“I wanted to give it my all – be self-indulgent”: Queen’s most proggie moments

On By Pranco

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Few could deny that there was an element of progressive rock running through it Queen’s production over the years – perhaps more evident in some periods than others. In fact, when Prog our External borders feature, in which we explored the prog references of bands not always considered part of the genre, Queen was the most requested topic from our readers. We have delivered the requested item in 2012; Then in 2020 we offered our own shortlist of the band’s proggiest moments.

Queen has been many things to many people. An exuberant hard rock band. Suppliers of great pop music and big hit singles. And once, in what some fans dismiss as a misstep, Funkateers (1981’s Hot room in case you were wondering). But they could also, as this list shows, boast the very best of them. Enjoy listening…

The song of the Prophet

1975 An evening at the opera is a career highlight in a career filled with many. To some extent overshadowed by the epic hit single Bohemian Rhapsodyit’s the opening track on side two that represents Queen’s progressive peak. Written by guitarist Brian Mei after he dreamed about a flood. The Prophet’s Song was originally worked on, but was abandoned during sessions Queen II. The wind effect was created by recording the sound of an air conditioning unit through a phaser. It is also Queen’s longest song.

March of the Black Queen

“It took me forever to finish that song,” Freddie Mercury ever said of it March of the Black Queen. “I wanted to give it my all – be self-indulgent or whatever.” If that’s not progressive rock, what is? Queen II is often cited as the band’s most overt prog album, and March of the Black Queen is six and a half minutes of wonderful prog beauty.

Great King Rat

If Queen II was their most overt prog rock statement at the time Great King Rat from 1973 debut album was the signpost. Long, rocking and packed with time changes, it typifies the early Queen sound and remains a firm fan favorite to this day.

My fairy king

With lyrics inspired by Robert Browning The Pied Piper of Hamelin and packed with Mercury’s beloved vocal overdubs, this song – also from the debut album – serves almost as a precursor to Bohemian Rhapsody. It was also the first chance Queen fans had heard Mercury hammering the piano.

The Masterstroke of the Fairy Feller

Not the longest Queen song by far, but The Masterstroke of the Fairy Feller There’s certainly a lot packed into the two minutes and 46 seconds. Inspired by and named after Richard Dadd’s painting of the same name and full of fantasy-based characters, Roger Taylor once called it Queen’s “greatest stereo experiment”. Sounds damn proggy to us.

White Queen (as it began)

Mixing quiet acoustic passages with storming hard rock, White Queen (as it began) is another indicator of where the band was headed The song of the Prophet And Bohemian Rhapsody. Written by May and inspired by Robert Graves’ The white goddessas well as a. female student May had a crush on, it’s another one Queen II‘s proggy highlights.

Insinuation

The 1991 title track proves that the band’s progressive tendencies weren’t limited to their early years. Insinuation reminded of the glory days of Bohemian Rhapsodynodded to Led Zeppelin‘s epic Kashmir and characterized Yes guitarist Steve Howe – who explained: “I started playing the guitar, and it was quite heavy. After a few hours I thought, ‘I’ve bitten off more than I can chew here.'”, Queen’s longest single ever – more than Bohemian Rhapsody by 35 seconds – it also went straight to number 1.

Ogre battle

It’s back to Queen II for the swing opening cut from side two. Ogre battle dates back to 1971, although the band apparently waited until they had freedom in the studio to do the song justice. And the opening of the song is basically the ending played backwards. How prog is that now?

Was it worth it

There’s not much to rewatch 1989 The miracle because, apart from the rocking big hit I want it all and this, the last song on the album. On a record that misses the mark in most places, this is an evocation of the kind of musicianship that was so synonymous with Queen in their early days. It is John Deacon’s favorite song on the release.

Bohemian Rhapsody

It’s mentioned in this article and throughout the progosphere, so it would be rude not to include perhaps Queen’s most famous song. Their first No. 1, one of the longest No. 1’s ever, the only song released by the same band to be No. 1 twice at Christmas, yaddaa yadda yadda… Yeah, we’ve probably all heard too much. But it is also a triumph of vision, creativity, talent and imagination. All important ingredients of progressive rock, right?