Recommendations of the Editorial team
26th place: “Keep Yourself Alive” – Queen, 1973
On the first Queen single, Brian May showed where it’s at. A phalanx of guitar overdubs that whined harmoniously and were given rhythm and structure by over-the-top effects. He squeezed these riffs, which would have been enough for an entire album, into a single song.
Brian May, Queen’s string virtuoso, probably the only guitarist with a degree in astrophysics, is an explorer. And looking for new effects. An early goal was to be “the first person who could record perfect three-part harmony in the studio.” And how he demonstrated it with his solo from “Killer Queen”!
May loved piling dozens of guitar tracks on top of each other to build a wall of sound. And even his instrument is the result of excessive imagination. His most important guitar, the “Red Special” aka “Old Lady”, is a home-made marvel that May and his father carved from the wood of a fireplace mantel in the early 1960s.
We previously reported:
“Queen I”
Queen have announced a deluxe edition of their 1973 debut album Queen I. The work was remixed and remastered. And is released expanded in a 6CD+1LP box. In stores from October 25, 2024.
Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor are, as can be read in the press release, still very proud of the debut album. “Queen I is the debut album we always dreamed of.”
For the first time, a Queen album receives a new stereo mix
At the same time, they announced that the sound restoration by Justin Shirley-Smith, Joshua J Macrae and Kris Fredriksson would come close to the sound the band always wanted.
Alternative recordings, demos and live songs have been added to the new tracklist to create the most complete version of this important work. For the first time, a Queen album also receives a new stereo mix.
The reissue of “Queen I” contains 63 songs with 43 new mixes. This includes the album in its original title order, as well as demos and live tracks from the first concert in London in August 1970. “Mad the Swine” also made it back onto the record. A 108-page book with texts and memorabilia is also included in the set.
