Queen (translated from English. - “Queen”, pronounced “Cui? N”) - a British rock band that achieved the greatest fame in the mid 70-ies of the XX century, is one of the most successful groups in the history of rock music, worldwide the circulation of their albums exceeds 300 million. The media called the group "cult" and write that it still has hundreds of millions of fans. Critics consider such songs as “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “We Will Rock You”, “We Are the Champions”, “Innuendo”, “The Show Must Go On”, “Radio Ga Ga” to be classics of rock. The group released fifteen studio albums, five concert albums and numerous collections. Eighteen Queen albums took first place on the charts of different countries. Concert performances of the group were also recognized as one of the most striking and significant in the history of rock.
Queen videos for their innovation in special effects and editing were also widely known. In particular, the video shot in 1975 for the song
... Bohemian Rhapsody is called the key in the history of music video clips, as its success inspired the development of this industry.
After the death of Freddie Mercury, Queen's vocalist, the band virtually ceased studio activities. However, Brian May and Roger Taylor continue to tour under the name Queen and perform both proven hits and new material.
Origin
The band’s origins were based on the creative experiments of its members: students Brian May and Tim Staffel in the UK in 1967 founded the group “1984” (based on the novel of the same name by George Orwell), later (in 1968) transformed into “Smile”. Brian posted an ad in his Imperial College. It stated that the group needed a drummer to play in the style of Mitch Mitchell and Ginger Baker. Dentist student Roger Taylor responded to him. He then seemed to May and Staffel the best option, striking them with the precision of the drums. The main achievement of Smile was the opening act with Pink Floyd. However, due to intense study and the absence of any kind of management in the spring of 1970, the trio broke up: Tim Staffel left the group.
May and Taylor did not intend to give up a musical career and shared their creative ambitions with friend and roommate Staffel Freddy (Farrukh) Bulsara. He often attended Smile performances, but May and Staffel did not even suspect that he could sing at all. Freddy had a very clear idea of \u200b\u200bwhat the performances and stage work of the group should be. Once in the new team, he came up with the name “Queen” for him and developed the logo, and he took the pseudonym Freddie Mercury. Now the group consisted of a keyboardist vocalist, guitarist and drummer.
Initially, Roger Taylor’s old acquaintance in the Cornish group The Reaction, Mike Growse, was invited to play the bass guitarist, who performed at the band’s first two concerts (Truro City Hall, Truro on June 27 and July 12th at Imperial College). Subsequently, he was replaced by a very gifted bass player Barry Mitchell. But, tired of the music business, he left the band in early 1971. Only two performances lasted the next bassist of the group, Doug Bogie (Doug Bogie). In February 1971, at a London disco, Brian May and Roger Taylor met the already experienced bass player John Deacon, who had come to study in London from his hometown of Leicester. After auditioning, John took the position of the bassist of the group and became the fourth permanent link in the composition, which lasted for almost 21 years.
History of creativity
Although some critics note the influence of other bands in the band’s early work, the material recorded by Queen, from the very beginning, was distinguished by its own style of progressive rock, which was created due to intricate arrangements, the unique sound of Brian’s electric guitar and soulful vocal parts. Mercury himself has repeatedly noted that their group “grew up” on “Led Zeppelin” and Jimi Hendrix.
1973 - the year of the release of the first Queen album of the same name, in which the song of the Smile trio Doing All Right was included. However, the guys made a bet on the song "Keep Yourself Alive", releasing it with their debut single (1972). This album was recorded for two years, at those moments when the recording studio was free, in parallel with the study of the band members. In the same year, Queen gave the first independent concerts in the UK, Germany and Luxembourg. Prior to that, they participated in the tour of other groups on the opening act.
1974 - The Queen II album became the first breakthrough and finished fifth in the British charts, despite the fact that critics' reviews were negative. The album was accused of incompleteness and lack of independence, however, according to Brian May, none of the group found the album bad.
The album of the same year “Sheer Heart Attack” reached the second line of charts in the UK. The album’s compositions ("Killer Queen", "Now I" m Here ") relate to the group’s hits, and Stone Cold Crazy is considered a heavy metal classic (later included in Metallica’s repertoire). The group participates in the Australian Sunbury Music Festival and gives the first concerts in Sweden and Finland.The band released their first video for the song - “Killer Queen”.
1975 - the album “A Night at the Opera” made a splash, it is still called the greatest work “Queen”. Various sources indicate this album among the best albums of modern music. The album took 230 lines in the list of “500 greatest albums of all time according to Rolling Stone magazine.” In England, the album became four times platinum.
The most famous song of this album is “Bohemian Rhapsody” - a long six-minute composition that combines the features of rock and pop music, operas and individual motifs of folklore. A three-minute song was considered standard in those years, but Queen created a six-minute song. A quarter of a century later in Britain it was called the song of the millennium. A video clip was shot for this song, which according to a survey organized by the O2 telephone company, the British consider the best clip of all time. Optical special effects are used in the clip: shooting through a hexagonal prism and duplicating the faces of the musicians. The clips “You” re “My Best Friend” and “Love of My Life” were filmed for the same album, the latter, by the way, in the same concert version with a guitar. In support of the album, Queen gives concerts in the USA, Canada, Japan and , of course, in the UK.
