This article is part of the John Frusciante Challenge: 10 Articles in 10 Days. It is named after the legendary Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist, as he recorded 6 albums in 6 months during 2004.
If you think that this content doesn't make sense, probably you're right! I still hope you'll enjoy it though...
In this challenge I couldn't miss an article about my favourite rock band! Despite sleep deprivation, I found the strength to wrap something I've always been keen on talking about. Queen count endless of evergreen hits. You find their songs everywhere, from movies to commercials, ending of course in the stadiums where We Are The Champions echoes whenever it's time to celebrate a trophy.
However, Queen's catalogue is so vast that many beautiful gems didn't receive the attention they deserve, but if played by any other band, would have been probably their biggest hit. Let's find out together the lost Queen treasures!
I had to write this article after I brought Innuendo to karaoke. I sang it miserably even because I received no support from the audience, as nobody apparently knew it! The “Bohemian Rhapsody of the 90s” as Queen themselves defined this masterpiece, looks to be one of the most underrated works by the band.
Everybody knows Bohemian Rhapsody by heart, but no one knows Innuendo. Maybe because it was never performed live. It was released indeed as title track of the last complete album recorded with Mercury, who would have died shortly after the release.
I can tell you guys that Innuendo is at another level. In this song you have the same virtuosism heard in Bohemian Rhapsody, but with deeper lyrics that wonder “if there's any kind of justice under the sky, if there's a reason to live or die”!
In the middle of the song, you'll hear the acoustic contribution by Steve Howe, the great Yes guitarist. It is a flamenco bridge that explodes into an epic hymn that tells “you can be anything that you want be, just turn yourself into anything you think that you could ever be!”
This section is particularly complex, intertwined and not easy to understand. With today's music taste, it would be impossible to release such a work!
I love Innuendo because it is a complete song, where you can hear the work of different great musicians. Epic!
Still from the Innuendo album, another jewel, this time written entirely by Roger Taylor. Here Roger writes about his passion for cars, how he loves to take his lady for a thrilling ride: “Get your head down baby - we're gonna ride tonight. Your angel eyes - are shining bright. I wanna take your hand - lead you from this place. Gonna leave it all behind. Check out of this rat race!”
It's exactly what I dream to do. I'm so tired of this rat race...
The song is perfectly mixed. The reverb makes you imagine to be in a long desert highway, under the stars in a clear night. Cactuses speed away while you get lost in her eyes... Brian's guitar pushes the throttle while the engine is kept up to Roger's beat... Don't worry, John's bass will keep the wheel, even thought all of this “it ain't dangerous enough for me!”
Don't Lose Your Head is the most underrated song from the hits factory A Kind Of Magic. It opens with an hypnotic synth arpeggio, blended with Taylor repeating through the vocoder "Don't Lose Your Head" before the title is made clearer by Mercury at his fullest power amplified by a superb reverb in pure 80s style.
This is a song with an epic tone, but unusual lyrics: they invite you to be responsible, especially not to drink before driving. It's a duet between Mercury and Taylor (both normal vocals and vocoder).
After these recommendations, you are reminded simply that “love's stronger, love walks through walls!”. So don't lose your head, but keep on listening to Queen.
I love everything about this song! The intro is so mysterious, mesmerizing, threatening! And it must be, cause this song is a great poem of insults! Before diving into pure musical class, A Night At The Opera opens with these sharp omens dedicated to Queen's first manager Norman Sheffield.
In their opinion, Sheffield made the first part of Queen's career a nightmare, especially on the financial side. Think that the band is said to have been broke before the release of Sheer Heart Attack!
"You suck my blood like a leech. You break the law and you breach". I expected to see Sheffield in the movie and hear Death On Two Legs having at least a small part in it, but I guess that after an off-court settlement between the band and their former leech manager back in the 70s, this story is sorted once for all... "But now you can kiss my ass goodbye!"
