MADE IN HEAVEN

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The combination of ambient opening track "It's A Beautiful Day" (2:32) and "Made In Heaven" (5:25) is something good this album offers. The main attraction point is Freddie's transparent and powerful voice on these two opening tracks. In addition, both have great lyrics - especially it had right nuance after the death of Freddie. "Let Me Live" (4:45) has powerful choirs and good lyrics, combined with the melody made this track interesting to enjoy. "My Life Has Been Saved" (3:15) is a ballad pop song. Another love song "I Was Born To Love You" (4:49) is featured here with a combined mellow and rock style. The encouraging message under "Heaven For Everyone" (5:36) is delivered in mellow style followed with Brian May's famous "Too Much Love Will Kill You" (4:20) which became major hit in my country. "A Winter's Tale" (3:49) is a nice pop song in mellow style.

Again, this album is good for die hard fan of Queen and most people who like pop music. The rock component is very minimum in this album.

You don't fool me

This album was made under some highly peculiar circumstances using some highly peculiar methods. After having released the excellent Innuendo album it was clear that Freddie Mercury's heath was rapidly failing. After Freddie's tragic death, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon assembled whatever bits and pieces they could find to construct this final Queen album. The album was then released posthumously, hence the title 'Made In Heaven' (which presumably is the place Freddie is believed to be in by those who believe in that sort of thing).

Several of the songs on this album had been released before in different versions and contexts and yet others were previously unreleased but much older than indicated by the release date of this album. The opening track, for example, is rumoured to have begun life already in 1980 as a pure improvisation by Freddie alone with his piano. Only a couple of the songs here were ones that Freddie had worked on after Innuendo. The most notable one is Mother Love.

The title track and I Was Born To Love You originally appeared on Freddie Mercury's solo album Mr. Bad Guy that was released in 1985. While the vocals are identical, the music used here is different from the originals and was recorded by the trio after Freddie's death. It is evident that they have tried to "Queenify" these songs, giving them a stronger Rock sound. But like many other songs from this album that originated in other contexts they do not quite succeed to disguise the reasons for which these songs were deemed unsuitable for Queen in the first place (not implying that all of them were ever proposed to the band, but some of the songs here were). When Freddie wrote these songs for his solo album it is clear that he wanted to go in a more Pop direction and the trio's obvious attempts to make them rockier sounds a bit forced.

The origins of Let Me Live are unknown, but this too is an older song. This one has lead vocals by Freddie, Roger and Brian and their voices really are distinctive all of them on their own and they fit perfectly together. How many bands can claim to have three distinctive voices? (The Beatles is the only example I can think of). My Life Has Been Saved originally appeared as the b-side for the Scandal single in the late 80's. Again, I think that the vocal is identical but the music is slightly different (I have not compared them side by side, though). Heaven For Everyone originally appeared on The Cross' first album Shove It (The Cross was a side project by Roger Taylor). Apparently, on some versions of Shove It, this song had lead vocals by Freddie (which is the very same vocal used on Made In Heaven) and on other versions of that album the lead vocals were by Taylor (the latter version is the one I have). There is some good guitar work in this one.

Too Much Love Will Kill You first appeared on Brian May's first solo album Back To The Light with him on lead vocals. This version has Freddie on lead vocals. I actually prefer the Brian May version of Too Much Love Will Kill You. Brian's fragile voice fits this song very well, but Freddie sings it very well too, of course.

While the previous album, Innuendo, sounded different and fresh compared to the bands 80's releases, Made In Heaven reverts to a large degree to the 80's sound and production of albums like The Works. This is not surprising since most of the material on Made In Heaven originated in the 80's. The Disco sounds of You Don't Fool Me sounds particularly dated and, I must say, a bit boring. A Winter's Tale is something of a Christmas song. Personally, I have an aversion to Christmas songs and cannot really get into this one even if it is not obviously a Christmas song. The 22 minute plus hidden track is not Queen's lost epic, but a rather tedious New Age like instrumental with some bits and pieces of Freddie's vocalisations. Maybe this is Brian's, Roger's and John's idea of what it sounds like up in heaven? Anyway, it is very surprising that they do this kind of thing!

Given the expectations for this album, and given the unusual methods by which it was made, the result is pretty decent. Still, I think that it suffers a little from the scraping-the-barrel-phenomenon. That is why I prefer to consider the excellent Innuendo to be Freddie's real swan song.

For hardcore Queen fans like me this album is something of a Godsend (pun intended), but for the rest this is probably not too interesting (and there is no question of this being Prog).

We are offered great intro. Right in Queen style. Better to cautious and give listener rock music with slowly coming from calm to wilder tone. For many Queen fans (to which I particaly rank myself) will be good enough Freddie's voice. And can we disagree ?

