The Queen History Thread (pre-QAL)

Facts or opinions?
I will give my opinion. No, they weren't quite prog rock, even though some songs came close to it. Queen were a bit all over the place genre wise in certain songs and techniques on their albums.
Someone else will surely correct me if I'm wrong, but they didn't settle on any one genre. I love how the band put things together and ended it all up as Queen .

I was listening to a podcast the other day, in which some reporter was talking about Prog Rock. He didn't mention Queen, which I thought a little odd, because he described it as (I'm paraphrasing) high-brow rock, mixing classical elements with heavy rock drums and guitar. Sounded a lot like Queen to me.

Anyhoo, last night I started watching some Queen documentary, Magic Moments, I believe. And in that one, they were definitely called Prog Rock (at least in Queen and Queen II).

So, is Queen Prog Rock? Or were they for a time, and then something else? Did they have an influence of the Prog Rock movement (which was described in the podcast as a dead end, or off-shoot genre).

Thank you in advance.

This is a somewhat divisive issue among hardcore progressive rock fans. Generally speaking, Queen is not considered to be a prog rock band. Their earlier output (specifically the two albums you mentioned, but mostly Queen II) was certainly as close to it as they ever got. Their sophomore album is an incredible mixture of heavy guitar interspersed with gentle interludes, fanciful lyrics, gorgeous harmonies and memorable melodies -- undoubtedly a work of complex art rock if not full-blown progressive rock.

By late 1974, I think the band figured that they could take the fast road to success by pumping out hit singles while maintaining their classic sound. Starting with Sheer Heart Attack, they started to play to a new strength -- well-executed radio friendly pop (such as "Killer Queen"). That said, they didn't instantly abandon their prog roots. You can hear it in tracks like "Brighton Rock" and "In the Lap of the Gods" (not "Revisited") on SHA and "The Prophet's Song" on ANATO. Some have even said that "Bohemian Rhapsody" could be considered to be a more accessible take on progressive rock, owing to its tempo changes, dramatic contrasts and frequent shifts in rhythmic character. By NOTW, the band seemed to have abandoned prog for good, but they revisited it towards the end with "Innuendo" (the song), which features guitar work from Steve Howe of Yes, and is especially reminiscent of the epic sounds heard in Queen II.

Darren Lock, one of the most popular prog rock fans active on YouTube, has a great review of Queen II in which he argues that it is, in fact, a progressive rock album:

phpBB [video]

He also reviews Queen I, Sheer Heart Attack and A Night at the Opera as part of the same "Prog Review" series (all linked in the sidebar), so take that for what it's worth.

Thanks for the insight, Icy and GalileoFigaro. I appreciate the answers. I was looking for facts and opinions, and that's what I got.

Thanks for the insight, Icy and GalileoFigaro. I appreciate the answers. I was looking for facts and opinions, and that's what I got.

To GFs credit, and I bet you know this by know, his explanations/POVs are better than mine.

Thanks for the insight, Icy and GalileoFigaro. I appreciate the answers. I was looking for facts and opinions, and that's what I got.

Glad you got something out of it!

To GFs credit, and I bet you know this by know, his explanations/POVs are better than mine.

I appreciate the kind words, icy, but I think I'm an average writer!