Queen (band) history

Queen
From 1968 to Still active
Hometown London
Genre(s) Rock, rock and roll,hard rock, pop
Members Brian May, Roger Taylor, Freddie Mercury, The Bass Player
Notable Single(s) All of them
Notable Album(s) All of them
Awards Most amount of chest hair on a single male, Best Band Ever (fan based award)
Record Label OMG Records

Queen are an English rock/metal band, formed in 1970 by friends Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor as an alternative option to manual labor. Later on, they recruited The Bass Player who helped the band to grow through his knowledge of hairdressing. Over a period of twenty years together they produced many hit albums, and wrote numerous hit songs like "Another One Bites The Crust" (a song about pizza), "We Will Rock You (For A Nominal Fee)", "Nous Sommes Les Champignons (We Are The Mushrooms)", and their most famous work, a complex multi-layered track named "Bohemian Rape 'n' Sodomy". They also wrote many other famous songs and some that are better best forgotten.


Early Years

Queen was formed in 1970 by three friends, Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor, and Brian May. They began their musical career with regular performances at their local Sainsbury's, where Brian May was working as a cleaner. He would later be fired over his continual use of the store brooms in place of a guitar when the band were tight on cash. They made no money whatsoever and Mercury was forced to seek employment around the corner at McDonalds.

After a successful litigation over May's dismissal from Sainsbury's, the band soon had enough money to buy an old Guitar. This allowed them to actually make music. They played their first real gig on a fishing vessel near Brighton. Unfortunately, Mercury's voice was mistaken by other ships in the area as a siren song, causing 69 vessels to crash on nearby rocks nearby. This would later lead to the creation of the song "69".

The Quest For Success

After several months spent covering BB King songs, Mercury decided to start writing original compositions and stop acting like a man. His first song was called "Keep Yourself Alive", an ode to the consequences of drink driving. It was soon a smash hit in Japan. Unfortunately, he was later informed that Brian May had written it. Mercury then proceeded to throw a fit, which lead to his infamous '18 Month Wardrobe Tour', in which Mercury toured the UK performing his own piano version of the song from within the confines of an oak wardrobe.

Freddie during the infamous '18 Month Wardrobe Tour'

"Keep Yourself Alive" provided Queen with a steady income of ten dollars a month, leading to more exciting drinking nights at their local tavern. The band soon realized their next logical step - leave the tavern and go on tour. The next day, Roger, Freddie, Brian and The Bass Player said goodbye to their first manager One-Eyed Johnny. They made a great loss that night, as Johnny was also the producer of their first five singles. They toured almost all of the clubs and taverns of Northern England and Ireland, but nothing felt like Johnny's half-eaten trailer. Drummer Roger Taylor, after a night of heavy drinking, fell into a deep depression and attempted to kill himself with a rusty carving knife; after a seven hour ordeal of sobbing and intermittent drum solos, Taylor was calmed down sufficiently by the band's road crew with the promise of cake.

Despite such incidents, the tour was successful and the band gathered enough money to buy a old tape recorder and hire a flat in West Liverpool. The band remained confused over their financial status having successfully drawn hundreds of thousands of fans to their tour. New manager Jim Breach, a retired hobo, said that it was because they were all too tired to think straight. He was later seen paying for a private helicopter using money that smelled like the Queen tour. Producing a smash hit EP entitled "The Bass Player", the band could now afford a recorder with two microphones and longer battery time. This, then, was the break they had been looking for and Queen set about recording their first album. They called it "Clean".

Clean (1973)

The first full length record by Queen, Clean was an early concept album telling the story of a young man's dream of a world obsessively neat and tidy. This motif does not pervade all of the songs however, and so the album was never really considered to be 'concept'.

