“A work of art”: Queen’s greatest guitar moment, according to Brian May
Queen are one of those bands where it’s sometimes a struggle to comprehend that there were only four members. Everything they made sounded so grandiose and lavish that it felt as though they needed a full orchestra to pull things off, but in fact, it was just a sheer bombastic delivery from their quartet of members working overtime that made their sound so extravagant and compelling.
Among the foursome was guitarist Brian May, an absolutely beast of a player who was equally informed by classic rock styles as he was classical music, and this was clear from the way he approached his instrument. Where most bands would bulk up their sound with the addition of an extra guitarist or orchestra members in a studio or live capacity, May played with sheer brute force, and it was through this technique that he managed to establish himself as one of the most technically proficient guitarists in the world of rock music during the 1970s and ‘80s.
Among his arsenal of tricks were a handful of revolutionary styles that helped him stand out from his peers, with his use of a sixpence in lieu of a plectrum being one way in which he added extra dynamism and clarity to his sound. May was also known for his use of harmonies in his licks, as well as tremolo picking and sweep picking: two techniques that tend to be reserved for the most dextrous players of the instrument.
There are so many stunning moments in Queen’s catalogue where May has flexed his abilities to the extreme, with his soloing on tracks such as ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘Brighton Rock’ often being regarded as some of the finest guitar parts ever committed to record. In addition to this, his work in a live capacity was just as impressive for how he used to flawlessly recreate his most intricate solos, and given their complexity, this is why his style is held in such high regard.
However, May considers one particular guitar part of his to be his finest achievement, and this was all down to how he and the band had to work hard for his contributions to fit into the song. ‘Killer Queen’ is regarded as a timeless classic of Queen, but since the band began working on the song without May, as he was recovering from an illness at the time, vocalist Freddie Mercury proposed that they scrapped what they already had and began working from the top again to include May’s input.
“They had already recorded some harmonies for it and some chorus vocals. I felt they were very harsh, and it didn’t quite fit the song,” May explained in an interview with Vulture. Once Mercury had told him that they would rework what had already been developed, the song suddenly became a monumental display of the band’s chemistry.
“The solo for ‘Killer Queen’ is a three-part thing,” he said, explaining how the composition works. “I don’t think anyone else had ever attempted something like that. There’s three parts not just paralleling each other in harmony, but, as a counterpoint, working off each other. There’s this little bell effect, which I stole from a traditional jazz group called the Temperance Seven. That’s something in my DNA.”
Expressing himself in a way that he compares to Glenn Miller arranging his brass band, May attests that ‘Killer Queen’ is one of the greatest achievements that the band ever committed to record. “I think it’s a perfect example of my guitar playing,” he concluded. “It’s not wildly exciting and heavy and explosive, but it fits the song really nicely. I love that song as a work of art. Imagine a Baroque painting. Everything has its space and can be enjoyed in an uncluttered kind of way.”
While there probably are more extravagant Queen songs that the band would develop later in their career, it’s one of their finest demonstrations of writing an effortlessly vibrant yet layered masterpiece.
