10 Most Underrated Songs (On Classic Albums)
1. 39 - Queen
By the time Queen reached A Night at the Opera, they were reaching for the biggest sounds that they could. Across every track, the band utilized every single facet of the studio to bring their broad soundscapes to life. While Freddie Mercury's brainchild "Bohemian Rhapsody" is rightfully considered the album's highlight, Brian May's contribution "'39" is one of the band's most overlooked classics.
Inspired by the folk songs about wayward travelers he heard as a kid, May wanted to combine the concept of an adventurer with the science fiction stories he loved. Centered around an astronaut voyaging into space, the song is a grim story about a man who returns after a year but realizes it's been 100 years back home.
The other members pull out all the stops for this outing, with Roger Taylor's high voice providing the slow ascent into the stars, while the singalong chorus led by Mercury make the song feel like a lighthearted romp. May had already written a great song, but bringing it into the collective mind of Queen made it something extraordinary. The fact that this song can be a complete departure from the band's other material and still work is yet another reason why Queen were a one-in-a-million group.