Tracklisting:

  1. "Keep Yourself Alive" (May) – 3:48
  2. "Cleaning All Night" (May) – 4:09
  3. "Great King Brat" (Mercury) – 5:41
  4. "My Fairy Liquid" (Mercury) – 4:08
  5. "Pliars" (Mercury) – 6:26
  6. "The Sink Turns Pink" (May) – 4:23
  7. "Modern Times Toilet Bowl" (Taylor) – 1:48
  8. "Sod Your Daughter" (May) – 3:21
  9. "Jesus, Me Heart Sir!" (Mercury) – 3:44

Our Number Two (1974)

In 1973, on the back of the moderate success of Album, the band released their second album, Our Number Two. This was prompted by a band decision that another record after the original might sell just as well as the first and lead them to record a third album. With this sound principle in mind, Queen produced a hard sounding slice of rock glory and a number one record featuring such hits as "Seven Seas Of Sperm", "Some Day, One Day, Not Today, Was It Yesterday?" and the timeless sing-along classic "Nevermind". "Seven Seas Of Sperm" was so successful the band chose to include it twice on the record.

Tracklisting:

  1. "Prolapse" (May) – 1:12
  2. "Father To Son Incest" (May) – 6:14
  3. "Quite Clean (As It Happens)" (May) – 4:36
  4. "Some Day, One Day, Not Today, Was It Yesterday?" (May) – 4:22
  5. "A Bulldozer Up The End" (Taylor) – 4:03
  6. "Olga Battle" (Mercury) – 4:08
  7. "The Fairly Stupid Mister Stroke" (Mercury) – 2:41
  8. "Nevermind" (Mercury) – 1:18
  9. "The Larch Of The Black Queen" (Mercury) – 6:33
  10. "Scummy, Our Love Is" (Mercury) – 2:50
  11. "Seven Seas Of Sperm" (Mercury) – 2:49


My First Heart Attack (1974)

The band's second album did indeed sell even more than their first album and rocketed the band into stardom. Queen went on to tour the world 3 times in one year, playing to sold out venues in every country that is recognized as a country and even one small island where the inhabitants had never even heard music before. Despite several torn body stockings, a broken pair of curling tongs and the loss of Roger Taylor's shin bone during a particularly powerful bass drum solo in Munich, things were looking grand for Queen.

But during the final performance of the band's last show on their third world tour of the year 1973, the pressures of such a long jaunt finally caught up with them. The entire band collapsed on stage mid-song. All of them were rushed to the nearest hospital except for The Bass Player who had a sit down, several glasses of water and felt well enough to take the stage once more and close the gig on his own, employing the singing of the crowd as a convenient cover for the absence of the other members including the bass player.

It transpired that the entire group had suffered a collective heart attack brought about by the stress of such long touring and the sheer force of their rocking. Surprised at their own power and dwindling stamina, the band headed into the recording studio in January 1974 to record their third album My First Heart Attack. The new songs were heavier than anything they had done before, each track exploring the visions each band member had experienced during their brush with death. The Bass Player had visualized a difficult vomiting at the end of a dark tunnel and felt compelled to write "Misfire". Brian May took a more literal path with his writing, producing the hits "Stone Cold Fucking Dead" and "Now My Arm Tingles".

But the most revealing experience from the whole affair had been Mercury's. Having recently broken up with his girlfriend but not fully understanding why he had done it, Freddie's visions as he lay close to death began to shed light on the truth of his sexual nature. This lead to his first musical expressions of desire for other men in "Brighton Cock" and "One Off The Wrist".

Tracklisting:

  1. "Brighton Cock" (May) – 5:08
  2. "Gorilla Queen" (Mercury) – 3:01
  3. "Tenement Monster" (Taylor) – 2:48
  4. "One Off The Wrist" (Mercury) – 3:19
  5. "Shirley Of The Valley" (Mercury) – 1:43
  6. "Now My Arm Tingles" (May) – 4:10
  7. "In The Lap Of A Prostitute" (Mercury) – 3:20
  8. "Stone Cold Fucking Dead" (May) – 2:12
  9. "Dear Fiends" (May) – 1:07
  10. "Misfire" (The Bass Player) – 1:50
  11. "How Black Is Leroy Brown?" (Mercury) – 2:13
  12. "She Shakes Me (Dance For Her in Stilettos)" (May) – 4:08
  13. "In The Lap Of A Prostitute...Revisited" (Mercury) – 3:42

