The Queens of Rock

When you think of “stadium rock” who comes to mind?

Carly Rae Jepsen?
Milli Vanilli?
The Blue Man Group?

I think we all know the one and only correct answer:
Queen!

It’s one thing to rock in the studio and quite another to have the full package: larger-than-life songs, a larger-than-life frontman and a sound that can make the Wembley Stadium seem small. Despite all the other great musical acts that have filled stadiums in their day, Queen had the unique ability to merge elements of symphonic rock and classical music into a an epic theatrical and operatic experience.

They knew exactly what they were doing. They were creating anthems, songs that would become battle cries for fans, athletes and manly macho men, probably oblivious about the lead singer’s personal life. And that’s the point: who cares? The music transcends identity and all the things that divide us in society. It was simply pure, raw, powerful music that could make you feel like a king… or a queen.

The power and positivity of this music comes in no small part from Freddy Mercury’s faith, an often overlooked part of his life. Freddy was a Zoroastrian, which this article from The Conversation describes as follows:

“Truth is represented by light, and Parsis will always turn to a source of light when they pray, with fire, the sun and the moon all symbolizing this spiritual light.

Indeed, scholars have noted the strong historical influence that Zoroastrianism has had on concepts seen in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, whether it’s monotheism, the duality of good and evil, or Satan.”

Queen is one of those rare human creations where true alchemy and a touch of God sparked sounds that brought people into jubilance. And, although Freddy bit the dust, Queen will continue to rock you. They are, indeed, the champions.

To celebrate their music, I present to you five of their classic recordings wonderfully remastered by my friend and collaborator Jose Miguel Montiel, a talented music engineer who breathes new life into these tracks.

You can also listen to what he did with some classic Michael Jackson tunes here. Don’t be shy to reach out if you would like to hire him for your next masterpiece.

So grab somebody to love and rock out to the rallying calls of rock ’n roll royalty!

-Matthew