The album 'Sheer Heart Attack' peaked at number 2 on the U.K. chart and
remained there for a total of 47 weeks across five entries.
It was the third studio album by Queen, released on November 8, 1974, by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. Moving away from the progressive themes of their first two albums, this album showcased more pop-centric and conventional rock tracks, marking a step towards the 'classic' Queen sound. Produced by the band and Roy Thomas Baker, it catapulted Queen to mainstream popularity in the UK and across the globe.
The album's debut single, "Killer Queen," soared to number 2 on the UK Singles Chart and secured the band their first top 20 hit in the US, reaching number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Sheer Heart Attack," Queen's first album to enter the US top 20, peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes Chart in 1975. The album is noted for its "wealth of exceptional hard rock guitar tracks." Retrospectively, many publications have acknowledged it as one of the band's best works and a definitive glam rock album.
Following the completion of their second album, Queen commenced the Queen II Tour, supporting Mott the Hoople. After an extensive UK tour, both bands decided to undertake a joint US tour, marking Queen's inaugural tour in the country. The bands maintained a cordial relationship, with Ian Hunter performing "All the Young Dudes" at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. Queen's first US concert was on April 16, 1974, in Denver, Colorado, supporting Mott the Hoople, an experience Freddie Mercury reportedly found distressing, stating, "Being support is one of the most traumatic experiences of my life." The tour's zenith in Boston saw Brian May diagnosed with hepatitis, likely contracted from a contaminated needle during pre-tour vaccinations for Australia. The rest of the tour was canceled, and Queen returned home, where May was admitted to the hospital.
In June, the band convened at Trident Studios to begin rehearsing for their album. Koh Hasebe interviewed Mercury, Taylor, and Deacon during a rehearsal on June 13. With the arrival of July, May joined the rehearsals. On July 7, the band embarked on a three-and-a-half-hour journey to Rockfield Studios in Wales to record ten backing tracks, completing them by July 28. In early August, they moved to Wessex Sound Studios, but May, feeling unwell, visited a specialist clinic on August 2. There, he collapsed due to a duodenal ulcer and underwent surgery the next day, returning home shortly after for recovery. Meanwhile, at Wessex, May reserved time at AIR Studios to record "Dear Friends" and "She Makes Me." Concurrently, Taylor and Deacon attended an EMI/Radio Luxembourg motor rally at Brands Hatch on August 11. By the end of August, May rejoined the band, and they added their contributions to his recordings. As September approached, they still had "Now I'm Here" to record. They laid down the backing track at Wessex, leaving the rest for the mixing sessions.
Mixing began in mid-September. At that time, the band was still adding overdubs, necessitating the use of a motorcycle courier to transport tapes between the recording and mixing studios. The bulk of the mixing took place at Trident Studios, with one or two days dedicated to mixing most songs. However, "Brighton Rock" required four days, yielding six hours of various mixes. The mixing process involved editing small sections of each song, typically fifteen to twenty seconds long. Trident had recently installed a 24-track machine, which had been present since 1972 but only became operational in 1974, marking the album as Trident's inaugural 24-track project. Despite the addition of eight tracks, it was insufficient for individual track mixing. For instance, "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" featured 70 vocal tracks, which had to be condensed for the 24-track mixer.
On 20 September, the band announced their intention to set the album's release date for 1 November, although it appeared doubtful they would complete it by then. The final mix, "Now I'm Here," was completed on 22 October. The following day, May gave an interview (published on 26 October) detailing the album's completion process. The band utilized four different studios for the production of Sheer Heart Attack: Rockfield recorded most of the backing tracks, AIR Studios captured two backing tracks and several guitar overdubs, Wessex was used for the majority of overdubs and one backing track, and Trident was where the mixing took place.
Title: Sheer Heart Attack
Label: Elektra
Country: USA
Catalogue: 7E-1026
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