Queen. Best Band in the World?

I admit to a certain bias here as I loved Queen.  From their first album, Queen, their music suited their name perfectly.  Grandiose, regal, sophisticated, beautiful, soulful, arrogant, splendid. …there are so many highflown words to describe the music of this essentially studio band that used multilayers of vocals and guitars on their records.  Bringing some of their songs to life, live on stage, was quite a task for them but they managed to pull off the almost impossible in their concerts, which is to their credit.

They were an incredibly inventive band; I´d call it collective genius.  While Queen were really Freddie and Brian with their strong grounding in harmony, Roger was a good drummer with a brilliant vocal range and John was a great, inventive bass player who could also write good songs.  Brian and Roger were the rockers (as was Freddie until Studio 54 in New York got his disco hormones raging) but John wasn´t. He was a a bass player of the times who loved funky, bass grooves as heard on the hit Another One Bites the Dust (which should, perhaps, have been entitled Another Queen Fan Bites the Dust……) and on his brilliant Millionaire Waltz. 

While it´s true that none of Queen was a technical virtuoso on his instrument, collectively they were musical wizards, with minds that absorbed and encapsulated many styles soon moulded, uniquely, into a sound called Queen.

With seventies Queen, we had Freddie's beautifully distinctive falsetto voice that could switch to a raspy tenor in the blink of an eye.  We had Brian's sixpence scratchings against the strings of his unique, home-made, wooden, wonder guitar that could emulate anything from a horn to a cello.  We also had Roger's impossibly high, screamed harmonies along with beautifully crafted songs, stunning arrangements, heavenly harmonies and melting movements.

And the most commanding and beautiful singing voice ever.

Sometimes I wonder what they were on! In my thirty six years as a Queen fan, I have yet to hear such perfect harmonies from any other artist, or such brilliant guitar orchestrations as the likes of Brian May.

 In my view, no one can touch them, despite the inferior output that reared it's ugly head in the band´s mid musical career.  Queen sounds will live forever in my heart and in my head and I judge everything musical according to their standards.

Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Aerosmith, AC/DC, KISS, Van Halen, Journey, Rush …. etc, etc.

Yes, I think Queen were the best band in the world.

And I make no apologies for it.