the first 3 queen albums.

Well, they are not rare as they were sold very well in those days and many people later replaced them with CDs. Try to find any EMI Pressing from Germany or England, that will serve the purpose. In case of Queen 2 try to find the english one with the glossy fold out cover.

 

The only Queen album I like from the beginning to the end is A Night At The Opera, but those first three albums are full of great moments.

 

Queen ll is their best IMHO. March of the Black Queen is sort of like a blueprint for Bohemian Rhapsody. Operatic backing vocals, sweet sounding electric guitar at what seems to be the ending of the song, not to mention the changes in time signatures.

News Of the World - a good album but it came with the death of the operatic backing vocals

They lost me once the Game was released.

 

I think what makes the first three albums stand out now is that they were still hungry then, and sounded like they had something to prove.

First time I heard "Killer Queen" was over the piped-in music in the dormitory cafeteria. I thought it was 10cc.

 

They may win you back with the coming Rainbow concerts.

 

I have a copy of Rainbow concert that was made from a VHS to DVD and I love it. I still love early Queen.

 

Prepare for putting that copy to rest...;-)

 

But their singles were stronger than ever. They went from album oriented to singles oriented which isn't a bad thing or degradation by any means. Those singles are among the best of their songs and stand up to any from their more album oriented years. Plus the band actually got better. Freddie's voice actually got better and stronger as did Brian, John, and Roger's playing.

That said, their first 3 albums are as good as any from that era. They stand up to the best.

 

Yep, the first three are my essentials as well, could not agree more. I noticed on SHA that they were starting to get into their vaudeville songs, and while I got it , that Freddie dug those occasional ditties, I figured the next lp would have more, and I was right. I knew they'd start being more adventurous and doing songs that weren't straight ahead rock and roll, like Brighton Rock, Keep Yourself Alive, etc. The only songs off the first three I never play is She Makes Me and Loser in the End. I have Opera mfsl, but I rarely play it, I'm really fed up with Bohemian Rhapsody. But I'd enevr sell the cd, if only for 39. Great song.

 

That's debatable. They never were bad, but they lost something, especially Roger Taylor. He had such a signature sound in his drumming, you could even recognize him and his way of "orchestrating" songs. Then in later years he lost that and even tried to sound on stage like a drum computer (Radio Gaga or the Hot Space songs). Also Freddie - while becoming a better showman - avoided any higher notes and sometimes even avoided melodies.
The problem of the mid period Queen was the money - thing. The albums had to have 3 songs each by Mercury and May and 2 songs each by Taylor and Deacon from "News of the World" onwards. And it was in the final years that they simply shared all the credits, which made the albums stronger again - see "Innuendo".

 

Yeah roger taylor overall made the band take a hit when his dum sound and high notes faded