Sheer Heart Attack
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Sheer Heart Attack is the third album by British rock group Queen, released November 1974. It was produced by Queen and Roy Thomas Baker for EMI in the United Kingdom, and Elektra in the United States.
The album launched the band to mainstream popularity both in the UK and internationally: 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. Sheer Heart Attack was also the first Queen album to hit the US Top 20, peaking at #12 in 1975. Digressing from the progressive themes featured on their first two albums, Sheer Heart Attack featured more conventional rock tracks and marked a step towards the classic Queen sound.[1] In recent years, it has been listed by multiple publications as one of the band's best works.
Song information
Brighton Rock
Brian May wrote "Brighton Rock" in 1973 before the completion of Queen II, but time restrictions meant that the song was not ready for inclusion on an album until Sheer Heart Attack. 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 Graham Greene thriller/noir novel later adapted into a successful film starring Richard Attenborough as a teenage sociopath.
The song, the first track on the album 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, and Brian May sings lead harmony vocals on the line "Oh rock of ages, do not crumble love is breathing still, oh lady moon shine down a little peep of magic if you will."
The fairground sounds at the beginning of the track were contributed, uncredited, by Colin Macnab, a Glasgow-based sound recordist who was a friend of Rab Johnstone, a member of Queen's road crew.
A brief whistled snatch of "I Do Like To be Beside the Seaside" appears at the start of Macnab's field recording which mirrors its previous appearance as the coda of Seven Seas of Rhye, the final track on Queen's previous album, thus linking Queen II and this album. One could even propose a three-album overlap, because of the instrumental version of Seven Seas of Rhye on the first album, the vocal version on the second album, which then 'segues' into Brighton Rock.
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. Also this solo appeared on earlier recordings of "Liar". 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 - as heard on bootleg recordings 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 thirteen minutes long.
Killer Queen
"Killer Queen" () 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". The last couple of guitar notes overlap into "Flick Of The Wrist". The original working title for the song was "Tin Dreams".
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, such as "Great King Rat" and "Son and Daughter". 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", making a 3-song overlap (Tenement Funster into Flick Of The Wrist, Flick Of The Wrist into Lily Of The Valley).
Lily of the Valley
"Lily of the Valley" is one of May's favourite songs by Mercury.[citation needed] 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"
The song, together with Tenement Funster and Flick of the Wrist, was covered by Dream Theater on the Bonus Disc of their album Black Clouds & Silver Linings.
Now I'm Here
"Now I'm Here" is the band's second single in the album. Written by May while at the hospital, recalling touring with Mott the Hoople, 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. It is built in three parts : the introduction, which contains fast piano arpeggios, very high-toned screams by Roger Taylor plus vocals harmonies, the second part which is a slow love song, featuring slowed-down vocals by Freddie Mercury, and the third part, based on vocals harmonies singing "leave it in the lap of the gods", with screams by Roger Taylor again. Those screams were thought to be made using synthetizers, and to prove they weren't, Taylor would reproduce them in live performance every night. Throughout the entire song, wind effects can be heard.
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. It was the first song credited to all four members of Queen. This track is known for its fast tempos and heavy distortion, thus being a precursor to speed metal.
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 (and sung by bassist Rick Savage) 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/Reggae 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 recent hit "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 Stilettoes)
"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" could perhaps be considered the forerunner to "We Are the Champions".
Reception and legacy
NME wrote, "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.“[2] The Winnipeg Free Press commended "Brian May's multi-tracked guitar, Freddie Mercury's stunning vocalising and Roy Thomas Baker's dynamic production work", calling the album "a no-holds barred, full-scale attack on the senses."[3] Circus referred to the album as "perhaps the heaviest, rockingest assault on these shores we've enjoyed in some time."[4] Rolling Stone offered a mostly positive review, giving the album a 3/5 star rating, and concluding, "If it's hard to love, it's hard not to admire: This band is skilled, after all, and it dares."[5] John Mendelsohn was unimpressed, writing, "I hunted all over both sides of this latest album for something, anything, even remotely as magnificient as "Keep Yourself Alive" or "Father to Son", only to end up empty-earred and bawling."[6] As 1974 drew to a close, the album was ranked by Disc as the third best of the year,[7] and placed joint #24 of the 60 albums to appear in NME's end-of-year list.[8]
