Queen Albums in Order: All 15 Studio Albums, 1973 to 1995
Queen released 15 studio albums in order between 1973 and 1995, from the self-titled debut to the posthumous Made in Heaven. My discography map draws all 15 as stations, then keeps going: the members' 12 solo records sit between them in release order, which is where the four lines turn out to overlap.
Every credited musician on the map is a named line. Every album is a station. Anyone credited on a single record becomes a short branch line off it.
The 15 Queen studio albums, 1973 to 1995
- Queen (1973)
- Queen II (1974)
- Sheer Heart Attack (1974)
- A Night at the Opera (1975)
- A Day at the Races (1976)
- News of the World (1977)
- Jazz (1978)
- The Game (1980)
- Flash Gordon (1980)
- Hot Space (1982)
- The Works (1984)
- A Kind of Magic (1986)
- The Miracle (1989)
- Innuendo (1991)
- Made in Heaven (1995)
Two notes on that list. Flash Gordon is a soundtrack rather than a conventional studio record, and it is on the map because it is a Queen studio recording. Made in Heaven was assembled after Freddie Mercury's death in November 1991 from vocals he recorded in his final years. Live albums and compilations are not on the map.
Why the map has 27 stations rather than 15
Most Queen prints stop at the band. When I was researching this one I kept finding the same four names on each other's solo sleeves, so I drew the solo records in too. The finished map carries 27 stations and 82 credited names, running from 1973 all the way to 2021.
The 12 solo releases, interleaved in release order, are Roger Taylor's Fun in Space (1981), Brian May's Star Fleet Project, Taylor's Strange Frontier (1984), Mercury's Mr. Bad Guy (1985), Barcelona with Montserrat Caballé (1988), May's Back to the Light (1992), Taylor's Happiness? (1994), May's Another World (1998), Taylor's Electric Fire (1998), May's Furia (2000), Taylor's Fun on Earth (2013) and Taylor's Outsider (2021).
Strange Frontier is a Roger Taylor album with the whole band on it
The single best thing on this map is a solo record. Roger Taylor's Strange Frontier, released in 1984, credits the other three separately: Freddie Mercury on backing vocals on "Killing Time", Brian May on rhythm guitar on "Man On Fire", and John Deacon on bass on "It's an Illusion".
On a chronological list that album is a footnote. Drawn as a network, it is a station where three lines that supposedly left the band briefly come back in. It is the clearest single answer to the question of whether the four of them ever really separated.
Deacon does it twice more outside Queen: bass on "How Can I Go On" from Barcelona, and bass on Brian May's Back to the Light.
Roger Taylor has the longest line on the map, not Freddie Mercury
Mercury, May, Taylor and Deacon are credited on all 15 Queen studio albums, so inside the band the four lines run level. Add the solo records and they come apart. Roger Taylor calls at 20 stations, more than anyone else on the print, because his own catalogue runs from Fun in Space in 1981 to Outsider in 2021.
Mercury, May and Deacon each reach 18. Deacon's line stops at Made in Heaven, after which he stepped away from music entirely, so the right-hand third of the map is Taylor and May carrying on alone.
The final station, Outsider in 2021, has exactly one name on it. The map opens with four lines arriving together and closes with one.
The 1970s are a closed room, and Barcelona is the opposite
From the 1973 debut to the end of the 1970s, no guest star appears on a Queen studio album. The only names beyond the four members belong to the production team, and they only get a line because they played something: Roy Thomas Baker earns his place on Queen II with castanets and a stylophone, and engineer Mike Stone adds backing vocals to A Day at the Races. A production credit alone never earns a line on any of my maps.
Then look at Barcelona. Mercury's 1988 record with Montserrat Caballé carries 19 credited names, the busiest station on the whole print, with a string section, French horn and a full backing-vocal group. From four names to 19 in fifteen years, on one sheet of paper, is the sort of shape a list cannot show you.
The guests you would not predict are all on the solo records
David Bowie has a single station, credited with vocals and synthesiser on Hot Space in 1982, for "Under Pressure". Steve Howe of Yes plays Spanish guitar on the title track of Innuendo. Joan Armatrading sings on A Kind of Magic. Each is one branch line into one station.
The later solo albums bring in names no Queen fan expects. Jeff Beck plays on Brian May's Another World and again on Roger Taylor's Fun on Earth. Cozy Powell drums on two of May's records. Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters drums on "Cyborg". Ian Hunter turns up as a guest raconteur on "All the Way from Memphis". Roger Taylor's son Rufus plays drums and piano on Fun on Earth.
"Great idea for this and very unusual. Love the history created by the map."
Nigel Pasby, five star review of the Queen Discography Map
Sizes and print detail
The print is a Giclée on 230gsm premium acid-free matte fine art paper, landscape. A3 is unframed only. A2 and A1 come unframed or in a black wood frame.
| Size | Dimensions | Unframed | Black wood frame |
|---|---|---|---|
| A3 | 420 x 297 mm (16 x 12 in) | £35 | Not offered |
| A2 | 594 x 420 mm (23 x 16 in) | £45 | £125 |
| A1 | 841 x 594 mm (33 x 23 in) | £65 | £175 |
US inch formats are sold alongside these at 16 x 12 in, 24 x 18 in and 36 x 24 in. The A sizes and the inch sizes are separate formats rather than conversions of one another. With 27 stations and 82 names on it, A1 is the size I would point most people at, because the solo stations are where the small type lives.
Queen Discography Map Art Print
15 Queen studio albums, 12 solo records, 82 credited musicians, one tube map.
Related music maps
For another band whose catalogue keeps changing density, read Deep Purple albums in order. For a catalogue built around one songwriter and a rotating cast, read ELO albums in order. The full range sits in the music art prints collection.
Queen albums in order: questions answered
How many studio albums did Queen make?
Fifteen, from the self-titled debut in July 1973 to Made in Heaven in 1995. That count includes the Flash Gordon soundtrack, which is a Queen studio recording even though it is mostly instrumental.
What was Queen's first album?
Queen, released in July 1973. Its first single, "Keep Yourself Alive", did not chart in the UK on release.
Which Queen album has Bohemian Rhapsody on it?
A Night at the Opera, released in November 1975, the fourth studio album and the fourth station on the map.
Are the solo albums on the Queen map?
Yes. Twelve solo releases sit between the Queen albums in release order, from Roger Taylor's Fun in Space in 1981 to his Outsider in 2021. That is what makes the overlaps between the four of them visible.
Which solo album has the most Queen members on it?
Roger Taylor's Strange Frontier in 1984, which credits Mercury, May and Deacon on separate tracks.
What is not on the Queen map?
Live albums and compilations, of which Queen have released a great many, so Live Killers, Live Magic and the Greatest Hits collections have no station. Track-level roles are not shown either: each line tells you which albums a musician is credited on, and only my Rolling Stones Goats Head Soup album map goes down to individual tracks.
The Queen story did not stop in 1991.
Twenty-seven stations, 82 credited names, and four lines that never quite separate.
See the Queen discography art print
Buying for someone else and not sure which map? A gift card lets them choose.