QUEEN Discography- MONTREAL '81 in theaters near you

[DragonAttack]

I have had a few members mention that they would be interested in following along and adding comments regarding the band's discography. 

When my life allows me to proceed along, I am going to try to do this massive undertaking.  Whether you care to follow along and chime in or not, I politely ask you all to abide by the following few rules:

I am more than aware that some of their songs were...well, shall I say, not to my liking.  I am not a fan who always wore Queen colored glasses throughout their career.  In fact, some of their songs were truly disappointing.  But, I loved that band more than any band I followed, though The Beatles and Alice Cooper were very  close to such an impressionable youngster of the time.

PLEASE DON"T JUMP AHEAD

So many of their live releases were decades after the performances.  I am going to do abide by the years of performance.  Therefore, I am going to post 'Live at the Rainbow '74' after their 'Queen II' release, and not near the end of their official releases (in this case, 2014). 

I respectfully ask that commentators do not make comments such as "well, in 85 they did this or that" when we are still discussing what they did right or wrong in '78 "  ....which, btw, was the best rock concert I have ever attended.

I am by no means a ‘know it all’ expert, though in my five North American Queen convention trivia contests in the ‘00’s, I won once, and finished in the Top Five the other times.  I also finished with the high score two times during the written preliminaires, but gave up my spot to the 6th place contestants. 
My most ‘memorable’ moment:  sitting with the other four finalists in chairs in front of all the attendees one year, and having it come down to the final two.  We would be asked to write down our responses. The question: ‘Who was the lead actor in ‘Highlander’?  I had just purchased a 12” ‘One Year of Love’ vinyl for my wife with his picture on it, and…..  my mind went blank! 

My wife and I have made friendships spanning three decades because of our enjoyment of the music (and common interests).

Just as with assisting Orbert during the Jethro Tull discography, I hope this helps both you and me distract me from the pandemic.  I am also not going to be a whirlwind, as each album (live album if applicable) is going to be for 2-4 weeks (you'll understand once this gets going)

We'll sift though the 'Smile' album and any pre Queen release comments by the first weekend of February, and move on from there.

Enjoy!

QUEEN in 1970, with then bassist Mike Grose



March 2023 update

QUEEN DISCOGRAPHY INDEX 

(chronological as to when the concerts occurred, not when officially released)

QUEEN I  this page

BBC Sessions 1-6, Pages 2, 3, 4, 5, 12, 31, 42

QUEEN II, tour, and Rainbow March ’74   Pages 2-4

SHEER HEART ATTACK, tour, and Rainbow Nov ’74   Pages 4-6

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA, tour, and Hammersmith Odeon ’75   Pages 6-9

HYDE PARK concert, September ’76 (attendance 150,000)    Page 9

A DAY AT THE RACES, tour, and Earl’s Court   Pages 9-11

NEWS OF THE WORLD, tour, and Houston ’77   Pages 11-14

JAZZ, and tour   Page 14

LIVE KILLERS  Page 15

THE CRAZY TOUR, Concert for Kampuchea, Hammersmith ‘79  Page 16

THE GAME, and tour   Pages 16-17

FLASH GORDON  Pages 17-18
South American first tour (record setting 120,000 attendance at the time), and then ‘Gluttons For Punishment’  Page 19

GREATEST HITS I Pages 19-20

ROCK MONTREAL ’81  Page 20

HOT SPACE, tour,  Live At The Bowl,   Page 20-22

THE WORKS and tour  Pages 22-25

ROCK N RIO (with Iron Maiden and 350,000 in attendance)  Page 25

LIVE AID  Pages 25-26

A KIND OF MAGIC, tour (including Live Magic, Wembley, Budapest, and Knebworth)  Pages 26-28

THE MIRACLE Pages 31-32

INNUENDO  Pages 32-33

GREATEST HITS II  (and North American GH and Classic Queen) Pages 33-34

The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert   Pages 34-35 (STL on 36)

MADE IN HEAVEN  Pages 37-38

ROCKS Pages 38

GREATEST HITS III  Page 39

FOREVER   Page 40

21st CENTURY reissues, Q+PR, Q+AL  Pages 41 onwards


Solo works to be inserted later on.

