As an experienced youth, at the grand old age of 12, I stumbled into a record shop (yes, remember record shops!!) clutching my hard earned birthday money (Ha Ha) and flicked through the racks of records and my eyes fell upon a cover which I took a fancy to. I was already dabbling in music, some glam rock, bit of disco, some charty tripe but this band Queen’s new release appealed as a mate had made me a tape (Tapes, wow how up to date was I??) with a Queen song on it that I liked. I didn’t know its name or anything about them but I liked it. At 12 years of age an investment of £3.75 on an album by a band you know nothing about is a big risk. However, I took the plunge and parted with the cash and hurried home to get it on my parents stereo music centre (cutting edge me you know!!)

The risk proved worth taking. As the fairground intro to Brighton Rock faded to be replaced by the fast riffing Brian May a smile curled round my mouth. The now seminal echo driven guitar solo sounded like it was from another planet as it switched from one headphone to another and back again (Wasn’t allowed to listen to it loudly without headphones on!!). The single Killer Queen followed it, camp witty lyrics and another crisp solo. Drummers singing usually mean moving the needle onto the next track but Roger Taylor’s Tenement Funster is jaunty and heavy and the piano ending is really the beginning of another ballsy guitar tour de force in Flick of the Wrist. Queens own take on their experience of the sharks circling around making money in the music business.

The gentle and haunting Lily of the Valley provides shade before side 1’s closer (Side 1? What you on about you dinosaur?) the powerful Now I’m Here, with more riffs and wailing guitars. 

Side 2 opener is the strange and wonderfully ethereal In the Lap of the Gods followed by more staccato riff and manic lyrics in the shape of the frenzied Stone Cold Crazy. Freddie’s calming Dear Friends delivered alone with a piano changes the mood to prepare for the poppy feel of the hummable Misfire.

Bring Back Leroy Brown is a pastiche of the deep-south/gangster style songs from the shows which barrels along at pace with a jaunty irresistible music hall chorus.

Following swiftly is She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilletos), another slice of weirdness that manages to work and fades into In the Lap of the Gods Revisited to close the album. 

The whole album has such diverse songs in a myriad of styles reflecting the group’s collective input it could be perhaps construed as a little bitty. But using clever studio techniques and experimenting with tracks melding into one another the styles rarely clash and the album becomes two separate pieces of music, side 1 and side 2. You can clearly identify whose songs are whose on this album, yet all of them together form a memorable rock record which paved the way for a generation of teenage axe heroes and a career for Queen as global superstars. I still love it now, and it is obviously my favourite Queen record.   

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Track Listing

Brighton Rock
Killer Queen
Tenement Funster
Flick of the Wrist
Lily of the Valley
Now I'm Here
In the Lap of the Gods
Stone Cold Crazy
Dear Friends
Misfire
Bring Back That Leroy Brown
She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettoes)
In the Lap of the Gods...Revisited

Line Up

Freddie Mercury – Vocals/Piano
Brian May – Guitar/Vocals
John Deacon – Bass
Roger Taylor – Drums/Vocals