“And nobody played synthesizer,” brags the liner notes of Queen’s self-titled debut album. Released in 1973, the album came out during a time when synthesizers were just beginning to make inroads into mainstream rock—despite that, two years earlier, The Who had proven the viability and vitality of the instrument on Who’s Next hits like “Baba O’Riley” and on “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” Queen’s insistence on synth-free purity was somewhat understandable. With Queen, the band ushered in a new and extravagant use of studio manipulation the likes of which might have made George Martin blush. In Queen’s hands, the tape machine...
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