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Post by 85guild on Oct 7, 2022 2:02:17 GMT
it's frequently been stated that the lyrics for Sheer Heart Attack are a commentary on the punk movement in the mid to late 70s in Britain. But hearing the guitar solo, or section, has there been anything anyone has seen or read on how they arrived at that? It's basically a collection of unmelodic noise and works perfectly for the song. I'm curious if that section was planned as a commentary or spoof of what passed for guitar musicianship at the time. Almost like Roger directing Brian to just make 8 bars of noise with no great lead playing.
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Post by saintjiub on Oct 7, 2022 2:38:48 GMT
it's frequently been stated that the lyrics for Sheer Heart Attack are a commentary on the punk movement in the mid to late 70s in Britain. But hearing the guitar solo, or section, has there been anything anyone has seen or read on how they arrived at that? It's basically a collection of unmelodic noise and works perfectly for the song. I'm curious if that section was planned as a commentary or spoof of what passed for guitar musicianship at the time. Almost like Roger directing Brian to just make 8 bars of noise with no great lead playing.None of the below answers you question about the guitar solo.
Not sure about the below Beatles reference ... 
Queen drummer Roger Taylor wrote this song, which is about a 17-year-old girl who can bring on cardiac arrest in many men. The opening line, "Well you're just 17," is a nod to the Beatles hit "I Saw Her Standing There," which opens, "Well she was just 17."
With a snarling vocal and frantic tempo, this song is a tribute of sorts to punk rock, which was having its day in 1977. The Sex Pistols were recording their first album next door to Queen when they recorded this song.
The song was intended for Queen's third album, released in 1974, called Sheer Heart Attack, but it didn't appear until three years later on their sixth album, News of the World. Roger Taylor told Mojo he considers this ahead of its time:
"I started the song when we were doing the Sheer Heart Attack album, but didn't get round to finishing it. By the time I did, punk had come along. But the song came before punk."
...
While many listeners pegged the hard-driving, feedback-laced “Sheer Heart Attack” as a response (or salute) to the burgeoning punk movement, the song’s origins can actually be traced back to the waning glam-rock days of 1974, when the band was working on their third studio album. “We came up with the title for the Sheer Heart Attack album, and it was a song that I had an idea for, but I hadn’t actually finished the song, yet,” Taylor recalled on Rockline in 1991. “By the time I had finished the song, we were two albums later, so it just struggled out on the News of the World album. It’s quite interesting, because we were making an album next door to a punk band, the Sex Pistols, and it really fit into that punk explosion that was happening at the time. … It was actually better that it happened that it came out on the News of the World album.”
...
Taylor wrote Sheer Heart Attack about a 17-year-old girl who can bring on cardiac arrest in many men. The opening line, "Well you're just 17," is a nod to the Beatles hit "I Saw Her Standing There," which opens, "Well she was just 17."
With a snarling vocal and frantic tempo, this song is a tribute of sorts to punk rock, which was having its day in 1977. The Sex Pistols were recording their first album next door to Queen when they recorded this song.
...
ROGER: Hello, Micky.
MICKY: I’d like to ask Roger how come “Sheer Heart Attack” the song was on the ‘Jazz’ LP and not on the ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ album.
ROGER: Ah, I think it was on the ‘News Of The World’ LP, I think. We came up with the title for the ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ album, and it was a song that I had an idea for, but I hadn’t actually finished the song yet. By the time I had finished the song we were two albums later, so it just struggled out on the ‘News Of The World’ album. It’s quite interesting because we were making an album next-door to a punk band, the Sex Pistols, and it really fit into that punk explosion that was happening at the time, which was happening right then. It was actually better that it happened that it came out on the ‘News Of The World’ album.
BOB: They were actually adjacent to you recording?
ROGER: Oh, yeah, yeah.
BRIAN: Strangely enough.
ROGER: We used to watch T.V. together.
BRIAN: There was a famous story that Sid Vicious came in and Freddie said, “And who the hell are you, are you Simon Ferocious or something?” And he said, “Oh yes, and you bring ballet to the masses, do you?” So, it was quite an interesting meeting.
BOB: What an exchange.
ROGER: It was great.
BOB: Micky, good call. Let’s talk with Christian. Christian is in Torrence. Good evening.
...
"We came up with the title for the Sheer Heart Attack album, and it was a song that I had an idea for, but I hadn't actually finished the song, yet. By the time I had finished the song, we were two albums later, so it just struggled out on the News Of The World album. It's quite interesting, because we were making an album next-door to a punk band, the Sex Pistols, and it really fit into that punk explosion that was happening at the time, which was happening right then. It was actually better that it happened that it came out on the News Of The World album."
