Nope, they never had an hit album of that magnitude, but they did have much more consistent success. And over 300,000,000 albums sold altogether which sorry to say has got Floyd beat. And I don't know about you, but when Brian May solos I can't help but drop my jaw in amazement... Don't get me wrong I love Floyd...but they're mostly for us stoner types...where as Queen is you know for everyone. Wow, that is got to the understatement of the century...harmonized vocals...try a monster vocal range that spanned over four octaves.....you're talking about a man who on regular basis held entire stadium's of people in the palm of his hand. No one not Floyd, and certainly not the Dead...could control a crowd like Freddie Mercury....no one. Floyd and Grateful dead are great stoner bands...Queen are a great BAND period I was listening to them long before I smoked anything...I didn't enjoy Floyd till I started getting fucked up on drugs. And Grateful Dead...meh they've never been that great to me. Let me know when Floyd can get 75,000 people to do this. YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. From a simple musical stand point as a musician. Freddie is definitely more skilled vocally than Roger or Richard...I have yet to hear David Gilmour or Syd Barret to anything on a Guitar that Brian May couldn't do better. And as far as the bass player goes Money's a great bass line...Another One Bites The Dust is a better bassline. Drums are meh...I can't pick between the two. On top of that Queen was a band that had a hit song in several genres...Crazy Little Thing Called love was reminiscent of a 50s rock a billy song. Stone Cold Crazy hard rock. Bohemian Rhapsody...is a ballad, and opera, and hard rock song all wrapped into one...no one before or sense has pulled something like that off. Seriously that band could do anything...Floyd= psychedelic...and not much else. I like Pink Floyd but come on they've got tracks where it's just animal noises...you have to be completely zonked outta yer mind to enjoy some of their material...same with Grateful Dead...Queen has a hit song off of every album they've put out ever. Bohemian Rhapsody was at the top of British Rock charts for over a year!
What about comparing the two lyrically. I fell in love with Floyd when I was 12, not because of drugs, music, or their crazy visual performances. I fell in love because of their potery. The first song I heard was Time, and when I heard the lines...... "Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain. And you are young and life is long and there is time to kill today. And then one day you find ten years have got behind you. No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun. And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking. Racing around to come up behind you again. The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older. Shorter of breath and one day closer to death" That is some poetic shit right there, that completly flipped my life around and made me appreciate life. I can't get enough of their poetry and concept albums.
That's an awesome song...and I'll admit that lyrically Pink Floyd has Queen beat...by a small margin... In the land where horses born with eagle wings And honey bees have lost their stings There's singing forever Lions den with fallow deer And rivers made from wine so clear Flow on and on forever Dragons fly like sparrows thru the air And baby lambs where samson dares That's queen lyrics to My Fairy King...sounds pretty poetic to me. But come on just listen to this. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRt2jX1kaYo]YouTube - Queen - somebody to love[/ame] Listen to 5:50 and tell me that Pink Floyd comes close to Queen vocally. But lyrics to me aren't really important it's all about the music...Queen had that in spades...hell every member of the band wrote more than one hit song....no band ever has had that much talent wrapped into one.
Nitpicking senile old guy says...Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Tull etc. are all 60's bands. Pink Floyd formed in 1965, for example. Queen at least fits the criteria put forward by the OP by having formed in 1971. My favorite 70's-80's band is The Ramones. This is about as poetic as I want to get. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jAVM0prVm4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jAVM0prVm4[/ame]
Huzzah Queen is victorious! Also, no offense but Pink Floyd doesn't even put on a show the reason they use all their trippy effects is because in their own words "They don't do much" Just look at Queen's performance at the live aid in 1985...they only had twenty minutes, and no sound check...and they killed it blowing other amazing artists like Sade, and Elton John out of the water. In twenty minutes Freddie had over 70,000 people under his control. With no sound check, rehearsal or special effects allowed. http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=MKQZpjEu3O4&feature=related A picture of Queen can be shown when you look up great rock band in the dictionary.
yeahhh but I'm mainly talking about the mid-era of Floyd, Meddle Darkside, The Wall, Animals from 72-77 But idk, for me, lyrics are just as important if not more important than the music. I'm a huge Bob Dylan fan so I hope you can understand
I've been listening to The Dead and Pink Floyd since I came out of the womb man. Pink floyd has ONE song that is animal noise and that's on the UmmaGumma Studio Disc, and the dead has 0 songs like that. Floyd = psychedelic, conceptual, and ORIGINAL. Queen is nothing but a normal Rock Band playing rock music, Pink Floyd changed music.
the doors are my top favorite. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoBFhdeR9PE]YouTube - The Doors-The End[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WW9T6mRkQA]YouTube - The Doors - The Crystal Ship[/ame]
definitely the coolest band that proves skill and technique does not equal raw intensity and originality. the ramones are one of the most important bands and influenced me more than any of the other bands in the thread.
Exactly right, every single person is different therefore have different taste and different styles they like. At least I can say I'm happy were all talking about the great bands of the 70s. Nothing compares. And yes John Lennon's solo work was great, Happy belated birthday to that great legend yesterday
Are you serious Queen has some just standard rock songs yes, but they are still a very progressive band. Bohemian Rhapsody is really all I have to say...if you've heard that...which I'm sure you have...then you can not sit there with a straight face, and tell me that Queen is just another rock band. Bohemian Rhapsody, My Fairy King, Fat Bottomed Girls, GOod Old Fashion Loverboy, Those are four hit songs by Queen, and each of them are very different, and of completely different styles than the other. I don't know what you're talking about Floyd changed music...Queen changed music too...they are both epic bands...I just prefer Queen...but Pink Floyd hasn't done anything Queen hasn't. Period
lol are you serious? he has albums from the 70's and i wanna say he died septemper 18, 1970.... so....
In my defense I can honestly say I've listened to just about all of both...I willing to bet you've never seriously sat down and listened to all of Queen's material. Their early stuff is fantastic...very progressive and experimental. Pink Floyd I've listened to most of their material they have great stuff...but come on be honest some of their shit is just out there you have to be really zonked to get it...or perhaps it's just over my head I don't know...but I'm an instrument guy I play bass and I'm always listening to the music...I can't really tell you the lyrics to any song...I could most likely play that song's bass line though...and if I don't know how to play that bass line 7/10 I can learn it by ear.