Best five of the many magnificent Queen studio albums

I wrote previously about the best-selling ranking for Queen’s studio albums. That had a few surprises in it. Some great albums were far lower down the sales ranking than I felt they deserved. And others, which were not as great musically, soared higher. 

There are plenty of reasons for that. Some albums were released much later in Queen’s history when they had built a worldwide following. Others, like their final of 15 studio albums, Made In Heaven, was released in 1995 after Freddie Mercury's death. The appearance of a new Queen album, featuring Mercury, several years afterward sparked huge sales.

If we look to rank the top five studio albums from Queen based on the great music in them it's a quite different list. To be clear, this list sticks just to studio albums. Live records or greatest hits collections are usually huge sellers and crammed with a band’s best songs and biggest hits. They'd nearly all be at the top end of a best-of list. 

It’s also a list based on opinions rather than facts. Which of course means not everyone, or perhaps not even anyone, will agree. But that's life, opinions, and the fun of making the best album lists. So whether you agree or disagree, here’s one view on the five best-ever studio albums from Queen. 

Queen’s five best ever studio albums

5 - Queen II 

This scored low on sales at just 100,000 units worldwide, coming as it did very early in their career. It was only Queen’s second album when released in 1974. But a certain pomp and style was developing which would feature again in future albums. It’s got a heavy sound and touches of prog rock. It has a White Side and a Black side to add a bit of mystery. And it is filled with great songs. 

The most well-known song would be the band's first charting single, “Seven Seas Of Rhye”. The most telling point is that you would very likely know it was by Queen if you were hearing it for the first time. It has a very charismatic and characteristic sound that is so typical of the band. It feels and sounds like an obvious step in their development. 

Alongside are a couple of other classic Queen songs of the time. “March Of The Black Queen” is taking steps in a “Bohemian Rhapsody” style direction. “Ogre Battle” is more of a point in time rather than a progression. It’s perhaps as heavy as Queen gets, has a bit of thrash metal sound in places, but is very stylish too.

For a blast of early Queen at their best, preparing the way for what lies ahead overall, this is a superb listen. As a whole, and considering how early on this comes and what's to follow, this still ranks for many as one of their best albums. Fifth place out of fifteen is pretty respectable. 

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