Next track is carriage of entire album, it's not eponymous by accident. For name of album is in lot of times chosen best track of record and indeed it's true. After not so good 80s and only slowly getting better in late 80s and 90s, he died. Suddenly, nobody was expecting this. Sad thing even from music part of view - their albums began to be good again. I don't believe that this Innuendo perfection was just last breath of dying man.

When rating any Queen album, important thing which influences final score is his voice. No one will dispute that his voice is one of the best ever present in popular music. Because of this, long time experience of playing which other members had and coming age of middle 90s, this is good album. From prog point of view slightly worse, but this is prog-related group, isn't it ? So I think that four stars would be enough. Worse 4 stars, because it would be unfair to other 4 stars prog bands.

Ten months after the release of the 1991 album Innuendo, Freddie Mercury died of complications brought on by AIDS; he was 45. To this day, most people hold Innuendo dear to their hearts because it was such a solid finale with one of rock's greatest frontmen. After Mercury's death, the remaining members of Queen decided to make one last album with his pre-recorded vocals and a mix of new and old compositions. Thus, in 1995, Made in Heaven was released to much acclaim; this was the the record to bring closure to the band's career, and it seemed to be a bold success. However, this album is more than just a great record; it's a perfect musical epitaph.

The album's music is sort of a mix between 80s and 70s Queen, much like The Miracle or Innuendo. There are the typical synthesizers, melodic guitar lines, and powerful vocals on this record, although there's definitely an emphasis on the softer side of things. This is the sort of album that takes time to let the atmosphere build and let the listener breathe a bit. This is especially demonstrated in the vocal harmonies, which are as soothing as ever. The gospel-oriented intro to "Let Me Live" is particularly beautiful, with lovely female vocals and a nice buildup in dynamics before the drums (and verse) kick in. But it's not only the vocal harmonies; the way the music is arranged plays a big part in this album's quality. For instance, the intro track "It's a Beautiful Day" could have easily thrown the listener right into Freddie Mercury's introductory vocal melody, but instead submerges you in a sea of ambient keyboard work. As the dynamics build and more "nature"-esque samples enter the music, everything just becomes all the more beautiful. There's also a bit of a melancholic side that this record shows when songs like "Mother Love" and "You Don't Fool Me" start up. These songs especially benefit from Brian May's almost new-age guitar lines as he weaves many different melodies throughout the rest of the instrumentation. The band members feel like a cohesive unit on this album, despite the unusual way is was recorded; John Deacon and Roger Taylor are as solid as ever in the rhythm section while Brian May and Freddie Mercury (his voice recordings, to be more precise) keep the solid melodies and hooks coming. The point where all of this meets full circle is in the title track; everything about the song feels so complete, from Brian May's harmonized guitar work to the inspirational chorus. Nothing feels out of place; it's a perfect song all around.

I could spend all day giving a complete analysis of this record, but there's something more to it than that. Just think about the fact that we're listening to the last work of Freddie Mercury, his last time up to the mic for a Queen recording. That really got me thinking: this is the band embracing finality with a sense of joy and splendor. Yeah, there are melancholic moments, but they're certainly overshadowed by Freddie Mercury's strong resolve in the face of his own defeat. This album kinda acts as a reflection of the band's career and Mercury's own life in particular; that fact makes many of these songs more powerful than they otherwise would have been. The biggest example song-wise by far is the untitled track at the very end of the album. There's a reprise of "It's a Beautiful Day" at the end of the record that leads into a four-second song titled "Yeah"; the track that begins beneath Freddie's utterance of this word is a 22-minute ambient piece. This song is what the record is all about. This is one of the most bizarre Queen songs as well; there are no drums (with the exception of some cymbal and hi-hat sounds here and there), no guitar work, no bass work, nothing but keyboard work and some voice clips from Freddie. May people like to consider this song Freddie Mercury's musical "ascension into heaven" so to speak, and I'd actually agree with that. The reason is that, near the very end of the piece, there's a beautifully arranged symphonic section that gives off an indescribable feeling of joy and release. Other portions of the song are a bit more strange; around the sixteen-minute mark, there's a very depressing synth melody that really changes the overall mood. On top of that, the last thing that this song has to offer is Freddie Mercury uttering the word "Fab."

How are we supposed to respond to all of this? That's for you to decide. I see this album (and especially the last song) as an amazing example of perseverance in the face of darkness and death, but everything about this record is up for interpretation. Made in Heaven is a very intriguing way to end a band's discography, but it should be treasured for what it is: a beautiful epilogue to one of rock's finest bands and singers.