Upon the passing of legendary producer Roy Thomas Baker, it crossed my mind that Queen are a band whose presence in the metal-sphere becomes less and less with each passing year. Perhaps it’s because some of their biggest hits (“Another One Bites the Dust”, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”, “Under Pressure”) are so ingrained in normie pop culture and sonically removed from anything resembling metal, that it’s hard to imagine that at one point Queen, in all their makeup-faced and high-heeled glory, were initially a metal band. An artsy, progressive, glam-tastic metal band, yes, but a metal band nevertheless. While Queen would continue expanding their musical palette from 1975’s masterpiece A Night at the Opera onwards, they could never truly shake the heavy metal bug, and even at their most accessible, would sneak in a snarling belter or two on each album. To commemorate these early metal masters turned global rock royalty, and the late great RTB, here are our Top 10 Queen Metal Moments.
10. “Liar” (Queen, 1973)
Kicking off our list at #10 is a song off Queen’s first and heaviest album, Queen. Written by Freddie Mercury in 1970, “Liar” is a pomp metal extravaganza, boasting contrasting light and dark passages. Brian May’s guitars are flanged to the point oblivion, the rhythm section of John Deacon and Roger Taylor thump away in unison, and Mercury explores the full depths of his vocal range, spitting out some truly chilling lyrics (something we’ll dissect further later on). Released as the follow up single to “Keep Yourself Alive”, “Liar” was not nearly as successful as its predecessor (if only for not being as accessible and pop-laden), but remains a staple of Queen’s early output to this day.
9. “White Man” (A Day at the Races, 1976)
It’s no secret that Tony Iommi and Brian May are best friends, which I find completely awesome. That said, there isn’t much musical overlap between Black Sabbath and Queen. I guess there are grandiose moments on Sabotage that can be described as Queen-esque, but at the end of the day, they’re still unabashedly Sabbath. How about on Queen’s end? Well, there’s very little in their oeuvre that can be characterized as “doom metal”, but “White Man” sure comes close as ever. It’s slow, plodding, and packed to the brim with devastating riffage. Penned by Brian May chronicling the abuse of Native Americans by European settlers (“Run to the Hills”, anyone?), such a heavy topic calls for equally heavy riffs.
8. “The Prophet’s Song” (A Night at the Opera, 1975)
I can’t help but laugh when people say “Bohemian Rhapsody” is the greatest song of all time. Not only to I disagree with this statement, but I don’t even think it’s Queen’s greatest song. Hell, I’ll go one further: It’s not even the best song on A Night at the Opera! That honor would go to our #8, “The Prophet’s Song”. A prog metal hymn that plays like a template that acts like Manowar and Bathory would expand upon in the years to follow, “The Prophet’s Song” is Queen at their most unapologetically grandiose. Pretentious critics who longed for the stripped down stylings of Springsteen, or whatever the hell graced the pages of Rolling Stone in 1975, must’ve been clutching their pearls upon first hearing this one.
7. “Father to Son” (Queen II, 1974)
They say the sequel is never as good as the original. In the case of Queen II, it’s even better. Armed with deeper songwriting, matured musicianship, and an urge to push experimentation even further, Queen entered the studio to record their sophomore effort with a vengeance. “Father to Son” is an archetypal Queen epic if there ever was one, starting as lush and melodic, before segueing into a colossally crushing wall of sound, courtesy of Brian May. Get a load of that middle section, and tell me with a straight face this isn’t the framework for ’70s Judas Priest, even down to the guitar tone. Make no mistake: Glenn and K.K. were listening to these mavericks!