[DragonAttack]

OCTOBER 2023 EDIT

All of the concert links throughout this discography went to the nether world when Ryan Newton shut down his youtube site earlier this year.

If you wish to listen to most of the shows, I found this individual's account a while back, and just have never got around to posting it until today.  The quality of these uploads are virtually the same, but the in depth discussion and breakdown of each song's performance have also vanished.

MILES FERNANDO

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4A5EY_jw2aNBiF1sI-L_w3_iAfoJZcDT

video
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4A5EY_jw2aPQV58ddrKAjRwIfFDiAT1y

Time to go back to where we started...........

**********************

First of all, the official release of the album 'Smile'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smile_(band)

https://www.discogs.com/release/1969093-Smile-Ghost-Of-A-Smile

[TAC]

Alright Joe. I'm in! A Queen Discography And Listening Party™ Thread.

Looking forward to your stories and experiences. I love when music and music history mix. I put a lot of time and research into my UFO Listening Party thread and it was a labor of love.

I'm an extremely casual Queen fan. I had a copy of Queen's Greatest Hits in college and I wore it out, but I was more of a metal guy and was not intrigued enough to follow up on their albums. I did buy Live Killers in a wonderfully small used record shop at that time.

The Lovely Mrs TAC loves Queen.... she had the movie on in the bedroom the other night when I went to bed.
But she's really loves Freddie Mercury. Loves him. In fact, I've offered to take her to see the Queen and Adam Lambert shows and she said she wasn't interested. No one could replace Freddie. We even loved Adam Lambert on American Idol that season and thought he was amazing.

[ReaperKK]

I'll be following as well. I did a Queen listen through a while back and honestly was a bit shocked and how much I didn't care for some of their music. I'd like to give it another listen through and see if my opinion has changed.

[MirrorMask]

I'll be following, I did listen to every Queen album, but as of now I've probably forgotten most of the lesser known tracks.

[Zydar]

I will follow, and maybe do a deep dive into the albums as we go along.

[TAC]

First of all, was the official release of the album 'Smile'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smile_(band)

When Staffell left in 1970 to join another band, Humpy Bong, Smile effectively disbanded.

Humpy Bong??

[TAC]

Listening to Smile now.

Doin' Alright-
I can hear future Queen here. Has both mellow and bombast. Even the use of blended vocal harmonies is present. But what jumped out at me was Brian's lead tone. Just proves how unique it was and simply not studio trickery.
Tim Staffell is pretty good vocalist too.

Blag-
Almost metal! Staffell reminds me a bit of John Lawton here.
Holy crap, this song freaking rocks!

April Lady-
Once again, the harmonized vocals stand out.

Polar Bear-
Would love to hear Freddie sing this. Seems like it was made for his style.

Earth-
Actually a pretty nice song. Brian's trademark solo style for sure, though I feel like the solo doesn't quite fit the feel of the song. I like this song though.

Step On Me-
My first impression is that it reminds me of Slade. Man, you can hear Brian's guitar right through this. Really unique sound.

[Stadler]

Alright Joe. I'm in! A Queen Discography And Listening Party™ Thread.

Looking forward to your stories and experiences. I love when music and music history mix. I put a lot of time and research into my UFO Listening Party thread and it was a labor of love.

I'm an extremely casual Queen fan. I had a copy of Queen's Greatest Hits in college and I wore it out, but I was more of a metal guy and was not intrigued enough to follow up on their albums. I did buy Live Killers in a wonderfully small used record shop at that time.

