"Sheer Heart Attack" is a song by the British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

, released on their sixth studio album ''

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...

'' in 1977. It is one of two songs on the album entirely written by

Roger Taylor Roger Taylor may refer to: *Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) (born 1949), drummer for Queen *Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer) (born 1960), drummer for Duran Duran *Roger Taylor (author), author of epic fantasy Hawklan series *Roger Taylor (college pr ...

, the other being "Fight from the Inside".

Background

"Sheer Heart Attack" was originally written for the ''

Sheer Heart Attack ''Sheer Heart Attack'' is the third studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 8 November 1974 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. Digressing from the progressive themes featured on ...

'' album in 1974, but was not included. It was finished for ''News of the World'' in 1977, and is characterized by its fast, even

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

throughout its length, with the raw simplicity and traditionalism of punk rock including an abrupt ending.

sang lead on the demo, but for the definitive version the band decided

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the ...

should sing lead vocals, with Taylor singing the chorus. Taylor plays almost every instrument on the finished track, with some help from

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury and ...

on lead guitar and "screams". This is one of the few original Queen recordings that does not feature bass guitarist

John Deacon John Richard Deacon (born 19 August 1951) is an English retired musician, best known for being the bass guitarist for the rock band Queen. He wrote several songs for the group, including Top 10 hits " You're My Best Friend", "Another One Bite ...

. The song was the B-side of the Deacon-penned single "

Spread Your Wings "Spread Your Wings" is a power ballad by the rock band Queen, from their 1977 album ''News of the World''.It's Late "It's Late" is a song written by Queen guitarist Brian May and performed by the band for their 1977 album, ''News of the World''. Background The song was May's idea of treating a song as a three-act theatrical play, and the verses are called " ...

", written by May, which was released only in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in April 1978.

Live performances

The song was performed live from 1977 to 1984. It has been released on three live albums: ''

Live Killers ''Live Killers'' is a double live album by the British rock band Queen, released on 22 June 1979.Live Ki ...

'' in 1979, ''

Queen Rock Montreal ''Queen Rock Montreal'' is a live album by the British rock band Queen. It was released on 29 October 2007 as a double CD, Blu-ray, DVD, and triple vinyl in the UK and the following day in the US. It was recorded in Montreal, Quebec, at the ...

'' in 1981, and ''

Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mothe ...

'' in 1982.

Personnel

Information is based on the album's Liner NotesQueen. “News of the World” (Album Notes). EMI. 1977. *

– lead and backing vocals *

– lead guitar *

– lead and backing vocals, drums, rhythm guitar, bass guitar

References

{{Authority control 1977 songs Queen (band) songs Song recordings produced by Mike Stone (record producer) Songs written by Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) British punk rock songs British hard rock songs