Every Queen Album Ranked Worst To Best
8. Sheer Heart Attack
3rd studio album (1974); UK #2; US #12
Queen's first international success, Sheer Heart Attack takes the best qualities of the band's first two albums (killer guitar riffs, sweeping ballads, catchy hooks) to become a record with virtually no skips. It is a massive step up on the ladder to reach their peak, which would come shortly after.
This was the first album to which all four bandmembers contributed their own compositions, setting a new predecent of equality that would accompany the band throughout their career; likely a big reason why they stayed together till death did them part. It was also their most eclectic record yet: in it, they reflected on their origins (in Now I'm Here); they paid homage to recently deceased Jim Croce (in Bring Back Leroy Brown); and basically invented thrash metal (in Stone Cold Crazy).
Key Tracks: All of the above; Killer Queen; the Tenement Funster/Flick Of The Wrist/Lily Of The Valley medley; In The Laps Of The Gods... Revisited
Fun Fact: Queen's first international smash, Killer Queen, peaked at #2 in the UK singles chart and #12 in the US... the exact same positions the parent record hit on the respective albums charts.