This is kind of me, too.  The first Queen I heard - We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions - was excellent, but "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" didn't sink in until later, and "Another One Bites The Dust" was a big hit when I was still forming my musical tastes, and I don't really like that song at all. I really got into them with Killers, and more specifically, A Kind Of Magic (I LOVE that album, and the followup live record, "Live Magic").   THEN my brother turned me on to Queen II (my favorite Queen record to this day).  I find something to like about all their records (yes, even Hot Space) but I can't deny that they are a streaky band for me.  I don't love everything, though I do like a lot of it, and the run from AKOM to Innuendo is an amazing run.

One of my few musical regrets not seeing them live, but fair play to me, once I started going to concerts (October 9, 1982, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest) they had just played CT two months prior, and never played CT again.

[soupytwist]

and the run from AKOM to Innuendo is an amazing run.

I'll be honest for me that's when things went downhill.  Obvisously 'Hot Space' is a low point too, but 'The Works' was a real return to form - arguely right up alongside their best period (Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack & Night at the Opera).  Magic, Miracle and Innuendo have a few good singles but as albums they are lightweight for me.

[Stadler]

and the run from AKOM to Innuendo is an amazing run.

I'll be honest for me that's when things went downhill.  Obvisously 'Hot Space' is a low point too, but 'The Works' was a real return to form - arguely right up alongside their best period (Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack & Night at the Opera).  Magic, Miracle and Innuendo have a few good singles but as albums they are lightweight for me.

I forgot about Works; GREAT album.

[Kwyjibo]

I will follow this. Although I have all of the regular Queen records I'm more of a casual fan, my favorites being The Game, A Kind Of Magic and The Miracle. But the really best record imo is Greatest Hits I.

[KevShmev]

Will follow, but cannot promise I will chime in a lot, as I have not listened to a lot of Queen lately and am on several other musical tangents currently. Great band though, one of my favorites. 

[TAC]

Has anyone else listened to the Smile stuff? It's literally about 25 minutes.

[DragonAttack]

https://www.queenvault.com/  as in depth of listings for all official releases, including all the (too?) numerous variants of individual songs

https://www.queenconcerts.com/  just as in depth for all of their concert appearances

https://www.queenlive.ca/  Bob Wegner has more commentary with pix, audio and video availability of various shows, and his reviews.

Tim, nice comments as to the 'Smile' tracks.  For those that don't know, 'Doin' Alright' would appear on Queen I.  Parts of 'Blag' will find its way into two different songs, one of which is still part of the Q+AL set list

As to 'Polar Bear'....  damn, was this exciting to hear when leaked on the web years ago.  Love the banter between the 'highest pitched' vocalist of the band, Roger Taylor, and Freddie      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbIPdx-3cys

(oh, and yes, Tim Staffell did leave to join a band named 'Humpy Bong' )

[TAC]

https://www.queenlive.ca/  Bob Wegner has more commentary on certain shows, with pix, audio and video availability of various shows, and his reviews.

Holy shit! What an amazing resource this is. Wow, I could spend an entire evening looking through this.

I've spent countless nights researching area (Boston/Providence) shows from the 70's/early 80's (before I started going to concerts). I love looking at the venues, pics, tour postings. I really enjoy that.

This pic from Providence in 1980 jumped out at me:



I grew up going to the Civic Center. I know this viewpoint well.


Judas Priest June 4, 1986



I have a couple other shows from that spot as well, but apparently not scanned in.

[DragonAttack]

^
SWEEEEET !
(and, btw, no matter what discography I'm writing in, somehow a Uriah Heep reference manages to find its way in somehow )

Briefly putting things together from various sites:

Smile was built from the ruins of the band 1984. Brian May left in 1968 and was soon followed by Tim Staffell. Needing a drummer, May posted a note on the Student Union notice board at Imperial College in London, looking for a "Ginger Baker/Mitch Mitchell style drummer". Roger Taylor responded. Smile went on to become a popular live band locally, playing support gigs for Free, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, and Yes. Smile signed a recording contract with Mercury Records and went on to record six tracks over the course of two sets of studio sessions.

