Sheer Heart Attack
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- For the Queen song of same of the same, see News of the World (album).
| Sheer Heart Attack | ||
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| Studio album by Queen | ||
| Released | 8 November 1974 (UK) 12 November 1974 (USA) |
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| Recorded | July-September 1974 Air Studios Rockfield Trident Wessex |
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| Genre | Hard rock Heavy metal Progressive rock |
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| Length | 39:09 | |
| Label | EMI, Parlophone (Europe) Elektra, Hollywood (USA) |
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| Producer(s) | Roy Thomas Baker and Queen | |
| Professional reviews | ||
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| Queen chronology | ||
| Queen II (1974) |
Sheer Heart Attack (1974) |
A Night at the Opera (1975) |
Sheer Heart Attack is a Queen album from 1974. This was their first commercial success, after the relatively lukewarm response to the first two albums, Queen, and Queen II. It was produced by Queen and Roy Thomas Baker for EMI in the UK, and Elektra in the US.
The first single, "Killer Queen" reached #2 in the British charts and provided Queen with their first US Top 20 hit peaking at #12 on the Billboard singles chart. Several songs from this album harken back to the earliest days of Queen and their predecessors Smile and Wreckage. "Brighton Rock" houses a guitar solo by Brian May, which began its life in the Smile song "Blag", then floated around in the live and BBC versions of the song "Son And Daughter", before finding its home in on the opening track here. The track begins with someone whistling the short melody "I do like to be beside the seaside", featured on "Seven Seas of Rhye", the last track from their previous album. "Stone Cold Crazy" was the first song credited to all four members of Queen but it had been played by Mercury's early band Wreckage. The original working title for "Tenement Funster" song was "Tin Dreams". "Misfire" is John Deacon's first composition to appear on a Queen album.
During Queen's first North American Tour (as a support band for Mott the Hoople) Brian felt ill with hepatitis (he had been infected with an unclean needle during a vaccination before the Australian tour), but he continued to work from hospital. When he was fit, the work continued in studio, but then he fell ill again, this time with a stomach ulcer. When he was recovering after an operation, the next tour had been canceled. Brian felt guilty, and was a bit nervous that someone would replace him in the band. Much to his relief, no one in the group had even considered it. All three members were continuing on recording without Brian at the time. Poor production had a left a lot of spaces in the songs for Brian's solos. When he felt well enough, he came back and completed the tracks with guitar solos and backing vocals. "She Makes Me" used night-life recordings from New York. "Now I'm Here", released also as a single, was an idea of Brian in hospital, when he was thinking about touring with Mott the Hoople.
The release of Sheer Heart Attack coincided with Queen's first tour of Japan, which caused country-wide hysteria with numerous Japanese fans watching the band's first tour in Asia.
Drummer Roger Taylor was not satisfied with his hair on the original photograph, so the photographer used fake extensions, much to the band's amusement.[citation needed]
Sheer Heart Attack was Queen's first album to hit the US Top 20 peaking at #12 in 1975 and was certified Gold in sales by the R.I.A.A. in 1975
The album is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[1]
[edit] Track listing
- Side One
- "Brighton Rock" (May) - 5:08
- "Killer Queen" (Mercury) - 2:57
- "Tenement Funster" (Taylor) - 2:48
- "Flick of the Wrist" (Mercury) - 3:19
- "Lily of the Valley" (Mercury) - 1:43
- "Now I'm Here" (May) - 4:10
- Side Two
- "In the Lap of the Gods" (Mercury) - 3:20
- "Stone Cold Crazy" (Deacon/May/Mercury/Taylor) - 2:12
- "Dear Friends" (May) - 1:07
- "Misfire" (Deacon) - 1:50
- "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" (Mercury) - 2:13
- "She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos)" (May) - 4:08
- "In the Lap of the Gods...Revisited" (Mercury) - 3:42
1991 Hollywood Records bonus track (US reissue):
- "Stone Cold Crazy (1991 Bonus Remix by Michael Wagener)" (Deacon/May/Mercury/Taylor)
[edit] Brighton Rock
Brian May wrote "Brighton Rock" in 1973 but they couldn't finish recording it for the second album so they did it in the third. The title is something of a pun: Brighton rock is a long, cylindrical sugar candy traditional to that seaside resort. It tells the story of two young lovers meeting in Brighton on a public holiday. Jenny cannot linger because she is afraid her mother will find out "how I spent my holiday", but afterwards "writes a letter every day"; Jimmy, eager on the day, is not so happy with her "nothing can my love erase": now he is the one afraid of discovery by "my lady". Freddie Mercury shared lead vocals with Roger Taylor in both live and studio versions of the song.
The song is probably best-known for its lengthy guitar solo interlude. This featured May's technique of using multiple echoes to used to build up guitar harmony and contrapuntal melodic lines. The studio version only contains one "main" guitar and one "echoed" guitar for a short section, but live, he would usually split his guitar signal into "main" and two "echoed", with each going to a separate bank of amplifiers.
