Brian May recently sat down for an interview with Sounds, during which he compared Queen to AC/DC and revealed why he loves the latter.
Queen and AC/DC entered the rock scene in the early ’70s, a period that gave birth to many prominent acts. While both bands achieved worldwide fame with their original sound and encouraged the popularization of the genre, they differed significantly. Their difference lies in the continuity that can be traced in their music in terms of genre, style, lyrical content, and sound.
When it comes to Queen, many people think of creativity and experimentation. They explored a different tone in every album, as the band members always enjoyed discovering new musical grounds and ignoring all the existing boundaries. Thus, it’s hard to position Queen in a genre. One of the reasons their songs made such a big impact in their era was that Queen always tried something new.
AC/DC, on the other hand, perhaps in stark contrast to this, always knew their style. They discovered their sound in the very early stages of their career and mastered it during their musical journey. The band has its own formula, featuring characteristic riffs, besides simple and familiar chords. However, repetition is not always bad, as their sound, which oscillated in a particular pattern, became what defined them and made them one of the most influential rock bands.
In a recent interview with Louder Sound, Queen’s Brian May made several statements, comparing his band and AC/DC. He said he likes the heavy metal sound, but Queen is not a heavy metal band. While expressing his respect toward metalheads, he said that AC/DC is also immersed in heavy metal and added that he loves them very much and finds their music very pure. However, according to Brian May, Queen was never such a band, and pretending they were is pointless. Possibly referring to his band’s interesting experiments, he said it’s always good to take a step back and ‘see the funny side of it.’
Here is what Brian May said about Queen and AC/DC:
“I love heavy metal, and I don’t look down on it at all. But we’re not a heavy metal group. I think you have to love something to play it. When I produced Bad News, I found that Ade Edmondson lives and breathes heavy rock music. And I love people that are so immersed in it that it’s serious. I love AC/DC – what they do, it’s very pure. But we’re not that way, so we can’t pretend we are. It’s’ good to be able to step back and see the funny side of it, because it kicks out some of the sh*t.”
The Queen icon has been relatively quiet regarding getting back on stage these days. However, Queen recently released a rediscovered track featuring Freddie Mercury’s vocals, which highly excited the late rock legend’s fans.
You can check out ‘Face It Alone’ below.