The ’Earth’ / ‘Step On Me’ 45, which I own (hopefully authentic), was not promoted well, and Staffell soon left.
 
Doin’ Alright would be redone on Queen I.  The three ex-Smile members would perform this together on Tim Staffell’s ‘aMigo’ album in 2001, as well as for the ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ movie soundtrack.  Since Tim was listed as cocreator with Brian, he was able to share in the royalties for the album sales.

Around the same time as Staffell left in 1969, Fred Bulsara was in the band Ibex. During a Liverpool concert in September 1969, for the encores Vagabond Outcast / I’m Going Home, for the first time, Freddie, Brian, and Roger perform onstage together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-RCu9cM8pQ

NEXT UP:  Finally settling on a bassist, working on their first LP, the long delay in its release, and what made the airwaves beforehand that ended up as part of the 'Queen' catalogue. [after my edit ]

[TAC]

Smile was built from the ruins of the band 1984. Brian May left 1968 and was soon followed ...

So let me get this straight... He was in 1984, but he left 1968??





 

[King Postwhore]

Leave my cousin out of this.


I'll definitely chime in on this. I own every studio album.

[DragonAttack]

Smile was built from the ruins of the band 1984. Brian May left 1968 and was soon followed ...

So let me get this straight... He was in 1984, but he left 1968?
 

Guess I was thinking of Detroit Tiger World Series championships for some reason

INsert 'in', and, oh dear, I could get in trouble for telling you where to insert it

[DragonAttack]

Free of charge, Queen tested the new De Lane Lea Studios in  December 1971 to record their first demos.  They finally signed a contract with Trident, and worked at their studios from  June-November 1972 during off hours or overnight.  In February of 1973, they made the first of their six appearances on BBC radio.  ‘My Fairy King’, ‘Keep Yourself Alive’, ‘Doing Alright’, and ‘Liar’ were performed.  This band photo of Freddie, Brian, Roger and bassist Deacon John would not be available to the buying public for another four months.



During 1972, Freddie was approached by producer Robin Geoffrey Cable to record a song in the Phil Spector "Wall Of Sound" style. The Ronettes ‘I Can Hear Music’ was recorded that summer in Trident Studios and features Brian on guitar and Roger on drums. The 1966 Dusty Springfield cover, ‘Goin’ Back’, with Brian on guitar/BVs and Roger on drums/BV.

The style of ‘I Can Hear Music’ will be particularly noticeable on a future recording.  A snippet of ‘Goin Back’ will be used decades later on the ‘Made in Heaven’ album.  They both appear on various Freddie posthumous releases.  'Goin Back' is a melancholy listen at every spin.   

This 45 was released under the pseudonym Larry Lurex.  It was released in 1973, one week before the band’s first single.  It did not chart.
'I Can Hear Music'  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzA4OyalTuI
'Goin Back'  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3epki8NAbWg

background of 'Goin Back'  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goin%27_Back

Next up:  the debut album

[MirrorMask]

Sweet photo!

[DragonAttack]

QUEEN I
Released: UK, EMI, July 9, 1973,   USA, Elektra, September 1973
UK #32 (recharted in ‘75/’76 at #24), USA #83
Eventually certified Gold in the UK and USA, Platinum in Poland

Singles:  Keep Yourself Alive / Son and Daughter, July 1973
Liar / Doing All Right, February 1974 (US only, ‘butchered’ 3 minute version)



December 1971, June – November 1972
Liner Notes
QUEEN are FREDDIE MERCURY (vocals, piano), BRIAN MAY (guitars, piano, vocals), DEACON JOHN (bass guitar), ROGER MEDDOWS-TAYLOR (percussion, vocals).