1976 - the album "A Day at the Races", which became the logical continuation of "A Night At The Opera", caused a storm of indignation among critics. Queen was accused of a futile attempt to repeat the previous album, and its influence is really noticeable. Brian May said that all the songs were prepared at the same time, just some came out in 1975, and others - in 1976. However, “A Day At The Races” took 1st place in the British charts, and the song “Somebody to Love” became a hit. An abridged version of “Tie Your Mother Down” has since been played at most Queen concerts. In addition, clips were filmed for Somebody To Love and Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy. In addition, the group gives a grandiose free concert in Hyde Park, gathering about 170 thousand people, arranges a tour in Scotland, the USA, Japan and Australia.
1977 - the “News of the World” disc is released, in which “Queen” changes their course to tougher and sometimes more aggressive music. This CD brought the group three super hits “We Will Rock You”, “Spread Your Wings” and “We Are the Champions ", But otherwise was not so successful, reached the fourth line in Britain and the third in the USA. The group again gives concerts in Sweden, conducts tours in North America and Europe.
1978 - Jazz is released, the band’s most controversial album. It has a lighter sound, therefore, it was accused by critics of "pop music". However, the main reason for the scandal was the video for the song "Bicycle Race", which showed dozens of naked girls on bicycles. The clip was banned from showing in the United States as pornographic.
The song "Mustapha", which was released on the record number one and was a vocal experiment by Mercury on arabic language under a powerful guitar sound, was also misunderstood. “Let Me Entertain You” turned out to be closer to heavy metal, but it fit perfectly into this album. The drum track “Don” t Stop Me Now is one of Queen’s best songs written by Freddie Mercury, a charge of energy that will then go to Greatest Hits, Fat Bottomed Girls, Bicycle Race "And" Don't Stop Me Now "were filmed. The stylish cover of the album was inspired by a pattern on the Berlin wall that the musicians saw while traveling around the city. Despite criticism," Jazz "rose to second place in Britain and to sixth in USA.
Band during the Jazz Tour
1979 - “Live Killers” was released - the concert collection “Queen”, which included concert versions of the band’s most famous songs. He goes instead of a new studio album - musicians devote themselves to concerts. Mercury first enters the stage with a Fender Telecaster guitar in order to perform the new song “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”, it is noteworthy that this is the only song on which Mercury plays the guitar, which will soon be included in the album “The Game”, but for now released as a single.
In a year, everyone will see a completely different Queen, a group that will become the personification of rock music of the 80s and one of the most popular bands in the world to this day.
Since 1980, a new period begins in the work of Queen. Over the next 6 years, the group will develop its own style, completely different from what the musicians demonstrated in the previous decade. The group gradually moved away from glam rock, and Mercury parted with his former stage image: he cut his hair, grew a mustache, and stopped performing in tights.
1980 - The Game album was released. He opened a new era not only in the work of the group, but also in all rock music. Mercury considered him the best album of the group. The group abandoned their preconceptions and recorded an album using a synthesizer. Prior to this, synthesizers were fundamentally and declaratively (labeled NO SYNTHESIZERS on the cover) as an instrument that did not fit in with the style and sound of the group, which were easily replaced by numerous overlays of the May sound of the Red Special guitar and the Deacy amplifier (a gift from John Deacon). Compositions from this record invariably sounded at every concert, and some of them belong to the best created by Queen.
“Play the Game” is the title song of the disc, accompanied by a somewhat unusual clip. In the background, a fire burns in it, in which musicians subsequently dissolve - one of the first applications of graphics. The live version of "Play the Game" Mercury played on the piano. The Deacon’s song “Another One Bites the Dust” was particularly successful. This item is unusual for Queen. It can be called disco funk. “Another One Bites the Dust” is definitely one of the band’s most successful songs, remembered for its incredible bass and characteristic vocals. Mercury himself loved this song very much, and the whole album was developed taking into account its nature. The idea paid off - “The Game” was built thematically, and was not just a collection of songs. Then the group recorded music for the sci-fi movie “Flash Gordon”. He was well received in the UK, but failed at the American box office. It should be noted that for the first time in “Flash Gordon” the group uses the synthesizer as the dominant tool and does it very professionally.
1981 - The Greatest Hits compilation is released. Together with David Bowie, the song “Under Pressure” is being recorded, which so far is being released as a single, but is already enjoying tremendous success, reaching the first position both in England and in a number of other countries.
1982 was marked by grandiose concert tours: Queen gave about 70 concerts in the UK, Western Europe, the USA, Canada and Japan). The new album “Hot Space” was released, the main hit of which was the same “Under Pressure”, performed with David Bowie. British television is making a film about a concert that will appear in 2004 under the title Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl.
1983 - the group pauses for a short time, all musicians work on solo projects.
