In November of 1974, Queen released their 3rd album Sheer Heart Attack to the masses, a watershed moment for them, as they climbed out from any definition already affixed upon their music. Having dug deep into a hard rock power sound for their Queen I album, and showing their progressive styles with Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack was indeed an attack on a multitude of styles, sounds and attitudes (including humor) that would eventually become Queen’s legacy. At the time of its release, SHA was arguably rock & roll’s most eclectic collection of songs since the Beatles’ White Album, just 7 years before.
The story of the album starts a few months before its release in May of 1974, as Queen was backing Mott The Hoople in their historic 6-night residency in New York’s Uris Theater (boasting to be the first R&R band to play Broadway). On closing night, guitarist Brian May fell to a spell of hepatitis, pulling the band out of the rest of the Mott tour, and compelling May to fly home to England for rehab.
“I felt bad at having let the group down at such an important (historic) place.” May recalled in 1974, “But there was nothing to do about it. It was hepatitis, which you get sometimes when you’re emotionally run-down.” But Brian May was not going to let his bed rest stop him, he used his convalescing time to write, coming up with a few songs that would end up on SHA including the huge “Now I’m Here.” “It (the song) came out quite easily,” May reflected, “Where I’d been wrestling with it before without getting anywhere.”
That writing liberation was a common theme for the other writers in the band, for after they reconvened with May in the studio 6 weeks later, they all felt a sense of freedom not having the touring road to contend with. Even John Deacon contributed with his first written song. Now the band enjoyed four writers, along with May, Freddie Mercury, and drummer Roger Taylor.
The 70s were a time when FM radio used to offer a feature known as “Perfect Album Sides” for their listening audience. Sheer Heart Attack’s side #1 certainly met that criterion and was often showcased in the day:
“Brighton Rock”- The album opens with Brian May’s guitar-driven rocker. Once Jimmy Page introduced his extended unaccompanied guitar solo in “Heartbreaker” in 1969, many others would follow this trend. May took his turn with a 3-minute run of harmonizing riffs utilizing his newly purchased echoplex device.
“Killer Queen”- The album’s best-known song, Freddie Mercury’s genius for a four-minute track blossomed with the use of a tack piano, campy vocals, and a memorable melody. As a single, “Killer Queen” broke the band in the USA reaching the top 15 on Billboard (#2 on UK charts) and established them as a band of many sounds, including Producer Roy Thomas Baker’s Beatle-ish layered backing vocals that would become a trademark of Queen (and later perfected in 1975 with “Bohemian Rapsody”). No one missed the comparison when British band 10cc mimicked the song’s sound for their biggest hit, “The Things We Do for Love” later in 1976.
Next up on side one was “Tenement Funster”/”Flick of the Wrist”/ “Lily of The Valley “- the album’s three-song suite…that is, Sgt. Pepper-like, these three songs segue into each other without definitive track silence:
“Tenement Funster”– Roger Taylor’s contribution, continuing his teenage angst theme that he began on Queen II (“Loser In the End”), and continued into the next couple of albums (1977’s “Drowse”). With loaded echo and scaling guitar sequences from May, this is Taylor’s most underrated contribution.
“Flick of The Wrist” – Seamlessly segued via the last cord of “Tenement Funster,” Mercury takes over to spit out a torrid array of hate for their business manager at that time (and he continued to conclude this story with “Death On Two Legs” on their next album- A Night at The Opera).
“Lily of The Valley”- Dropping down the volume after Mercury’s isolated vocal (“Baby You’ve Been Had”), this piano-based fantasy ballad (some have taken the lyrics as metaphors for the gay experience), reveals Brian May’s talent for creating beautiful orchestra guitar arrangements, a tone that would be a full-blown featured for their next album (see “Love Of My Life”).
“Now I’m Here”- As mentioned above, the song reflects Brian May’s disconnect between touring and ending up in a West London bedsit for his rehabilitation. With a shout-out to Ian Hunter (“Down in the city, just Hoople and me”) “Now I’m Here” would become one of their show centerpieces for the next 4-5 years.
Side #2 continues with the album’s varied styles and arrangements:
“In The Lap of the Gods”- Another Mercury fantasy tune, complete with phase shifters and one of Queen’s highest vocal notes achieved by Roger Taylor.
“Stone Cold Crazy”– A high-energy track that was “messed around” with by the band for several years, which took on so many different changes, that no one could remember who wrote it. In the end, writing credits went to all four Queen members. The song became a favorite and was recorded by many heavy metal bands in the years to follow (Metallica in 1990).
“Dear Friends”- A slow piano ballad, written by May while he was convalescing, sung as a lullaby by Mercury.
“Misfire”- The first song to be recorded that was written by bassist John Deacon. As history knows, he would grow into a consequential writer for the band in the years that followed, including the mega-hit “Another One Bites The Dust.”
“Bring Back That Leroy Brown” – An amazingly arranged tune that conjures up images of a saloon-style jaunt. Written soon after the passing of Jim Croce by Freddie Mercury, “Bring Back” pulls out all the big band stops by featuring jangle piano, ukulele, banjo, and a double bass. Mercury’s multiple layers of vocals and harmonies are breathtaking and humorous (“I’m gonna get that cutey pie”).
“She Makes Me (Storm Troopers in Stilettos)”- Another 180-degree change in style, with a slow march beat under acoustic guitars played by May and Deacon, the song featured a heavy echo and various sound effects creating a landscape of a funeral procession. This is especially remarkable as the band’s self-imposed stand of “No Synthesizers” used in their recordings was still in effect.
“In The Lap of The Gods….Revisited”- The album’s closer, complete with a guitar-induced explosion at the end. With its memorable “LA-LA-LA-LOW” theme, the band adopted this as their sing-along concert closer from 1974- 1977.
In retrospect, John Deacon has said that he wasn’t sure of the band’s ability to be a consistent force until SHA was created, but once conceived and delivered, he no longer held any trepidations about their abilities. “On the second album, we found out that even though we had a formula, we didn’t necessarily have to keep it.” Freddie Mercury reflected years after SHA’s release, “Therefore, we dabbled at other things. Sheer Heart Attack was something different again.” The results backed up the work. By mid-December 1974, the album entered the US charts at #153, and thereafter steadily rose to peak at #12.
Freddie and the others knew the band had achieved the artistic level they were aiming for with Sheer Heart Attack. “The whole group aimed for the top slot,” stated Mercury in 1975. “We’re not going to be content with anything less. That’s what we’re striving for. It’s got to be there. I definitely know we’ve got it in the music, we’re original enough… and, now we’re proving it.”
Rolling Stone summed it up best in its May 1975 album review of Sheer Heart Attack– “This band is skilled, after all, and it dares.”
