What do you get when you team an astrophysicist guitar virtuoso who built a legendary guitar out of an 18th century fireplace with a flamboyantly mustachioed Zoroastrian from Zanzibar and then add a terrific rhythm section? No, you don’t get The Hong Kong Cavaliers, you get Queen. Combining the best elements of heavy metal, prog rock, glam and pop, Queen ruled the scene through the 70’s and 80’s, culminating in their legendary performance at Live Aid. Everyone knows their big hits, Another One Bites The Dust, We Are The Champions, Bohemian Rhapsody and all the rest so I’m going to feature some of their lesser known songs that are every bit as great.
I couldn’t find a proper video for this one but it’s such a great song I had to include it:
Queen had their own spin on thrash metal, years before it became a genre:
Most people assumed Hammer To Fall was about the Cold War and the inevitable nuclear holocaust but according to Brian May it’s just about the inevitability of the Grim Reaper claiming us all someday. Either way it’s a pretty catchy and upbeat rocker considering the subject matter:
I could go on and on with these but I’ll leave you with Queen’s Live Aid performance. This was the greatest rock concert of all time with the biggest acts performing on stages on both sides of the Atlantic but Queen managed to steal the show with Freddie’s fantastic performance at Wembley Stadium. Keep in mind this was 1986, Queen were past their prime and no one expected this kind of epic performance.
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