1984 - The Works album took second place in the UK charts. The song "Radio Ga Ga" topped the charts in 19 countries. The storm of emotions caused the song "I Want to Break Free", more precisely, the video clip shot on it. The main part of the video’s plot unfolds in the scenery of the popular British television series “Coronation Street”, and the band’s musicians are dressed in outfits of female characters in the series. The scandalous nature of the video, however, did not prevent the song itself from becoming the official anthem of the African National Congress. The band performs at the Montreux Golden Rose Festival, and can be seen on the Greatest Video Hits II DVD.
1985 - Queen takes part in the Rock in Rio festival. This performance will later appear on DVD, as well as the Tokyo concert on May 11th. On July 13, 1985, the band performed in triumph at the Live Aid charity concert. After 20 years, this performance is recognized as the best of the "live" sung by performers. After this concert, Brian May said that it was then that he experienced real pride in his work. “Queen is the best band in the world today!” Said the guitarist.
1986 - Queen wrote the soundtrack for the sci-fi movie Highlander and put it at the heart of her new album, A Kind Of Magic. The album was a huge success. The musicians organized the Magic Tour, a series of concerts throughout Europe. The three most grandiose concerts in London, Nebworth and Budapest gathered 400,000 people, and the concert in Budapest was the first performance of a Western rock band in the history of Eastern Europe in general and Hungary in particular. The tour itself attracted about a million people across Europe. Not a single rock group or rock singer has known anything like this since the Beatlemania of the 60s. “Magic Tour” will be the last concert tour of the group. This year, rumors began about Mercury's disease. He denied this, referring to his healthy appearance.
1989 - The Miracle album is very different from all previous works. Mercury's voice changed a little, he shaved off his mustache and began to dress more sternly. Five singles are released along with the album. The release of the videos fuels rumors about Mercury’s disease, which are now actively refuted by both the band’s musicians and Mercury himself. The cover of "The Miracle" also became a matter of controversy, but most likely, precisely because of the singer's possible illness. The title song of the album was a five-minute song "The Miracle". Voice changes may have occurred due to the direct impact of the disease, but it is well known that in early 1990, Mercury quit smoking due to a developing lung disease.
1990 - no information about the group appears, all its members report that “everything is fine”, but such a sharp change in lifestyle and image caused a natural surprise and concern for the fans. Queen received the Brit Awards music award, and this release will be Mercury's last public appearance. He did not give a speech, saying simply: “Thank you, good night” (“Thank you, good night”).
1991 - the last year of the actual existence of Queen. Shortly before Mercury's death, the album Innuendo (Indirect Hint) was released. Many consider him one of the most outstanding works of Queen. The album opens with a song called Innuendo. In its composition, it resembles “Bohemian Rhapsody” - all the same six minutes instead of the standard three, a combination of different musical directions. This track was another departure from the principles: in addition to the lack of synthesizers on all albums, it was declared that all tracks were performed exclusively by Queen, without the involvement of session musicians. Fragment, indicated by Spanish Minstrel Guitars, played by Steve Howe, ex-guitarist of Yes. The second song - "I" m Going Slightly Mad "- was filmed with a grotesque black and white video clip featuring penguins and an actor dressed in a gorilla costume (they say that it was Elton John). However, the album’s most famous song is without a doubt is the last - "The Show Must Go On", in which the lyrical hero asks about the meaning of existence and expresses hope for gaining physical and mental freedom after death. Her refrain in the literal translation says:
Show must go on.
My heart is breaking
My makeup is crumbling
But my smile remains.
“The Show Must Go On” is one of the most famous Queen songs. But without knowing the history of the group, it is impossible to understand how much effort Mercury made her record. Mercury's voice does not betray his illness. It is hard to imagine what it is like to perform such a song, knowing about the imminent death. Written by Brian May, it seems to have been created specifically for Mercury. In the video for this song, glued from pieces of previous video works, Mercury almost for the first time appears for some couple of seconds not in the image of a macho or a jester or a thunderer - just a very good-natured smile, a kind of surprised kind man winks: they say, he himself doesn’t believe that all this was with him. But at the same time, only a tiny part of his life could fit in a few minutes of his last clip.
The song “The Show Must Go On” rightfully entered the top 100 songs of the 20th century. She has a myriad of cover versions performed, perhaps, by all the prominent singers of recent times. The poetic talent of the author was manifested in the amazing laconicism of words that give rise to images. The song is perfectly translated into Russian, while it is almost quasi-rhythmic, which allows you to sing it to the original melody in Russian.
The show must go
Space wasteland - that's what we live for?
Places of oblivion - everyone knows the score ...
Again, more ...
Just before his death, Mercury ordered the transfer of all proceeds from the reissue of the song “Bohemian Rhapsody” to the Terrence Higgins AIDS charity foundation. The single “Bohemian Rhapsody” / “These Are the Days of Our Lives” was released with two sides A. It was the first time in the world of music when the same song took first place in the charts twice, in different decades. Shortly before his death, Freddie made Brian May release his solo single, “Driven By You,” arguing that this was the best time. On November 23, 1991, Freddy told the world that he really had AIDS, and exactly one day later he died in his Kensington mansion.
