A King-Size Serving of Queen

Queen, whose best-selling “A Night at the Opera” album has just been reissued in CD, was one of the most controversial rock bands of the ‘70s--a group whose epic ambition, undisguised calculation and ample craftsmanship combined to give the quartet some of the decade’s biggest-selling albums and worst reviews.

You’d have to spend a lot of time pouring through the New Rolling Stone Record Guide to find a band that received a harsher evaluation.

Sample lines:

“Between the androgynous rich-kid posturings of vocalist Freddie Mercury and the metallic extravagances of Brian May’s guitar, (this quartet of British college boys) bridged the gap between Led Zeppelin and David Bowie. . . . ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ (was) the only listenable rock song in a dismal career.”

So why did anyone care about Queen?

The question is especially pertinent these days because the band’s early albums are all being released in CD by Hollywood Records and because Guns N’ Roses’ Axl Rose mentions the band whenever asked to cite his major influences. He even hosted a recent TV special that saluted Queen.

To understand the group’s appeal in the ‘70s, it is important to remember the dreariness of the mainstream rock scene at the time--a period, before the punk upheaval in England, when few mainstream groups had any sense of authority or flair.

Rather than fall in line behind the other faceless outfits that dominated rock radio at the time, Queen arrived with a winning, hook-conscious musical style--drawn from such varied influences as blues, metal and vaudeville--and a Bowie-ish grandeur on stage.

They wanted to be the biggest band in the world and they went after it with a vengeance, and it worked--until the indulgence got too heavy and the punk/new wave upheaval sent rock in a new direction.

The best entry point for anyone wanting to experience the early Queen appeal is probably the 1975 “A Night at the Opera,” the group’s first Top 10 album.

Though there were some indulgent steps, the heart of the package contains some wonderfully engaging moments. They range from the wildly ambitious “Bohemian Rhapsody”--one of the most striking singles of the period--to the gently disarming “You’re My Best Friend.” The album includes remixes of two songs as bonus tracks

“Night” brings to nine the number of Queen albums that Hollywood has reissued in CD. Four more--”Live Killers,” “The Miracle,” “Queen II” and “The Works”--are due next month. A greatest-hits package, a previously unreleased 1986 concert live album and a box set featuring rare and/or unreleased tracks are all due next year.