63-400: Dear Friends may refer to: "Dear Friends", a song by Queen from the album Sheer Heart Attack "Dear Friends" (song) , a song by Soulhead Dear Friends (album) , a 1972 album by comedy group The Firesign Theatre Dear Friends (radio program) , a Firesign Theatre radio series broadcast by KPFK between 1970 and 1971 which formed the basis
126-454: A Grammy Award in 1991; it also appeared on the band's compilation Garage Inc. "Dear Friends" is a ballad written by May and sung by Mercury. "Misfire" was John Deacon 's first individual composition for the band, and featured him playing the guitar solo and all guitar parts on the track except for some parts at the end of the song, in which Brian's Red Special becomes more prominent. The title of "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" alludes to
189-561: A jangle piano as well as a grand piano on the recording. After it charted as a single, the band performed the song on Top of the Pops . Roger Taylor wrote "Tenement Funster" about youth and rebellion and sang lead vocals, while John Deacon played the song's prominent acoustic guitar parts in May's absence. It segues into Mercury's " Flick of the Wrist " (which was released, along with "Killer Queen", as
252-553: A public holiday . Mods travelling to Brighton on bank holidays was a popular narrative at the time, as in The Who 's Quadrophenia . The song includes a three-minute unaccompanied guitar solo interlude, which makes extensive use of delay to build up guitar harmony and contrapuntal melodic lines. It grew out of May's experimentation with an Echoplex unit while he attempted to recreate his guitar orchestrations for live performances of "Son and Daughter". He had made modifications to
315-472: A 2007 Japanese drama film Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Dear Friends . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dear_Friends&oldid=1051810331 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
378-573: A close, the album was ranked by Disc as the third best of the year and tied for 24th place on NME's end-of-year list. In a review for the Chicago Tribune , Greg Kot awards the album a generally positive rating of 2 and a half stars, while noting that this album was where "...the songs became more concise" In a retrospective review, AllMusic said that "the theatricality is now wielded on everyday affairs, which ironically makes them sound larger than life. And this sense of scale, combined with
441-525: A crowd singalong, " Hammer to Fall ", " Crazy Little Thing Called Love ", " We Will Rock You " (1st verse), and " We Are the Champions ". Mercury and May returned later on to perform a version of " Is This the World We Created? " The band were unenthusiastic about performing when they were first approached by Bob Geldof , but the acclaim they received after their performance led to them writing, collectively,
504-679: A double A-sided single), and then into a softer, piano-based Mercury song, " Lily of the Valley ", making the three songs continuous. " Now I'm Here " was written by May while hospitalised, and recalls the group's early tour supporting Mott the Hoople . It was recorded during the last week of the sessions for the album, with May playing piano. "In the Lap of the Gods" was written by Mercury and featured multiple vocal overdubs from himself and Roger Taylor. It features one of
567-472: A few subsequent tours were created by fashion designer Zandra Rhodes . The concert duration and set-list for each Queen show progressed significantly during its career, eventually leading to shows exceeding two hours. Queen performed most of the songs released on their studio albums during concerts. So far, two shows have been officially released as concert videos from this era, which are the November 1974 show at
630-508: A half hours to get to the Rockfield Studios in Wales , where they would record ten backing tracks, finishing on 28 July. At the start of August, work shifted to Wessex Sound Studios . Work there would not last long, however, as May, who was starting to feel uneasy, went to a specialist clinic on 2 August. He collapsed at the clinic, as a result of a duodenal ulcer , and would be operated on
693-583: A lengthy and emotional show billed as the Concert For AIDS Awareness (as well as Concert for Life) that was televised worldwide. Queen appeared only sporadically following the concert. Not all appearances featured all three surviving members. The final occasion where all remaining members of Queen performed on stage was in January 1997 at Paris in France for the world premiere of Bejart Ballet For Life. Joining
