I remember back in middle school (or junior high, as they called it then, early-‘80s) there was nothing more macho than liking Queen, especially the track “We Will Rock You,” whose foot-stomp and hand-slap percussion formed the ideal torment for many a school bus driver. Nothing screamed toughness louder.
Well, the joke was on us, now, wasn’t it?
Nowadays, of course, kids know more about sexuality than they probably can truly understand. But back then we were perhaps a little too oblivious. I had no idea what a queen was, at least not in the sense that Freddie Mercury was suggesting.
Which may have been what he was up to, in the end—like Steely Dan sneaking drug references and other mischief into mainstream radio, Queen injected a sliver of homoeroticism into the most hetero music form around, classic arena rock. You don’t have to notice it, if you really don’t want to. But it’s there.
And they did it brilliantly, at least for a while. Their fusion of flamboyant theatricality with macho guitar muscle was truly unique. Mercury’s over-the-top vocals—with occasional falsetto crooning and frequent ultra-rich harmonies—paired with Brian May’s dick-out, wanking guitar solos proved a combustible combination.
That said, I feel Queen is a band best experienced through a compilation. Sure, A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races are pretty consistently good all the way through, but the rest of their catalogue is relatively spotty.
So here are two playlists of Queen for you.
Enjoy.
Playlist 1
My goal: To pack all the essential Queen into a 45-minute LP-length playlist.
I failed, but only slightly; I got all the important hits in a playlist just slightly over 45 minutes. But there were a few deep album cuts that I feel are as good or better than some of what’s here. Still, this playlist is all many listeners will ever want from Queen. It’s also almost entirely the same as my old Greatest Hits LP, re-sequenced in chronological order.
Playlist 2
Another hour or so of Queen for those who want a deeper dive. Not much of this made it to the radio, but there’s plenty of good stuff here.
Cover Art:
- Greatest Hits: Source, Discogs.com, Fair use.
Recent Comments