6. “Princes of the Universe” (A Kind of Magic, 1986)
When I first heard “Princes of the Universe” as part of some Queen “greatest hits” compilation at the age of 10, I had no concept of power metal, epic metal, or anything of the sort whatsoever. And yet when I first laid ears on it, the likes of Cirith Ungol, ’90s Bathory, Helloween, and the entirety of the euro power metal scene “made sense”. Freshly rejuvenated by a triumphant Live Aid performance, 1986 was Queen’s biggest year of the ’80s, seeing the one-time “nostalgia act” reborn as a musical force to be reckoned with. A Kind of Magic was a global smash hit, resulting in sold-out stadium shows worldwide (except for America, which remained virtually ignored). Oh yeah, the album also doubled as the unofficial soundtrack for Highlander, hence the epic delivery of this here song.
5. “Sheer Heart Attack” (News of the World, 1977)
You know those songs that sound exactly as you’d imagine just based off the title alone? “Sheer Heart Attack” is one of them. Fast, frenetic, and over the top, the unofficial title track of an album released three years earlier, “Sheer Heart Attack” can almost be perceived as Queen’s response to the burgeoning punk scene. After all, there WAS that whole scuffle between Freddie and Sid Ferocious, I mean, Vicious. That said, “SHA” is too metallic for its own good. The speed and aggression are there, but let’s not kid ourselves: Queen couldn’t be sloppy if they tried! Even at their rawest, they were a metal band going full force, and if the punks dug it, cool. If not, sod ’em!
4. “Gimme the Prize (Kurgan’s Theme)” (A Kind of Magic, 1986)
“SpongeBob me boy! Those barnacles at Defenders of the Faith have a song about me on their Queen list!” Yes, before Clancy Brown became the voice of Mr. Krabs, he was the Kurgan: The main antagonist of Highlander. As we know, every villain needs his or her own theme song, and Kurgan is no exception, boasting perhaps the most badass theme of all. Cold and unforgiving as the character himself, “Gimme the Prize (Kurgan’s Theme)” is heavy enough to lay entire civilizations to waste. The drums are huge, the guitars rip, and Mercury screams his head off with a bravado we haven’t heard on record in nearly a decade. “I have something to say! It’s better to burn out, than to fade away. THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!”
3. “Son and Daughter” (Queen, 1973)
If you’ve made it this far into our list and are still not convinced by Queen’s metal cred, “Son and Daughter” will surely get your ass into high gear. Coming off like an unholy matrimony of Sabbathian riffs and Uriah Heep-esque choirs, “Son and Daughter” is pure ’70s metal bliss. There’s nothing pretty, poppy, or remotely accessible about it, hence its “deep cut” status. If Queen’s debut consisted of 10 other songs in this straightforward vein, and didn’t get so damn artsy, you’d for sure see the band listed amongst their peers in Sabbath, Priest, and Purple in the infamous Metal Archives.
2. “Ogre Battle” (Queen II, 1974)
Here we have yet another example of Queen walloping us with a proto-power/epic metal assault. For a band that the public generally associates with lyrics of life, love, and Galileo, they could dabble in the world of fantasy as well as Zeppelin and the aforementioned Heep. Look no further than “Ogre Battle”. Listen to this, then listen to virtually any power/epic metal band going at it today. Save for more modern, metallic production values, you’d be hard pressed to find differences between the two. Now if only people hyped up this tune like they do “We Are the Champions” or “Don’t Stop Me Know”, or even…
- “Stone Cold Crazy” (Sheer Heart Attack, 1974)
There’s no shortage of ’70s speed metal bangers that helped pave the way for thrash come the early ’80s. How about legitimate thrash metal? Considering the NWOBHM and hardcore that the thrash bands fused were non-existent in the early to mid ’70s, I’d argue there is no such thing as “’70s thrash”. And yet “Stone Cold Crazy” ALMOST makes me believe otherwise. “Sheer Heart Attack” is fast, no doubt about it, but “Stone Cold Crazy”? Man, this thing really does thrash…HARD. No wonder Metallica covered it at Freddie Mercury’s tribute concert! I guess for that alone, “Stone Cold Crazy” earns the title as Queen’s most metal moment. However, don’t be fooled: This song beats up and steals the lunch money of every Metallica song released from 1991 onwards. THAT’S stone cold crazy…ya know?
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