Queen “Sheer Heart Attack” 1974. Today, August 19th, is Queen bassist John Deacon’s 70th birthday (b. 1951). Sheer Heart Attack is Queen’s third album; it went to no. 2 in the UK and to no. 12 in the US. Hard-rocking glam rock, it’s considered by many critics as their best LP and is ranked among the best rock albums ever released. It’s totally over-the-top in all the best 70′s excess ways: massive guitar solos, epically long tracks, operatic/musical theatre vocals and song composition. Queen released two singles from the album: the glam anthem “Killer Queen” (#2 UK, #12 US – their first hit in the States) and the killer hard rock “Now I’m Here” (#11 UK). Also notable is “Stone Cold Crazy,” considered by some to be the very first thrash metal track ever recorded (Metallica covered it and it appears on the b-side to “Enter Sandman”) and “Misfire” which was John Deacon’s first individual writing credit for Queen; he also plays guitar on this track. I also really love the opener “Brighton Rock” – Brian May’s guitar solo is ranked #41 by Guitar World in their greatest solos of all time.