Sometimes the act of doing less on your instrument actually equates to doing more, but in the case of players like Brian May, it’s all about the theatricality and drama that comes with playing music that helps his work translate into pure energy.
Queen were bombastic in every way, and for the band, it was never about keeping things subtle, especially on their earliest work which was actually quite progressive by comparison. You can’t listen to some of their work from the early 1970s without it really giving you a slap in the face, with all elements being delivered at full force, and May’s exceptional guitar playing was a vital part of this.
As the group evolved, things would end up being a bit more restrained, and when they got bigger in the latter half of the ‘70s and ‘80s, they had to make things more commercially palatable, so things ended up being simplified to a great extent. ‘Radio Ga Ga’, ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ and ‘We Will Rock You’ are up there with some of Queen’s best known works, and on these occasions, the complexity is dialled down significantly, but that doesn’t mean that they had to forego any of their brilliance in the process.
That also didn’t mean that May was stopping himself from pulling out all the stops and going for it on all of the band’s records, but in reality, what was really inspiring to May was listening to guitarists who were able to keep things simple. It’s all very well being able to whip out a showstopping solo on demand, but if you can deliver and equally sublime performance while not exerting all of your energy on cramming superfluous elements into a composition, then why should you need to go hell for leather?
May himself came from a classical background, having initially learnt how to play piano before switching to guitar, but in terms of his own musical taste, he’s fond of blues and all of the strands of rock that stemmed from it. Consequently, he speaks highly of guitarists like Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top, whose methods were steeped in keeping things as straightforward as possible, never elevating things to a level where it felt unnecessary.
In an interview with Classic Rock History, he praised Gibbons for how he’s always managed to keep things musically engaging while not necessarily having to show off. “Billy is a little bit more evolved,” May proclaimed. “He’s rock-blues to me. But again, it’s very pure. You never get into histrionics with ZZ Top. I’ve always been in awe, and I’ve always loved ZZ Top because of that purity. And again, there’s a wonderful sense of humor going on there, and it’s just so cool. You can’t put a razor blade out anywhere because it’s just unbroken coolness.”
He may be the embodiment of playing blues in a restrained style, but with Gibbons, it’s evidently all about the feel as opposed to there being any sense of showing off. Even if there’s a disparity between the styles they’re known for creating, that’s something that can instantly grab another guitarist’s attention, and for May, Gibbons’ style was more than worthy of extensive praise.
