Sheer Heart Attack

Sheer Heart Attack
Studio album by Queen
Released	8 November 1974
Recorded	July–September 1974
Studio	AIR, Rockfield, Trident and Wessex Sound studios
Genre	Hard rock[1][2] glam rock[3][4]
Length	39:09
Label	EMI / Parlophone (Europe) Elektra (1974) / Hollywood (1991) (US)
Producer	Roy Thomas Baker, Queen
Queen chronology
Queen II (1974) Sheer Heart Attack (1974) A Night at the Opera (1975)
Singles from Sheer Heart Attack
"Killer Queen/Flick of the Wrist" Released: 11 October 1974 "Now I'm Here" Released: 17 January 1975 "Lily of the Valley" Released: April 1975 (Japan only)

Sheer Heart Attack is the third studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 8 November 1974. It was produced by the band and Roy Thomas Baker and distributed by EMI in the United Kingdom, and Elektra in the United States.

The album launched Queen to mainstream popularity both in the UK and throughout the world: the first single, "Killer Queen", reached No. 2 in the British charts and provided them with their first top 20 hit in the US, peaking at No. 12 on the Billboard singles chart. Sheer Heart Attack was also the first Queen album to hit the US top 20, peaking at No. 12 in 1975. Digressing from the progressive themes featured on their first two albums, this album featured more conventional rock tracks and marked a step towards the classic Queen sound.^[5] The album has been acknowledged for containing "a wealth of outstanding hard rock guitar tracks".^[2] Retrospectively, it has been listed by multiple publications as one of the band's best works and has been deemed an essential glam rock album.^[4]

Songs

Side one

"Brighton Rock"

"Brighton Rock" tells the story of two young lovers named Jenny and Jimmy meeting in Brighton on a public holiday,^[6] Mods travelling to Brighton on bank holidays was a popular narrative at the time, such as The Who's Quadrophenia.^[7] Jenny cannot linger because she is afraid her mother will find out "how I spent my holiday", but afterwards "writes a letter every day"; Jimmy, eager on the day, is not so happy with her "nothing can my love erase": now he is the one afraid of discovery by "my lady". The song includes an unaccompanied guitar solo interlude,^[6] which used delay to build up guitar harmony and contrapuntal melodic lines. The studio version only contains one "main" guitar and one "echoed" guitar for a short section, but live, May would usually split his guitar signal into "main" and two "echoed", with each going to a separate bank of amplifiers. The guitar solo on this song has been performed live at most concerts by Queen or May, either as part of this song, in a medley with another, or as a standalone piece. May also performed some of the solo at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.^[8]

"Killer Queen"

"Killer Queen" was written by Mercury and was the band's first international hit.^[9][10] It is one of the few songs by him for which he wrote the lyrics first, which are about an upper-class prostitute. The band initially recorded tracks for the song without May, because he was recovering in hospital from a duodenal ulcer, leaving spaces for him to fill when he was able to. Mercury played a jangle piano as well as a grand piano. It was performed on Top of the Pops after charting as a single.

"Tenement Funster, Flick of the Wrist and Lily of the Valley medley"

Taylor wrote "Tenement Funster" about youth and rebellion, and sang lead vocals. The song segues into "Flick of the Wrist" (which was a double A side along with Killer Queen), and then into "Lily of the Valley", making the three songs a medley.^[11] This medley was covered by Dream Theater on the bonus disc of their album Black Clouds & Silver Linings.^[11]

"Now I'm Here"

"Now I'm Here" was written by May while hospitalised, and recalls the group's early tour supporting Mott the Hoople, it was recorded during the last week of the sessions, with him playing piano.^[12]

Side two

"In the Lap of the Gods"

"In the Lap of the Gods" was written by Mercury and featured multiple vocal overdubs from himself and Taylor.

