Queen is one of the albums that changed the landscape of rock forever in the ’70s, Queen‘s debut is particularly one of the pioneer albums of heavy metal. Retrospectively, Black Sabbath were generally more doom metal, and while Led Zeppelin had Robert Plant’s unusual high-pitched wails, the tone of them was still rooted in blues music. It was the screams on Queen’s debut that predicted the theatrical melodramatic style that would become a trademark of heavy metal.

Listen to drummer Roger Taylor‘s opening scream on “My Fairy King,” one of the album’s highlights, and hear none other than Rob Halford! Yet, for some reason, Sad Wings of Destiny is given all the credit for being a pioneer heavy metal album. All that praise for another band whom Judas Priest were indebted to for that stage of their career (and I am definitely a Judas Priest fan, don’t get me wrong). Sigh, back on topic.

This is an excellent album from beginning to end that already contains many elements of Queen’s long-running personality. Freddie Mercury’s one-of-a-kind voice and flexibility as a singer, Brian May’s unique guitar and tone that to this day no one’s been able to replicate (including himself), John Deacon’s bass-as-lead approach to playing (the latter half to “The Night Comes Down” being a good example as he commands the song with bass riffs), and of course Roger Taylor’s variable power drumming that can play any speed without losing strength or tempo.

The songs are also consistently great, particularly Freddie Mercury’s contributions in the middle of the album from the stop-and-go speed of “Great King Rat,” to the heavy metal/ballad fantasy imagery of “My Fairy King,” to the ball-busting accusatory “Liar.” “Doing All Right” shifts structures abruptly, hinting at Queen’s more complex songs to come: the multi-suites such as “The Prophet’s Song” and even “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Roger Taylor’s “Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll” is unusually fast-paced for a hard rock/heavy metal song of this time and even clocks in at under 2 minutes (proto-thrash?)!

“Son and Daughter” shows some clear Black Sabbath influence with its slow, doom-y riffs. “Keep Yourself Alive” is a good song, but failed to make an impression as a single. The obvious reason being that it sold the band’s talent and innovation short as they forged a more traditional bluesy hard rock song. “Seven Seas of Rhye” lightly closes the album to show off Queen’s ever-present whimsical sense of humor, perhaps the one songwriting element that’s always stuck with them for their entire career.

The first Queen album’s influence is undeniable and to this day it remains a strikingly original record both of its time and since its time, unjustifiably often left out of the ’70s rock canon and its place and appreciation in history.

Queen were never successfully imitated and likely never will be.