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#1732851996955756-464: A medley with another song, or as a standalone piece. For example, May performed some of it at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Considered one of May's finest solos, Guitar World ranked it No. 41 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time . " Killer Queen " was written by Freddie Mercury and was the band's first international hit single. Mercury played
819-489: A misconception about us. We've been called a supermarket hype. But if you see us up on a stage, that's what we're all about. We are basically a rock band. On 8 November 2010, record company Universal Music announced that a remastered and expanded reissue of the album would be released in May 2011, as part of a new deal between Queen and Universal Music, which meant the band's association with EMI Records would come to an end after almost 40 years. Queen's entire studio catalogue
882-431: A reference to Al Capone . The track has a fast tempo and heavy distortion, presaging speed metal . Music magazine Q described "Stone Cold Crazy" as " thrash metal before the term was invented". The song was played live at almost every Queen concert between 1974 and 1978. Metallica covered the song as their contribution to the 1990 compilation album Rubáiyát: Elektra's 40th Anniversary . This cover version won
945-413: A release date for the album of 1 November, though it seemed unlikely they would be done in time to meet that deadline. They mixed "Now I'm Here", which was the last thing to be mixed, on 22 October. May did an interview the next day (which was published on 26 October) that explained what finishing the album was like. In total, the band used four different studios in the making of Sheer Heart Attack: most of
1008-421: A theatrical nature. Artists such as Bob Geldof , George Michael , David Bowie , Michael Jackson and Robbie Williams have expressed admiration for lead singer Freddie Mercury 's stage presence. Queen wrote certain songs, such as " We Will Rock You " and " We Are the Champions ", with the goal of audience participation. " Radio Ga Ga " came to inspire synchronized hand-clapping (this routine, originating from
1071-609: A two-and-a-half-week period. The year 1975 started with the American leg of the tour, before transferring to Japan. The tour would have been longer, but an accident involving the truck that transported their equipment meant it was not able to reach the remaining scheduled venues, which would have been a second American leg for the tour. In late February, on the North American tour, a handful of shows were cancelled due to Freddie Mercury's voice failing on him. After several doctor's visits, he
1134-568: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Sheer Heart Attack Sheer Heart Attack is the third studio album by the British rock band Queen , released on 8 November 1974 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. Digressing from the progressive themes featured on their first two albums,
1197-676: The Billboard Hot 100 . Sheer Heart Attack was the first Queen album to hit the US top 20, peaking at number 12 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes Chart in 1975. It has been acknowledged for containing "a wealth of outstanding hard rock guitar tracks". Retrospectively, it has been listed by multiple publications as one of the band's best works and has been deemed an essential glam rock album. "Nobody knew we were going to be told we had two weeks to write Sheer Heart Attack . And we had to – it
1260-497: The 1970s. Their early performances were generally hard rock, but the band developed a noticeably more pop-oriented sound in later years. Many of their future trademarks first appeared in these early shows, although some could be traced back to the members' previous bands and artistic outlets (e.g., Smile , Ibex later renamed as Wreckage, and Sour Milk Sea). Freddie Mercury often dressed in a flamboyant manner and acted with camp, while dry ice and multi-coloured lights were used. During
1323-457: The 1980s. A semi-informal medley of 1950s rock 'n' roll songs (especially " Big Spender " and " Jailhouse Rock ") was also a staple and usually formed the backbone of an encore. The band's logo, designed by Mercury shortly before the release of the first album, is made up of the band's star signs and was usually displayed on the front of Taylor's bass drum during their early tours. Some stage costumes worn by Mercury and May on their earliest tours and
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#17328519969551386-506: The Black Queen ". "Brighton Rock" was written during the making of Queen II , " Stone Cold Crazy " had its genesis in Mercury's pre-Queen band Wreckage , and Mercury wrote " Flick of the Wrist " during May's illness-induced absence. As it included the first song written by John Deacon that Queen recorded ("Misfire") alongside tracks written by the other members of the band, Sheer Heart Attack