Representing at last something of what Queen music has been over the last three years, this album was produced by JOHN ANTHONY, ROY BAKER, and QUEEN
and engineered by Roy Baker, Mike Stone, Ted Sharpe, Dave Henschel.
Queen's photographer Douglas Puddifoot; cover design Douglas, Freddie and Brian ...  and nobody played synthesizer

* The 'names' would change, but the band members would be a constant throughout their career.

Side One
Keep Yourself Alive   3:46
Doing All Right   4:10
Great King Rat   5:41
My Fairy King   4:07

Side Two
Liar   6:26
The Night Comes Down   4:24
Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll   1:48
Son And Daughter   3:24
Jesus   3:45
Seven Seas of Rhye (inst.)   1:10

****************
Additional notes: ‘Mad the Swine’ was not officially released until the B-side of ‘Headlong’ in '91, and the Hollywood Records LP reissue in ’91.  It was originally intended to be placed after ‘Great King Rat’.  ‘Keep Yourself Alive (long lost retake) was also included on the HR release. (I will not discuss the long list of 'played with' songs on those reissues).

The remastered version of Queen I in 2011 also included the following De Lane Lea December ’71 demos:
Keep Yourself Alive, The Night Comes Down, Great King Rat, Jesus, Liar, Mad the Swine    

*At 7:54, the original 'Liar' would have been one of two 7+ minute studio offerings. 

'Hangman', played often up through their ’75 tours, was worked on but no demo exists.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKDe3P8qGc
The same goes for 'Rock n Roll Medley' (which starts with 'Jailhouse Rock', Sept '73)   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsFbQfQLFaA 
As well as 'Stone Cold Crazy'
********
There is certainly a rawness on this album, even more so on the demos and BBC versions (to be discussed later).

The opening track was played in concert through 1981.  What a great way for a band to ‘start’ off their career. Freddie’s overlapping LVs (Brian and Roger each get one line).  'Doing Alright’ is a slow then fast holdover from their Smile days.  The next two are Freddie in fantasy land, ‘Great King Rat’ being the heavy, with the ‘dreamy’  ‘My Fairy King’ introducing us to Roger’s high vocals (often mistaken for Freddie). For the prog lovers here, there are a dozen or so different  melodies throughout its short four minutes.

Side Two kicks off with ‘Liar’, part of their set list through 1977.  One of a half dozen songs in their catalogue that would clock in at over six minutes.  'Deacon John' really shines on bass.    The next three have only a split second between them.  ‘The Night Comes Down’, our first real introduction of the ‘old fireplace’ with its symphonic sound.  An instrumental ending leads right into a rocking ‘Modern Times’ with Roger on LVs, with some profanity mixed in.  ‘Son and Daughter’ provides the first hint of their ‘out front’ overdubbed backing vocals. Brian’s ‘only child’ lyrics, with ‘the world expects a man, to buckle down and shovel sh*t’  line that’s been appropriate during my lifetime (literally and figuratively 😉 )   ‘Jesus’ is a hard one to describe, ‘processional’ and at times heavy.  The early instrumental version of ‘Seven Seas of Rhye’ closes out their debut effort.
 
Personal highlights are certainly ‘Keep Yourself Alive’, and then simply putting the ‘needle down’ and listening to Side Two from start to finish.
As for the wife, tracks 3,4,5, and 9 still rate incredibly high

https://queenpedia.com/index.php?title=Queen_(album)

BBC sessions will be discussed in a few days

[TAC]

Going to try and spin the first Queen album later today as long as we don't lose power. We're getting pummeled today.

[Stadler]

It's not their best record, but for all the talk of "great debut albums", this gets sorely overlooked.  It's a record I listen to a fair amount; certainly more than some of the more well-known records in their catalogue.

I know DragonAttack asked to keep it in order, so I don't know when this will come up, but the BBC recordings (you need the box set to get all of them) are STELLAR. 

[me7]

Indeed a great debut. I put it on the same pedestal as the following three albums, but it's definitely the weakest of the bunch.

[KevShmev]

Agreed, the next three are better, but still a good debut.  Keep Yourself Alive, Liar and Great King Rat are all among my favorites by the band.

