Queen Classic

Queen had long been one of the biggest bands in the world by 1980's The Game, but this album was the first time they made a glossy, unabashed pop album, one that was designed to sound exactly like its time. They might be posed in leather jackets on the cover, but they hardly sound tough or menacing – they rarely rock, at least not in the gonzo fashion that's long been their trademark…

Queen were straining at the boundaries of hard rock and heavy metal on Sheer Heart Attack, but they broke down all the barricades on A Night at the Opera, a self-consciously ridiculous and overblown hard rock masterpiece…

"Under Pressure" is a 1981 song originally recorded by Queen and David Bowie, and later included on Queen's 1982 album Hot Space. The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the group's second number-one hit in their home country (after 1975's "Bohemian Rhapsody", which topped the chart for nine weeks), and Bowie's third UK number-one…

Like any patchy but promising debut from a classic rock group, it's often easy to underrate Queen's eponymous 1973 debut, since it has no more than one well-known anthem and plays more like a collection of ideas than a cohesive album. But what ideas! Almost every one of Queen's signatures are already present, from Freddie Mercury's operatic harmonies to Brian May's rich, orchestral guitar overdubs and the suite-like structures of "Great King Rat." That rich, florid feel could be characterized as glam, but even in these early days that appellation didn't quite fit Queen, since they were at once too heavy and arty to be glam and – ironically enough, considering their legendary excess – they were hardly trashy enough to be glam.

This 2008 singles collection from Queen comes housed in a flip-top box and contains 13 singles released between 1973 and 1979, including the hits “Killer Queen,” “Somebody to Love,” “Fat Bottomed Girls,” “We Are the Champions,” and “We Will Rock You," all of which feature faithfully reproduced cover artwork and vinyl-perfect audio…

Like any patchy but promising debut from a classic rock group, it's often easy to underrate Queen's eponymous 1973 debut, since it has no more than one well-known anthem and plays more like a collection of ideas than a cohesive album…

Queen II was a breakthrough in terms of power and ambition, but Queen's third album Sheer Heart Attack was where the band started to gel. It followed quickly on the heels of the second record – just by a matter of months; it was the second album they released in 1974 – but it feels like it had a longer incubation period, so great is the progress here…

A Night at the Odeon – Hammersmith 1975 is an upcoming live album by English rock band Queen. The album is the first official release of the band's Christmas Eve performance at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1975…

Queen had long been one of the biggest bands in the world by 1980's The Game, but this album was the first time they made a glossy, unabashed pop album, one that was designed to sound exactly like its time…