1992 On April 20, a concert in memory of Freddie Mercury was organized at the Wembley Stadium in London, organized by the remaining musicians of the group. On that day, those who Mercury considered his friends and personally worked with were Joe Elliot, George Michael, Axl Rose, Elton John, Metallica, Robert Plant, David Bowie, Seal, Roger Daltry, Annie Lennox, Fox Stansfield and Mercury's favorite actress is Lisa Minelli. Spike Eddie, who played a lot of concerts with Queen on keyboards, called this concert Fred Aid, recalling Queen's phenomenal performance in 1985 on Live Aid.
1995 Queen released her latest studio album, titled Made in Heaven, made up of Spring 1991 session recordings by Mountain Studios, two re-arranged Mercury tracks from his solo album, Mr. Bad Guy ”(“ Made in Heaven ”,“ I Was Born to Love You ”), one composition by Roger Taylor’s band The Cross (“ Heaven for Everyone ”) and some songs that had not been released before. It is noteworthy that "A Winter" s Tale "is the last song written by Mercury, and" Mother Love "was the last recording of Mercury's vocals.
The group after the death of Mercury
After the death of Mercury, George Michael, Robbie Williams, Zemfira, and the band Five soloed in separate concerts and recordings of Queen. However, the most successful was the union of musicians with a representative of the British blues rock Paul Rogers. The project is called Queen + Paul Rodgers. Return of the Champions. " The musicians go on tour, sing traditional Queen songs with Paul Rogers songs and gather decent audiences.
John Deacon refused to participate in the new composition, saying: “There is no point in continuing. It’s impossible to replace Freddy. ” After 1995, he stopped his musical career, only once appearing on stage in 1997 on the set of the video for the song No-One But You.
In 2002, the musical “We will Rock You”, based on the music of Queen, was presented in London. The musical was a success, it was staged in different countries, in particular in Moscow from October 2004 to February 2005.
In 2006, Brian May announced that a new studio album would be recorded with Paul Rogers. Say it’s Not True, released by Taylor, was released on December 31, 2007. The song was already performed at the band’s concerts, and it was the band’s first studio single recorded with Paul Rogers. The single reached number 90 on the UK chart.
In 2008, a new tour of the group was organized. The European tour opened with a charity concert in Kharkov. The concert entitled “Life must go on!”, Organized by the Ukrainian Anti-AIDS Foundation by Elena Franchuk (Pinchuk), took place on the evening of September 12 at Europe’s second largest and seventh largest city square, Freedom Square, and gathered the largest, estimated international experts, in the history of the group, the audience is 350 thousand people. 28 tracks were played. Guitarist Brian May said that for the first time “Queen” gathered so many people at one concert and wrote on his blog that day: “This was the first show of the tour ... For 350 thousand Kharkov people .. It's hard to believe ... It's not a typo ... More than a quarter million beautiful inhabitants of Kharkov gathered on Freedom Square and lit us! They chanted, laughed, shouted and cried ... It was a meeting that is hard to imagine. We were inspired, shocked and even sometimes too emotional ... It was a concert with a bunch of spontaneous and sometimes reckless moments. " Entrance to the square was free and the musicians did not receive a performance fee - the host only paid the costs of the concert and stay.
On September 15 and 16, 2008, Queen + Paul Rodgers concerts were held in Russia, in Moscow, at the Olimpiysky sports complex.
Music style
Rock historians categorize Queen as hard rock and glam rock, characteristic of the 1970s. They were often compared with contemporaries such as Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Roxy Music. Queen started as a traditional hard rock band, but the experiments brought elements of music that were far from rock to their music. As critic Philip Auslander notes, some of Queen's songs "border on a claim to jazz or classical music." Peter Buckley calls Queen's music "a combination of hard rock, artistry and pop music ahead of its time."
A striking feature of the sound of the group is a choir from Mercury, May and Taylor, which became the hallmark of the group. The most successful sound of this choir is in the albums “A Night at the Opera” and “A Day at the Races”. Another striking feature of the group are the various polyphonic parts for one person (for example, for the song “Bohemian Rhapsody” Mercury recorded his voice 180 times
Achievements
In 2000, as a result of a survey in which over 190 thousand people took part, “Bohemian Rhapsody” was named the best song of the millennium, ahead of even the famous “Imagine” of John Lennon. The song “Under Pressure” took tenth place in this charts.
2002 year. Guinness Book of Records: UK's best single in 50 years (Bohemian Rhapsody)
In 2005, 3,500 music lovers put Freddie Mercury in second place on the list of the best vocalists of all time, Brian May took seventh place in the ranking of best guitarists, Roger Taylor became the eighth among drummers.
In 2006, Greatest Hits was recognized as the UK's best-selling record. A total of 5.4 million copies were sold in the country.
In 2006, Greatest Hits was recognized as the most downloaded album on the iTunes Store. A total of 2.27 million times downloaded.
In 2007, more than 20,000 BBC listeners selected Queen as the best British rock band of all time.
