Maps of Music

News of the World (1977)

Where the lyrics of News of the World take you, and where it was really made.

The album was made in London in the same Wessex studio where the Sex Pistols were recording Never Mind the Bollocks, and a meeting between the two bands followed.

Key places

Sarm East, where the sixth album began (1977)

Recording site Sarm Studios (London) — The band recorded News of the World at Sarm and Wessex Sound Studios in London. Sarm East was the first of the two studios used, where the backing tracks were recorded in July 1977. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Wessex Sound Studios, where most of the album was recorded (1977)

Recording site Wessex Sound Studios — Most of the recording sessions for News of the World took place at Wessex Sound Studios in London. The Sex Pistols were recording Never Mind the Bollocks there at the same time. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• News of the World: sixth studio album by Queen, released 28 October 1977
• Released by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States
• The band's second album recorded at Sarm and Wessex Sound Studios in London
• Engineered by Mike Stone, co-produced by the band and Stone
• Songwriting less dominated by Mercury and May; Roger Taylor and John Deacon composed two songs each
• Often classed as hard rock and arena rock, and regarded as a transitional album toward more minimalist production

Background

• Recording followed the A Day at the Races Tour, which ended in June 1977
• Punk rock, led by the Sex Pistols, pushed the mainstream away from progressive rock toward simpler rock
• Queen were seen as the opposite of punk because of their camp influences and elaborate production
• The band simplified its symphonic sound and aimed for a more spontaneous hard rock sound
• Brian May said the band had decided to go back to basics after A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races
• A Day at the Races had taken five months to record; only two months were booked for this album
• Most sessions took place at Wessex, where the Sex Pistols were also recording

Recording

• Activity began on 4 July 1977 at Sarm, with drum kit set up over the next two days
• The band arrived at Sarm on 6 July and recorded backing tracks, starting with It's Late
• After the backing tracks, work moved to Wessex, where the band overdubbed onto them
• The last principal overdubbing session was on 23 August, with first mixes the next day
• Mixing continued until 4 September at Wessex; mastering was completed on 16 September

Cover

• Painting by American sci-fi artist Frank Kelly Freas
• The idea came from an Astounding Science Fiction cover showing a giant robot holding a dead man
• The band members replaced the dead man, with Mercury and May held in the robot's hand and Taylor and Deacon on the ground
• The inner gatefold shows the robot reaching for the fleeing audience in a shattered auditorium

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1970 by Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), and Roger Taylor (drums, vocals).
• John Deacon (bass) joined in February 1971, completing the classic line-up.
• Mercury suggested the name "Queen".
• Early works were influenced by progressive rock, hard rock and heavy metal, later expanding into arena rock and pop rock.

Members

• Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano, 1970–1991, died 1991).
• Brian May (guitar, vocals, 1970–present).
• Roger Taylor (drums, vocals, 1970–present).
• John Deacon (bass, 1971–1997, retired).
• Paul Rodgers (vocals, 2004–2009) and Adam Lambert (vocals, 2011–present) toured as "Queen +".

Career

• First UK chart hit with Queen II (1974); international success with A Night at the Opera (1975) and "Bohemian Rhapsody", which topped the UK chart for nine weeks.
• News of the World (1977) contained "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions", now sports anthems.
• Greatest Hits (1981) is the best-selling album in UK chart history.
• Live Aid performance (1985) is ranked among the greatest in rock history.
• Estimated record sales of 250–300 million, one of the world's best-selling music artists.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001; received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 and the Polar Music Prize in 2025.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critical reaction was initially mixed, with many reviewers commenting on the band's change in musical style
• The Washington Post praised experimentation within a range from hard rock to soft rock
• Rolling Stone's Bart Testa dismissed the album, while the Village Voice's Robert Christgau described its two sides as devoted to rebellion and songs about indecent women
• The Daily Mirror called it the most intriguing Queen album since Sheer Heart Attack
• Record Mirror described it as Queen stripped down to almost basics, not a bad album but one that could have been better

Reappraisal

• Retrospective reviews have been unanimous in praise and it is now regarded as one of Queen's greatest works
• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted its eclecticism compared with A Day at the Races, calling it an explosion of styles
• Erlewine praised May's contributions for giving the album some lightness
• BBC Music's Daryl Easlea called it an exceptional showcase of Queen's ability to sound like no other group
• Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune observed that Queen had ventured deeper into stadium rock
• Several publications have hailed it as one of the band's greatest albums; NME ranked it the best Queen album

Records

• Reached number 4 on the UK Albums Chart and number 3 on the US Top Albums chart
• We Are the Champions reached number 2 in the UK and number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100
• Sold over 4 million copies in the United States
• Achieved high certifications around the world
• Readers of Creem's annual poll voted it the 19th best album of 1977

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The Sex Pistols were recording Never Mind the Bollocks at Wessex, so the two bands often crossed paths during this album's sessions.
• Taylor kept a 1953 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, whose cover inspired the album's robot artwork.
• The video for We Are the Champions was filmed at the New London Theatre on 6 October 1977, with fan club members invited to take part.
• The video for Spread Your Wings was filmed in the back garden of Taylor's house in freezing weather, with the band performing in the snow.
• The album's giant robot, known as Frank, was used as a special effect on the 2017–18 Queen + Adam Lambert tour.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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