"Stone Cold Crazy"

"Stone Cold Crazy" was one of the earliest tracks that Queen performed live, and had several different arrangements before being recorded for Sheer Heart Attack. No band member was able to remember who had written the lyrics when the album was released, hence they shared writing credit, the first of their songs to do so. The lyrics themselves deal with gangsters, making a reference to Al Capone. The track has a fast tempos and heavy distortion, in a similar style speed metal.^[13] Music magazine Q described "Stone Cold Crazy" as "thrash metal before the term was invented".^[14] The song was played live at almost every Queen concert between 1974-78.^{[15][16][17][18]}

Metallica covered the song as their contribution to the 1990 compilation album Rubáiyát: Elektra's 40th Anniversary. This cover version was later used as a B-side of their "Enter Sandman" single and subsequently won a Grammy Award; it also appeared on their covers/b-sides album Garage Inc. The Metallica version of the song is more aggressive than the original; they also slightly altered the lyrics, adding two uses of the word "fuck" and changing the more humorous lines for more violent lyrics, such as "walking down the street/shooting people that I meet/with my fully loaded tommy gun". James Hetfield once performed it together with Queen & Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath fame (singing Metallica's altered lyrics) at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. Metallica also played the song as an encore during their 1991–93 Black Album tour; it appears on the live CD Live Shit: Binge & Purge and the 2009 live DVD Français Pour une Nuit. Hellyeah played Metallica's version of "Stone Cold Crazy" on the 2007 Family Values Tour, sometimes referring to it under the title "Stone Cold Wasted".

"Dear Friends"

"Dear Friends" was written by May and sung by Mercury. Def Leppard covered this song (sung by bassist Rick Savage) for a Wal Mart bonus EP for their cover album, Yeah!.

"Bring Back That Leroy Brown"

"Bring Back That Leroy Brown" was written by Mercury and features him playing grand piano and jangle piano, as well as multiple vocal overdubs. May played a short section on ukulele-banjo and Deacon played a line on the double bass. DRUM! Magazine commends Taylor's drum work, calling it a good example of his versatility. "It really shows off Taylor’s versatility. He nails dozens of kicks throughout this fast and tricky song and proves that he could’ve been a big band drummer or ably fit into any theatrical pit band if Queen hadn’t worked out so well for him. Honky-tonk piano, upright bass, ukulele-banjo, and a smokin’ drummer all add up to a rollicking good time."^[19] The song's title alludes to the then-recent hit "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" by American singer-songwriter Jim Croce who had died in a plane crash the previous year. The song was played live in an arrangement that shortened the song and was, except for the very end and one other line, purely instrumental. May's ukulele-banjo was brought onstage especially for this song. An A Capella version was released as part of the 2011 Remaster of the album.

"Misfire"

"Misfire" was Deacon's first individual composition for the band, and featured him playing most guitars.

"She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos)"

"She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos)" was written and sung by May with May and Deacon playing acoustic guitars. Its finale features what May referred to as "New York nightmare sounds", which include NYC police vehicle sirens and deep-breathing sounds which accompany the closing bars.

"In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited"

"In the Lap of the Gods ... Revisited" was Mercury's first attempt to write a song that the audience would sing along to, similar to the more successful "We Are the Champions". It was one of the set closers from 1974 to 1977. In the 1986 Magic tour it was performed again in a medley which would segue into "Seven Seas of Rhye", and was performed most recently on their tours with vocalist Adam Lambert.

Reception and legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Chicago Tribune	[20]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[21]
Pitchfork Media	9/10[22]
PopMatters	8/10[23]
Q	[24]
Record Collector	[24]
Rolling Stone	[25]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[26]
Uncut	[24]

NME wrote, "A feast. No duffers, and four songs that will just run and run: Killer Queen, Flick of the Wrist, Now I'm Here, and In the Lap of the Gods...revisited".^[27] The Winnipeg Free Press commended "Brian May's multi-tracked guitar, Freddie Mercury's stunning vocalising and Roy Thomas Baker's dynamic production work", calling the album "a no-holds barred, full-scale attack on the senses".^[28] Circus referred to the album as "perhaps the heaviest, rockingest assault on these shores we've enjoyed in some time".^[29] Rolling Stone wrote, "If it's hard to love, it's hard not to admire: This band is skilled, after all, and it dares".^[25] John Mendelsohn was unimpressed, writing, "I hunted all over both sides of this latest album for something, anything, even remotely as magnificent as "Keep Yourself Alive" or "Father to Son", only to end up empty-eared and bawling".^[30] As 1974 drew to a close, the album was ranked by Disc as the third best of the year^[31] and placed a joint No. 24 of the 60 albums to appear in NME's end-of-year list.^[32]