The song “We Are the Champions” is recognized as the most popular in the world (the survey was conducted by Sony Ericsson, and over 700 thousand people from different countries took part in it).
The Queen group received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for achievements and contributions in the field of music.
Composition of the group
Freddie Mercury ( Freddie mercury, 1946-1991) Real name Farrukh Bulsara - piano, vocals, guitar. The author of the songs is “Killer Queen”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Somebody to Love”, “We Are the Champions”, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”, “Innuendo”, etc.
Brian May (1947) - Guitars. The author of the songs “We Will Rock You”, “Tie Your Mother Down”, “Who Wants to Live Forever”, “Hammer to Fall”, “I Want It All”, “The Show Must Go On”, etc.
John Deacon (1951) - bass, rhythm guitar. The author of the songs "You" re My Best Friend "," Another One Bites the Dust "," I Want to Break Free "," One Year of Love ", etc.
Roger Taylor (1949) - drums. The author of the songs “Radio Ga Ga”, “Heaven for Everyone”, “A Kind of Magic”, “These Are the Days of Our Lives” and others.
Famous British band " Queen», Which has become a cult for more than one generation of rock music lovers originates from the sixties. These, as you know, were the golden years of rock. The greatest bands that created this cool music and brought it to the peak of popularity around the world began their history at this great time. It is enough to recall, "", "", "" and many others.
Young people, for the most part, were always not indifferent to music. Talented youth, doubly! And having such an example as the above-mentioned musicians, of course, young people sought to achieve success and fame in the same way!
So, two young people, Brian May and Tim Staffel, being students of Imperial College in 1964 decided to take the path of rock musicians, promising fame, money and success for girls, which is especially important for guys like them!
The first team was 1984. Such unusual name was given the influence of George Orwell's favorite book. However, two years later the name was changed to a more romantic “Smile”. Namely, in this group after a brief search for a drummer, the future permanent member came " Queen»Roger Taylor. He conquered Brian and Tim by knowing how to fine tune the drums. I involuntarily recall a similar story with, which also struck future “Beatles” with its ability to tune the guitar. There were times!
The trio lasted until 1970 and safely ceased to exist. This happened due to the banal lack of time and the lack of a leadership component that would direct the group in the right direction.
Unlike Staffel, Brian and Roger decided not to give up doing what they love. And, apparently, it was so pleasing to Heaven, they met a guy named Freddy Bulsara. This moment can be considered the birth of the super popular rock band Queen. Then Freddie took himself, who became the famous pseudonym of Mercury!
For the full line-up, they lacked a bass player. And in the winter of 1971 such a man was found. John Deacon was by then quite a strong musician who would also give up his work in the group for more than twenty years. " Queen».
Already in the summer of 1972, the group recorded two of their songs “The Night Comes Down” and “Liar” at the company “De Lane Lea”, thanks to which “Queen” were noticed by the legendary company “EMI”. The song “Keep Yourself Alive” entered the top thirty of the UK charts, but the press reviews were mixed! The group was criticized for allegedly emulating Led Zeppelin. Personally, I believe that at the beginning of the creative path everyone is like their idols, the main thing is not to focus on this. A role model, more than worthy!
Without a doubt, the musicians " Queen". Possessed great talent and creative potential in order to go on their own, the only right way. And it was brilliantly demonstrated on a disc with the simple name "Queen II". In this work, “Queen” has its own face, personality, the style of music and singing has changed. The group became recognizable, and popularity gained momentum!
The next album, Sheer Heart Attack, was also very successful and took second place in the UK, but more importantly, it opened the way overseas. As you know, in order to gain world recognition, it was necessary to succeed in the United States. Remember how almost all British groups and not only went to conquer America! The first tour of the group Queen”In the States was very successful.
But the main thing was ahead. In the glorious 1975 “Queen” recorded the famous album “A Night At The Opera”, which became an event of universal scale in rock music. The album became 4 times “platinum”, the song “Bohemian Rhapsody” from this album became the group’s most famous and recognizable song. The highlight of this thing is the combination of rock music and opera. Fine!
Until 1980, the group Queen"Adheres to heavy music, which is reflected in the albums of these years," News Of The World "and" Game ". The second turned out to be more successful, but this does not mean that the first was a failure! The team firmly held the first position in the charts!
On July 13, 1973, the first album was released under the label EMI queen bands. Most of the songs were written by members of the group - Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor.
Queen songs have long been considered rock classics, and the group has become a legend of world music. Queen released fifteen studio albums, five live albums and numerous compilations. Eighteen albums of the group took first places in the charts of different countries. Oueen's concert performances were also recognized as one of the most striking and significant in the history of rock. Recall Queen's most iconic songs.
(56 photos total + 11 videos)
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Bohemian Rhapsody, a song from A Night at the Opera, was written by Freddie Mercury in 1975. The song has an unusual musical form. It can be divided into six parts of different styles that are not divided into verses and choruses and represent separate musical directions: opera and ballad, singing a cappella and heavy metal.
