Sheer Heart Attack - Queen

One of Queen’s lesser-renowned works, ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ is in my opinion their finest studio release. It was painstakingly produced way back in the technological dark ages of 1974. Brian May was suffering from a number of health problems around this time, as the band wanted to progress as fast as possible. This setback was in the form of a duodenal ulcer. A successful operation led to a lengthy recovery. Queen was not yet fully established even after two albums. Although the other three didn’t even consider replacing May, but they did continue to record the third album, leaving gaps for his guitar parts and vocals. This would ...  Read the complete review

Sheer Heart Attack by Queen was originally released in 1974. Listening to it now you can definitely hear a strong 70s sound about it but it's such a great record that you can't help but want to be dated if listening to this makes you so! I wasn't a fan of Queen when I heard their first releases but changed my mind later on. I then went back and gave some of their earlier stuff another chance and this is one of my favourites today. The overall sound of this is art meets 70s metal. It's very rock and roll by today's standards but thirty years ago this would be classed as metal because of the metal sounding guitar riffs. The best song on here has to be ...  Read the complete review

Queen have always been prolific writers but when they first started out they recorded three albums in two years! (Queen I, Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack). In my opinion Sheer Heart Attack and A Night At The Opera were their best and although they have done a lot of work since nothing quite comes up to this standard. I think the main difference between this and later albums is that they slightly toned down their heavy rock in order to appeal to a more mainstream audience. The album opens with "Brighton Rock" the guitar solo on this is brilliant with Brian adopting an echo that allows him to harmonise with himself in left and right speakers. There is ...  Read the complete review

What can I say about this album without going into lists of superlatives? Oh well maybe just one – it’s brilliant!!! I do generally like the earlier Queen releases in preference to the later ones, but this one is a classic. There is a good variety of rock tracks such as Killer Queen, Flick of the Wrist, Misfire, Stone Cold Crazy and Now I’m Here. The best rocker is the classic Brighton Rock with a wonderful instrumental in the middle lasting about 3 minutes – or even longer when they performed it on stage (oh happy days!) The ballads include the beautiful Lily of the Valley and Dear Friends and the haunting In the Lap of the Gods all ...  Read the complete review

Sheer Heart Attack ranks as one of Queen's best albums. The creativity you'll find on this album will simply blow you away and make you want to listen to it for years to come. Highlights include Brighton Rock, a strange but amazing track that highlights how great a guitar player Brian May was and is. Perhaps not a great song but worth hearing just because Roger Taylor sings for the first time is Tenement Funster. A true classic, Now I'm Here is a real rocker and Stone Cold Crazy verges on Heavy Metal (in fact Metallica did a version as a B Side to one of their singles). Killer Queen, one of the bands best known songs and also one of the best on the ...  Read the complete review