Allmusic awarded the album 4.5/5 stars, writing, "the theatricality is now wielded on everyday affairs, which ironically makes them sound larger than life. And this sense of scale, combined with the heavy guitars, pop hooks, and theatrical style, marks the true unveiling of Queen, making Sheer Heart Attack as the moment where they truly came into their own."[1] Mojo awarded the album 4/5 stars, noting that it was "often overlooked in favour of A Night at the Opera," and calling it "equally stellar."[9] Q awarded the album 5/5 stars, calling it "indispensable," and "one of the great pop/rock admixtures of the '70s."[10] The BBC wrote, "they stretched contemporary production methods to their very limit with multi-layered vocals and guitars and Freddie’s vaudevillian streak finally emerged... this was the album that finally saw Queen find their true voice."[11]
Accolades
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die | UK | [12] | 2005 | * |
| Classic Rock | UK | The 100 Greatest British Rock Albums Ever[13] | 2006 | 28 |
| The 200 Greatest Albums of the 70's (20 greatest of 1974)[14] | 2006 | * | ||
| Kerrang! | UK | The 100 Greatest Rock Albums Ever[15] | 2007 | 45 |
| Mojo | UK | The 100 Records That Changed the World[16] | 2007 | 88 |
| 70 of the Greatest Albums of the 70's[17] | 2006 | * | ||
| NME | UK | Poll: Greatest 100 Albums of All Time[18] | 2006 | 63 |
| Trouser Press | UK | Best Albums of the 1970s[19] | 1980 | * |
(*) designates unordered lists.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Brighton Rock" | Brian May | 5:08 |
| 2. | "Killer Queen" | Freddie Mercury | 3:01 |
| 3. | "Tenement Funster" | Roger Taylor | 2:48 |
| 4. | "Flick of the Wrist" | Mercury | 3:19 |
| 5. | "Lily of the Valley" | Mercury | 1:43 |
| 6. | "Now I'm Here" | May | 4:10 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "In the Lap of the Gods" | Mercury | 3:20 |
| 2. | "Stone Cold Crazy" | Mercury, May, Taylor, John Deacon | 2:12 |
| 3. | "Dear Friends" | May | 1:07 |
| 4. | "Misfire" | Deacon | 1:50 |
| 5. | "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" | Mercury | 2:13 |
| 6. | "She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettoes)" | May | 4:08 |
| 7. | "In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited" | Mercury | 3:42 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 14. | "Stone Cold Crazy (1991 remix by Michael Wagener)" | 2:15 |
Personnel
- Freddie Mercury: Vocals, Piano, Jangle Piano
- Brian May: Guitars, Vocals, Piano, Ukulele, Banjo, Lead Vocal on "She Makes Me"
- Roger Taylor: Drums, Percussion, Vocals, Lead Vocal on "Tenement Funster", Screams on "In The Lap of The Gods"
- John Deacon: Bass Guitars, Acoustic Guitars, Rhythm Guitar, Electric Guitar, All guitars on "Misfire", Double-bass on "Bring back that Leroy Brown"
During Queen's first North American Tour (as a support band for Mott the Hoople) Brian fell 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 cancelled. 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. Production planning 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.
Charts
| Country | Charts | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peak position | Weeks | Certification | Sales | |
| Belgium | 1 | 30.000 | ||
| United Kingdom | 2 | 42 | 2x Platinum | 700,000 |
| Netherlands | 6 | Platinum | 100,000 | |
| Norway | 9 | 22 | 175.000 | |
| United States | 12 | 32 | Platinum | 1,350,000 |
| Japan | 23 | Gold | 300,000 | |
| Canada | 250,000 | |||
| France | 150,000 | |||
| Germany | 250,000 | |||
| Italy | 6 | 200,000 | ||
| Spain | 60,000 | |||
Tour
From 10 October 1974 through to 1 May 1975 the album was promoted on tour. The tour consisted of 3 legs and 77 individual shows, and was the band's first world tour.
The supporting bands consisted of Styx, Kansas, Hustler, and Mahogany Rush.
References
- ^ a b Allmusic review
- ^ 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)
- ^ Circus review (archived at queenarchives.com)
- ^ Rolling Stone review
- ^ John Mendelsohn review (archived at queenarchives.com)
- ^ Disc, end-of-year list, December 1974
- ^ NME end of year list, 1974 (rocklistmusic)
- ^ Mojo, August 1995, p.34: "...often overlooked in favour of A Night at the Opera"... "equally stellar... (4 stars)"
- ^ Q Magazine, August 2002, p.150: "Indispensable... Introduced the roaring chrome camp-rock of future Queen... This album was one of the great pop/rock admixtures of the '70s... (5 stars)."
- ^ BBC review
- ^ "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die"
- ^ Classic Rock "The 100 Greatest British Rock Albums Ever", (rocklistmusic)
- ^ Classic Rock/Metal Hammer, "The 200 Greatest Albums of the 70s", March 2006
- ^ "The 100 Greatest Rock Albums Ever", Kerrang, November 8, 2006
- ^ Mojo, "The 100 Records That Changed the World", June 2007
- ^ Mojo, MOJO Classic: The Who & The Story Of 70’s Rock, July 2006
- ^ "Oasis album voted greatest of all time". The Times. 1 June 2006
- ^ "Best Albums of the 1970s", Trouser Press, January 1980 (archived at stat.ualberta.ca)
