This month, I want to share something different. I usually write about classical music, but today I want to talk about a band that has influenced me for most of my life. If you know me well, you already know that my favorite band is Queen.

Back in the 1990s, I was such a big fan that I joined the official Queen fan club. I even paid dues and got newsletters in the mail! I had a Queen t-shirt, a cap, and even a jacket. To this day, I keep finding new things to appreciate about how Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon gave so much to the music world. All four of them were (some still are) amazing musicians, songwriters, performers, and artists.

Today, Brian and Roger are still active in music, while John retired soon after Freddie passed away in 1991. Sometimes, just like we wonder what Mozart or Schubert would have written if they had lived longer, I wonder what Queen would have made if Freddie had lived longer. Their last album together, Innuendo, felt like the peak of their creativity. It’s hard to imagine what they could have done beyond that, much like Mozart and Schubert’s late works.

Most people know Queen for songs like "Bohemian Rhapsody," “Under Pressure,” and “Killer Queen.” Those songs are classics, no doubt. But today, I want to tell you about some of my favorite albums and songs that you may not hear on greatest hits collections.

My favorite Queen album, hands down, is Queen II. I also love the live shows they did around that time, like Live at the Rainbow and Hammersmith Odeon. Queen II is such a well-balanced and organized album. The “White Side” is mostly written by Brian, except for the last song, which is by Roger. The “Black Side” is all Freddie.

The album opens with “Procession,” an instrumental track that sounds like English Renaissance music if it were a funeral march. The next two songs have the flavor of early Baroque music—but with hard rock energy! My favorite song on the White Side is “Some Day One Day.” It’s the only Queen II song Brian sings lead on. I love how the acoustic rhythm guitar plays with the soaring electric guitar melody.

The Black Side is packed with great songs. If I had to pick just one, I’d say “Ogre Battle,” but really, it all flows together like a giant medley. The song “The March of the Black Queen” clearly points the way to what would later become “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

My next favorite album is Innuendo. That album is a masterpiece—it feels like an opera. Freddie, knowing he was near the end of his life, gave everything he had. Even though all the tracks are credited to the band as a whole, if you know their styles, you can tell who wrote what. For example, the hard rock songs “Headlong” and “The Show Must Go On” are clearly Brian’s style. “These are the Days of Our Lives” and “Ride the Wild Wind,” with their interesting drum parts and more quirky topics, are Roger’s. I would recommend listening to the solo albums of the three musicians to hear their styles in isolation, like Freddie's Mr. Bad Guy, Brian's Back to the Light, and Roger's Happiness. John didn't sing lead on any songs, but you can recognize his songs by simple harmonies and riffs rooted in blues and funk. The only track John contributed by himself in the latter years was “My Life Has Been Saved,” which has a matter-of-fact style of “Only in Seven Days.”

The lyrics on Innuendo and their second-to-last album, The Miracle, get pretty deep and thoughtful. Songs like “Innuendo,” “All God’s People,” and The Miracle’s title track all ask big questions about life and faith. There’s also some fun, like the hilarious song “Delilah,” which is about Freddie’s cat (named after the Biblical story of Samson and Delilah). The song “Bijou” is touching and creative: the guitar “sings” the verses, and Freddie’s voice comes in where a guitar solo would usually play. “These are the Days of Our Lives” echoes “Love of My Life” in the line, “I still love you,” which is really poignant, being the last thing Freddie says in a music video.

I also really enjoy the albums Queen, Sheer Heart Attack, and A Day at the Races. These albums are full of masterpieces. I like many songs on A Night at the Opera, but to be honest, that album feels a little disorganized to me. The topics jump around a lot from song to song. Still, there are great tracks, like “’39,” which is about space travel and the theory of relativity. It’s also very moving.

There are lots of songs I love from other albums, too. “My Melancholy Blues” (from News of the World) reminds me of “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” a laid-back song that allows me to step back and relax. On the album Jazz, songs like “Jealousy,” “Dreamer’s Ball,” and “Leaving Home Ain’t Easy” are excellent. Every time I hear “Only in Seven Days,” I think, “Dude, you should’ve just gone to talk to her on day one!”

Of course, there are also songs I just love to rock out to, like “Hammer to Fall,” “Staying Power,” and “Keep Passing the Open Windows.” Honestly, if you offered to put on any Queen album—except maybe Flash Gordon—I wouldn’t say no. These are the songs and albums that keep me going, the way coffee keeps other people moving. (I don’t drink coffee.)