Analysis Of Queen And Their Influence On Music

Queen is known to be a unique band with specific characteristics of a track that appear in nearly all of their songs, examples of this would be that the pitch of the classically influenced counterpoint vocals changes frequently in a staccato style to show drama and emotion in the performance to reinforce the lyrics and any metaphorical meanings, and the vocal and guitar riffs are the main melodic drive behind most of Queen's songs

Queen's common instrumentation is the use of guitars, drums, and keyboards, Queen have also been known to use other instruments such as banjos, synthesisers, timpanis, triangles, and tambourines in which Queen uses both it's main instrumentation and the additional instruments to accent the vocals in the song in a similar way that the vocals change pitch in parts of importance in the lyrical content of the song.

Further techniques used by Queen is the prosodic use of playing guitar parts backwards in editing after recording which was a unique thing to do because not many bands had experimented with post-recording editing, and the emphasis on multiple polyphonic vocal texture layers. Queen also made use of the bell chord effect in their song "Bohemian Rhapsody" where notes were played before the previous note had finished which could have been done to unsettle the listener by playing the note or notes before the last one had finished and Queen combined this technique with panning effects during the introduction making the feeling of discomfort even more effective, this could be because the song is about Freddie's sexuality and Queen chose to use the bell chord effect to make the listener feel a similar uncertainty through the music in the track, this can also be used to evidence why there are three to four different genres of music in one song.

Queen having four different key songwriters (Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon) contributed towards Queen's success by creating varied song styles and sounds which meant Queen was always evolving and releasing contrasting tracks which kept their music 'alive' and unique to Queen's audience whilst keeping to the signature "Queen sound" and because of this Queen was and still is seen as a major influence in music history.

Artists that have or could have been influenced by Queen would be Fearless Vampire Killers taking influence from the flamboyant use of instruments and vocal technique, and the stage presence of the band and the use of decorative effects like glitter and balloons, Ice Nine Kills where the influence can be seen in the vocal techniques and styles used in most of Ice Nine Kill's songs, this includes the pitch, notation and delivery of each line, the guitars and other instruments all follow this melody, this is present in Ice Nine Kills' introduction to the track "The Nature Of The Beast". Both Muse and Queen shared influences from 18th and 19th century classical music which in turn meant that they produced music that was comparatively similar an example would be the ballads of Muse's "Madness" and Queen's "I Want To Break Free" with both having driving bass lines powerful and meaningful lyrics, and curiously structured interludes with piercing guitar solos. The Darkness' front man Justin Hawkins' falsetto lead vocals took influence from Queen and further more from the over-the-top theatrical performances and the dramatic anthems which Queen was most known for.

Queen drew artistic influence from British rock and Glam acts of the 1960's and early 1970's, such as the Beatles, The Kinks, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Who, Black Sabbath, Slade, Deep Purple, David Bowie, Genesis and Yes, in addition to the American guitarist Jimi Hendrix, Freddie Mercury was also inspired by the gospel singer Aretha Franklin, which give evidence to why Queen chose to have the unique combination of a rock based sound with operetta themed vocal lines of varying pitch similar to that of a gospel or operatic singer.