1449-446: The Hoople inviting Queen to be its support act for Hoople's US tour. Here, the band was able to hone its on-stage presentations in front of large crowds, try out different songs and arrangements, and gain experience with state-of-the-art light and sound systems. The Queen song " Now I'm Here " was written by Brian May as a tribute to Mott The Hoople . The year 1974 had started with their first trip outside of Europe and an appearance at
1512-621: The Rainbow and the Christmas Eve 1975 show at the Hammersmith Odeon . Lisa Marie Presley stated that the first rock concert she attended was by Queen in Los Angeles in the late 70s. After the show, she gave Mercury a scarf that belonged to her late father . With the release of their first two albums Queen & Queen II , the band began live performing in earnest, essentially following
1575-669: The Sunbury Music Festival in Australia. Although the band headlined the event on 2 February, their appearance the next day was canceled. In March, the band commenced on their first headlining tour of the United Kingdom to promote their new album Queen II , and then embark on their first trip to the USA. Once again, they supported Mott The Hoople on a four-week tour beginning in April. The band paid more attention to their look on stage and employed
1638-498: The UK. The band rotated supporting acts, and the setlist contained much of the material from the new album Sheer Heart Attack . With more money to invest in a new stage show, the band wore new costumes for this tour and added an additional lighting rig, complete with state of the art stage effects. To conclude Queen's touring for the year, they extended the leg with mainland European shows, consisting of ten shows in six countries, performing over
1701-689: The United States until 1977. The tour marked the debut of "Bohemian Rhapsody", which would be played at every Queen gig thereafter (except a 1984 gig in Sun City but because of other reason). The DVD A Night at the Odeon is taken from the Christmas Eve concert at the Hammersmith Odeon . "It's quite something to watch", said Brian May . "We were just a four-piece, but we made a lot of noise. I'm quite shocked at how good it was. We were incredibly tight and, at
1764-454: The Wrist', 'Now I'm Here', and 'In the Lap of the Gods...Revisited'." The Winnipeg Free Press commended "Brian May's multi-tracked guitar, Freddie Mercury's stunning vocalising and Roy Thomas Baker's dynamic production work", calling the album "a no-holds barred, full-scale attack on the senses". Circus referred to the album as "perhaps the heaviest, rockingest assault on these shores we've enjoyed in some time". Rolling Stone awarded
1827-644: The Young Dudes " at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert . Queen played their first US show on 16 April 1974 in Denver, Colorado, as a support, which Freddie Mercury reportedly disliked, saying: "Being support is one of the most traumatic experiences of my life". At the climax of the tour in Boston, Brian May was discovered to have hepatitis, possibly from the use of a contaminated needle during vaccinations
1890-565: The above LP Dear Friends: An Evening with the Foreign Exchange , an album by The Foreign Exchange Dear Friends: Music From Final Fantasy , the name of a concert tour of music from the Final Fantasy video game series Final Fantasy V Dear Friends , an album of arranged music from Final Fantasy V "Dear Friends" ( CBS Playhouse ) , a CBS Playhouse production from the 1967 television season. Dear Friends (2007 film) ,
1953-408: The album a positive rating of 3 stars and wrote: "If it's hard to love, it's hard not to admire: this band is skilled, after all, and it dares." John Mendelsohn , however, was unimpressed, writing: "I hunted all over both sides of this latest album for something, anything, even remotely as magnificent as 'Keep Yourself Alive' or 'Father to Son', only to end up empty-eared and bawling." As 1974 drew to
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2016-480: The album featured more pop-centric and conventional rock tracks and marked a step towards the "classic" Queen sound. It was produced by the band and Roy Thomas Baker , and launched Queen to mainstream popularity in the UK and throughout the world. The album's first single " Killer Queen " reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart and provided the band with their first top 20 hit in the US, peaking at number 12 on