One of the finest examples of heavy metal a la' Queen, it would make a perfect fit for a wild karaoke night!
The longest Queen song after 13. It's a long poem inspired by a weird dream Brian May had one night during the Sheer Heart Attack sessions. He took a while to put this challenging work together, that was ready only for A Night At The Opera. The result is a biblical story inspired by the Genesis (which I'm reading during these days!) and filtered through the multidimensional lenses of progressive rock.
You will be mesmerized by the middle section, left totally on Freddie Mercury's voice, delayed and accompanied by the choirs of the other members who sound like professional cat singers! In that period Queen proud themselves for not using synthesisers. All what you hear in this song was achieved manually or through ingenious workarounds!
Bohemian Rhapsody became legend, with merit, but The Prophet's Song is probably the finest work in the album A Night At The Opera.
Listen to believe!
A Day At The Races is the twin album of A Night At The Opera, so as you might expect, it contains several gems, one of which is a beautiful hymn titled Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together). What it stands it is not only the beautiful melody, the touching kids choir, but the fact that Freddie sings the chorus in Japanese! Not a chance that this song was released even as a single for the Japanese market only. Still progressive, but without being too much complex. Epic, but friendly. In my opinion this is the finest track from the album.
Have you ever wondered where Bohemian Rhapsody comes from? This is BR's mother, as even Queen members could confirm if you ask them.
Mercury stated that he was working on this song even before Queen formed!
Of course it doesn't have the same magic of BR, but I can guarantee you that it will catch you, entertain you, even scare you, but most importantly, it will amaze you!
You will spend 6:38 minutes in wonder, following the Black Queen until you'll tell her that “I'll be your bad boy, I'll be your bad boy! I'll do the match of the black queen...”
From the album The Miracle, the second to last released before Freddie's death. Rain Must Fall is a comforting chant that cheered me up in many tough moments.
The title fits perfectly the song's purpose: you imagine the shit happening in your life as a black cloud following you, until this track makes the sun peer out. You feel immediately relieved, recharged to face and fix the problems that life inevitably puts ahead of you!
When you hear Brian's solo pulling you up, just stand up and “Be cool!”
Another masterpiece from A Night At The Opera. This is a rare example where Freddie Mercury is not the lead singer! Roger Taylor takes the mic and shouts his unconditional love for his car: “Told my girl I'll have to forget her. Rather buy me a new carburettor!”
I'm In Love With My Car is an epic poem in pure 70s style, embellished by the royalty of Queen craftsmanship.
I'm happy that this song had a mention in the movie. Do you remember when Queen are preparing food in the country house/studio discussing the material and Brian May points out at Roger Taylor that his song is not strong enough? They are talking about I'm In Love With My Car!
Check yourself if this piece is not strong enough! ;-)
“This could be heaven for everyone. This world could be fed. This world could be one!”
There is so much beauty in this track. Again it's incredible how everyone was puzzled when I sang this at the karaoke: “I don't know this one dude...”
It's a pity, because here you have everything: melody, gentle tempo, symphony, elegance and strong lyrics of hope, defined with determination in the bridge, where Freddie is so angry at “what people do to other souls – they take their lives, destroy their goals!”
This sentence describes perfectly why killing is such a horrible act. It's such a powerful line and I love it!
And don't worry, in the outro you will feel like raising to Heaven...
This is a special song for me. After a delicate surgery, I had to spend several days at home. My confidence in a full recovery was sometimes chocked by sparks of pain. The doubts died when finally I decided that it was time to listen entirely to the album Made In Heaven.
Among all the wonderful tracks enclosed in this LP, It's A Beautiful Day (Reprise) is the one that gave me the final push to take my life back!
“It's a beautiful day! I feel good! I feel right! No one is gonna stop me now!”
Guys! After these words are followed by those drums and the Arabic style guitar riff, you would stand up too! Whenever you're sick, play this song!
And you? Which other hidden gems by Queen you like or you wish they were more recognized? Comment below!