Typically, the Queen group came up with a lot in the studio, but the whole composition was completely ready in Mercury’s head. He painted the entire sequence on the notes for notes he had taken from his father at work, and laid them out on the piano to demonstrate to the group. (From an interview with Brian May to Q.)
At the time of the release of the disc, this song was the most expensive in the history of sound recording: it took three weeks of rehearsals for the whole group, more than three weeks of recording and editing in five different studios.
The opera part of the composition is performed by only three people, Queen members: Brian May, Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor, whose voices just cover the necessary vocal range from May's rather low notes to Taylor's high ones. To create the effect of a large chorus, their voices are duplicated and mounted many times, so the final recording consists of 180 different pieces. In 1975, they only had access to analogue 24-track equipment, so mixing was carried out sequentially in several stages, in some places the number of stages reached eight. The tape was worn out to such an extent that through it it was possible to look at the clearance, this required the creation of additional copies. The whole process took three weeks, the musicians sang 10-12 hours a day.
No one knows for sure what the meaning of the words of this song is and whether it exists at all. Freddie Mercury, author of Bohemian Rhapsody, never explained this to anyone. Brian May believes that the text contains some personal experiences. Although radio host Kenny Everett says that Mercury once called the text "rhymed nonsense."
On the top of the British charts, this song visited twice: in 1975 (when the single came out, she stayed there for nine weeks) and in 1991 (when Freddie Mercury died, a re-release of "Bohemian Rhapsody" was released along with the song These Are the Days of Our Lives ) This is the first and only case so far when the song in the same version has been twice in first place (both times on Christmas).
We Will Rock You (translated from English “We will rock you”) is a song from the News of the World album.
This song was written by May after a concert in Bingley Hall, in the English city of Birmingham. That evening, the audience unexpectedly actively sang along with every Queen song, which was completely unplanned and confused the musicians: the group always wanted to be listened to and listened very carefully. But that evening, May and Mercury, discussing what had happened, realized that it was no longer possible to deal with this and that we had to somehow accept the fact that the audience at the concert took the same part in the show as the group. And give the people something to sing. In the evening after the concert, Mercury wrote We Are the Champions, and May woke up the next morning with a rhythm in his head.
The song is known for its catchy rhythm - two kicks and one clap of hands. Such accompaniment opens the song and lasts until the very end. The song is also unique in that it plays only one musical instrument - an electric guitar. May enters it after the third verse during the second repetition of "We will, we will rock you." Initially, the song should have had the words “We will beat you,” but Mercury said it sounds silly and replaced the words.
We are the Champions. The song entered the album News of the World (1977). Written by Freddy Mercury. As a single, it was released with another famous song on B side - We Will Rock You - and became the sports anthem of millions of fans around the world. Queen often performed their final at her concerts.
There are very high notes in the vocal part. At concerts, Freddie Mercury often conceded the most difficult pieces to Roger Taylor, who had just a high, creaky voice.
The video clip for the song represents the group’s performance in concert format, but this is not a concert recording of the song. The group invited its fans to the role of the audience, and this is the first time in the music industry when the group invited its fans to create a video clip. After filming, the musicians played a small concert for their fans as a reward.
In this video, the image of the group continued to change. The long hair of bassist Deacon and drummer Taylor disappeared. They are dressed much easier than before - in dark shirts. May's style remains the same. Mercury is dressed in black and white tights. This is the last video clip where Mercury appears in tights, not counting clips that use old videos.
Radio Ga Ga. In the original version, the song was called Radio Ca-Ca, not Radio Ga Ga. Actually, this phrase was uttered by a young child of Roger Taylor. Taylor wrote this song as material for his solo album, but the rest of the band saw a potential hit, added words and instrumental parts. In particular, changing the name to Ga Ga.
Ga Ga - in English, the image of the sounds of babies who are trying to speak (like the Russian "agu"). Also, gaga is used in the meaning of “crazy / madly in love (with anything)”, and as an epithet for a person who behaves like a baby or an old man who has lost his mind.
The video for the song uses footage from the legendary German sci-fi film Metropolis (1927). More precisely, one of the attempts to restore the lost film, which was undertaken by Giorgio Moroder. In his version, the song Mercury Love Kills sounded, and in return the group received these shots. But the rights to broadcast had to be redeemed from communist Germany.
In the video, you can watch the scene when the group flies on a fantastic device amid frames from skyscrapers from the Metropolis: the author of the song, Roger Taylor, controls the machine, pulling the lever.
When this song hit the charts, each member of the Queen group had at least one song that got into the top ten charts.
I Want to Break Free (Eng. "I want to break free") - a song from the album The Works. Written by John Deacon in 1983 under the influence of male views on the female liberal movement. The song is largely known for its video clip, for which all the band's musicians changed into women's clothing, mimicking the longest UK series Coronation Street.
At concerts, when this song was performed, Freddy often appeared in a suit from the video clip of the song - in a fluffy wig, in a pink blouse and with false breasts. Gradually, during the course of the song, he got rid of these things. However, such a stage image in some countries did not appeal to the public. At a concert in Rio de Janeiro, the audience threw stones at the group when the singer appeared in this form, and he immediately had to take off everything unnecessary.