Variations of this solo often featured during live Queen concerts, either as part of a rendition of Brighton Rock, a medley of it with some other songs (as witnessed on the News of the World tour where it segued after Freddie Mercury's multiple echoed vocal solo at the end of White Man and Brian May's solo would segue into "The Prophet's Song" or "Now I'm Here"), or on its own as a guitar solo.
Originally the solo was part of the song "Blag", from May and Roger Taylor's previous band Smile. May would then play it live in the Queen song "Son and Daughter", and this arrangement also appeared on a session for the BBC in late 1973. Later, the first half of "Brighton Rock" segued, via the guitar solo, to the closing section of "Son and Daughter", and as of the 1977 A Day at the Races tour was eventually played as a track in its own right until 1979. However, during the News of the World tour of 1977 and 1978, a shortened version of the song was played without the lengthy guitar solo during the beginning of the concert. Proof of that can be heard on bootlegs from the tour.
In the late seventies, the guitar solo was adapted to include some bass and drums, including a timpani solo by Taylor (from October, 1978 to November, 1981). In 1980 and 1981, the solo was included as a medley with Keep Yourself Alive, before becoming a performance in its own right. During the recent tour of Queen + Paul Rodgers, a modified version, incorporating bits of "Chinese Torture" (from the album The Miracle) was featured in the concerts. The live piece is often between nine and sixteen minutes long.
[edit] Killer Queen
"Killer Queen" was written by Freddie Mercury and it was the band's first international hit. It's one of the few songs by Mercury where he wrote the lyrics first. They did the song without Brian May at first, leaving spaces for whenever he felt better. Mercury played jangle piano instead of a grand one.
[edit] Tenement Funster
"Tenement Funster" (also spelled "Tenement Funster!") is Roger Taylor's song in the album. He sang the lead vocals. Backing track consisted of Taylor's drums, Mercury's piano, John Deacon's bass and May's guitar. It's a typical Taylor track about youth and rebellion. It also includes echo effects with May's guitar, like in "Brighton Rock".
[edit] Flick of the Wrist
"Flick of the Wrist" was the double A-side of "Killer Queen" but it was much less promoted and therefore not as popular outside the Queen fandom. The song includes Mercury singing octave vocals. When May returned to work having recovered from his hepatitis, he had not heard the song before he recorded his guitar and backing vocals. It is a heavy track with quite dark lyrics and an aggressive tone, something that may seem unusal for a Queen-song, but in the early days (especially on Queen II) Would oftenly write grim songs.
[edit] Lily of the Valley
"Lily of the Valley" is one of May's favourite songs by Mercury. Mercury played piano and did all of the vocals.
[edit] Now I'm Here
"Now I'm Here" is the band's second single in the album. Written by May while at the hospital, it was recorded during the last week of the sessions, with May playing piano and Mercury playing organ. The song relies a lot on delay machines, foreshadowing "The Prophet's Song".
[edit] In the Lap of the Gods
"In the Lap of the Gods" is, according to Mercury himself, the direct prelude to "Bohemian Rhapsody" and the A Night at the Opera album in general. There are fast piano arpeggios as in "Death on Two Legs" and some multi-tracked harmonies. Taylor provided the screams, which he proved weren't artificially created when he did them every night during their world tour.
[edit] Stone Cold Crazy
"Stone Cold Crazy" was allegedly written by Mercury whilst in Wreckage, one of his pre-Queen bands. Queen played it live as early as 1972, apparently as the first song they performed on stage[2] and, in late 1974, they finally decided to record a studio version. Amusingly enough, nobody seemed to remember who wrote the lyrics when the album was released, hence the shared writing credit. The lyrics themselves deal with gangsters, making a reference to Al Capone.
The song was amongst the fastest song in Queen's repertoire and, at the time, was uncommonly quick-paced in the rock and roll genre.
"Stone Cold Crazy" is a precursor to the metal sub-genres of speed and thrash metal. Even beyond the fast tempo, May's stacatto riffs and Taylor's jackhammer drums are similar to later metal styles. Songs such as this one influenced metal bands for years to come. Metallica covered this song on the "Rubaiyat - Electra's 40th Anniversary" album released in 1990 and subsequently won a Grammy Award for their version (which also appeared in their covers' album Garage Inc.).
[edit] Dear Friends
"Dear Friends" was May's song featuring him on the piano, and Mercury doing all of the vocals. Quite a short ballad demonstrating May's versatility.
[edit] Misfire
"Misfire" was John Deacon's first composition. He played most of the guitars including the solo, and Mercury sang all the vocals.
Neko Case performed a country version of the song on her 1997 solo debut album, "The Virginian."
