On this day in 1973 a heavy metal and prog rock album announced the arrival of one of the greatest bands in rock history with their eponymous debut.
Queen had been gigging since 1970 and a lucky break had offered them the chance to road test brand-new recording facilities at De Lane Lea Studios in Dean Street, Soho. The resulting slick five-track demo included eventual debut single Keep Yourself Alive but only attracted one, unacceptable and low, record deal offer.
Luckily, producers John Anthony and Roy Thomas Baker had heard the sessions and promoted the band to the owners of the prestigious Trident Studios, Barry and Norman Sheffield, who gave the band the chance to continue recording with them and oversaw all their publishing and management needs at the time.
However, even when complete unknowns, Queen always had very clear ideas about their sound and soon clashed with the producers. Roger Taylor and Brian May both explained why.
Roger Taylor told Rhythm magazine: “I was never really happy with the drums on our first album, Queen… They sounded dead.”
“At the time, though, deadening and tape were very fashionable – especially at Trident Studios where we recorded in that famous drum booth. That sound is good for certain things but it’s not what I wanted.”
Queen had been happy with the sound and control they had achieved at De Lane Lea and were not happy when Baker made them rerecord everything. They soon clashed over Keep Yourself Alive.
Brian May said: “Between Roy (Thomas Baker) and I, we were fighting the whole time to find a place where we had the perfection but also the reality of performance and sound.”
Taylor did, however, reveal one unexpected and rather amusing sidenote to the process. The band still had very little money and no record deal to finance recording, but Trident allowed them to use the studios and technicians outside the main working hours for free.
The studios were located in the heart of Soho, which, as well as being a creative and artistic melting pot, was also the centre of London’s red-light district.
Taylor said: “You could see the working girls at night through their laced curtains. So while we were mixing, we would have a little bit of diversion.”
He was less amused by the way the music was sounding: “Drums are a tuneable instrument and they are meant to have a note… And I was much more happy with the more natural, open sound on our second and third albums, Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack.
“Dynamics are also such an important part of the sound too. Hit too hard and you’ll smother the drum – and you just won’t get the tone out of it.”
With so much disagreement, the lead single was rerecorded and went through numerous mixes with neither side willing to concede.
A historical moment happened when sound engineer Mike Stone was brought in and delivered a mix the band was so happy with, they brought him in for the next five albums.
The album was completed by November 1972, but the group still struggled to find a record deal. In the end, Trident released the album in a publishing deal with EMI. Keep Yourself Alive remains the only Queen single not to chart on either side of the Atlantic, but the album sold solidly, going Gold in both the UK and US.