There are three versions of the song: the album version lasts 3 minutes 20 seconds and was released only on The Works album.
The second version of the single lasts 4 minutes 21 seconds. It differs from the landscape by the introduction and a longer synthesizer solo.
The third, extended version lasts 7 minutes 16 seconds. It differs from the single by a longer introduction, which includes the second part of the solo, and a longer ending, extended to 6:04. At the end of this part, first stop playing the electric guitar, then the bass. After 6:04, other songs from the album from The Works are played.
The video clip for the song is one of the most famous clips of the group. The shooting took place on March 22 and May 4, 1984, they spent 100 thousand British pounds. In the clip, Mercury depicts a housewife who wants to “break free” from her life, May also looks like a housewife, but in the clip his role is calmer than the role of the singer. The Deacon appeared in the image of a conservative old woman, and Taylor appeared in the role of a schoolgirl, who, like Mercury in the video, wants a different life. This idea belongs to Taylor. He commented on the fact that the group had shot serious, epic clips before that, and now they wanted to make a little joke and show that they could laugh at themselves.
In the middle of the video, Mercury appears in the image of a Nizhinsky faun. He performs some choreographic performances with the Royal London Ballet. Especially for these scenes, Mercury put on a spotted leotard, shaved off his famous mustache and made his pointy ears.
Video choreographer Wayne Igling later said: “During the filming, Mercury worked as a top notch professional. Freddie has long sat in his head the image of a fauna Nizhinsky playing the pipe. Filming took a lot of energy, especially the episode where he rolled through the dancers. But he liked the process of filming. It was very easy to work with him, and he treated everything with great responsibility. Freddy was a brilliant professional. ”
The clip was banned for showing on the American MTV channel, but it was well received in the UK.
Who Wants to Live Forever (song "Who wants to live forever") - a song from the album A Kind of Magic. Written by Brian May.
The song was written for the movie "Highlander" with Christopher Lambert in the title role. The director of the film, Russell Mulkahi, later admitted that he dreamed of collaborating with the Queen group and had no idea who else could handle this task. Before starting work, all members of the group watched the 45-minute version of Highlander. Brian May was inspired by a scene in which Connor MacLeod, performed by Lambert, picks up a dying wife. On the way home, he made sketches of a future song, which eventually came out in this episode of The Highlander, and was later included in some parts of the Highlander series, which tells about the life of Duncan MacLeod, Connor MacLeod’s brother.
The song was recorded with the participation of Michael Kamen Symphony Orchestra, who also worked on music for The Highlander. In The Highlander, Freddie Mercury sings the whole song, and on the record A Kind of Magic the first verse and a few more lines are performed by Brian May.
A distinctive feature of the song is that a symphony orchestra takes part in it. And the fact that all musicians do not play their instruments - for example, John Deacon performs his part on double bass, Roger Taylor on symphonic drums, and Brian May on the organ.
There are two video clips for the song. The first was filmed at a warehouse in London's East End. The National Philharmonic Orchestra and forty choristers were involved, and hundreds of candles were burning in the room.
The second clip included various scenes from the film "Highlander".
The Miracle (English "Miracle"). The song was released in November 1989, the author of music and words is Freddie Mercury. In the video, several boys play the role of the band’s musicians. The boy in the role of Freddie Mercury appears in his various looks: in a yellow leather jacket from Magic Tour performances; in the image from the concert Live Aid; in a leather suit, cap and black opaque glasses; in a checkered leotard - the image of the 70s. Mercury himself and the whole group appear at the end of the clip.
For the Miracle clip, small copies of the original Queen's costumes were sewn, and shortly before the shooting, a costume rehearsal with light was held, intended for the producer and operators. In addition, this was the first time that other musicians finally saw Freddie’s materialized idea.
When the boys first appeared on the site from the dressing room, the effect exceeded all expectations. They didn’t even have to start moving to the music, they were already true clones of Brian, Roger, Freddy and John! There was a cultural shock with Brian, and Freddy exclaimed: “Damn it, in vain I told the press that the The Miracle tour will not take place! We will send THEM on tour instead of us! ”At first the boys, who were shy at first, very soon got a taste and with brilliance passed rather exhausting rehearsals and three shooting days. On the very first day, the final episode was filmed, in which the presence of musicians was required. Ross McCall, Freddie's "double", got unique opportunity adopt the features of Mercury's stage choreography under his direct supervision! This gave Ross confidence in the next two days when filming more complex episodes, where he already fully soloed with his “colleagues”. Subsequently, Ross admitted that after such a deep immersion in the image, he had long felt half Freddie Mercury.
Innuendo (English “Insinuation”, “Hint”) is a song written by the whole Queen group, although most of them were composed by Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor. The song lasts six and a half minutes - this is one of Queen's longest songs.
The video clip made for the song is one of the most famous and original clips in the history of music.
