Did you know that there's a mathematical reason that you absolutely love We Will Rock You and that critics originally wrote Queen off as dinosaurs who would never make a comeback? We can’t wait for Classic Albums Live to bring Queen: News of the World to the Jack Singer Concert Hall this February, so it’s time for five fun facts that you might not know about one of the most applauded rock bands of all time.
What made We Will Rock You so powerful? Physics
Before he became the lead guitarist for one of the world's biggest rock bands, Brian May studied physics. This came in particularly handy when creating the iconic rhythm of We Will Rock You.
"We were working in an old, disused church in North London, and it already had a nice sound," recalled May in an interview with NPR in 2010. "And there were some old boards lying around, but they just seemed ideal to stamp on. So we piled them up and started stamping. And they sounded great anyway. But being a physicist, I said, ‘Suppose there were 1,000 people doing this; what would be happening?’ And I thought, ‘Well, you would be hearing them stamping. You would also be hearing a little bit of an effect, which is due to the distance that they are from you.’ So I put lots of individual repeats on them. Not an echo but a single repeat at various distances. And the distances were all prime numbers… When we recorded each track, we put a delay of a certain length on it. And none of the delays were harmonically related. So there’s no echo on it whatsoever, but the clapped sound – they spread around the stereo, but they also kind of spread from a distance from you – so you just feel like you’re in the middle of a large number of people stamping and clapping.”
Sleeping on the Sidewalk was recorded in a single take
The perfectionism that the band had leaned on for much of their careers took a back seat for News of the World - and was a welcome change.
“It has that kind of sloppy feel that I think works with the song, which we never would have dreamed with the previous albums," says May. "We always used to work on the backing tracks until they were a million percent perfect, and if they weren’t, we would splice together two which were. We’d go to great lengths, but for this album, we wanted to get that spontaneity back in.”
The album's first two songs were inspired by the fans
We all know the sheer joy of belting out We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions at the top of our lungs, and Queen created these tracks with just that in mind. After a particularly raucous concert at Stafford's Bingley Hall in 1977, the band saw the power that audiences held, even stopping the performance at one point to let the fans sing. The first two tracks on the album were written in direct response to their experience.
Queen on stage at Bingley Hall, May 29, 1977
All Dead, All Dead isn't about who you think it is
All dead, all dead
And alone, I'm spared
My sweeter half instead
All dead and gone
Was it the melancholic cry for a lost lover, or perhaps the sad reflections of a relationship long gone? No, All Dead, All Dead is an ode to Brian May's deceased cat.
"My cat died when I was a kid, and I kind of never got over it, " reflects May. "I think it was one of those things which surfaces now and again in different ways. I think I wrote the song for the album thinking that I was writing it about something completely different – but I think part of it was sort of getting it out of my system.”
Critics wrote Queen off as dinosaurs
They have managed to borrow all that’s frothiest from their influences, from the fake-orgasmic vocal contortions of Robert Plant to the semi-vaudevillian pop of the Beach Boys and Beatles. In addition, to cement their ‘seriousness,’ they use instrumental effects which hint at opera in the same way that bad movie music palely evokes the symphony. — Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 1977
Not the most flattering review of Queen's fifth studio album A Day at the Races, and Marsh wasn't alone. With the emergence of punk and New Wave, Queen found themselves in an awkward place where the heft of Seventies rock was being questioned. But instead of knuckling down and creating another grandiose studio album, they took a step back and embraced the change they were faced with. News of the World is now the band's bestselling album ever.
Freddie Mercury and Brian May performing during the News of the World Tour, 1977
Want to experience this iconic album in one of Canada’s most iconic venues? Classic Albums Live brings News of the World to life on February 3 at the Jack Singer Concert Hall at Arts Commons - note for note, cut for cut, live on stage. Get your tickets now!
Kiani Evans
Kiani Evans is the Manager of Digital Communications for Arts Commons. She grew up in the rural Cariboo region of British Columbia and acquired a diploma in Art History on Vancouver Island (and refuses to give it back). She is delighted by all things art and takes joy in small moments, like finding lost change or missing socks. Kiani had trouble writing this bio, so she Googled “how to write a bio.” It didn’t help.
