Who was Queen's biggest rival band?

Is there really such a thing?

Is music an art or a competition?

During the 70s, I guess Abba would have rivalled them commercially. I still have a grudge from when Mamma Mia knocked Bohemian Rhapsody off the Number 1 slot!

Quite! But the blonde one was nice. 😍🤪😄

Good points well made RE Beach Boys and Beatles/ Oasis and Blur, but it is indeed sad that fans have to make it a "fight" between bands or, as you say, favourite lineups of a band. 

I'd like to think we're more rational here, and don't fall for the record company bullshit either.  

LOL - here, as in this forum  

It's a great question because the answer says a lot about them and their audiences.



In their years as a consistently writing and recording act, they outlived several contemporaries (e.g. ABBA) and were original enough not to be easily pigeonholed and therefore willy nilly being put as someone else's rival; it's also worth mentioning that they had several commercial peaks (1975, 1977, 1980, 1985, 1991, 1995) and the public's clearly divided when it comes to their best creative moments.

The answer, is, therefore: they had different biggest rivals depending on the country, the audience and the year.

In the beginning, they were often compared to Led Zeppelin (same basic line-up) but Queen were more into the big harmonies and came a bit later so they were largely seen in those years as copycats. By the time Queen had forged a more unique identity, they were probably seen as Zeppelin's contemporaries rather than followers. Age-wise, it makes sense, as Frederick was a bit younger than James and John Paul, and both Brian and Frederick were a bit older than Robert and John Henry. There's a lot of overlap amongst Zeppelin fans in general and those who like Queen's early work. However, I don't see much of a rivalry when it comes to the albums they released more or less at the same time: Queen vs Houses of the Holy, either Sheer Heart Attack or A Night at the Opera vs Physical Graffiti, either Opera or Races vs Presence, either Jazz or The Game vs In Through the Out Door. It helped them that none of those records had a release coinciding with its counterpart, so there was no real competition in the context of, say, Blur's The Great Escape and Oasis' Morning Glory, which were released within three weeks of each other and had more or less the same target audience.

I agree that for stuff like 'Bohemian Rhapsody' or 'We Are the Champions', ABBA were the direct chart rivals in Britain, but stylistically there were plenty of differences so they weren't really targeting the same audiences, and then there are other territories and periods to take into consideration: I don't really think Queen II was competing against Waterloo or Flash Gordon against Super Trouper. From Hot Space onwards, moreover, there were no more ABBA albums anymore.

Football is another area where competition is seen rather often, and obviously hyped by the press: West Germany vs Netherlands (and, in the early 70's, Bayern Munich vs Ajax and Beckenbauer vs Cruyff) or France vs Italy, Brazil vs Argentina, Liverpool vs Everton, Real Madrid vs Barcelona, CR7 vs Messi, Pele vs Eusebio (in the early to mid 60's). I don't know if Queen really had that sort of a rival because, again, they lasted quite a while.

KISS and Aerosmith could be considered contemporaries in a more accurate sense as they were still actively recording long after the early 80's (therefore outliving the likes of ABBA and Zeppelin), but then again they had so many line-up changes (in KISS's case, particularly), extended hiatuses and lost weekends that their paths were far from parallel. Same for, say, Eagles, who took a decade and a half off, or Kansas, who started to fade commercially since Vinyl Confessions (which, incidentally, featured Roger Taylor as uncredited guest backing vocalist), released a couple of months after Hot Space, but the difference is Kansas never had a 'Ga Ga', a 'Break Free', a 'Magic' or a Live Aid to give them a new boost of popularity, and instead their later albums didn't do too well in the charts.

What Brian and Roger have been doing ever since that famous surprise gig in Amsterdam (was it 2002-ish?) and then with Paul and now with Adam, is being a nostalgia act playing old hits to new audiences. I don't mean that as a jab at them: it's a valid way to make a living and they're making thousands of people happy (including themselves, of course). In that sense, they're probably rivalling the likes of KISS (who were amidst their umpteenth farewell tour when the pandemic had to alter their plans dramatically) and McCartney (who does play newer material but the main bulk of his setlists is made up of stuff he and/or his Beatles colleagues penned over 50 years ago). Even when touring The Cosmos Rocks they were fully aware audiences had paid to hear 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and 'Radio Ga Ga' rather than 'C-lebrity' or 'Some Things That Glitter', and, again, there's nothing wrong with that.

i'd agree. generally, rivalry is a fan concept. as a "Sammy" fan it's obvious which i prefer, but the early VH stuff with DLR was really great too (musically) - if a little "obvious" lyric-wise. I think i prefer the Van Hagar stuff because it sounds more mature (musically).

however, - in a much similar way to professional sport - there are some "local rivalries". Oasis/Blur counts as an example.

Beatles vs Stones was never really a thing, from the bands' own perspectives. However, the press like to "get a soundbite" from time-to-time, only last week the Beatles/Stones thing was raised again.

As regards the Beach Boys, the rivalry was not "success oriented". moreover, i'd say it was about innovation. isn't there a quote somewhere (Macca?) about the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" really inspiring the Beatles to expand their horizons? McCartney later paid a non-too-little tribute to the Beach Boys with "Back In The USSR".

...and it was all going so well. 🙄

People are entitled to their own opinions. Don't make it personal if someone says something you disagree with.

@therealwizard Maybe it was more authentic than you thought

Sorry LF, I was just ripping the proverbial. It won't happen again. Maybe

Thought we'd gone back in time for a minute! 🙂