Queen's Very Underrated Progressive Music

Rickenbacker · 05-25-2009, 08:00 PM

Queen, famous for its many hits, over-the-top live performances, and of course the beloved frontman Freddie Mercury, and one of the most successful acts of all time, composed a significant amount of progressive material that is often overshadowed by their bigger hits.

Examples of this include (chronologically)

Queen II
(Nearly all of the album Queen II)

Shear Heart Attack
Now I'm Here

A Night at the Opera
Death on Two Legs (Dedicated To...)
The Prophet's Song

News of the World
Get Down, Make Love

A Kind of Magic
Princes of the Universe

And so on.

I find the Prophet's song to be the best of these. Take a look.

Certif1ed · 09-07-2009, 03:22 AM

Preaching to the converted!

Queen II is an astonishing album - much proggier than most Prog Rock albums (excluding anything by Gentle Giant, of course...).

jehkilyde · 09-09-2009, 10:28 PM

Love it. Always put on Night at the Opera but not many people seem to dig it.

Listen to the Man, listen to the man, listen to the Man
Maaaaaaaaaan, maaaaaaaan, maaaaan etc.

Unknown Soldier · 09-10-2009, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rickenbacker

Queen, famous for its many hits, over-the-top live performances, and of course the beloved frontman Freddie Mercury, and one of the most successful acts of all time, composed a significant amount of progressive material that is often overshadowed by their bigger hits.

Examples of this include (chronologically)

Queen II
(Nearly all of the album Queen II)

Shear Heart Attack
Now I'm Here

A Night at the Opera
Death on Two Legs (Dedicated To...)
The Prophet's Song

News of the World
Get Down, Make Love

A Kind of Magic
Princes of the Universe

And so on.

I find the Prophet's song to be the best of these. Take a look.

I think early Queen did have an originality and a prog feel, some of the songs on the albums that you`ve listed were in essence prog songs but the difference was, that Queen condensed these prog songs into much shorter songs, for example Bohemian Rhapsody is about 6 mins and I think if a true prog rock group had done that song (Yes comes to mind) they probably would`ve done it over a 12-20 min period. In some ways, Queen revolutionized prog and American groups such as Kansas and especially Styx continued this prog-pomp rock sound, but they did it over shorter songs, despite the fact that these groups also played long songs from time to time.

Certif1ed · 09-11-2009, 02:26 AM

The thing is, especially with songs like Bohemian Rhapsody, is that Queen didn't need it to be any longer, because they put the same amount of musical ideas into 6 minutes that Yes would put into an entire triple album. Bo Rhap is also just a part of the great composition that is ANATO.

Long songs (12 minutes plus) make up a fairly small proportion of the Prog canon - prog is about much more than length. It's about improvisation and composition - and here, Queen win over many traditionally accepted Prog bands, such as Uriah Heep over and again.

Queen II (side Black, entirely composed by Mercury, IIRC) is like Genesis' "Supper's Ready" - it's many short songs that make up a whole which is greater than the sum of its parts, and Night At the Opera is the same, although more of a self-effacing, deliberately overblown parody of concept albums (just like Thick as a Brick).

Eleanor Rigby 14 · 01-13-2021, 09:34 AM

Yeah, I agree, I think some songs like The March Of The Black Queen (one of Freddie's best songs imo), The Prophet's Song or Was It All Worth It are amazing and underrated songs if you compare them to Radio GaGa, Another One Bites The Dust, etc.

Psychedelic Revolution · 01-27-2021, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Certif1ed

The thing is, especially with songs like Bohemian Rhapsody, is that Queen didn't need it to be any longer, because they put the same amount of musical ideas into 6 minutes that Yes would put into an entire triple album. Bo Rhap is also just a part of the great composition that is ANATO.

Long songs (12 minutes plus) make up a fairly small proportion of the Prog canon - prog is about much more than length. It's about improvisation and composition - and here, Queen win over many traditionally accepted Prog bands, such as Uriah Heep over and again.

Queen II (side Black, entirely composed by Mercury, IIRC) is like Genesis' "Supper's Ready" - it's many short songs that make up a whole which is greater than the sum of its parts, and Night At the Opera is the same, although more of a self-effacing, deliberately overblown parody of concept albums (just like Thick as a Brick).

Agreed with you. And a bit of heavy metal in 'I want it All'

Ararita · 01-28-2021, 10:59 PM

The Prophet's Song has bits reminiscent of Yes, Gentle Giant, Rush and like a lot of Queen, has riffs that could pass off as metal riffs if played by the right band (give them to Judas Priest or something).

05-25-2009, 08:00 PM	#1 (permalink)
Rickenbacker / Join Date: May 2009 Location: The Conn Posts: 1,338	Queen's Very Underrated Progressive Music Queen, famous for its many hits, over-the-top live performances, and of course the beloved frontman Freddie Mercury, and one of the most successful acts of all time, composed a significant amount of progressive material that is often overshadowed by their bigger hits. Examples of this include (chronologically) Queen II (Nearly all of the album Queen II) Shear Heart Attack Now I'm Here A Night at the Opera Death on Two Legs (Dedicated To...) The Prophet's Song News of the World Get Down, Make Love A Kind of Magic Princes of the Universe And so on. I find the Prophet's song to be the best of these. Take a look.

09-09-2009, 10:28 PM	#3 (permalink)
jehkilyde Groupie Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Fourecks Posts: 7	Love it. Always put on Night at the Opera but not many people seem to dig it. Listen to the Man, listen to the man, listen to the Man Maaaaaaaaaan, maaaaaaaan, maaaaan etc. __________________ [SIGPIC]Passing the Time[/SIGPIC]

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09-07-2009, 03:22 AM	#2 (permalink)
Certif1ed Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 194	Preaching to the converted! Queen II is an astonishing album - much proggier than most Prog Rock albums (excluding anything by Gentle Giant, of course...).

09-11-2009, 02:26 AM	#5 (permalink)
Certif1ed Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 194	The thing is, especially with songs like Bohemian Rhapsody, is that Queen didn't need it to be any longer, because they put the same amount of musical ideas into 6 minutes that Yes would put into an entire triple album. Bo Rhap is also just a part of the great composition that is ANATO. Long songs (12 minutes plus) make up a fairly small proportion of the Prog canon - prog is about much more than length. It's about improvisation and composition - and here, Queen win over many traditionally accepted Prog bands, such as Uriah Heep over and again. Queen II (side Black, entirely composed by Mercury, IIRC) is like Genesis' "Supper's Ready" - it's many short songs that make up a whole which is greater than the sum of its parts, and Night At the Opera is the same, although more of a self-effacing, deliberately overblown parody of concept albums (just like Thick as a Brick).

01-13-2021, 09:34 AM	#6 (permalink)
Eleanor Rigby 14 Music Addict Join Date: Jan 2021 Location: Madrid, Spain Posts: 413	Yeah, I agree, I think some songs like The March Of The Black Queen (one of Freddie's best songs imo), The Prophet's Song or Was It All Worth It are amazing and underrated songs if you compare them to Radio GaGa, Another One Bites The Dust, etc.

01-28-2021, 10:59 PM	#8 (permalink)
Ararita Groupie Join Date: Jan 2021 Location: Ikhlas Posts: 21	The Prophet's Song has bits reminiscent of Yes, Gentle Giant, Rush and like a lot of Queen, has riffs that could pass off as metal riffs if played by the right band (give them to Judas Priest or something).