How Queen’s Underrated Debut Album Signaled a Band on the Rise
The celebrated British band’s first record turns 45 this year.
“I have seen the future of pop music, and it is a band called Queen.”
— from a company memo, circa 1972, by Jac Holzman, Elektra Records founder.
In just a few months, the long-awaited Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, is scheduled to finally hit the theaters after a series of false starts. Judging by the trailer, the film — starring Mr. Robot’s Rami Malek as the British group’s legendary singer Freddie Mercury — looks very promising as it documents the rise of one of the greatest rock bands in music history. With the imminent the arrival of Bohemian Rhapsody, this year shaping to be big for Queen and its fans, being that it also marks the 45th anniversary of the band’s self-titled debut album.
While it wasn’t a huge hit at the time and surpassed by latter-Queen masterpieces such as Sheer Heart Attack, A Night at the Opera, News of the World, and The Game, Queen nevertheless is a key record in the group’s catalog. It introduced the band’s dramatic and grandiose sound; the powerhouse flamboyant vocals of Mercury; the melodic, orchestral-sounding guitar of Brian May; the early signs of the band’s preference for meticulous and painstaking studio production and…
