Queen
Queen, Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack, A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races
Hollywood Records
By David Chiu

Queen. One couldn’t ask for a better band name. Royalty, pomp, perfection, theatrics, over-the-top, flamboyance: certainly the British rock band lived up to those descriptions and more. In their uncanny 40-year history, Queen has set the standard of what a superstar rock band should be with their dramatic music and electrifying stage presence. There wasn’t a group before them; and after Queen, there were only just imitators.

Only a unique rock band could count as among its members Brain May, one of the greatest guitar heroes of all time with his dazzling and distinct playing; Roger Taylor, a drummer that can pummel a listener into submission; and John Deacon, whose dependable, steady and melodic bass lines anchors the sound. But inevitably, Queen’s singer, the late Freddie Mercury, however, was the focal point of the band–a charismatic, larger-than-life character on stage that only fiction could have produced. From his evolution from a long-haired glam rocker to a mustachioed macho man, Mercury enthralled audiences and fans both with his stage manner and extraordinary voice. Continue reading “CD Review: Queen”