The Rise of Queen

Rock Music of the 1960's and 1970's

• The 1960's and 1970's paved the way for the development of the rock genre.
• The 1960's was a time of social revolution, meaning that a more rebellious sound was needed for the generation.
• The rock genre was developed from the Rock'n'Roll genre of the 1950's and branched out to pop rock, beat, psychedelic rock, blues rock, and folk rock.
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The Rise of Queen

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• Queen are a rock band that formed in 1970. Band members included: Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (lead guitar, vocals), Roger Taylor (drums, vocals), and John Deacon (bass guitar).
• Mercury suggested the band name Queen, which had a certain grandeur as well as connotations of the gay culture with which he was involved.

Queen's Unique Sound

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• Queen worked hard to create their own sound in an era defined by rock music, using advanced recording techniques to ‘orchestrate’ their music.
• The basic sound was the riff-driven heavy rock of the early 1970's, but to this they added arranging techniques borrowed from big-band jazz.
• These they applied to distorted electric guitars, treating the guitar tracks almost like the sections of a jazz orchestra.

Queen's Unique Sound

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• Although Queen’s music spans many musical genres, there are common threads that run through much of their music:
• Unusual structures
• Unusual keys (for rock music)
• Complex, multi-tracked guitar and vocal parts
• Anthemic melodies
• Unique guitar solos
• A sense of theatre blended into a rock song format
• A studio sound that was consciously different and more ‘crafted’ than their live sound, with the use of music technology playing an important role