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Talk like a big business tycoon
You're just a hot-air balloon
You're just an OVERGROWN SCHOOL BOY
...Let me tan your hide!
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This particular release in the Queen crown must be taken with a bit of a grain of salt. In order to commemorate a latter-day “holiday” celebrating independent record stores, the brand and empire that is Queen re-released a limited edition CD consisting of four songs under the name Queen’s First EP. Ironically, this is also their last EP. It’s very strange for an EP, usually around four to five songs, to be re-released on CD format if it was initially available solely on vinyl. This particular release did not feature new material or remixes, because it did what the original intent was: to introduce the band’s music to the mainstream. As a CD release, I have to say that I absolutely love this idea. Let’s put it this way: Queen, the band members and their estate, are not exactly going to be raking in the dough with this release. This is not a way to gouge out their fans by having them drop a bunch of money. This is a limited edition CD pressing that has been stamped and numbered on the back inlay to show that you own 1 in about 3,000 copies of this record.  Because I am collector of a few different bands and artists, the fact that a musical act would recognize this facet of the community is impressive. The EP was first spotted at a local record store, where a good friend of mine and fellow Queen fanatic dropped down a mere $7.99 to buy it.

As a piece of music, which is a compilation just as any greatest hits one is, this EP does not really live up to what it is supposed to be. Comprised of four songs from four studio albums, this release only shows a very, very small portion of the music Queen had done up to that point. With so many classic songs to choose from, I have to wonder why they chose to promote two tracks in particular, one of which is Roger Taylor’s slightly less impressive Tenement Funster, a grimy song from the Sheer Heart Attack LP. I do like this song, but it’s certainly not one that I would say captivates the true essence of what Queen was. From that record, you had the complicated and beautiful Flick of the Wrist or the arena-rock jam Stone Cold Crazy. This song just seems like an odd choice. The other is White Queen (As It Began), which is a great, great, great progressive rock tune from their sophomore Queen II album. My issue is not particularly with this song at all—it’s just that out of the epics from Queen II, I find March of the Black Queen to be the best one. White Queen is a lot mellower and less complex, which is most likely why it was chosen, but I think another song might have been more appropriate.

The other two songs are classic favorites of mine: Death of Two Legs (Dedicated to…) is an angry and distorted kiss-off to a former employee who did the band wrong. It hails from the critically-acclaimed A Night at the Opera LP, and it has that perfect blend of rock and harmonization that Queen became famous for. But unless other songs, this one has a killer guitar solo and some very hot bass licks. Freddie’s vocal delivery is earnest and ground-shaking—I wouldn’t want to piss this guy off. The other track comes from Opera’s sister album A Day at the Races, and it’s the ever pleasant Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy, which just goes to show you that Freddie Mercury certainly wasn’t going to shy away from his controversial stance on sexuality. It begs the question: Mr. Old-Fashioned Mercury…are you going to meet another love boy? This song thrives on perfection through the catchy melody, great lyrics, and the mind-boggling vocal performances.

While I would normally give this collection 4-star based on its original vinyl release for not truly representing the best Queen songs for beginners (of the underground crowd, mind you), I have to give it 5 stars for raising its hat to the die-hard collectors of the world.


VERDICT
No individual song ratings for compilations.
01. Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy
02. Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to...)
03. Tenement Funster
04. White Queen (As It Began)

SCORE: 5 STARS

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QUEEN
1973 - Queen
1973 - Sheer Heart Attack
1975 - A Night at the Opera
1977 - Queen's First EP [2007 CD Release]
1977 - News of the World
1981 - Hot Space
1986 - A Kind of Magic
1991 - Innuendo
1991 - Headlong [CD-Single]
2000 - The Platinum Collection
2006 - Stone Cold Classics

Queen Paul Rodgers
2008 - The Cosmos Rocks

Recommended: Yes