Songwriting: Critical Listening and Composition - 'Queen'

Queen are a British 70's rock band which consisted of Freddie Mercury on lead vocals and piano, Brian May on guitar and vocals, Roger Taylor on drums and finally John Deacon on bass guitar. Queen have a plethora of hits across their discography such as "Bohemian Rhapsody", "We Are the Champions" and "We Will Rock You". Their early musical style varied from hard rock, progressive rock and heavy metal, but the band eventually shifted into the more mainstream/radio friendly aspect of music resulting in huge success. They're considered to be one of the most influential 70's act of all time. Such key artists influenced by Queen are Nirvana, Judas Priest, Radiohead and Michael Jackson.

Freddie Mercury's vocals are a key highlight of Queen's sound, his powerful soulful vocals have influenced countless amounts of vocalists. His flamboyant nature has managed to spread influence to such acts like Lady Gaga. Glam is another word that could be used to describe their sound, a sound which influenced The Darkness and Motley Crue; hair metal. Brian May's virtuoso guitar playing is a key element of Queen's sound. Multi-layered harmonies were an important element of Queen's sound like in the song "Killer Queen" which features different guitar tracks harmonising, powerful vocals, bass, drums and piano. A typical Queen song will have a wide range of layered guitars which are usually panned for a spaced out effect. Piano is usually featured in lots of Queen songs, performed by Mercury. Synths were later a key feature with their shift into arena rock and pop rock. John Deacon's underappreciated bass playing formed a tight rhythm section along with John Taylor on drums. These two were the foundation of the band which gave room for Brian May to incorporate melodies while Freddie Mercury's vocals would cut through the whole mix. John Deacon is known to hold the groove and rhythm section down whilst adding his own bass melodies to compliment May's intricate and creative guitar skills. Steve Hackett, past guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis, was an influence on May, especially his guitar solo in "The Musical Box" which featured a guitar harmony, a key feature that Brian May picked up on.

The fact that it wasn't just one band member writing all the songs but four also resulted in a unique sound, each band member brought their own influences forward to the band with Freddie's Soul influences and Brian's classical rock influences. Queen were known for being influenced by The Beatles, their songwriting can be noticed within Queen for they both had members who all contributed towards writing interesting songs. Steve Hackett, past guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis, was an influence on May, especially his guitar solo in "The Musical Box" which featured a guitar harmony, a key feature that Brian May picked up on.