guitar work. This is a great rock song. "My Fairy King" is from "Queen". Here we are in presence of a song full of constant changes. It's a song with incredible vocal harmonies and it has also some lovely piano work performed by Freddie Mercury. This is one of the best, most creative and most progressive songs created by the band. "I'm In Love With My Car" is from "A Night At The Opera". It's a song with the lyrics inspired and dedicated to one of the band's roadies, Jonathan Harris, whose car was the love of his life. This is a great rock song, simple and catchy, one of Roger Taylor's most famous songs in Queen's catalogue. "Keep Yourself Alive" is from "Queen". It's an energetic rock piece that shows Brian May's distinct and typical guitar sound. We are in presence of a straight forward rock song with different and unexpected changes in tempo, with great guitar and nice vocal work. "Long Away" is from "A Day At The Races". It's a kind of a counterpart to "'39" from "A Night At The Opera". Despite isn't as good as "'39", it still is good and pleasant to hear. The main interesting thing on the song is the vocal work of Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor, which is amazing. "The Millionaire Waltz" is also from "A Day At The Races". It's an epic song following the same line of "Bohemian Rhapsody" from "A Night At The Opera". It's another multi-key and multi-metre song, extremely complex using many abrupt arrangements and musical passages. This is an excellent rock/waltz in the typical Queen's style. This is very close to "Bohemian Rhapsody" in terms of quality. "'39" is from "A Night At The Opera". It relates the story of a group of space explorers who embarked on a very far way space travel, and upon their return, the loved ones they left beyond are all dead. We are in presence of a superb acoustic ballad with great guitar work and some beautiful harmonies. "Tenement Funster" is from "Sheer Heart Attack". It's a good rock number with a heavy tune. It has a brilliant melody over some inspired chord choices together with a carefully paced arrangement. It's one of Roger Taylor's compositions that had stood better the test of time. "Flick Of The Wrist" is also from "Sheer Heart Attack". It's a sensational track with great vocals, excellent guitar work and an inspired riff. This is one of the highlights on "Sheer Heart Attack". "Lily Of The Valley" is another song from "Sheer Heart Attack". This is a very short song with a beautiful melody that skills the great capabilities of Freddie Mercury as a great songwriter. Here everything works perfectly well. "Good Company" is from "A Night At The Opera". It's a simple and nice song by Brian May where he plays koto, a traditional Japanese instrument. It's a song with an old fashioned tune, very pleasant to hear. "The March Of The Black Queen" is from "Queen II". It's a complex song with progressive lines divided into multi-sections, some heavy and some quiet. Like "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke" of the same album, we are in presence of a progressive, melodic, intelligent, complex, harmonious and well arranged song. "In The Lap Of The Gods...Revisited" is from "Sheer Heart Attack". It's a wonderful song where all works together to the final climax of the song and of that album too. This is an incredible final for "Sheer Heart Attack".

Conclusion: "Deep Cuts, Volume 1 (1973-1976)" is a very good compilation album of Queen, the first of the three parts of their compilations named "Deep Cuts". "Deep Cuts" covers the entire career of the band when Freddie Mercury was a member of the band. This one covers the career of the band between 1973 and 1976, the years where Queen released their first five studio albums, "Queen", "Queen II", "Sheer Heart Attack", "A Night At The Opera" and "A Day At The Races". So, here we have tracks that belong to what is in general considered their most prog phase. It has two songs of "Queen", two songs of "Queen II", five songs of "Sheer Heart Attack", three songs of "A Night At The Opera" and two songs of "A Day At The Races". Since all these songs are great, we can really say this is a good compilation album.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)