International Success

Word got out to the rest of the world that Queen was stealing the stage in England, and foolishly the world chose to open its doors to the band in hopes of using their songs during parliamentary broadcasts. Queen then stole the stage from the rest of the world, sometimes during the middle of performances by other bands. U2 infamously suffered for this during their first ever gig at the Meat and Taters Inn, beginning their set on stage to a packed crowd and closing it in the beer cellar.

A Day As a Racist (1976)

Having experienced a massive boost in their income, Queen became drunk on their success and innumerable bottles of Babycham. This lead to the recording of their most unloved album, called A Day As A Racist. Featuring fifteen minute guitar solos performed by Brian May whilst sitting on a toilet during his daily bowel movement, and cathedral organs filling in for any real form of percussion, the album was a bold leap forward musically for Queen. The lyrics however created a furore around the group throughout the world.

The power of fame had affected Freddie Mercury most of all and he now turned his lyrical attention to insulting, abusing and slagging off every nation on the face of the Earth. Whilst many of Queen's own fans praised the group for 'finally having the guts to acknowledge the pointless existence of the Swiss', many music critics and music lovers alike balked at the blatant racism and abusive rhymes.

In spite of all this, the single "Somebody To Club" hit number one in the charts throughout Europe and would later be covered by George Michael and his rhythm and blues orchestra.

Tracklisting:

  1. "Tie Your Burma Down" (May) – 4:47
  2. "Please Take The Swiss Away" (Mercury) – 5:09
  3. "Long and Gay (The Penis Song)" (May) – 3:34
  4. "The Millipede Waltz" (Mercury) – 4:54
  5. "Jew and I" (The Bass Player) – 3:25
  6. "Somebody To Club" (Mercury) – 4:56
  7. "Afro-Caribbean Man" (May) – 4:59
  8. "Good Old-Fashioned Gutter Toy" (Mercury) – 2:54
  9. "Browse (A Selection of Fine Hams)" (Taylor) – 3:45
  10. "Man With Tourettes (Let Us Play With Clingfilm Together)" (May) – 5:50

A Day And A Night At The Opera (1975)

Queen didn't care so much about making albums by now, as they were practically bigger than former The Beatles member Jesus Christ. Earning an enormous amount from touring and stealing from old ladies on the street, they made plans to record a new record. Someone however was stupid enough to waste it all on a Pacific Island Recording Studio and a 40% share in Costco. Freddie never figured out who wasted the money, leading the new record to become a tax dodging financial recuperation. Failing to see why they should produce any new material considering how well loved their previous albums had been, the band simply re-recorded two old albums in stereo and changed the track titles. It was a huge success. By now Mercury had been recognized as one of rock's greatest vocalists, but not yet as one of rock's greatest homosexuals.

The song 'Your Breath Cuts Thru Lead (What You Been Eatin')' has a very interesting back story. It was written about one of Brian May's ex-girlfriends. Their relationship ended when Brian walked in on Roger Taylor giving the woman a very feisty kiss. When asked what the kiss was like, Roger responded with, "Her breath cuts through lead,". These words inspired The Bass Player to write a song based around the events.