[edit] Bring Back That Leroy Brown
"Bring Back That Leroy Brown" was written by Mercury and features him doing all the vocals (with production techniques using tape speed to make it sound really low in the harmonies) as well as grand piano and jangle piano. May played ukelele-banjo and Deacon did a line with a double-bass.
[edit] She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos)
"She Makes Me" was written and sung by May with Deacon playing acoustic guitars. The song's finale features what May referred to as "New York nightmare sounds", which comprise of NYC police vehicle sirens; these sirens combined with the deep-breathing sounds that accompany the closing bars as well as the abstract lyrics, one could speculate that the author is on the run from the authorities for committing a sex act.
[edit] In the Lap of the Gods...Revisited
With its powerful chorus and stadium rock-esque sound, "In the Lap of the Gods...Revisited" is, in many ways, the forerunner to "We Are The Champions"; coincidentally, it was also the song used to close the band's live shows at the time of its release until WATC itself overtook that role in 1977. The explosion heard at the end of the song was achieved through tape-saturation.
[edit] Personnel
- Freddie Mercury : Lead Vocals, Back Vocals, Piano, Jangle Piano (in "Killer Queen" and "Bring Back That Leroy Brown"), Vocal Extravaganzas, Hammond B3 Organ (uncredited) in "Now I'm Here".
- Roger Taylor: Drums, Back Vocals, Percussion, Screams, Lead Vocals in "Brighton Rock" (both with Freddie Mercury), "Tenement Funster" and high pitched lead vocals in "In The Lap Of The Gods".
- John Deacon: Bass Guitar, Double Bass (in "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" break), Acoustic Guitar in "She Makes Me", "Tenement Funster, "Misfire" and "In The Lap Of The Gods".
- Brian May: Guitars, Lead Vocals in "She Makes Me", Back Vocals, Piano in "Dear Friends" and "Now I'm Here", Genuine George Formby Ukelele-Banjo in "Bring Back That Leroy Brown".
- No synthesizers
[edit] Queen about the record
| “ | I have the feeling that the whole thing is getting a bit more professional all round. We are, after all, on our third album.
I've got more confidence in the group now than ever before. I was possibly the one person who could look at it from the outside because I was the fourth person to join the band. I knew there was something there but I wasn't so convinced of it. Till possibly this album. |
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—John Deacon |
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| “ | Sheer Heart Attack is one of my favorites, the album. | ” |
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—Roger Taylor |
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| “ | With Sheer Heart Attack, I was able to see the group from the outside, and was pretty excited by what I saw. We'd done a few things before I was ill, but when I came back they'd done a load more, including a couple of backing tracks of songs by Freddie which I hadn't heard like 'Flick Of The Wrist', which excited me and gave me a lot of inspiration to get back in there and do some writing - 'Now I'm Here' was done in that period. That song's about experiences on the American tour, which really blew me away. I was bowled over by the amazing aura rock music has in America. 'Brighton Rock' showed how my style was evolving, particularly with the solo bit in the middle, which I'd been doing on the Mott the Hoople tour and has gradually evolved since. That involved using the repeat device in time with and original guitar phrase, which I don't think had been done before.
We weren't going for hits, because we always thought of ourselves as an album group, but we did think perhaps we'd dished up a bit too much on Queen II. |
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—Brian May |
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| “ | Not a collection of singles, dear - although we might draw another one off later for a single. I'm not absolutely sure about that, though. No, not all the numbers last for ages. There were just so many songs we wanted to do. And it makes a change to have short numbers. It's so varied that we were able to go to extremes. I only had about two weeks to write my songs so we've been working fucking hard. | ” |
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—Freddie Mercury |
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[edit] Press reviews
- New Musical Express: "A feast. No duffers, and four songs that will just run and run: Killer Queen, Flick Of The Wrist, Now I'm Here and In The Lap Of The Gods...revisited. Even the track I don't like, Brighton Rock, includes May's Echoplex solo, still a vibrant, thrilling experience whether you hear it live or on record.“[1]
- Winnipeg Free Press: "The more I listen to Sheer Heart Attack, the third album from Queen, the more I realize how much I under-rated it a few months back when it was first released. Side one in particular is a delight, with Brian May's multi-tracked guitar, Freddie Mercury's stunning vocalizing and Roy Thomas Baker's dynamic production work teaming up in a no-holds barred, full-scale attack on the senses."[2]
[edit] Charts
| Country | Charts | Sales | ||
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| Peak position | Weeks | Certification | ||
| United Kingdom | 2 | 42 | Platinum | 700.000 |
| United States | 12 | 32 | Gold | 1.000.000 |
| Netherlands | 6 | |||
| Norway | 9 | |||
| Japan | 23 | Gold | 150.000 | |
[edit] References
- ^ Quoted in Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins. Queen. As It Began. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992, p. 84. ISBN 0-283-06052-2
- ^ Winnipeg Free Press, 5 July 1975 (Queen Archives)