Roger Taylor - 04/02/1991, Rockline
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Post by The Real Wizard on Oct 7, 2022 4:34:52 GMT
it's frequently been stated that the lyrics for Sheer Heart Attack are a commentary on the punk movement in the mid to late 70s in Britain. But hearing the guitar solo, or section, has there been anything anyone has seen or read on how they arrived at that? It's basically a collection of unmelodic noise and works perfectly for the song. I'm curious if that section was planned as a commentary or spoof of what passed for guitar musicianship at the time. Almost like Roger directing Brian to just make 8 bars of noise with no great lead playing.Yeah, I bet that's not too far from the reality of it. |
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dysan
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Post by dysan on Oct 7, 2022 6:33:40 GMT
I always thought of the 1974 version of the song as a spoof of The Sweet. If you think about Hellraiser, Teenage Rampage or Ballroom Blitz (all 73 / early '74), it's not too much of a stretched to image Steve Priest doing the some of the lines in his campy voice like on most Sweet singles of the era. The DNA line or the bit about being inarticulate. The chorus is especially Sweet. Perhaps a response to them hatin' on Queen back then. Or maybe it was originally abandoned because it was too much like them? I don't know. But the solo is pretty much the only place it can go by that point in the song. One of my all-time favs.
EDIT: was always funny seeing various parents looking at the tape deck in the car when that bit came on, like the tape was being chewed up
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BrƎИsꓘi
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They called it paradise, I don't know why...You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye.
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Post by BrƎИsꓘi on Oct 7, 2022 6:54:33 GMT
a couple of my own observations: (i know the thread was about the solo, but it appears to have branched out, so)
To begin - this:
Queen drummer Roger Taylor wrote this song, which is about a 17-year-old girl who can bring on cardiac arrest in many men. The opening line, "Well you're just 17," is a nod to the Beatles hit "I Saw Her Standing There," which opens, "Well she was just 17."
is utter nonsense. firstly, the lyrics are deliberately gender-neutral so that it applies all youths. it has nothing to do with making men have heart attacks and everything to do with the frustrations, rebellions, and anti-parent/grown up sentiment shared by most teenagers since time immemorial, but in particular 1976/77.
i'd like to suggest that maybe (just maybe) there's a connection (of sorts) to We Will Rock You.
while WWRY focuses on 3 stages of life, SHA focuses solely on one, but compliments perfectly (in sentiment) to the middle verse:
Buddy, you're a young man, hard man
Shouting in the street, gonna take on the world someday
You got blood on your face, you big disgrace
Waving your banner all over the place
there's a couple of digs at youth in general - almost implying that "instead of waiting for something to come along and inspire, get up and inspire yourself":
there's a lot of space between your ears
and
Turn on the T.V. let it drip right down in your eyes
also, despondency, frustration, inertia, and dejection are a repeating lyrical theme in Roger's songs upto 1977:
I like the good things in life
But most of the best things ain't free
It's the same situation just cuts like a knife
When you're young and you're poor and you're crazy
Young and you're crazy...
Out here on the street we'd gather and meet
And scuff up the sidewalk
With endlessly restless feet
Half on the time we'd broaden our minds
More in the pool hall
Than we did in the school hall
With the down town chewing gum bums
Watching the night life the lights and the fun
Collect your senses and your wits
What you've left of your mind
All the so called modern caring virtues
Are the moral teaching you can find
So let's turn on the TV
Roger's songwriting is (for me) the most interesting of the Queen stuff, because (mainly) it's acutely observational while being less obvious/immediate than (say) Brian or Freddie's writing.
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Lord Fickle
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Post by Lord Fickle on Oct 7, 2022 8:30:45 GMT
I've always thought the track was just meant to be an abrasive noise, and therefore the guitar solo just fitted in with that overall tone of the song.
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pg
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Post by pg on Oct 7, 2022 17:20:49 GMT
was always funny seeing various parents looking at the tape deck in the car when that bit came on, like the tape was being chewed up How many parents have you had??? |
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ted
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Post by ted on Oct 7, 2022 21:22:39 GMT
saintjiub wrote: The song was intended for Queen's third album, released in 1974, called Sheer Heart Attack, but it didn't appear until three years later on their sixth album, News of the World. Roger Taylor told Mojo he considers this ahead of its time:
"I started the song when we were doing the Sheer Heart Attack album, but didn't get round to finishing it. By the time I did, punk had come along. But the song came before punk."
So the song SHA ended up as a response to the punk movement as recorded for NOTW, but Roger started writing it 3 years earlier before punk came along. I wonder how different the song was, or might have ended up being, if punk hadn't 'flourished' like it did and thereby influencing the song SHA.
Ted
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BrƎИsꓘi
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They called it paradise, I don't know why...You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye.
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Post by BrƎИsꓘi on Oct 7, 2022 21:32:37 GMT
So the song SHA ended up as a response to the punk movement as recorded for NOTW, but Roger started writing it 3 years earlier before punk came along. I wonder how different the song was, or might have ended up being, if punk hadn't 'flourished' like it did and thereby influencing the song SHA. Ted you could (almost) see it starting life in '74 with a very similar feel to Modern Times Rock n Roll |
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ted
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Post by ted on Oct 8, 2022 0:27:35 GMT
So the song SHA ended up as a response to the punk movement as recorded for NOTW, but Roger started writing it 3 years earlier before punk came along. I wonder how different the song was, or might have ended up being, if punk hadn't 'flourished' like it did and thereby influencing the song SHA. Ted you could (almost) see it starting life in '74 with a very similar feel to Modern Times Rock n RollGood point!
Ted
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