AllMusic later said "the theatricality is now wielded on everyday affairs, which ironically makes them sound larger than life. And this sense of scale, combined with the heavy guitars, pop hooks, and theatrical style, marks the true unveiling of Queen, making Sheer Heart Attack as the moment where they truly came into their own".^[5] Q called the record "indispensable" and "one of the great pop/rock admixtures of the '70s".^[24] Pitchfork wrote, "Sheer Heart Attack not only improves on every aspect of their sound suggested by the first two records, but delivers some of the finest music of their career... This is the band at the height of its powers."^[22] The BBC wrote, "they stretched contemporary production methods to their very limit with multi-layered vocals and guitars and Freddie's vaudevillian streak finally emerged... this was the album that finally saw Queen find their true voice".^[33] Rock historian Paul Fowles wrote in A Concise History of Rock Music that Sheer Heart Attack "saw the band become increasingly focused on the emerging cult figure of Mercury" and his "unique brand of rock theater", especially on the single "Killer Queen".^[34]

Accolades

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die	United States	1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die[35]	2005	*
Classic Rock	United Kingdom	The 100 Greatest British Rock Albums Ever[36]	2006	28
		The 200 Greatest Albums of the 70's (20 greatest of 1974)[37]	2006	*
Kerrang!	United Kingdom	Poll: The 100 Best British Rock Albums Ever[38]	2005	8
		The 100 Greatest Rock Albums Ever[39]	2007	45
Mojo	United Kingdom	100 Greatest Guitar Albums[40]	2002	72
		70 of the Greatest Albums of the 70's[41]	2006	*
		The 100 Records That Changed the World[42]	2007	88
NME	United Kingdom	Poll: Greatest 100 Albums of All Time[43]	2006	63
Radio Caroline	United Kingdom	Poll: Top 100 Albums[44]	1977	50
Trouser Press	United States	Best Albums of the 1970s[45]	1980	*
Virgin	United Kingdom	Poll: All Time Album Top 1000 Albums[46]	2000	492
Rock Hard	Germany	The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time[47]	2005	308
* denotes an unranked list

Mercury's appraisal

“	The album is very varied, we took it to extreme I suppose, but we are very interested in studio techniques and wanted to use what was available. We learnt a lot about technique while we were making the first two albums. Of course there has been some criticism, and the constructive criticism has been very good for us. But to be frank I'm not that keen on the British music press, and they've been pretty unfair to us. I feel that up and coming journalists, by the large, put themselves above the artists. They've certainly been under a misconception about us. We've been called a supermarket hype. But if you see us up on a stage, that's what we're all about. We are basically a rock band.	”
	— Freddie Mercury[48]

2011 reissue

On 8 November 2010, record company Universal Music announced a remastered and expanded reissue of the album set for release in May 2011. This as part of a new record deal between Queen and Universal Music, which meant Queen's association with EMI would come to an end after almost 40 years. All of Queen's studio catalog were reissued in 2011.

Tour

From 10 October 1974 to 1 May 1975 the album was promoted on tour. The tour consisted of three legs and 77 individual shows, and was the band's first world tour.

The supporting bands consisted of Styx, Kansas, Hustler and Mahogany Rush.

Track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Brighton Rock"	Brian May	5:08
2.	"Killer Queen"	Freddie Mercury	3:01
3.	"Tenement Funster"	Roger Taylor	2:48
4.	"Flick of the Wrist"	Mercury	3:19
5.	"Lily of the Valley"	Mercury	1:43
6.	"Now I'm Here"	May	4:10

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
7.	"In the Lap of the Gods"	Mercury	3:20
8.	"Stone Cold Crazy"	Queen	2:12
9.	"Dear Friends"	May	1:07
10.	"Misfire"	Deacon	1:50
11.	"Bring Back That Leroy Brown"	Mercury	2:13
12.	"She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos)"	May	4:08
13.	"In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited"	Mercury	3:42

Bonus track (1991 Hollywood Records CD reissue)
No.	Title	Length
14.	"Stone Cold Crazy" (1991 remix by Michael Wagener)	2:15

2011 Universal Records reissue bonus disc
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Now I'm Here" (Live at Hammersmith Odeon, December 1975)	4:25
2.	"Flick of the Wrist" (BBC session, October 1974)	3:24
3.	"Tenement Funster" (BBC session, October 1974)	2:58
4.	"Bring Back That Leroy Brown" (a cappella mix 2011)	2:17
5.	"In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited" (live at Wembley Stadium, July 1986)	2:35

2011 iTunes deluxe edition bonus videos
No.	Title	Length
6.	"Killer Queen" (Top of the Pops, Version 2)
7.	"Stone Cold Crazy" (live at the Rainbow 1974)
8.	"Now I'm Here" (live at the Forum, Montreal 1981)

