Queen: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock

When it arrived I was pretty shocked at how big and heavy but that's just more to enjoy!! Boo-koodles of good photos and touring schedules. Colorful concert tickets and passes. I have already done some reading. It seems to get pretty personal on all 4 members documenting the goings on behind the scenes and how some of the songs came to be written. Freddie was just so much fun and so were the remaining 3 kings of queen!! I can see lots of entertaining reading for some time to come. It is a very go Queen: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock od addition to your queen collection. very interesting and I highly recommend this book to all queen lovers since we never tire of seeing or hearing these gloriously talented and great to look at artists. I'm 66 yrs old and they are one of my favorite passtimes,so that should tell you something if you're just now getting into Queen. The book is a good price also. I want to thank Bryan May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon for the superb way they honored Freddie Mercury through his last years and after his sad passing by how they treated his mother and handled the press interviews and all the tributes including the concert. It really shows how classy you all are. Thank you for the music as well I love you all. RIP Freddie

A great tribute to Queen! I have waited a long time for such a book to be published about my favourite band. Reading this book has me reliving my youth growing up in England and experiencing Queen when they first began. This book is rich with beautiful photos and loads of information about the band. A wonderful introduction to the world of Queen in all their glory! A must read for all devoted Queen fans and a terrific book for all "new" Queen fans. I especially like the chapters devoted to each band member about their lives before becoming Queen. At last a book about the brilliant Freddie Mercury that respects his very private personal life. Rest in peace Freddie you are loved and missed by many!

I bought this book so I could learn about the Queen story - how the albums were made, how the band was formed etc. The book delivers on this front. There is plenty of information delivered in a lively, often humourous manner. The stories are frequently complemented by the views of band members, and others close to the band which is excellent and adds another layer to the narrative. Brian My is particularly insightful. My criticisms are more aimed at editorial issues. Sutcliffe's biography is not authorised and therefore he seems to have a slippery relationship with quotes. He cites his sources, but in quite a clunky way; as in May said, to blah of blah blah in blah blah, "...."; on other occasions, presumably when the band had spoken to him in the past, he omits the citation information. The latter examples flow better. I wonder whether he may have employed footnotes or endnotes just to clean up the former examples. Second, the text is frequently punctuated by quotes from other musicians - these add little. The musicians often say something entirely generic about how amazing/unique/extraordinary Queen are; these comments are about as perceptive as American Idol judges. Third, each chapter concludes with an extended review of the album from a range of writers. Great, because tracks are often considered in greater details; bad, because they also read like amateur fan mail. I think for about the first 6 or 7 albums, each writer thinks it is THE best in Queen's output. Also some of the information about tracks/album is repeated by Sutcliffe either pre- or post-album review. Rock music biographies are not renowned for objective, balanced criticism, but a little of the aforementioned qualities wouldn't go amiss. That said, the issues I have raised are minimal and don't detract overly from a highly readable and entertaining book. The photos are magnificent and there is an excellent discography at the end of the book. Well worth the money.

As a card carrying Queen fan I was more than pleased to receive my copy and immediately get buried in it. It did not disappoint.The layout is superb,mixing ticket stubs (note the prices!!) with t-shirts from different concerts and quotes from the different members. More information flowing out of this book on Deacon than you would ever believe existed. It just urges you on. You can put it down and go back to it later. You just don't want to.The running commentaries on different LP's was most enjoyable,with quotes by Freddie, Brian ,John and Roger thrown in at the appropriate moments. I have never seen so many exotic pictures particularly of Freddie. Nearing the end there is a wonderful picture of Freddie at Queens' last gig together live at Knebworth. The tapes must exist. How can we get John ,Roger and Brian to hit the studio and do a tribute to Fred on the 20th anniversary of his death? What a present it would be to us all. Everything else I want to say has been said by those who've written reviews before me. This is simply the best!

I enjoyed the general information in the book, but really liked the stories by friends and associates. I also loved the quotes from other music artists and pictures of old concert posters, but this book is worth the money for the beautiful photos alone. Light, entertaining reading.

I just got it and I loved it! Amazing book! I thought it would be smaller that it turns out to be. It's quite big! And it's really illustraded history - many photos and pictures, including images of rare vinyl LPs and Singles, concert tickets and etc. There are also tour dates. I'm very happy I bought it! "Must have" for every Queen fan!

J'ai déjà de nombreux livres qui retracent le parcours de Queen ; cet album est bien fait avec de belles photos dont certaines que je ne connaissais pas. C'est un vrai plaisir de feuilleter cet ouvrage, de se trouver plonger dans les années 70 et 80 au fils de leurs différentes tournées à travers le monde. Queen reste pour moi le groupe le plus créatif, le plus riche musicalement. La fantaisie de Freddie nous manque même s'il reste dans nos cœurs et nos oreilles FOREVER.

the pictures were what made it

Queen: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock I like Queen, but her indoors is the fan and I bought it for her. This is a coffee table book. It looks comprehensive with plenty of photographs - new and old. If you like Queen then you will not find anything to dislike about the book, particularly at this price. The wife liked it, which is what matters and my review is based on her appreciation of the gift

A real good history of the mythic band; nice photos, a lot of commentaries about the songs, anecdotes about the musicians; really perfect for the fans!!

The best book you'll buy.