Exploring Killer Queen by Queen and Their Musical Legacy
Delve into the iconic song "Killer Queen" by Queen from the album Sheer Heart Attack, exploring the band's sound, musical technology, guitar techniques, and key features. Learn about Queen's background, the birth of the band, their early years in 1970s London, and the musical contexts surrounding the pop hit. Discover the theatrical nature of Queen's songs, the Vaudeville-inspired music evoked in the lyrics, and the unique sound that defines Queen's music across various genres.
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Presentation Transcript
KILLER QUEEN QUEEN FROM THE ALBUM SHEER HEART ATTACK
LEARNING OBJECTIVES In the study of this set work you will learn about: The background to the song Queen s sound How to analyse Killer Queen Musical technology as a musical element Guitar techniques The key musical features
MUSICAL CONTEXTS Killer Queen is a pop song, intended to be played on the radio, and originally sold as a single. The single was a 7-inch diameter vinyl disc.
THE BIRTH OF QUEEN Roger Taylor & Brian May were originally in a group called Smile, which broke up in 1970. Freddie Bulsara (formerly known as Farrokh) joined a year later, and changed his surname to Mercury. John Deacon joined as bass player. The name Queen was suggested by Mercury - it had a certain grandeur, as well as connotations of the gay culture with which he was involved.
EARLY YEARS 1970s London. Economic difficulties and political violence. Queen used advanced recording techniques to orchestrate their music, and create their own sound. The basic sound was riff-driven heavy rock of the early 70s, but they added arranging techniques borrowed from big-band jazz. They also applied distorted electric guitars, treating the guitar tracks like the sections of a jazz orchestra.
BACKGROUND TO KILLER QUEEN Released in 1974. Peaked at no.2 in the UK singles charts. It had a much lighter sound (May was in hospital at the time when Mercury was writing the song). The band left space on the track for May to add his guitar work when he came out of hospital. The pictures evoked through the lyrics are clearly represented by Vaudeville-inspired music.
BACKGROUND TO KILLER QUEEN .An adaptation of Killer Queen was used as the theme for the evil tyrant character of the same name in Ben Elton s musical We Will Rock You . It demonstrates the inherently theatrical nature of Queen s songs, and the element of Glam.
QUEENS SOUND Although Queen s music spans many musical genres, there are common threads that run through much of their output: Adventurous structures Use of unusual keys (for rock music) Complex, multi-tracked guitar and vocal parts. Anthemic melodies ( we are the champions , Bohemian Rhapsody etc.).
QUEENS SOUND Melodic, carefully crafted 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. ANALYSE the score ensure that you annotate it carefully.