2079-470: The backing tracks were recorded at Rockfield, two backing tracks and some guitar overdubs were recorded at AIR Studios, most of the overdubs and one backing track were recorded at Wessex, and the mixing was done at Trident. The album noticeably shifts away from the progressive rock themes of its predecessors, and has been categorised as hard rock and glam rock . The Daily Vault described it as "an important transition album" because it showcased "what
2142-486: The band would soon become while giving a nod to their hard-rock past," while Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic observed that, although there are still references to the fantasy themes of their earlier works, particularly on "In the Lap of the Gods" and " Lily of the Valley ", "the fantasy does not overwhelm as it did on the first two records". " Killer Queen " was written in a single night, which contrasts with the, as Mercury put it, "ages" it took to write " The March of
2205-430: The concerts, it was typical for both Brian May and Roger Taylor to have impromptu, instrumental interludes and for Mercury to engage in a crowd 'shout-along' whereas it was traditional for Taylor to sing one song. Brian May and John Deacon sang backup vocals . Other distinguishable trademarks were Mercury's microphone, which featured only the upper part of the stand with no base (which allegedly came about while Mercury
2268-495: The debut performances of "You Take My Breath Away", "'39" and "Tie Your Mother Down" (Tie Your Mother Down was not played at Hyde Park due to limited time), about 3 months before A Day At The Races was released. The performance at Live Aid at Wembley Stadium in 1985 is often regarded as Queen's greatest single live performance. Their set lasted 21 minutes and consisted of a version of " Bohemian Rhapsody " (ballad section and guitar solo) slightly sped up in lyrics, " Radio Ga Ga ",
2331-421: The difference was that "Queen actually tries to be pretentious and bombastic, and often they are so over the top one can't help but be entertained", finally concluding that it was "their most fun and showcases everything they did right." The BBC wrote: "they stretched contemporary production methods to their very limit with multi-layered vocals and guitars and Freddie's vaudevillian streak finally emerged ... this
2394-675: The end of some shows as well as reviving Hangman on the final night of the tour, almost certainly due to the warm welcome they received from the Japanese fans. Additionally, for the North American leg, Seven Seas of Rhye was dropped from the setlist due to it picking up little attention from listeners. The band planned to return to the United States in late 1975 to play arena shows, however these were all cancelled, most likely due to Queen wanting to distance themselves from Trident and switching managers to John Reid. The shows most likely wouldn't have been profitable, seeing as Queen didn't tour arenas in
2457-525: The finest music of their career ... this is the band at the height of its powers." Jon Bryan of Backseat Mafia described it as "the first album where Queen got it unarguably right", noting that "such obvious arrogance suited them". Benjamin Ray of the Daily Vault felt that "Queen somehow manages to sound like every rock band of the 70s on here, including Rush , Zeppelin and even Uriah Heep ." However, he noted
2520-418: The following day, but discharged from the hospital soon after so he could recover at home. While the band were overdubbing at Wessex, May booked studio time at AIR Studios , where he recorded "Dear Friends", and "She Makes Me". In the meantime, Taylor and Deacon made an appearance at an EMI / Radio Luxembourg motor rally at Brands Hatch on 11 August. By late August, May was working with the band again, and
2583-488: The group received before travelling to Australia. The remainder of the tour was subsequently cancelled and Queen flew back home, where May was hospitalised. In June, the band gathered together at Trident Studios to start rehearsing material for the album. Koh Hasebe interviewed Mercury, Taylor, and Deacon when they were rehearsing on 13 June. At the beginning of July, May joined them for rehearsals. The band were just preparing to record, and on 7 July, they trekked three and
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2646-435: The heavy guitars, pop hooks, and theatrical style, marks the true unveiling of Queen, making Sheer Heart Attack as [ sic ] the moment where they truly came into their own." Q called the record "indispensable" and "one of the great pop/rock admixtures of the '70s". Pitchfork wrote: " Sheer Heart Attack not only improves on every aspect of their sound suggested by the first two records, but delivers some of
