History YMMV / Queen

* ToughActToFollow: Music/ANightAtTheOpera is frequently considered to be Queen's best and most famous album. After this album and ''Music/ADayAtTheRaces'', the band would deliberately aim for a more stripped down approach.

-->''With my hand on your [[IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow grease gun]]''

** From Music/FreddieMercury himself: "When I'm dead, I want to be remembered as a musician of some worth and substance." [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments He was right]].

** "Bohemian Rhapsody" is frequently thought to be the first "real" MusicVideo, but Music/TheBeatles, Music/TheRollingStones and other groups did plenty of music videos throughout the 60s and 70s. Queen ''themselves'' had a few videos before that as well. Making videos as part of their marketing strategy wasn't by any means as widespread as it'd become later (thanks, in no small part, to "Bohemian Rhapsody"), but they were certainly common enough back then to already be in common parlance (they were called "pop-promos").

** The idea that the band broke up after Freddie Mercury's death and the release of ''Made in Heaven''. While the band didn't put out any studio albums for a long time since then, not to mention bassist John Deacon's retirement in 1997, they never formally dissolved and have remained active into the present day. In fact, they eventually put out a sixteenth album, ''The Cosmos Rocks'' (in collaboration with [[Music/BadCompany Paul Rodgers]]), in 2008. However, because that album was poorly received by both fans and critics, it's subjected to such heavy amounts of FanonDiscontinuity (and possibly CanonDiscontinuity given that it was left out of the band's 2011 remastering campaign) that even Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} is reluctant to classify it as a "proper" Queen album, giving ''Made in Heaven'' the title of Queen's last studio record under the technicality of ''The Cosmos Rocks'' being attributed to "Queen + Paul Rodgers."

** The Paul Rodgers album. Many fans feel that the lack of Freddie makes it not a Queen album. Even non-fans have commented that it ''sounds'' more like a Paul Rodgers album than Queen, and Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} outright refuses to classify it as a "proper" Queen album.

** [[SchmuckBait Go ahead; say that Queen is a bad band]]. Even among people who despise ArenaRock as a whole, you'll find that damn near all of them will make a huge exception for Queen. It helps that the band had genuine artistry and sophistication behind them that ran counter to the typical fratboy image of the genre, partly the result of them including an astrophysicist (Brian May), a graphic designer (Freddie Mercury), and a biologist (Roger Taylor) in their lineup, leading to plenty of {{genius bonus}}es, and that they displayed heavy enthusiasm for genres typically outside the scope of arena rock (including classical music, funk, and SynthPop). The fact that all four members are considered among of the [[NiceGuy nicest guys]] in music has even cemented this further.

* NeverLiveItDown: Although the controversy is now forgotten today, one of the things that harmed the band's American standing in the mid-1980s was their decision to play nine concerts at the Sun City resort in South Africa, breaking a cultural boycott that was implemented because of the country's racist policies. These shows proved to be a mini-RoleEndingMisdemeanor for the band: They were fined by the British Musicians Union, blacklisted by the United Nations and lost considerable face with critics and the general public in both Europe and America. The band told the press that they were promised that they'd be playing to an integrated crowd, although this was something that the organizers often told big-name acts to lure them to play there, and it's entirely possible that they were duped (plus Mercury's familiarity with racism in British society as a result of his Parsi heritage corroborates the idea that the band were just naïve about the issue). Although the controversy eventually subsided in Europe, particularly after their iconic performance at UsefulNotes/LiveAid just a few months later, the Sun City shows damaged their reputation in America. They did not return to widespread popularity in the US until just before Mercury died.

** When their [[TheEighties 1980s]] music and {{Camp}} image (and a payola scandal on EMI, their second label) alienated much of their American fanbase, they concentrated on England, Europe, Japan and South America both as touring stops and music markets. A large amount of Queen's music became hits overseas, but didn't do nearly as well by comparison in the states.

* SacredCow: "Bohemian Rhapsody" has this reputation as far as individual songs are concerned, due to its status as Queen's foremost SignatureTune, and that it's regarded as one of the greatest (or probably ''the'' greatest) songs of all time, so criticizing it as pretentious tripe, admitting to disliking it or attempting to cover it (we're looking at you, Music/KanyeWest) is bound to make someone wish they were dead.

*** John Deacon wrote "Another One Bites The Dust", which ended up being the band's biggest hit and one of their few Billboard Hot 100 No.1 songs. The song was so successful that it briefly motivated the band change musical direction.

