REVIEW: Queen – Queen’s First E.P. (3″ CD single)

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QUEEN – Queen’s First E.P. (1988 EMI, originally 1976)

While there’s nothing on this EP that is exclusive, I’m a sucker for this release.  Why?  Three reasons:

  1. All four songs rule.
  2. It’s an historical release in a sense.  I mean, it’s Queen’s first EP!
  3. The CD version is a 3″ CD, and they’re just so damn cute.

The songs:

“Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy” is an irresistible piano bopper from A Day At The Races.  If you don’t like this song, then you don’t like Queen.  It’s that simple.  When I think of Queen, “quintessential” Queen, I think of happy piano songs like this with lush vocal arrangements.  Catchy as hell.

Up next is “Death On Two Legs”, one of Queen’s harder rockers, and the opening number from A Night At The Opera.  I love this tune, it’s aggressive with great Brian May guitars.

“Tenement Funster” is a Roger Taylor vocal, from Sheer Heart Attack.  I’ve always been fond of Taylor’s vocal stylings.  I consider this one of his trademark songs, like “I’m In Love With My Car”.  It may start slow with some sparse acoustic guitar and vocals, but it sure amps up with layers of May’s guitar and thundering drums!

Lastly, “White Queen (As It Began)” from Queen II is a brief (but epic) May tune, sung by Freddy.  This one is most notable for Brian’s intricate soloing.  It sounds like sitar, but it’s actually a guitar that Brian modified himself to sound that way.

Queen’s First E.P. is not an essential purchase, obviously, because all these tunes are available on albums.  However as a fun little collectible, I love it.  I love things like this that duplicate classic vinyl releases, and I love 3″ singles because they are so hard to come by.  Gotta love it.

5/5 stars

15 comments

  1. This is really awesome. Where’s this on the rarity scale? I mean, not the tracks, but for the physical unit itself? Would something like this set somebody back a chunk of change, these days? I’d think that because it’s Queen, maybe a little more so?

    I only have one little CD like that, a Hawksley Workman that came with Lover/Fighter. They’re neat. I also remember seeing some of Black Flag, back in Saskatoon, but the shop that had them wanted way too much for them.

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    1. I bought Lover/Fighter on vinyl so I don’t have that one!

      On discogs, the First EP is worth $20. So, not a huge chunk of change, but certainly more valuable than the average CD single with no exclusive tracks!

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    1. It’s just great isn’t it? I just can’t feel bad after listening to a song like that. I’ve been on a real Queen kick lately, and so much of their music just makes you feel good. Not all mind you, but certainly a lot of it.

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    1. Thanks SoundEagle! Every once in a while I’ll post a youtube link to some of the key songs in a review. I have a few like that coming up, some rare Kiss bootlegs where I found the songs on youtube. So if you’re a Kiss fan, look for those in the coming weeks!

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    1. Needless to say (I hope) you can’t play this in a front loading car deck! They did have adapters for 3″ singles, to make them bigger, and I’ll post some pics of those one day in a future Record Store Tale.

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    1. Thanks Jade! That’s why I decided to do this blog. My plan for 2013 is to show off a lot more of this rare stuff!

      My feeling is, if you collect something like music or movies, you may as well show it off too right?

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