This year marks the 50th anniversary of Queen’s self-titled debut album, and in a new interview, guitarist Brian May says things didn’t necessarily go the way the band wanted them to during the recording process.

“Our major frustration was the sound of that first album, which we were never happy with,” he tells Guitar World. He says the sound at Trident Studios, where they recorded it, “was very dead.”

“It was the opposite of what we were aiming for,” May adds. 

He says the album’s producer, Roy Thomas Baker, said the issues could be fixed during the mixing process, with May noting, “And I think we all knew: it ain’t going to happen!”

But even with the issues, May is still incredibly proud of the album.

“Oh, I love it! It encapsulates what we were at the time, and it’s a declaration of where we were going,” he says. “It’s very emotionally based and quite raw. But it’s got a lot of melody and sh**loads of harmonies.” 

He adds, “We were starting to flex our muscles. We were painting those colors with vocals and with guitars. It’s got all sorts of experimentation, which defines how free we wanted to be.”

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