Sheer Heart Attack
- For the Queen song of the same name, see News of the World (album).
| Sheer Heart Attack | |||||
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| Studio album by Queen | |||||
| Released |  November 8 1974 November 12 1974 |
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| Recorded | July-September 1974 at Air Studios, Rockfield, Trident, Wessex | ||||
| Genre | Hard rock, heavy metal, progressive rock | ||||
| Length | 39:09 | ||||
| Label | EMI, Parlophone (Europe) Elektra, Hollywood (USA) |
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| Producer | Roy Thomas Baker Queen |
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| Singles from Sheer Heart Attack | |||||
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Sheer Heart Attack is a Queen album from 1974. It was produced by Queen and Roy Thomas Baker for EMI in the UK, and Elektra in the US.
Reception
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 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's 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 Mick Rock used fake extensions, much to the band's amusement.
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]
Track listing
Side one
- "Brighton Rock" (May) – 5:08
- "Killer Queen" (Mercury) – 3:01
- "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
Bonus tracks (1991 Hollywood Records CD reissue)
- "Stone Cold Crazy" (1991 Remix by Michael Wagener)
Song information
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. The term was also iconic in UK pop culture as the title of a dark Graeme Greene thriller/noir novel later adapted into a successful film starring Richard Attenborough as a teenage sociopath. 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". The song was originally intended to be a duet but Freddie Mercury ended up doing both female and male parts of the vocals. A reference to Seven Seas of Rhye can be heard in the beginning of the song as a whistle.
The song is probably best-known for its lengthy guitar solo interlude. This featured May's technique of using multiple echoes 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) and the introduction from "Now I'm Here" was featured in the concerts. The live piece is often between nine to sixteen minutes long.
Killer Queen
"Killer Queen" (Sample) was written by Freddie Mercury and it was the band's first international hit. It is one of the few songs by Mercury for which he wrote the lyrics first. The band initially did the song without Brian May while he was in the hospital, leaving spaces for whenever he felt better. Mercury played jangle piano as well as a grand one.
Tenement Funster
"Tenement Funster" is Roger Taylor's song on the album. He sang the lead vocals. Backing track consisted of Taylor's drums, Mercury's piano, Deacon's bass and May's Red Special guitar. It's a typical Taylor track about youth and rebellion. It also includes echo effects with May's guitar, like in "Brighton Rock".
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 unusual for later Queen-songs, but in the early days (especially on Queen II) Mercury and May would often write grim songs. At about 1:14 - 1:16, the line "Baby you've been had" can be heard. This line is also the opening to the next song on the album, "Lily of the Valley"
Lily of the Valley
"Lily of the Valley" is one of May's favorite songs by Mercury. Mercury played piano and did all of the vocals. The song has a reference to Seven Seas of Rhye in the line "messenger from Seven Seas has flown to tell the King of Rhye he's lost his throne".
Now I'm Here
"Now I'm Here" (Sample) 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. The song relies a lot on delay machines, foreshadowing "The Prophet's Song".
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.
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[1] 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 staccato riffs and Taylor's jackhammer drums are similar to later metal styles. Songs such as this one influenced metal bands for years to come. In Leather Charm's (Metallica's) first recorded song, Hit the Lights, roots of Brian May's staccato riffs for "Stone Cold Crazy" can be heard near the end of the song. Though Hit the Lights is the first known song under the sub-genre thrash metal, it is apparent that "Stone Cold Crazy" influenced the development of the sub-genre and other forms of metal to come in future years. 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.). It was also released in 1991 as a b-side track on the single release of Metallica's Enter Sandman. It was also performed live with Brian May (lead guitar), Roger Taylor (drums), and John Deacon (bass guitar) of Queen, James Hetfield (vocals) of Metallica, and Tony Iommi (rhythm guitar) of Black Sabbath on April 20, 1992 as the opening song for the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.
Dear Friends
"Dear Friends" was May's song featuring him on the piano and backing vocals, Mercury doing lead vocals.
Def Leppard covered this song for a Wal Mart bonus EP for their cover album, Yeah!
Misfire
"Misfire" was John Deacon's first composition, and has a light-hearted Caribbean theme. Deacon 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."
Bring Back That Leroy Brown
"Bring Back That Leroy Brown" was written by Mercury and features him doing most of 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 ukulele-banjo and Deacon did a line with a double bass. The song's title alludes to the standard Bad Bad Leroy Brown by the American singer-songwriter Jim Croce (little known in Queen's native UK) who had died in a plane crash the previous year.
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 include NYC police vehicle sirens and deep-breathing sounds which accompany the closing bars.
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". The explosion heard at the end of the song was achieved through tape-saturation. Live, it was achieved with actual pyrotechnics--the first use of such effects by the band. Queen was backed up on the sing-along towards the end by Smokey Taylor, Rob May, Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Roads Schlapmen.
Personnel
- Freddie Mercury: Vocals, Piano, Jangle Piano
- Brian May: Guitars, Vocals, Piano, Ukulele, Banjo
- Roger Taylor: Drums, Percussion, Vocals, Screams,
- John Deacon: Bass Guitars, Acoustic Guitars, Double Bass, Electric Guitar
Additional musicians Smokey Taylor, crowd noise for "In The Lap Of The Gods... Revisited" Rob May, crowd noise for "In The Lap Of The Gods... Revisted" Kimberly Roads Schlapmen, crowd noise for "In The Lap Of The Gods... Revisited" Karen Fairchild, crowd noise for "In The Lap Of The Gods... Revisited"
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.“[2]
- 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."[3]
Charts
| Country | Charts | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peak position | Weeks | Certification | Sales | |
| United Kingdom | 2 | 42 | 2x Platinum | 700.000 |
| United States | 12 | 32 | Platinum | 1.300.000 |
| Netherlands | 6 | Platinum | 100.000 | |
| Norway | 9 | 22 | ||
| Canada | 200.000 | |||
| France | 150.000 | |||
| Germany | 200.000 | |||
| Italy | 150.000 | |||
| Japan | 23 | Gold | 250.000 | |
| Spain | 60.000 | |||
References
- ↑ 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
- ↑ 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)
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