Queen

Queen is the debut album by English rock group Queen, released in July 1973. It was recorded at Trident Studios and De Lane Lea Music Centre, London, with production by Roy Thomas Baker (as Roy Baker), John Anthony, and Queen.

The album was influenced by the seaside rock, hard rock, and heavy metal of the day and covers subjects such as folklore (“My Fairy King”) and religion (“Jesus”). Lead singer Freddie Mercury composed five of the ten tracks. Lead guitarist Brian May contributed four songs, including “Doing All Right” which was co-written by Smile band-mate Tim Staffell. Drummer Roger Taylor composed and sang “Modern Times Rock and Roll.” The final song on the album is a short instrumental version of “Seven Seas of Rhye”. The band included the comment ‘No synthesizers’ on the album sleeve, as some listeners had mistaken their elaborate multi-tracking and effects processed by guitar and vocal sounds as synthesizers. Bassist John Deacon was credited on the sleeve notes of the original vinyl release as “Deacon John”, as Mercury and Taylor thought this may make him sound more interesting.

Queen had been playing the club and college circuit in and around London for almost two years when the band had a chance opportunity to test out the new recording facilities of De Lane Lea Studios. Taking advantage of the opportunity, they put together a polished demo tape of five songs: “Keep Yourself Alive,” “The Night Comes Down,” “Great King Rat,” “Jesus,” and “Liar”. Despite the demo tape’s quality, the band received only one offer from a record company - a low bid from Chrysalis Records, which they used to try to entice other companies.