Queen
Sheer Heart Attack

THE REVIEW

The musical group Queen is (or rather was) one of the few bands, capable of spanning different musical realms, not only in the scope of their career but, in my opinion, also within individual albums, offering diverse track lists that ranged from the typical early seventies rock to the burgeoning "Disco/Funky" trends of the late seventies (see "Jazz" on the ninth track "Fun It").

Indeed, the band could be classified in many ways, such as: Rock, Glam Rock, Hard Rock, Progressive Rock with tendencies toward classic British Metal; not to mention the various soundtracks they ventured into and performed for different films, by the British band and others: (B. May composed the soundtracks for the first two films in the "MAD MAX" trilogy on his own).

But let's get to the point, this remains, in my opinion, the album marking the first real turning point for Queen towards the rock that would truly make them famous. In fact, it's worth noting that this work departs significantly from the first four albums, where a truly somber, circus-like, monothematic atmosphere prevailed with syncopated, almost suffocating rhythms, closely tied to the introspective/religious journeys of the singer "Freddy Mercury"; not allowing much space, in my opinion, for the "artistic release" of the rest of the band members (This might be one of the band's very few flaws, given that the figure of the leader "F. Mercury" almost always overshadowed the other members of the British band until the end of their career. The pinnacle of this style can be found in the albums: "A Night At The Opera & A Day At The Races", where aside from a few masterpieces among these two albums, they won't be remembered for much else; the albums "Queen I & II" are far superior!).

"Sheer Heart Attack" is characterized by very powerful and melodic Hard Rock tracks at the same time, allowing them to be classified as precursors of future Heavy Metal; see "Brighton Rock & Stone Cold Crazy" (the latter, a track to which even Metallica dedicated a very powerful cover). The track "Killer Queen" remains one of the best-selling singles in the English music scene, the rest of the album is very particular and eccentric as a whole, also highlighting the track list "Bring Back That Leroy Brown"; which takes us back with its sounds to the legendary 20s/30s. Meanwhile, "She Makes Me" is a very emphasized and well-executed cover of a semi-unknown group; of which I unfortunately can't recall the name at the moment (but you can see for yourselves by purchasing the album and looking under the tracklist title; if you already own it, so much the better).

An entirely recommended album, then, for those seeking the more rocking and less sentimental or commercial side of "Queen"!