Tracklisting:

  1. "Death On Six Legs (Dedicated To The Spider Queen)" (Mercury) – 3:43
  2. "Hazing On A Monday Afternoon" (Mercury) – 1:07
  3. "I'm In Love With My Cat" (Taylor) – 3:04
  4. "Your Breath Cuts Thru Lead (What You Been Eatin')" (The Bass Player) – 2:52
  5. "69" (May) – 3:30
  6. "Sweet Shop Lady" (May) – 4:03
  7. "Tyneside Rendezvous" (Mercury) – 2:14
  8. "The Puppets Wrong" (May) – 8:20
  9. "You F****d my wife" (Mercury) – 3:38
  10. "Good Timpany" (May) – 3:23
  11. "Bohemian Rape 'n' Sodomy" (Mercury) – 5:54
  12. "God, Shut Your Face" (trad.; Arr. Brian May) – 1:13

Daily Mirror (1977)

Tracklisting:

  1. "We Will Rock You (For A Nominal Fee)" (May) – 2:01
  2. "Nous Sommes Les Champignons (We Are the Mushrooms)" (Mercury) – 2:59
  3. "Queer Heart Attack" (Roger Taylor) – 3:26
  4. "Old Eggs, Old Eggs" (May) – 3:09
  5. "Spread Your Legs" (The Bass Player) – 4:32
  6. "Fart From The Inside" (Taylor) – 3:03
  7. "Get Ingredients, Make Dinner" (Mercury) – 3:51
  8. "Peeing On The Sidewalk" (May) – 3:07
  9. "The Who Needs You" (The Bass Player) – 3:07
  10. "It's Rape" (May) – 6:27
  11. "My Border Collie Follows Through" (Mercury) – 3:29

Jizz (1978)

With Jizz, the band moved into new lyrical and musical territory, recording much of the record on a small island off the coast of Australia as a tax dodge. The use of a "lounge band" style for much of the album gave an interesting feel that was very different to previous records. The reception from fans was a unique one for Queen; a three day stand-off involving the band as hostages, where the fans forced them to re-record the entire record. The police were finally able to bring the situation to an end just as the new version of the album was being pressed. The band filed charges against their entire official fan club and the record was released the following week, heading straight to number one in the album charts.

Tracklisting:

  1. "Mustache" (Mercury) – 3:01
  2. "Fat Bottom-Turds" (May) – 4:16
  3. "Heresy" (Mercury) – 3:13
  4. "Bisexual Race" (Mercury) – 3:01
  5. "If You Can't Eat Them" (The Bass Player) – 4:15
  6. "Let Me Infiltrate You" (Mercury) – 3:01
  7. "Dead On Arrival" (May) – 3:23
  8. "In Only Seven Decades" (The Bass Player) – 2:30
  9. "Hitler's Ball" (May) – 3:30
  10. "Fudge It" (Taylor) – 3:29
  11. "Carving Stone Ain't Easy" (May) – 3:15
  12. "Don't Touch Me Now (Wife's Anthem)" (Mercury) – 3:29
  13. "More Of That Jizz" (Taylor) – 4:16

Hash Nordon Soundtrack (1979)

In 1979, Queen were commissioned to produce the official soundtrack to an action adventure movie called Hash Nordon. The eponymous Hash was a drug-addled clip show presenter, searching the galaxy for high adventure and a more durable clipboard. Rising to the challenge, the band produced over three hours of material. The results were so terrible that the film makers not only fired Queen from the project but took out an injunction against them to prevent them from ever releasing the material commercially. In an attempt to save face in front of their fans, the band held a press conference to announce the theft of the studio sessions. To date, the Hash Nordon Soundtrack remains unheard.

The Slightly Less Awesome

The early 80's proved to be a disheartening decade for Queen. With the birth and subsequent death of punk music and the rise of the new romantics, the once great rock monster found itself battling the Mothra of dismal 80's music. Queen decided to fight crap pop with louder crap pop.

