{"id":177277,"date":"2026-03-27T15:59:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T15:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/177277\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T15:59:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T15:59:06","slug":"brian-may-looks-back-on-why-queen-were-terrified-recording-their-first-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/177277\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian May looks back on why Queen were \u201cterrified\u201d recording their first album"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, Queen<\/a> are globally recognised as one of the best-selling rock acts of all time. However, things were very different back in the early 1970s. When the now-rock legends were recording their 1973 debut, there was no guarantee it would be a hit \u2013 so the entire period of recording at Soho\u2019s Trident Studios was a \u201cterrifying\u201d, high-stakes process.<\/p>\n

Without the ability to see into the future, the young band had no clue of the success that lie ahead. As a result, it meant that every second of their self-titled debut mattered \u2013 it had to be all killer, no filler. \u201cWe were ludicrously compliant on the first album because we were terrified that it was going to be out only chance to record,\u201d guitarist Brian May<\/a> tells Uncut<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With the pressure well and truly on, Queen would put everything into their two year stint recording in Trident Studios between 1971 and 1972. And it was a respectable studio for a young band to be using \u2013 David Bowie<\/a>, Lou Reed<\/a> and Paul McCartney<\/a> were also all using the studio across the same period. However, they had a far less glamorous experience, having to settle on cheaper, late-night slots.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d start our sessions near midnight,\u201d drummer Roger Taylor recalls. \u201cBy six in the morning we\u2019d have to reset everything in the studio ready for whoever had booked in the next day.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a result, it meant that 1973\u2019s Queen left the band slightly unsatisfied. Inspired by the Beatles<\/a>\u2019 knack for \u201cusing the studio as an instrument\u201d, Queen also wanted to have full reign over the studio layout \u2013 but having to reset things every evening meant they were unable to do so. \u201cWe wanted drums that throbbed and reverberated and soaked into the rest of the studio, which meant reorganising the entire space around the drum kit,\u201d Taylor explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the big difference between Queen and Queen II,\u201d he continues. \u201cThe second album is the sound of us starting to get the sound we wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a sentiment shared by May. \u201cQueen II was the first time we could behave as if the studio belonged to us,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019d been rehearsing ourselves to death, and by this point we are very ready. All this stuff is already prepared, we just have to fulfil the promise that was in our heads.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite coming just one year after their debut, 1974\u2019s Queen II was far more grandiose and ambitious. The cover art alone has stood the test of time, with the artwork serving as the most iconic snap of the band to this day. \u201cWe weren\u2019t turning up and plugging in and playing, as we did on the first album,\u201d May notes.<\/p>\n

This involved whacky moves like bassist John Deacon crafting a DIY amp from a radio speaker from a recycled circuit board, a device that captured a sound not unlike a synth. \u201cWe were finally able to orchestrate these huge arrangements that were in my head. We were able to build orchestras in the sky.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today, Queen are globally recognised as one of the best-selling rock acts of all time. However, things were…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[45548,9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-177277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-artist","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}