2709-422: The highest notes on the album, sung by Taylor. " Stone Cold Crazy " was one of the earliest tracks that Queen performed live, and had several different arrangements before being recorded for Sheer Heart Attack . No band member was able to remember who had written the lyrics when the album was released, so they shared the writing credit, the first of their songs to do so. The lyrics deal with gangsters and include
2772-462: The mixing sessions took place at Trident Studios, and one or two days was spent mixing each of the majority of the songs. "Brighton Rock", on the other hand, took four days to mix, with six hours' worth of different mixes created during that time. Each song was mixed in little edited sections that were about fifteen to twenty seconds in length. At this point, Trident had just installed a 24-track machine in their studio that had been around since 1972, but
2835-450: The original unit so he could change the delay times, and ran each echo through a separate amplifier to avoid interference. The studio version of the solo only contains one "main" guitar and one "echoed" guitar for a short section, but, live, May would usually split his guitar signal into one "main" and two "echoed" guitars, with each going to a separate bank of amplifiers. In concert, the solo has been performed as part of "Brighton Rock", in
2898-509: The rest of the band would add their parts to the songs he had recorded. There was still one song that needed to be recorded as the band worked into September, and that was "Now I'm Here". They recorded the backing track for this one at Wessex, and saved the rest to be completed during the mixing sessions. Mixing commenced in the middle of September. The band were still overdubbing at this point, so they hired someone to deliver tapes from recording studio to mixing studio via motorcycle. The heart of
2961-516: The same time – because we knew each other so well – very loose in terms of improvisation ." Queen played four shows during a short UK tour in September 1976. They began with two nights at Edinburgh Playhouse on 1st and 2nd September. On 10th September, they played in Cardiff , which was their second and final show in the city, having played there on their previous tour in 1975. The final Queen show of
3024-517: The services of Zandra Rhodes to design some of their costumes, such as Freddie Mercury and Brian May's white and black wingsuits. Queen's supporting stint came to an abrupt halt, however, when May collapsed from hepatitis after the New York show on 11 May, and they all had to fly home so that he could recover. The band were soon back on the road and commenced their second tour as the headlining act, with nineteen concerts at eighteen different venues around
3087-475: The song " One Vision " which was then released as a single. Queen did not perform any concerts in their original line-up in the 1990s. After Freddie Mercury's death in November 1991, Queen organised The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert and took place in April 1992 at Wembley Stadium. The three remaining members (in one of the few concerts they played together after Mercury's death) and a host of special guests staged
3150-509: The song's video, was the invention of the video's director, David Mallet ). This influenced Queen's appearance at Live Aid , where the 72,000-person crowd at Wembley Stadium would sing loudly and clap their hands in unison. Queen's performance at Live Aid was later voted the greatest live show of all time by a group of over 60 musicians, critics, and executives in a poll conducted by Channel 4 . Queen played approximately 700 live performances during their career with roughly two-thirds during
3213-459: The song: "It really shows off Taylor’s versatility. He nails dozens of kicks throughout this fast and tricky song and proves that he could’ve been a big band drummer or ably fit into any theatrical pit band if Queen hadn’t worked out so well for him. Honky-tonk piano, upright bass, ukulele-banjo, and a smokin' drummer all add up to a rollicking good time." "She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettoes)"
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#17328519969553276-417: The then-recent hit " Bad Bad Leroy Brown " by American singer-songwriter Jim Croce , who had died in a plane crash the previous year. Written by Mercury, "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" features him playing grand piano and jangle piano, as well as doing multiple vocal overdubs. May plays a short section on ukulele-banjo , and Deacon plays a line on the double bass . DRUM! Magazine commended Taylor's drum work on