The Lame (1980)

Tracklisting:

  1. "Gay Ain't Lame" (Mercury) - 3:30
  2. "Bladder Attack" (May) - 4:18
  3. "Another One Bites the Crust" (The Bass Player) - 3:35
  4. "Need Your Land-Rover Tonight" (The Bass Player) - 2:50
  5. "Elvis Never Did This - Honest" (Mercury) - 2:44
  6. "Sod It (I've Got Hives)" (Taylor) - 4:32
  7. "Don't Try Lou Diamond" (Mercury) - 3:53
  8. "Sail Away Sweaty Sister (To The Sister That Smelt So Bad)" (May) - 3:33
  9. "Funny Spoon" (Taylor) - 2:51
  10. "Shave Me" (May) - 3:50

Hot Spasm (1982)

In their quest for more singles, Queen produced an album that sounded like everyone else's. Consequently, this is generally considered to be the worst Queen album. Some psychologists theorize that this is because The Bass Player, who was tiring of part-time hairdressing, was becoming more influential in the musical direction of the band. Years later, guest vocalist David Bowie would shoulder the blame for the failure of "Hot Spasm", claiming that the overwhelming awesomeness of his mere presence in the studio had distracted the band from recording a decent album. This story has been disputed in recent years by The Bass Player, who says Bowie did little during the sessions but make tea and run a vacuum around the studio once a day.

Tracklisting:

  1. "Stoppin' Power" (Mercury) – 4:10
  2. "Wanker" (May) – 3:46
  3. "Back Fat" (The Bass Player) – 4:31
  4. "Body Lotion" (Mercury) – 4:29
  5. "Action Is Gay" (Taylor) – 3:33
  6. "Put Out The Cat" (May) – 3:15
  7. "Eat More Veal (Song For Lenin)" (Mercury) – 3:39
  8. "Balling All Girls" (Taylor) – 3:53
  9. "bye" (May) – 4:26
  10. "Cool Fat" (The Bass Player / Mercury) – 3:26
  11. "Udder Pleasure" (Queen / Bowie) – 4:02

The Buerks (1984)

In an attempt to return to their rock roots, Queen released "The Buerks". It was aptly named and became a hateful figure amongst fans in the band's catalog. Queen had foolishly decided to record an album that sounded nothing like an album. Instead, they hoped to achieve the effect of a greatest hits set by writing each song from the perspective of being a single. This lead to the following years being filled with live shows featuring only the songs on this record, as the band felt they had accidentally created the best songs of their career. Fans were known to commit suicide at their concerts rather than endure yet another twelve minute rendition of the album's lead single "Radio? AAAAARRGGGHHHH!!!"

Tracklisting:

  1. "Radio? AAAAARRGGGHHHH!!!" (Taylor) – 5:45
  2. "Scare It Up" (May) – 3:28
  3. "It's A Kitchen Knife" (Mercury) – 4:08
  4. "Have You Seen My Owl?" (Mercury) – 3:28
  5. "Marines (Or 'Back To Sea, Lads!')" (May/Taylor) – 5:10
  6. "I Want To Go Pee" (The Bass Player) – 3:20
  7. "Keep's Crashing, This Microsoft Windows" (Mercury) – 5:21
  8. "Spanner To Fall" (May) – 4:28
  9. "Is This The Album We Created...?" (Mercury/May) – 2:13

The Clinical (1989)

With "The Clinical", the band tried to move into new territory - and failed dismally. It wasn't the strongest idea for a concept album - ten songs developed from entries in the Mosby's Medical Encyclopedia - and it was criticized by fans and critics alike for it's tinny sound production (it was recorded in an operating theater) and it's persistently graphic medical themes. Another point of conflict was the conjoined four-head of Queen's members, which was achieved by a controversial doctor in India. Monty Python fans were upset over the eerie resemblance to their three-headed knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The album produced only one hit single; the techno rock cult classic 'I Have No Gall Bladder'.

Tracklisting:

  1. "Pancreoplasty" (Queen) – 2:24
  2. "Khashoggi's Snip" (Queen) – 2:47
  3. "The Clinical" (Queen) – 5:02
  4. "I Have No Gall Bladder" (Queen) – 4:40
  5. "The Invisible Mammagram" (Queen) – 3:55
  6. "Brain Tumour" (Queen) – 4:07
  7. "Testes Must Fall (At On-set Of Pubertal Development)" (Queen) – 4:20
  8. "Scrotal" (Queen) – 4:42
  9. "My Bladder Pains Me" (Queen) – 3:22
  10. "Was Gender Reassignment Worth It?" (Queen) – 5:45

