Curious what you guys think about this list my cousin and I put together? News of the World and Jazz should probably be swapped but I just listen to the hits on Jazz way more often. Also Miracle should probably be tied with Magic tbh
1) Sheer Heart Attack 10/10
- best flow and continuity
- love how hard it rocks and how theatrical it can be at the same time (Stone Cold Crazy and Brighton Rock vs Killer Queen and Leroy Brown)
- intro 5 songs are an unbeatable sequence and the rest is mostly choice other than She Makes Me, which I mostly skip
- the one I play most often from front to back on vinyl bc it is so consistent
2) Queen II 9/10
- This would have first spot if the first half wasn’t so mid. Only redeeming song on the first half is White Queen. Procession is just aight. Someday One Day meh. Loser In the End is bad. But the second half is my favorite recorded sequence of songs in music history so I really can’t rank this any lower
3) A Night at the Opera 9/10
- 70’s Queen at its most polished and nicely packaged
- I love the sheer variety of songs from campfire to pop to vaudeville, though I do crave more hard rock sometimes which is why it’s not as high as Sheer Heart Attack. I do bang my head to Prophets Song though
- the guitar work during the solo on good company is ingenuous and immediately followed by Bohemian Rhapsody.
- only real skip is Sweet Lady. I actually loathe that song, which keeps this from passing up Queen II. I’m in love with my car is just aight
- love of my life, man
4) A Day At The Races 9/10
- Just as good as Opera, but with a few more skips like White Man and Drowse (possibly worst Queen song). Two Torriate and Long Away are nice, but just aight
- Tie Your Mother Down gives a much needed headbanger to the album that was missing in opera
- Similar to Opera the variety is amazing, ranging from gospel in Somebody to Love to literal opera in Millionaire Waltz to piano pop in You and I
- Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy is always a too 10 Queen song
5) The Game 8.5/10
- Consistent with no skips
- stripped down and straightforward, but with purpose
- equally looking forward in songs like Bites The Dust and backward in nostalgia homages like Crazy Little Thing and Don’t Try Suicide
- More traditional melodic Queen in Play The Game and Save Me
- Best of 80’s and 70’s Queen meeting
- Overall upbeat and great time, though no single song really stands out as a “masterpiece” the way earlier Queen does
6) Queen 8/10
- Amazing energy from the beginning and the first 5 song sequence is killer
- I come back to these often and love the prog feel
- second half is weaker but with some highs like Son and Daughter and Modern Times Rock n Roll
- poor audio quality definitely holds it back a bit
- Their sound wasn’t fully there yet tbh, but it’s a great start
7) Jazz 7.5/10
- The highs are very high (bicycle race, fat bottom girls, don’t stop me now, mustapha, dreamers ball), but the lows are VERY low (Dead On Time, More of that Jazz)
- many songs are not bad but just… mid (in only 7 days, leaving home ain’t easy, if you can’t beat em, let me entertain you, etc)
- feels like a scattering of amazing songs but it’s far too watered down to listen all the way through regularly
8) News of The World 7.5/10
- similar issue to jazz, where amazing songs are watered down around mid songs, but Jazz gets the upperhand because Jazz creates a super unique stripped down, theatrical sound and atmosphere while this one feels rather “straightforward rock”. I still love many songs on here though
- Honestly might be more consistent than Jazz with fewer complete skips, but I still rank it lower bc of missing atmosphere
9) The Works 7/10
- Most consistent 80’s Queen record imo (minus Machines, which is a huge skip)
- No song particularly stands out to me as a Queen Masterpiece, but they’re all really good and diverse as hell.
- Really good stadium rock and 80’s pop + some more traditional Queen in songs like It’s A Hard Life
- Sort of reminds me of The Game in consistency, but just fewer signs I return to regularly
10) Innuendo 6.5/10
- 5 absolute all time top Queen Songs (Innuendo, Slightly Mad, Show Must Go On, These Are The Days, Headlong), but the rest is unfortunately filler
- Delilah is cute though lol
- Only time late Queen really tried to sound like 70’s Queen and I appreciate it much
- Near death lyrics hit hard at times
11) A Kind of Magic 6.5/10
- Who Wants to Live Forever is in my top 10 Queen songs of all time, but unfortunately the rest of the album is just okay
- A Kind of Magic is very solid, One Year of Love is a sweet ballad, and Princes of the Universe goes hard af, but the rest is a little background noisy to me and it FEELS like a soundtrack (bc it is)
- One Vision bores me lowk
- Don’t Lose Your Head is garbage
12) The Miracle 6/10
- Unfortunately 2 top ten songs can’t erase the rest of the album lol
- Invisible Man and Khashoggi are the only other decent songs on the track list and they’re both just aight
- Sorry Queen
13) Hot Space 5/10
- Only Queen album I might call “bad”
- The synths and dance beats have aged horribly and feel lifeless with no real groove, similar to Freddie’s solo work.
- Under Pressure is the standalone GEM of this album, but it sounds nothing like the rest of it
- I do like Cool Cat and return to it often, but that’s it
- Put Out The Fire and Back Chat are very mid, but at least listenable
- Body Language is objectively awful but it’s such a meme that I occasionally listen