Queen
"Sheer Heart Attack"
Elektra Records
Released 1974
I've always felt that Queen was a great singles band whose albums were mostly throwaways - 2 great songs and 8 pieces of filler.
"Sheer Heart Attack" is the exception to that rule. It may not have Queen's best songs, but it has the most good ones.
On their third album, all of Queen's pieces gelled - from Brian May's bombastic guitar solo in "Brighton Rock" through Freddie Mercury's multi-tracked vocals in "Flick of the Wrist" - not to mention the band's first bona-fide hit - the sleazy, campy, "Killer Queen." And that's just the first side!
The album does lose steam during the second half, mostly because the first side is so strong. But it does kick-off with the proto-speed metal of "Stone Cold Crazy," and finish with the ultimate blast of pomp - "In the Lap of the Gods Revisited."
At least it was Queen's ultimate blast of pomp until "Bohemian Rhapsody" was released a year later.
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