Q: Are Queen a great band? A: Yes, by popular decree.

PeteC

Yes - when i was a teenager and into purely heavy stuff i saw them as
lightweight and a bit novelty.   Now i am an old git and a bit wiser i realise that they were  indeed a bunch of incredibly talented individuals that made some amazing music ( as well as some crap later on ).  Brighton Rock and Now I’m Here are just superb examples of guitar based rock.   

horse

Yes - amazed there's any question about this

munckee

If they played a free concert in my garden on their best day I would have gone out to be honest but they have to be considered a great band for their achievements. 

Along with Abba they were the only stuff I remember my dad listening to as a kid.  One of my childhood memories was my dad being astonished when he found out Freddie was gay.

stickyfiddle

CaseOfAce said:

Yes - they are / were a great band. No question. On any objective level.

But.. for the sake of argument let's put the case for the prosecution m'lord...

1. They gave in to commerciality - after the first couple of albums they lost the art factor and went for the £££sss...
2. the Led zeppelin copy cat thing - sure... right at the start they were doing that whole Lord of the Rings / fairy thing - Ogre Battle anyone?
3. Their lyrics / song themes are incredibly broad / non-personal... you never get an idea of the actual people behind the music.
4. for a man who was probably one of the most famous gay people in the world - you'd never guess it from his musical output.
5. They never broke America. Sure - they had a top 10 hit and moderate success but try as they might America never took 'em to it's hearts.
6. For crimes against fashion they should be up in the Hague - May's clogs and permed bouffant hairstyle and Mercury's cock-duster moustache were / are outrageous.
7. the ill-advised left turn into disco / hot space - was a band trying on new clothes (mostly at the behest of Freddie?) - which at times were ill-fitting.  

Personally I think they were incredible - BUT - if I do listen to 'em these days it's Live At The Bowl whilst I'm doing the washing up - and there's a hell of a lot of filler on that one - for every absolute gem like Save Me and Somebody to Love - you've got the disco Queen cuts from that era like Back Chat - they're not bad...just... ok...

  

1. Jeez, if A Night At The Opera is considered "selling out" then we're all fucked. 
2. EVERYONE was doing that in 1972
3. So are Bob Dylan's and the Rolling Stones' and Radiohead's and most of the Beatles'. Who cares?
4. Again, who cares if the songs are good?
5. Does it matter? 
6. Again, look up every prog band that's ever existed. 
7. If they hadn't done that we wouldn't have got the big 80s hits. 

I don't love Queen - they may not even be in my top 20 - but they damn well were a great band.

ICBM

munckee said:

One of my childhood memories was my dad being astonished when he found out Freddie was gay.

It's absolutely amazing how he somehow managed to hide it not only in plain sight, but with an enormous flashing neon sign saying "QUEEN" . I can only assume most people who didn't realise had some sort of subconscious blind spot.

Redlester

stickyfiddle said:

CaseOfAce said:

Yes - they are / were a great band. No question. On any objective level.

But.. for the sake of argument let's put the case for the prosecution m'lord...

1. They gave in to commerciality - after the first couple of albums they lost the art factor and went for the £££sss...
2. the Led zeppelin copy cat thing - sure... right at the start they were doing that whole Lord of the Rings / fairy thing - Ogre Battle anyone?
3. Their lyrics / song themes are incredibly broad / non-personal... you never get an idea of the actual people behind the music.
4. for a man who was probably one of the most famous gay people in the world - you'd never guess it from his musical output.
5. They never broke America. Sure - they had a top 10 hit and moderate success but try as they might America never took 'em to it's hearts.
6. For crimes against fashion they should be up in the Hague - May's clogs and permed bouffant hairstyle and Mercury's cock-duster moustache were / are outrageous.
7. the ill-advised left turn into disco / hot space - was a band trying on new clothes (mostly at the behest of Freddie?) - which at times were ill-fitting.  