* Creator Worship:

* SacredCow:
** [[SchmuckBait Go ahead; say that Queen is a bad band]]. Even among people who despise ArenaRock as a whole, you'll find that damn near all of them will make a huge exception for Queen. It helps that the band had genuine artistry and sophistication behind them that ran counter to the typical fratboy image of the genre, partly the result of them including an astrophysicist (Brian May), a graphic designer (Freddie Mercury), and a biologist (Roger Taylor) in their lineup, leading to plenty of {{genius bonus}}es, and that they displayed heavy enthusiasm for genres typically outside the scope of arena rock (including classical music, funk, and SynthPop). The fact that all four members are considered among of the [[NiceGuy nicest guys]] in music has even cemented this further.
** Freddie Mercury himself. Disliking him or thinking he is overrated will inevitably generate a lot of flak. Even those who dislike Queen as a band will often recognize Freddie's abilities as a singer, musician, and frontman.
** As far as songs are concerned, "Bohemian Rhapsody" also has this reputation. Since it's regarded as one of the greatest (or probably ''the'' greatest) songs of all time, criticizing it as pretentious tripe or admitting to disliking it is bound to make someone wish they were dead.

* UncannyValley: The cover of ''News of the World'', based on the cover of Astounding Science Fiction (October 1953), features a disturbing childlike giant robot holding bloodied, dead members of the band in his hand.

** ''A Night at the Opera'' — "Bohemian Rhapsody"
** ''A Day at the Races'' — "Somebody To Love"

** ''Jazz'' — "Don't Stop Me Now"

* AudienceAlienatingEra: Many fans hate the disco album ''Hot Space'' with a passion. Releasing a {{disco}} album in 1982 proved to be a very poor move, and indeed [[PopularityPolynomial they fell out of favor]] [[AmericansHateTingle in the US]] for quite some time. The only song from it that most people will defend is "Under Pressure", the famous duet with Music/DavidBowie[[note]]some also include "Body Language," as against all odds it did manage to crack the American Top 20[[/note]]. Both John Deacon and Roger Taylor also expressed their dislike for it several times. On the other hand, Freddie virtually wrote its sequel for his debut solo project, and Brian[[note]]who also dislikes the album but argues that "Put Out The Fire" was a great song[[/note]] still claims that without it, there'd have been no [[Music/MichaelJackson "Thriller"]] (ridiculous as it sounds). Moreover, while most people tend to acknowledge "The Cosmos Rocks", some of the other activities Taylor have been involved with (e.g. recording with Music/BritneySpears and Music/{{Five}}) are treated as if they'd never happened.

** Similarly, in their song "I'm Going Slightly Mad", the line "I think I'm a banana tree!"

** Whether the band should have kept going after Freddie died. Some say that Queen isn't Queen without him, others say it 's great that they can still stay relevant. Also over whether Adam Lambert is worthy frontman.

* AccidentalInnuendo: The fact that a flamboyantly gay singer named his band Queen is purely coincidental.

** [[SchmuckBait Go ahead; say that Queen is a bad band]]. Even among people who despise ArenaRock as a whole, you'll find that damn near all of them will make a huge exception for Queen. It helps that the band had genuine artistry and sophistication behind them that ran counter to the typical fratboy image of the genre, partly the result of them including an astrophysicist (Brian May), a graphic designer (Freddie Mercury), and a biologist (Roger Taylor) in their lineup, leading to plenty of {{genius bonus}}es, and that they displayed heavy enthusiasm for genres typically outside the scope of arena rock (including classical music, funk, and SynthPop).

** As far as songs are concerned, "Bohemian Rhapsody" also has this reputation. Since it's regarded as one of the greatest (or probably ''the'' greatest) song of all time, criticizing it as pretentious tripe or admitting to disliking it is bound to make someone wish they were dead.

*** For an example of why people made this connection, the line "Build your muscles while your body decays" is actually about the superpowers wasting disproportionate amounts of money on military assets and nuclear bombs while their economies stagnate, but it takes on a whole new context when you know one of the symptoms of AIDS is atrophying muscle mass.

** For an example of why people made this connection, the line "Build your muscles while your body decays" is actually about the superpowers wasting disproportionate amounts of money on military assets and nuclear bombs while their economies stagnate, but it takes on a whole new context when you know one of the symptoms of AIDS is atrophying muscle mass.

** "Hammer to Fall" really sounds as if it was written after Freddie was diagnosed with AIDS, the lyrics are eerily apt, but it was actually written a couple of years before he even contracted HIV. On top of that, it was written by Music/BrianMay, with UsefulNotes/TheColdWar in mind.

** "Hammer to Fall" really sounds as if it was written after Freddie was diagnosed with AIDS, the lyrics are eerily apt, but it was actually written a couple of years before he even contracted HIV. On top of that, it was written by Music/BrianMay, with the Cold War in mind.\\
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For an example of why people made this connection, the line "Build your muscles while your body decays" is actually about the superpowers wasting disproportionate amounts of money on military assets and nuclear bombs while their economies stagnate, but it takes on a whole new context when you know one of the symptoms of AIDS is atrophying muscle mass.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: From "Radio Ga Ga". The scene where Freddie is standing in front of the clock and his band mates materialise in front of him and put their hands on their hips almost like guarding him. When Freddie was diagnosed with Aids his band mates did their best to shield him from media scrutiny denying he was sick.

** Post-''Film/BohemianRhapsody''', Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon all seemed to amass pretty sizable fandoms individually, especially among younger fans, as evidenced by the avalanche of fan accounts dedicated to each band member on various social media platforms.