Queen

The story of Queen, one of the most prominent rock bands ever, began in 1971. Guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor used to play in Smile, in the beginning, and then started their own project with Freddie Mercury on vocals. In early 1971, they were joined by bassist John Deacon and completed the lineup formation. In late 1972, Queen signed a contract with EMI Records and gave their first performance at the Marquee club in London the following spring. After the unsuccessful single Keep Yourself Alive, in 1973 they released the first album named Queen, a noticeable combination of 70's glam rock and late 60's hard rock. Having toured long, they recorded the second album, Queen II, which saw them enter the British Top 5. The single Killer Queen was the first record by the band to have acclaim in the United States. By that time, Freddie Mercury had already been regarded one of the leading rock singers.

In 1975, Queen experienced a grand breakthrough. On touring the Far East, the musicians escaped to the studio to record the masterpiece, Bohemian Rhapsody. They made a stunning song, which kept the number one position in the British charts for nine weeks. The accompanying album, A Night At The Opera (1975), became a bestseller and led the English charts while remaining in the top 5 of the USA. This CD symbolized the rock music of 70's. It was a tuneful album with wide application of piano and started a new epoch in the history of the genre. A Day At The Races (1976) roused the critical indignation. They blamed the musicians for self-copying. May justified it by simultaneous writing the material for the two albums. After that, Queen started to modify their music making it more aggressive and drawing it closer to hard rock. Jazz, released in 1978, turned out the most controversial album in the band's discography. In the States, they prohibited the video for one its songs, while the tracks differed greatly by their style, which made it hard to comprehend the CD as a music unity.

In the early 1980's, Queen finished the creation of their own style. It was demonstrated on the 1980 release, The Game. Utilization of synthesizers, this album was loaded with, was a revolutionary move, as it had seemed inadmissible for such kind of music before. Mercury himself named it the band's best work ever done. After releasing several solo albums by the members of the band, Queen made a glorious comeback with the satirical track Radio Gaga and the song I Want To Break Free, promoted by another scandalous video. In the late 80's, Queen reduced their studio activity and produced new albums rarely. Yet it never affected their popularity, which was brilliantly proved by Innuendo (1991), another English chart-topper from Queen. The main hit on the record was the genius The Show Must Go On. This songs had a special value and profound meaning, taking into consideration the sorrowful conditions caused by Freddie's fatal illness. The concerts by Queen were always a blazonry, primarily, thanks to Mercury's charismatic personality and May's masterly guitar work. Freddie Mercury’s death of AIDS (November 24, 1991) seemed to put an end to Queen’s career. However, the band carried on and went touring with Paul Rogers. John Deacon refused to come back as her did not support this idea. After a streak of striking performance under the Return of the Champions program, this union, Queen & Paul Rogers, announced the plans to produce a new album. The Cosmos Rocks has been released in September 2008.