On Its Last Legs

By late 1989, it had become clear to the other members of Queen that Freddie Mercury was unwell. In spite of initially failing to be concerned, the band's management eventually convinced May and Taylor to broach the subject with Mercury, who claimed to be suffering from a heavy cold. With this in mind, the band set about recording one more album, for fear that a chesty cough or throat infection might rob their singer of his amazing vocal prowess. For May and Taylor, the possibility of no longer earning royalties from new Queen albums was too terrifying to comprehend and Mercury was placed in an oxygen chamber 24 hours a day, absorbing cough syrup intravenously through a funnel held up using the body of a dead newt. This is credited for the particularly distinctive vocal sound on this album.

Sexual Innuendo (1991)

For what the band believed could be their final studio album, themes of sexual exploration were explored to the farthest exploratory points of the band's previous explorations. After several weeks attempting to fathom the meaning of this, recording began in earnest.

Tracklisting:

  1. "Sexual Innuendo" (Queen) – 6:29
  2. "I'm Growing Slightly Hard" (Queen) – 4:22
  3. "Handjob" (Queen) – 4:39
  4. "I Can't Sleep With You" (Queen) – 4:35
  5. "Don't Bite So Hard" (Queen) – 3:39
  6. "Ride The Wild Bitch" (Queen) – 4:41
  7. "All God's Peep-holes" (Queen / Mike Moran) – 4:19
  8. "These Are The Ways We Could Try" (Queen) – 4:12
  9. "Delight Her" (Queen) – 3:32
  10. "The Prick Man" (Queen) – 4:52
  11. "Bum You" (Queen) – 3:36
  12. "The Shag Must Go On" (Queen) – 4:24

The record was universally panned for its weak lyrics. One critic commented "The record never really rises to the occasion," while another remarked that "The record lacks spunk - there's no excitement and you never feel truly satisfied". Two singles were ejaculated from the record - "Handjob" and "The Shag Must Go On". "Handjob" lingered around the middle of the charts while "The Shag Must Go On" reached number 2 and remained there for some time.

Post Mortem

In September of 1991, Freddie Mercury died. The other members of Queen were shocked to say the least, considering that only days before his end Mercury had been holding themed dinner receptions at his country home. At the last of these functions, whose theme was supporting characters from Doctor Who, May had warned his friend and band mate about the risks of reheating rice in a microwave. Ever the adventurous naysayer, Mercury had then proceeded to reheat several bowls of Indian white rice in his vintage microwave and devour them before May's very eyes. Several days later, Mercury would be found dead by his gardener.

The shock of the food poisoning related demise of Queen's enigmatic front man made headlines internationally and a period of mourning was entered into by all bar the citizens of Switzerland (who had still not forgiven Queen for A Day As A Racist). Britain's own Queen offered to abdicate the throne in favor of a gold-framed photography of Mercury, but her kind gesture was politely declined by the remaining members of the band. Instead, a tribute concert was organized in the gardens of Buckingham Palace, featuring the vocal talents of many famous singers. Poor weather and low visibility on the day of the concert prevented them from attending, however, leading to Queen roping in Axl Rose at the last minute, along with David Bowie and Annie Lennox (both of whom were struggling at the time with a mutual cough syrup addiction).

For now, it seemed that Queen's reign at the top of the music charts had finally come to an end. Mercury was cremated on Christmas Eve 1991 and his ashes used to decorate the festive tree at Queen HQ. Children were allowed to pay to see the tree, all proceeds going to The Freddie Mercury Foundation, a charitable organization set up for victims of food poisoning.

Made In Droitwich (1995)

In 1995, the remaining members of Queen, who were all alive despite media claims of the premature death of The Bass Player's fashion sense, assembled at a former army barracks in Kent. Here they were played several cassette tapes of the late Freddie Mercury singing about losing his virginity for the first time (and later the fifth). Astounded by the sheer nonsense they heard, the band decided to polish up these 'demos' by re-recording them and writing new lyrics that weren't about bursting cherries in order to create a final record featuring the original line-up.

