Shout Out: Deep Cuts Volumes 1-3 - Queen

Apologies for the lack of activity on here. I know I said I was going to do an album review in November (and I do still plan on doing that!) but since I wanted to do at least one more post before 2013 is over, here's something that will possibly become a regular thing along with reviews and opinion posts on certain soundtracks/setlists.
Rather than just review things that have come out and everyone likes, I figure it's a good idea to draw some attention to albums I enjoyed that perhaps aren't as popular as they should be. Kicking us off are three different compilations from arguably the strongest Classic Rock band in the world: Queen.

I don't think it's an over-exaggeration to say that everyone knows who Queen are. You could fly to the furthest corners of the planet, find the ancient crusader from the third Indiana Jones film, ask him about Queen and chances are he'd at least be able to stomp & clap the beat to 'We Will Rock You'. They're a band who are universally adored for their catchy radio friendly tunes whilst still retaining the badass image of a Rock band due to the fact that everyone in the band was great at what they did.
Granted Freddie Mercury (or rather, his pipes of platinum) was the key member who stood out, you can't deny that Roger Taylor (drums), John Deacon (bass) and of course Brian May (guitar) played their part in immortalising Queen in the records of Rock. However, their ability to write not just one but a string of iconic songs as easily as you or I would write a shopping list came at a price.
You see, if you asked the average person to name a Queen song, they'd probably have no hesitations before coming out with "Don't Stop Me Now" or "Bohemian Rhapsody". However, if you asked them to name the album it came from, they might have some problems. Chances are they'd have even bigger problems naming any other song that came from the same album, and that's the only trouble with Queen. They're so talented that any song of theirs that isn't on a Greatest Hits album is doomed to obscurity, despite many of them being superior to some of their popular hits.

Fortunately, in the modern age where just about any piece of information you require is no more than a few clicks away, it's easy to listen to entire Queen albums in all their underrated glory. Unfortunately, the modern age has a fatal flaw: laziness. Most people can't be arsed to watch a Youtube video longer than 60 seconds, let alone listen to a band's entire back catalogue, just to find songs they may or may not enjoy...and that's where the Deep Cuts collection gloriously swaggers in.

22 years of "filler tracks" split across three volumes, all handpicked by members of Queen and the Foo Fighters drummer (?). These compilations span Queen's career up until Freddie's departure, so there's none of that Paul Rodgers material from 2008 but I doubt anyone will lose any sleep over that. Anyway, the first volume contains tracks from albums released between 1973 and 1976.
Opening up the album, "Ogre Battle" gets to work in showing you that Queen aren't just a radio band and could write great songs that weren't destined to be played on mainstream stations. The heavy chugging of May's guitar and soulful power of Mercury's vocals drench the first two tracks ("Stone Cold Crazy") with the classic Queen sound, whilst Taylor's drumming and Mercury's ivory tinkling take over on track number three ("My Fairy King").
From start to finish, this volume deals with Queen's earlier fantasy-inspired material. Songs of mystical lands and tales of space exploration that still manage to sound more masculine than your average Metalcore band. If you like songs such as "Seven Seas Of Rhye" and "Killer Queen", I would recommend giving this one a listen. Below is the tracklist and underlined are the songs that are my personal favourites.

1. Ogre Battle

2. Stone Cold Crazy

3. My Fairy King

4. I'm In Love With My Car

5. Keep Yourself Alive

6. Long Away

7. The Millionaire Waltz

8. '39

9. Tenement Funster

10. Flick Of The Wrist

11. Lily Of The Valley

12. Good Company

13. The March Of The Black Queen

14. In The Lap Of The Gods... Revisited

And so we find ourselves on the next volume (and my personal favourite), Deep Cuts 2, 1977-1982

Continuing the sound of the first volume, this one opens with "Mustapha", a funny little tune covering the section of Queen's material that show they didn't need to take themselves seriously to be an awesome band, followed by a song that showcases their ability to sing and play with aggression ("Sheer Heart Attack"). Whilst the first compilation featured the band in their early years, the music on this volume sounds more refined and perfected.

However, this album also contains music from Queen's 80s albums, so we get a few tracks like "Staying Power" which experiment with Funk and synth or "Battle Theme" from the Flash Gordon soundtrack. Overall, I would say this volume has the most musical variety whilst still sounding like a collection of excellent Queen songs.

This is the album to check out if you like "Under Pressure", "Fat Bottomed Girls", "Another One Bites The Dust" and songs like that. Same as before, here's the tracklist with my faves underlined.

1. Mustapha

2. Sheer Heart Attack

3. Spread Your Wings

4. Sleeping On The Sidewalk

5. It's Late

6. Rock It (Prime Jive)

7. Dead On Time

8. Sail Away Sweet Sister

9. Dragon Attack

10. Action This Day

11. Put Out The Fire

12. Staying Power

13. Jealousy

14. Battle Theme

Finally, the heaviest one of the three. Deep Cuts 3, 1984-1995

Since the music on this compilation comes from Queen's career after they'd rocked the planet and established themselves as Rock Gods, the songs have a more epic feel. The slow but strong opener "Made In Heaven" comes from Queen's last album so there's a solemn tone behind it, but that doesn't mean the album is all doom & gloom. "Machines (Or Back To Humans)" picks up the pace a little bit with some synth & vocoder action whilst other tracks on the album provide a good guitar & drum combo to dance to ("Khashoggi's Ship").

Despite the fact that most of the tracks on this album are rather slow, there's certainly a noticeable range in how heavy the songs are. Whilst a few are rather soft and feature mostly piano or strings ("A Winter's Tale"), there are a couple of songs that fully cross the line into Metal territory with dynamic riffs, plodding drums and hard-edged vocals ("The Hitman").

These songs are probably to your taste if you enjoy singles such as "I Want It All" and "The Show Must Go On". Here's the last tracklist with highlighted favourites for you.

1. Made In Heaven

2. Machines (Or Back To Humans)

3. Don't Try So Hard

4. Tear It Up

5. I Was Born To Love You

6. A Winter's Tale

7. Ride The Wild Wind

8. Bijou

9. Was It All Worth It

10. One Year Of Love

11. Khashoggi's Ship

12. Is This The World We Created...?

13. The Hitman

14. It's A Beautiful Day (Reprise)

15. Mother Love

Deep Cuts Volumes 1-3 are perfect for someone who likes Queen, Classic/Hard Rock and enjoys listening to music. However, I wouldn't say they're the perfect collection of Queen "deep cuts" (no "Brighton Rock" or "Fight From The Inside") but that's more than likely down to personal taste. Similarly, my recommendations could be completely wrong.

You may love the songs I mentioned but hate the tracks I enjoyed. The only way you'll know for certain is by listening to them yourself and to be honest, if you like the majority of Queen's popular songs, you may as well check these compilations out. All three of them are on Spotify and every individual song is bound to be on Youtube or Grooveshark or whatever. I guess if I had to rate each volume based on my own taste, I'd say:
Volume 1 = 6/10
Volume 2 = 8/10
Volume 3 = 4/10

I doubt I'll get a review or other blog post done before the end of the year but I hope you've enjoyed reading this one. I also hope you have a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and minimal stomach upsets from undercooked turkey. Be seeing you!