Personally I think they were incredible - BUT - if I do listen to 'em these days it's Live At The Bowl whilst I'm doing the washing up - and there's a hell of a lot of filler on that one - for every absolute gem like Save Me and Somebody to Love - you've got the disco Queen cuts from that era like Back Chat - they're not bad...just... ok...

  

1. Jeez, if A Night At The Opera is considered "selling out" then we're all fucked. 
2. EVERYONE was doing that in 1972
3. So are Bob Dylan's and the Rolling Stones' and Radiohead's and most of the Beatles'. Who cares?
4. Again, who cares if the songs are good?
5. Does it matter? 
6. Again, look up every prog band that's ever existed. 
7. If they hadn't done that we wouldn't have got the big 80s hits. 

I don't love Queen - they may not even be in my top 20 - but they damn well were a great band.

Hang on lads. I said yes or no answers. 

Musicwolf

ICBM said:

munckee said:

One of my childhood memories was my dad being astonished when he found out Freddie was gay.

It's absolutely amazing how he somehow managed to hide it not only in plain sight, but with an enormous flashing neon sign saying "QUEEN" . I can only assume most people who didn't realise had some sort of subconscious blind spot.

What, Freddie Mercury is gay???!!!  When did this happen?

I always had him down as a lady's man, I bit like that George Michael.

Philly_Q

ICBM said:

munckee said:

One of my childhood memories was my dad being astonished when he found out Freddie was gay.

It's absolutely amazing how he somehow managed to hide it not only in plain sight, but with an enormous flashing neon sign saying "QUEEN" . I can only assume most people who didn't realise had some sort of subconscious blind spot.

Not dissimilar to Rob Halford in that respect.

welshboyo

I never liked Queen, thought they were shit.


Until....

I had to play guitar in WWRY for a local production and I immediately understood/realised why most people loved them - great "sing-along" stuff for the regular punters with musical interest for us saddo's!!

Also, (well for me anyway) - a lot of May's iconic parts are already burnt into your brain without you really noticing - I noticed this when working out the parts is that even though I don't even own a Queen album, I just knew where the melody was going - sign of a great player and equally as good songwriting.

I still don't own a Queen album but my respect for them as a band and as individuals has grown massively. 

octatonic

welshboyo said:

I never liked Queen, thought they were shit.


Until....

I had to play guitar in WWRY for a local production and I immediately understood/realised why most people loved them - great "sing-along" stuff for the regular punters with musical interest for us saddo's!!

Also, (well for me anyway) - a lot of May's iconic parts are already burnt into your brain without you really noticing - I noticed this when working out the parts is that even though I don't even own a Queen album, I just knew where the melody was going - sign of a great player and equally as good songwriting.

I still don't own a Queen album but my respect for them as a band and as individuals has grown massively. 

This is why I like playing drums in a functions cover band more than gigging as a shreddy/fusion guitar player.

It isn't as musically interesting for me and I am a much better guitarist than I am a drummer but the audience make all the difference.
I've played enough gigs to mostly empty rooms except for a few guys (it is always guys) standing there with their arms crossed thinking they can do better.
With the functions band people get up and dance- it feels like a proper event.
It is just more fun.

stickyfiddle

octatonic said:

welshboyo said:

This is why I like playing drums in a functions cover band more than gigging as a shreddy/fusion guitar player.

It isn't as musically interesting for me and I am a much better guitarist than I am a drummer but the audience make all the difference.
I've played enough gigs to mostly empty rooms except for a few guys (it is always guys) standing there with their arms crossed thinking they can do better.
With the functions band people get up and dance- it feels like a proper event.
It is just more fun.

Bingo. I loved my old indie originals band and would've loved to make a career of it, but I'd rather play to a room of drunk idiots having a fantastic time than to 25 blokes who are mostly there to see their mates in another band.. 

Jaycee

Yes.

Saw them at Knebworth '86 I think

darthed1981

Has anyone really thought about how it's all pop music really?