Relocating to a commercial studio in the Midlands, Queen sans Freddie began recording brand new music together for the first time. The results soon illustrated why they had not bothered to do so since their lead singers' death, and the sessions were scrapped. Returning to the original tapes, the band decided to simply play their instruments over the top of Freddie's tapes and simply call it a new album anyway.

Two singles were torn from the final record. The first, 'Rubber Love', hit number six in the Russian charts and remained confident throughout. The second single, 'You're A Fool Mate', failed to chart and instead became a popular disco soundtrack amongst the over forties. But the lasting impression amongst the band's fan base soon brought the band to the decision to release the aborted sessions of new music. This 'new' album would be called Made In Taiwan after an incident involving Brian May's deportation from the country of the same name, after he was discovered smuggling an effects box into the country inside his hair.

Tracklisting:

  1. "It's A Beautiful Gay" (Queen) – 2:32
  2. "Made In Droitwich" (Mercury) – 5:25
  3. "Let Me Limp" (Queen) – 4:45
  4. "Rubber Love" (May / Mercury) – 4:49
  5. "My Wife Has Been Shaved" (Queen) – 3:15
  6. "I Was Born to Bum You" (Mercury) – 4:49
  7. "Herrings Love Any Plankton" (Taylor) – 5:36
  8. "Too Much LSD Will Kill You" (May / Musker / Lamers) – 4:20
  9. "You're a Fool Mate" (Queen) – 5:24
  10. "Michael Winner's Tale" (Queen) – 3:49
  11. "It's A Beautiful Gay (Reprise)" (Queen) – 3:01
  12. "Naaaaaah" (Queen) – 0:04
  13. "Seemingly random crap that sounds really awesome when you hear

it smoking weed(Queen) – 22:32

Queen: The Next Generation

Current lineup of Queen: The Next Generation.
Crazee BoyAdded by Crazee Boy

Shortly after the success of Made In Droitwich, Queen recorded a new album, Made In Taiwan which consisted of the original abandoned recordings for the former album. A new and frankly epic 35 minute version of "Unicycle Race" would become the lead single, prompting riots throughout Kensington. With no lead singer, they hired a random she-male from the streets of Bangkok for every song. Although an utterly flawed and stupid idea, the album went number one everywhere, except for Italy, a country that had not yet forgiven the band for A Day As A Racist.

Fun Facts

  • Queen's original name was King, but Freddie Mercury altered it for fear it sounded 'too camp'.
  • Jimmy Page was a session musician for the album A Day As A Racist. This lead to rumors that he played guitar on every album Queen produced and that Brian May couldn't actually play at all.
  • On every album, there is at least ten minutes of total silence, to build up tension, except A Day As A Racist, which contains a twenty minute guitar solo featuring only three chords.
  • Roger Taylor has grown incredibly fat in recent years, yet still fits behind a traditional drum kit.
  • Queen played their first gig in the basement of Roger's parent's house, to an audience of stuffed animals.
  • When not recording, writing, touring or just hanging out, the remaining members of Queen take care of their herd of wild water buffalo and attend honorary university ceremonies.
  • Queen prided themselves on their insistence on not using Jew's Harp on their albums. Many of the early records carried a "No Jew's Harp" tag.
  • Over 10,000 people have reported deafness due to hearing Roger Taylor's falsetto.
  • If you reverse the name of the band, the resulting word is "Neeuq" - ancient Egyptian for "The Austin Allegro was a very poor car".
  • Playing "Ogre Battle" backwards causes a wormhole to open in Montreaux, Switzerland. The large statue of Freddie located there is said to have fallen out of such a wormhole. The only way to close it is to have Roger Taylor scream into it.
  • Every artist is inspired by Queen or else no new music will exist.
  • All of the band members dumped their lovers for their cars.
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