Sheer Heart Attack (1974)
1. Brighton Rock
2. Killer Queen
3. Tenement Funster
4. Flick of the West
5. Lily of the Valley
6. Now I'm Here
7. In the Lap of the Gods
8. Stone Cold Crazy
9. Dear Friends
10.Misfire
11.Bring Back That Leroy Brown
12.She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettoes)
13.In the Lap of the Gods....Revisited
Arriving a mere six months after its predecessor, Sheer Heart Attack finds Queen continuing the process they began on Queen II: narrowing their focus, tightening the songwriting, and moving (gradually) away from the fantasy-drenched mythology that had previously threatened to bury them under their own bombast. Make no mistake — they were still plenty “showy,” but this time, the dragons and fairies take a bit of a backseat to the guitars.
The clearest example comes right at the start. Brighton Rock, one of the band’s most underrated tracks, kicks off the record with nearly six minutes of Brian May showing the world why he might just be the most melodic shredder in the business. It’s a song that feels tailor-made for the live stage, and honestly, it’s a bit surprising it ever found its way onto a studio album at all. Had the rest of the album followed this trajectory, Queen might have made their first true “rock” album. But, being Queen, they pivot quickly.
The next batch of songs, including Now I’m Here and Killer Queen, are more restrained, more radio-friendly — and not necessarily worse for it. Killer Queen in particular became one of their first big hits, despite its dainty arrangement and music hall tendencies. It’s clever, theatrical, and perfectly Mercury. But it’s Stone Cold Crazy that makes the most noise — quite literally. Clocking in under two minutes, it’s a proto-thrash explosion that Metallica would later cover, and for good reason. It rocks harder than anything else in their catalog.
The rest of the record? Pleasant, if not particularly essential. There’s a sense that Queen were still trying to decide what kind of band they wanted to be, and so we get a bit of everything. Five of the album’s tracks clock in at under two and a half minutes, which doesn’t leave much room for development. Bring Back That Leroy Brown and Lily of the Valley are both charming in their own quirky way, but just as they start to get interesting, they’re over. You almost feel like the band lost interest midway through and just moved on.
Then there’s the curious case of In the Lap of the Gods — two versions, the second one with “Revisited” tacked on for emphasis. They’re not drastically different, and one wonders if it was really worth splitting them up. She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos) is another missed opportunity. With a title like that, you expect something campy and explosive. Instead, you get a subdued, sleepwalking track that feels more like a demo than a finished idea.
Still, for an album turned around so quickly after Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack is admirable. It’s an evolutionary step, not a destination — an album that shows a band refining its strengths and learning to self-edit (mostly). It doesn’t always hit the mark, but it hits often enough to make the journey worth it.
More than anything, it laid the foundation for what would come next. With a little more time, and a bit more confidence, Queen would finally crack the formula wide open. And that breakthrough was just around the corner.
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