The press barely paid any attention to the group at first, yet the
album did succeed in giving the band their first radio hit through
‘Keep Yourself Alive’, which, as Mercury himself commented, ‘...
was a very good way of telling people what Queen was about in
t hose d ay s.’
A mixture of mostly Led Zeppelin inspired rocking numbers, as
well as a hint of glam rock, Queen slowly bubbled under the radar,
and this album has been passed over by the critics and the band
alike to this day. Roger Taylor, for example, recently stated, ‘There
were lots of things on the first album I don’t like, for example the
drum sound. There are parts of it which may sound contrived but
it is very varied and it has lots of energy.’
Touring the album in support of Mott the Hoople, Brian May
would quickly become infatuated with the glam-rockers from
Hertfordshire, England, showing signs of the band’s influence
throughout his own writing career.
Click the above photo for a video link
Freddie Mercury is interviewed about his stage persona in 1986.