We have no idea yet what from the last 50 years will actually stand the test of time, certainly while musicologists no doubt remember the earlier recording artists, when was the last time any one of us put on songs from the 1920s?  Seriously, when was the last time your average 20yr old listened to the sodding Beatles?

The idea of their being anything that really determines "great" in objective terms at this point, when little time has passed by, is something we can all decide for ourselves. 

For example you might decide that Salieri wrote better music than Mozart if anyone happens to have recorded any of it for you to listen to, but the accolade "great" is far more correctly applied to old Wolfgang Amadeus... 

With Queen, we simply don't know if they will be as well listened to or thought of when the people who saw Freddie or bought records in his lifetime are all dead.  Ironically the streaming era does mean that popular music can go the way of classical, where the most popular pieces are overplayed and there are little lost gems.

I particularly dislike the binary rock = good and pop = bad shite we get on here quite a lot, it's just nonsense.

Gassage

Let's just end this debate-a great band, but with the greatest frontman of all time.

octatonic

darthed1981 said:

Has anyone really thought about how it's all pop music really?

We have no idea yet what from the last 50 years will actually stand the test of time, certainly while musicologists no doubt remember the earlier recording artists, when was the last time any one of us put on songs from the 1920s?  Seriously, when was the last time your average 20yr old listened to the sodding Beatles?

The idea of their being anything that really determines "great" in objective terms at this point, when little time has passed by, is something we can all decide for ourselves. 

For example you might decide that Salieri wrote better music than Mozart if anyone happens to have recorded any of it for you to listen to, but the accolade "great" is far more correctly applied to old Wolfgang Amadeus... 

With Queen, we simply don't know if they will be as well listened to or thought of when the people who saw Freddie or bought records in his lifetime are all dead.  Ironically the streaming era does mean that popular music can go the way of classical, where the most popular pieces are overplayed and there are little lost gems.

I particularly dislike the binary rock = good and pop = bad shite we get on here quite a lot, it's just nonsense.

I do agree with you but also there is no such thing as an average 20 year old.

stickyfiddle

Gassage said:

Let's just end this debate-a great band, but with the greatest frontman of all time.

Yeah, but this thread is about Queen, not U2 :P 

equalsql

I loved all their early albums up to and including Sheer Heart Attack. After that they went off the boil for me, too theatrical and bit too camp for my taste, but yes they were a great band. 

darthed1981

octatonic said:

darthed1981 said:

Has anyone really thought about how it's all pop music really?

We have no idea yet what from the last 50 years will actually stand the test of time, certainly while musicologists no doubt remember the earlier recording artists, when was the last time any one of us put on songs from the 1920s?  Seriously, when was the last time your average 20yr old listened to the sodding Beatles?

The idea of their being anything that really determines "great" in objective terms at this point, when little time has passed by, is something we can all decide for ourselves. 

For example you might decide that Salieri wrote better music than Mozart if anyone happens to have recorded any of it for you to listen to, but the accolade "great" is far more correctly applied to old Wolfgang Amadeus... 

With Queen, we simply don't know if they will be as well listened to or thought of when the people who saw Freddie or bought records in his lifetime are all dead.  Ironically the streaming era does mean that popular music can go the way of classical, where the most popular pieces are overplayed and there are little lost gems.

I particularly dislike the binary rock = good and pop = bad shite we get on here quite a lot, it's just nonsense.

I do agree with you but also there is no such thing as an average 20 year old.

Very fair point.

Emiel

equalsql said:

I loved all their early albums up to and including Sheer Heart Attack. After that they went off the boil for me, too theatrical and bit too camp for my taste, but yes they were a great band. 

Hate to compare the two, but in a way they are very much like the Phil Collins-led Genesis. Lots of great singles, but the albums are a bit meh.

Plus perhaps more controversial, it seems that their popularity really took to another level after Freddys sad passing. 

Jalapeno

munckee said:

One of my childhood memories was my dad being astonished when he found out Freddie was gay.

Who knew ?