Tie Your Mother Down (May)

If Queen ever did "rough and ready", then this was surely the best example of it. A 4-minute blast of pure rock that, for once, doesn't seem too bothered about making sure everything's perfectly mixed, that eschews 3-million overdubs for a simple blast of Brian's guitar.

About time too.

Brian apparently had the idea for the song in Tanzania on top of a mountain, watching the sun either rise or set. He wasn't sure about whether the title phrase could be used, but apparently Mercury (probably the member of the Queen with the most acute sense of what would be a hit) assured him he could.

Of course he could. And it works wonderfully, a song full of playful anger, a veritable two fingers up at, not only whoever's mother it was May wanted to tie down, but also at everyone who forgets how good Queen are at this type of song.

Because, when they put their mind to it, Queen rock (sorry to use that tiresome phrase) like no other band and, even though compared to modern heavy rock this sounds remarkably time, it's still a thrilling experience: full of energy, life, almost bursting at the seems to contain it all.

The lyrics are one essential part of this, the other is the guitar (sorry Roger and John, but the drums and bass, crucial as they are, don't merit a mention here). May would later state that the riff was one of his favourites, one he could pull out during a gig when things weren't going so well to win the audience back. And it's a great riff, starting off quietly then exploding into life with Roger's drums (maybe they do merit a mention) and Freddie's vocal. But whereas live the riff was simply huge (especially at Wembley), the original version has really edge, as well as incredible forwards-momentum - you're simply picked up and carried along.

Freddie, who at times had the sweetest, softest voice in pop, snarls and, occasionally spits out the words. It's a performance that, whilst it doesn't particularly stretch him, is entirely and perfectly in keeping with the spirit of the song and shows him as one of the best rock singers around.

All in all, this is a fantastic blast of a song. It's not clever-clever, it's not trying to make a statement or show off Queen's techinical know-how, it just comes along and blows you away. Easily Brian's best single so far.

There's only one question left: why the hell wasn't it included on Greatest Hits?..... 8

Video: One of those weird, "Queen pretending to be on stage" videos where Queen, er, pretend to be on stage. Without an audience. Which doesn't really work as well as the videos shot with a crowd, as there's no one for Freddie and the band to interact with, always one of their strong points. Top comedy moment, however: when the drums etc. enter at the start, huge fireworks are set off. These were so powerful, they knocked Roger off his stool!