The video clips from the clips were styled as animated films: Freddie Mercury was painted in the style of Leonardo da Vinci, Brian May - Victorian engravings, Roger Taylor stylized by the work of Jackson Pollock, and John Deacon - by the work of Pablo Picasso.
Also when creating the clip were used plasticine little men, unique dolls, scary shots of war, plane crash, epidemic, locust and atomic explosion invasion in contrast with progressive and original drawings by Jeanne Isodore, Spanish dances, plasticine dances.
The song has an element of folk - this is the part of the Spanish guitar in the middle of the song played by Yes guitarist Steve Howe. According to Brian May, “Spanish motifs are supposed from the very beginning of the song; these little reefs, something like a bolero. ”
Innuendo became the group's third track to reach number one on the UK chart after Bohemian Rhapsody and Under Pressure.
I’m Going Slightly Mad (Eng. “I'm going a little crazy”) is the second record on Innuendo's 1991 album. Written by Freddy Mercury.
The shooting of the clip took place in February 1991, by then the state of health of Mercury had seriously worsened. The video - like all the other Innuendo album videos made by Rudy Dolezel and Hannes Rozzacher of DoRo Production - shows band members who are unusually dressed and behaving very strangely.
I’m Going Slightly Mad is Queen's latest video featuring Mercury's significant creative input. Although Freddie was already very sick at the time, in I’m Going Slightly Mad he was quite agile, artistic, emotional.
“I wanted to make the video as memorable as possible. I always wanted to play a video with a gorilla and a group of penguins. A little Queen madness, ”Freddie Mercury said about the video.
This clip was shot in black and white (the bright elements are only the clownish cap on John Deacon’s head and the colorful fabric thrown up by Mercury); the lighting effects of the clip and the ridiculous character of Mercury, who made up a lot of makeup and in the wig, helped to mask Freddie’s painful appearance.
At the American Film & Video Festival held in Chicago in 1991, the video clip I’m Going Slightly Mad took third place, the first place at the same festival was taken by another Queen clip - Innuendo.
These Are the Days of Our Lives - Queen's song from Innuendo's album. “This is the best I wrote for Queen” - Roger Taylor, 1994. The song was originally released as a single for the United States along with Bijou on B side on September 5, 1991 (on Freddie Mercury’s 45th birthday). It was later reissued with the song Bohemian Rhapsody on the second side of "A" on December 9, 1991, 15 days after the death of Freddie Mercury. Before his death, Mercury ordered to give all the proceeds from this reprint to the Terrence Higgins AIDS charity foundation.
At first, the video was shot on color film. But, having reviewed the video, the group decided not to show it in color, so that the fans of the group would not see what Freddie Mercury was then. His face was so haggard that without makeup Freddy was impossible to recognize.
The original version of the clip was shot on black and white film. The clip is not plot - Freddy just sings in front of the camera. The image of the musicians has changed: Freddie Mercury was wearing a black shirt and a multi-colored vest with drawings of cats, worn outfit, and wide trousers that hid extreme thinness, Roger Taylor in the same clothes, and Brian May and John Deacon in trousers and a white shirt.
The last words of the clip became the singer’s message to his fans: “I still love you” (“I still love you [you]”). After a second, Freddy leaves the frame so that he will never return there again.
The Show Must Go On. May specially wrote this song for Freddy, as he was one of those few who knew about his illness. From a CNN interview with Brian May, January 9, 2000: “The Show Must Go On is written together, this is a Queen song, because in the end we decided to give Queen authorship for everything. But you know, I consider this song as my child, since most of the time Freddy was sitting here, and it was a wonderful feeling, because at that time Freddie could not or did not want to express himself through poetry, except for a few cases. And he knew about this idea. He knew that this was a way of expressing everything that we felt about him. When I sang the main part for Freddy - and mostly I had to sing in falsetto because I could not sing so high - I asked him: is everything all right? He drinks vodka, goes to the studio and does everything just perfectly. And I think this is one of the best vocal parts ever performed by Freddy - the original version of The Show Must Go On. ”
This song is perceived as an autobiographical song by Freddie Mercury, his farewell to the public, despite the fact that the music and poems belong mainly to Brian May, who wrote this song for Freddie. “We experienced things that are difficult to talk about. But in the language of music, everything worked out for us ”- Brian May.
By the time the single was released, Mercury’s health condition had deteriorated so much that he could no longer take part in the filming of the clip, so instead of new filming it was decided to use the available material. The video sequence is not a chaotic set of films, but a complete and independent clip from the frames of the chronicle, concerts, interviews and other Queen clips that came out from 1980 to 1991.
Brian May said that there was an unwritten rule in the group: not to discuss the meaning of its lyrics with the songwriter. Because something personal was enclosed in the text and it was indecent to climb into it: the musicians believed that the songwriter knew what he was doing. Therefore, May never asked Mercury what all those strange words in Bohemian Rhapsody mean. And only at the time of writing The Show Must Go On, Mercury sat down with May, and May invited him to participate in the creation of the text. According to May, they discussed "absolutely every word and what they wanted to tell them."