3339-520: The traditional 'album-tour' cycle throughout the 70s. The embryonic Queen played numerous gigs in and around London in the early seventies, but evidence suggests that its first performance was on 27 June 1970 at Truro in England. The band's first major step toward becoming a recognized live act came when Queen was a support act to Mott the Hoople on its UK tour. Queen's performances consistently received an enthusiastic reception from audiences. This led to Mott
3402-584: The year was in Hyde Park , London, on 18th September, after the hot summer of 1976. The Hyde Park gig was in fact a free concert which drew in a crowd of about 180,000. The free concert was organised by entrepreneur Richard Branson . Several audio recordings exist of the Hyde Park concert, including a soundboard source. The only other concert on the tour with available audio is the second Edinburgh gig, which has an audience recording in circulation. This tour featured
3465-404: Was available. We learnt a lot about technique while we were making the first two albums. Of course there has been some criticism, and the constructive criticism has been very good for us. But to be frank I'm not that keen on the British music press, and they've been pretty unfair to us. I feel that up and coming journalists, by the large, put themselves above the artists. They've certainly been under
3528-508: Was diagnosed with vocal fold nodules, which would impact him for the rest of his life. With this, several more shows were cancelled to allow for a more lenient touring schedule for his voice. There were slight differences between the European, North American and Japanese sets. The Japanese shows were a bit longer; the band added Doing All Right to the set, extended Killer Queen to include the second verse, and added See What A Fool I've Been to
3591-416: Was not functioning until 1974. In fact, the album was Trident's first 24-track project. Even though Trident had expanded their recording flexibility by eight tracks, it still wasn't enough to mix each track individually. "Bring Back That Leroy Brown", for example, had 70 vocal tracks and had to be mixed down to work with the 24-track mixer. On 20 September, it was announced the band were attempting to secure
3654-443: Was only thing we could do. Brian was in hospital." - Freddie Mercury After completing their second album , Queen embarked on their Queen II Tour as a support act for Mott the Hoople . After touring extensively throughout the UK, the two groups decided to tour together in the US, marking Queen's first tour in the country. The bands would remain on friendly terms for the rest of their career, with Ian Hunter performing " All
3717-466: Was reissued in 2011. All lead vocals by Freddie Mercury unless noted. Track numbers refer to CD and digital releases. Sales figures based on certification alone. Shipments figures based on certification alone. Queen II Tour The British rock band Queen was well known for its diverse music style in contemporary rock. Their large sound systems, lighting rigs, innovative pyrotechnics and extravagant costumes often gave shows
3780-416: Was the album that finally saw Queen find their true voice." Rock historian Paul Fowles wrote that Sheer Heart Attack "saw the band become increasingly focused on the emerging cult figure of Mercury" and his "unique brand of rock theater", especially on the single "Killer Queen". The album is very varied, we took it to extreme I suppose, but we are very interested in studio techniques and wanted to use what
3843-563: Was the first of the group's albums to contain at least one song written by each member; "Stone Cold Crazy" was the band's first song for which all four members shared the writing credit. "Brighton Rock" was written by Brian May during the Queen II sessions, but was not recorded at that time, as the group felt it would not fit with the rest of the album. Lyrically, it tells the story of two young lovers named Jenny and Jimmy, who meet in Brighton on
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#17328519969553906-462: Was with "Wreckage" during which the bottom of his stand accidentally broke off), a grand piano, and May's hand-built electric guitar, the Red Special . The lengthy guitar solo by May showcased his use of a multiple-delay effect, helping create a layered atmosphere. Rarely, Queen would host a non-member on stage with them, the most notable being keyboardist Spike Edney who performed with the band during
3969-420: Was written and sung by May with him and Deacon playing acoustic guitars. "In the Lap of the Gods...Revisited" was one of Queen's set-closers from 1974 to 1977. During the 1986 Magic tour , it was performed again in a medley, where it segued into " Seven Seas of Rhye ". At the time of its release, NME called the album: "A feast. No duffers, and four songs that will just run and run: 'Killer Queen', 'Flick of
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