Personnel

• Freddie Mercury: lead and backing vocals, piano, jangle piano on "Killer Queen" and "Bring Back That Leroy Brown", organ on " Now I'm Here"
• Brian May: guitars, backing vocals, piano on "Dear Friends", banjo ukelele on "Bring Back That Leroy Brown", lead vocals on "She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos)"
• Roger Taylor: drums, percussion, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Tenement Funster", screams on "In the Lap of the Gods"
• John Deacon: bass guitars, acoustic guitar, rhythm and lead guitar on "Misfire", double bass on "Bring Back That Leroy Brown"

Chart positions

Weekly charts Chart (1974–75) Peak position Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart[49] 19 Canadian RPM Albums Chart[50] 6 Dutch Mega Albums Chart[51] 7 French SNEP Albums Chart [52] 6 Japanese Oricon LP Chart[53] 23 Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[54] 9 UK Albums Chart[55] 2 U.S. Billboard 200 [56] 12

Year-end charts Chart (1975) Position Australian Albums Chart[49] 96 Canadian Albums Chart[57] 43 Japanese Albums Chart[58] 32 UK Albums Chart[59] 39 U.S. Billboard Year-End[60] 38

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/Sales
Poland (ZPAV)[61] 2008 Agora SA album reissue	Platinum	20,000^*
United Kingdom (BPI)[62]	Platinum	300,000^^
United States (RIAA)[63]	Gold	500,000^^
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

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2. Pete Prown; HP Newquist (1997). Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 106. ISBN 978-0793540426.
3. Joe Bennett (March 2005). Complete Guitar Player. William S. Konecky Associates, Incorporated. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-56852-513-6.
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5. AllMusic review
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9. Whitburn, Joel (2006). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. Billboard Books
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11. Black Clouds & Silver Linings (Special Edition) Allmusic. Retrieved 1 September 2011
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13. Jones, Chris (7 June 2007). "Queen: Sheer Heart Attack Review". BBC. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
14. Queen News: February 2011 BrianMay.com. Retrieved 2 July 2011
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19. http://www.drummagazine.com/lessons/post/hot-licks-roger-taylor/P3/
20. Kot, Greg (19 April 1992). "An 18-record, 80 Million-copy Odyssey". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
21. Larkin, Colin (2011). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. p. 2248. ISBN 0857125958.
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26. DeCurtis, Anthony; Henke, James; George-Warren, Holly, eds. (1992). The Rolling Stone Album Guide (3rd ed.). Random House. p. 570. ISBN 0679737294.
27. Quoted in Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins. Queen. As It Began. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992, p. 84. ISBN 0-283-06052-2
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34. Fowles, Paul (2009). A Concise History of Rock Music. Mel Bay Publications, Inc. p. 244. ISBN 978-0786666430.
35. "Rocklist.net...Steve Parker...1001 Albums..".
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40. "100 Greatest Guitar Albums". Mojo, 2002. Archived at muzieklijstjes.nl
41. Mojo, MOJO Classic: The Who & The Story Of 70's Rock, July 2006
42. Mojo, "The 100 Records That Changed the World", June 2007
43. "Oasis album voted greatest of all time". The Times. 1 June 2006
44. Top 100 Albums. Radio Caroline. 1977. Archived at timepieces.nl
45. "Best Albums of the 1970s", Trouser Press, January 1980 (archived at stat.ualberta.ca)
46. All-Time Album Top 1000 Albums. Virgin. 2000. Archived at rocklistmusic.co.uk
47. [...], Rock Hard (Hrsg.). [Red.: Michael Rensen. Mitarb.: Götz Kühnemund] (2005). Best of Rock & Metal die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten. Königswinter: Heel. p. 89. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.
48. "Queen Interviews - Freddie Mercury - 11-09-1974 - Melody Maker - Queen Archives: Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon, Interviews, Articles, Reviews".
49. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
50. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 1 April 2012
51. "dutchcharts.nl Queen – Sheer Heart Attack" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
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56. "allmusic ((( Sheer Heart Attack > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
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58. 1975年アルバム年間ヒットチャート [Japanese Year-End Albums Chart 1975] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
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External links

• Queen official website: Discography: Sheer Heart Attack: includes lyrics of all non-bonus tracks
• Lyrics of "In Lap Of The Gods…Revisited" from Live at Wembley '86 on Queen's official website