"Stone Cold Crazy" is a song written and performed by British rock 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 ...

for their 1974 album ''

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 ...

''. The song is the eighth track on the album. Although the song was not released as a single at the time, it was performed live at almost every Queen concert from 1974 to 1978. "Stone Cold Crazy" is included on the band's 1992 compilation album, '' Classic Queen''.

Sound

"Stone Cold Crazy" is known for its fast tempo and heavy distortion, thus being a precursor to

speed metal Speed metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Berg Publishers, 2007), , p. 31. ...

. Music magazine '' Q'' described "Stone Cold Crazy" as "

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

before the term was invented". In 2009, it was named the 38th best

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest ha ...

song of all time by VH1. ''

DRUM! {{italic title ''DRUM!'' is a North American educational drumming magazine. It features artist profiles, product reviews, lessons and advanced transcriptions covering rock, pop and related styles of music. The magazine was launched in 1991 wi ...

'' called it an "early blisteringly fast song", describing Taylor's performance as "straight-up punk-rock drumming. ..In essence, Taylor's groove is a double-stroke roll split between his bass drum and snare drum with some cool accents played on his crash cymbals. Taylor later re-enters with a dramatic and decidedly non-punk fill to restart the groove."

Personnel

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 ...

– lead vocals and backing vocals *

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 ...

– guitars, backing vocals * Roger Taylor – drums, backing vocals *

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 Bit ...

– bass guitar

Remixes

Three different remixes were created in 1991. The first two, by

Michael Wagener Michael Wagener (born 25 April 1949) is a German former music producer, mixer, and engineer from Hamburg, best known for his work with many top glam metal and heavy metal bands in the late 1980s. He is particularly renowned for his multi-amping an ...

, were issued on different pressings of the 1991

Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label focuses in pop, rock, alternative, hip hop, and country genres, as well as specializing in mature recordings not suitable for the flagship Walt Disney Records ...

'' remaster, and on the ''

Encino Man ''Encino Man'' (known as ''California Man'' in France, Finland, Sweden, Great Britain, Asia, South Africa, and New Zealand) is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Les Mayfield in his directorial debut. The film stars Sean Astin, with a supp ...

'' soundtrack. The third one, by

Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, wh ...

, was released on several promo CDs in 1991/1992 and 1999. The Wagener remixes are not very different from the original and feature slight remixing of the backing track. Reznor's version mixes the Queen sound with the

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine ...

sound of

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

. Reznor's remix includes studio sound bites from Queen at the beginning and end of the track. It was intended for inclusion as the ninth track on the cancelled 1992 Hollywood Records compilation ''BASIC Queen Bootlegs''.

Metallica version

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

covered the song as their contribution to the 1990 compilation album '' Rubáiyát: Elektra's 40th Anniversary''. This cover version was later used as a B-side of their "

Enter Sandman "Enter Sandman" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It is the opening track and lead single from their self-titled fifth album, released in 1991. The music was written by Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. Vocalist an ...

" single and subsequently won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

; it also appeared on their covers/B-sides album '' Garage Inc.'' The Metallica version of the song is more aggressive than the original; they also slightly altered the lyrics, adding two uses of the word "

fuck ''Fuck'' is an English-language expletive. It often refers to the act of sexual intercourse, but is also commonly used as an intensifier or to convey disdain. While its origin is obscure, it is usually considered to be first attested to ar ...

" and changing the more humorous lines for more violent lyrics.

James Hetfield James Alan Hetfield (born August 3, 1963) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, co-founder and a main songwriter of heavy metal band Metallica. He is mainly known for his intricate rhythm playing, but occasionall ...

performed the song with Queen & Tony Iommi of

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped def ...

(singing Metallica's altered lyrics) at the

Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness was a benefit concert held on Easter Monday, 20 April 1992, at Wembley Stadium in London, United Kingdom for an audience of 72,000. The concert was produced for television by Ray Burdis, ...

. Metallica also played the song as an encore during their 1991–93

Nowhere Else to Roam The Nowhere Else to Roam was the concert tour by American heavy metal band Metallica, which took place in 1993 in support of their fifth studio album ''Metallica'' (commonly known as the ''Black Album''). This tour was the third part of the hu ...

tour; it appears on the live CD '' Live Shit: Binge & Purge'' and the 2009 live DVD '' Français Pour une Nuit''.

Other uses

The song is featured in the music video games '' Guitar Hero: Metallica'' and '' Rock Revolution'', as well as downloadable content for '' Rock Band 3'' and ''

Rocksmith ''Rocksmith'' is a music video game produced by Ubisoft, released in October 2011 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms in North America. ''Rocksmith'' was released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 during September 2012 in Australian and Europ ...

''. It also appeared on the soundtrack of the 2021 Disney movie Cruella, where the opening verse underscores a young Cruella de Vil hijacking a car.

References

External links

* (with

and Tony Iommi)
Lyrics at Queen official website
{{Authority control 1974 songs 1990 singles 1992 singles Elektra Records singles EMI Records singles Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance British hard rock songs British heavy metal songs Hollywood Records singles Metallica songs Music videos directed by Bruce Gowers Queen (band) songs Song recordings produced by Roy Thomas Baker Songs written by Brian May Songs written by Freddie Mercury Songs written by John Deacon Songs written by Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) Thrash metal songs