[MoraWintersoul]

Jesus is an underrated fave. That Deep Purple solo section gets me every time.

[TAC]

Joe, I reread the OP, and that's interesting about the Convention Trivia contests.

Can you share how and when you became aware of Queen, and how old you were at the time. By my math, you're HS Class of '76? Is that right?

[Kwyjibo]

Imo the debut is solid, but I rarely listen to it.

[TAC]

Wow, Liar has a great intro..

Damn, this song reminds me of The Sweet.

Has a great solo too.

[TAC]

The Spotify stream numbers are interesting. The second half of the album has 2+million streams. Doing Alright has 6.6M, and the next two songs have aboiut 4.2M each. Obviously Keep Yourself Alive has a ton. 18+M, but what jumped out at me was how many streams Liar had...25M!!

[DragonAttack]

Joe, I reread the OP, and that's interesting about the Convention Trivia contests.
Can you share how and when you became aware of Queen, and how old you were at the time. By my math, you're HS Class of '76? Is that right?

Conventions were fun back in the day.  Oh, and yeah, I played a certain Alice Cooper song on a jukebox in a bar in '76 when I was legal enough to buy my first beer.

I heard 'Keep Yourself Alive' in late March of '74 at an older friend's house.  A month later, I heard 'Queen II' while riding in his VW Bug. A few weeks later,
it's the Aerosmith or Queen warming up for Mott the Hoople concert.  I can't remember.  Brian May remembers the Farm Arena in Harrisburg as well. Not the particulars of that night, as both him and Joe Perry got snockered, so much so that Brian swore off getting drinking before shows.  His story to me and my wife on day 1 of our honeymoon twenty years ago.

Wow, Liar has a great intro..
Damn, this song reminds me of The Sweet.
Has a great solo too.

'Liar' was/is terrific live as well.
Funny you mention Sweet.  Check the track listing for this bootleg.  https://www.discogs.com/release/2523883-Queen-Sheetkeeckers-Recorded-Live-In-Concert 
  Father To Son, Orge Battle, Son And Daughter, Keep Yourself Alive, The Seven Seas Of Rhye, Modern Times Rock 'N Roll, Liar, Ballroom Blitz (Studio Version)

Back in the early days of the internet, I almost bought this because dubious sellers simply listed 'Ballroom Blitz'. Many bought it, thinking Queen performed it on stage, since they did some covers occasionally.

The Spotify stream numbers are interesting. The second half of the album has 2+million streams. Doing Alright has 6.6M, and the next two songs have aboiut 4.2M each. Obviously Keep Yourself Alive has a ton. 18+M, but what jumped out at me was how many streams Liar had...25M!!

Tim, if you could share the totals as we go along, I would be more than interested, and twice as thankful. Hope the snowblower keeps working...

[MirrorMask]

Great King Rat is absolutely fantastic! I love also Jesus among the lesser known tracks....

[TAC]

The Spotify stream numbers are interesting. The second half of the album has 2+million streams. Doing Alright has 6.6M, and the next two songs have aboiut 4.2M each. Obviously Keep Yourself Alive has a ton. 18+M, but what jumped out at me was how many streams Liar had...25M!!

Tim, if you could share the totals as we go along, I would be more than interested, and twice as thankful. Hope the snowblower keeps working...

Sure...

Keep Yourself Alive.....18,711,211
Doin' Alright.....6,676,115
Great King Rat.....4,199,447
My Fairy King.....4,377,051
Liar.....25,040,083
The Night Comes Down....2,853,198
Modern Times Rock n Roll....2,412,615
Son And Daughter....2,569,760
Jesus....2,420,502
Seven Seas Of Rhye....2,934,729


Like I said, the numbers for Liar jumped off the screen for me. I've never really heard it before, and was stunned at how many listens it had. That's a great song, and for me, the standout of the album.


Queen