QUEEN

Review Nº 828

"Innuendo" is the fourteenth studio album of Queen and that was released in 1991. Unfortunately, this was the final studio album to be released in Freddie Mercury's lifetime and is also the last to be composed entirely with new material. Freddie Mercury died in the same year, ten months after its release. There are some emotional and nostalgic tracks on this album as well as some creative and imaginative works. It has some of Freddie Mercury's most stunning vocal work.

Musically, "Innuendo" represents a return to the original Queen roots, with its hard rock sound. It has complex and progressive musical compositions, psychedelic effects and very strong vocals. Deserve special mention the presence of the Yes guitarist Steve Howe, who was involved in this album, contributing with a performance on acoustic guitar, on the title track "Innuendo". "Innuendo" is the best album released by Queen since the old 70's. It's varied in ability and contains 3 of Queen's greatest songs, "Innuendo", "The Show Must Go On" and "These Are The Days Of Our Lives".

"Innuendo" has twelve tracks. All songs were written by Queen, except "All God's People" written by Queen and Mike Moran. The first track "Innuendo" is one of the lengthiest Queen's songs. It was the first single from the album and is the lengthiest song ever released by them as a single. It's truly a progressive song with constant change of styles and moods. It features a flamenco guitar section performed by Steve Howe and Brian May. This is an extraordinary song and one of the highlights on the album. The second track "I'm Going Slightly Mad" was the second single taken from the album. It represents a very funny musical moment which can be perfectly seen seeing its video-clip. The third track "Headlong" was the third song released as a single. It's a fast rock song with some great guitar solos and a nice vocal performance. This is one of the heaviest songs on the album that perfectly proves they were in great shape and still were capable to write some amazing new material. The fourth track "I Can't Live Without You" was released as a promo single. It's a happy rock song with a very simple music structure, very different from the previous songs. This is one of the less attractive songs on the album, but still is a good song. The fifth track "Don't Try So Hard" is a beautiful song, a true amazing song. It's probably the darkest song on the album where Freddie Mercury sings most of the song in falsetto. This is a wonderful ballad, one of their most beautiful ballads. The sixth track "Ride The Wilde Wind" is a good rock song with great rhythm and a delicious choral work. It's really a great song, which is, in my humble opinion, one of the best compositions of Roger Taylor to the band. The seventh track "All God's People" is a song with some influence of African music and gospel music. It's a song with an amazing vocal performance, but despite that, it's one of my less favourite moments on the album. The eighth track "These Are The Days Of Our Lives" is one of my favourite songs on the album and was the fifth single taken from the album. This is, for me, a very emotional song. It represents the last farewell of Freddie Mercury. That is particularly noticed on the music of the video, when he whispers "I still love you" at the end of the song. The ninth track "Delilah" is the weakest song on the album. This is a song made and dedicated to Freddie Mercury's favourite house cat Delilah. It's a song with silly lyrics, but musically it isn't a bad song. The tenth track "The Hitman" is the second hard rock song on the album. It's a heavy song, very fast and aggressive. This is the heaviest song on the album and is interesting and enjoyable to hear. The eleventh track "Bijou" is essentially a guitar solo piece. It's a good and enjoyable song where Freddie Mercury sings beautifully, as usual, and Brian May proves that is a great guitarist. The twelfth track "The Show Must Go On" was the fourth single taken from the album. It represents the other highlight with "Innuendo". It's another extraordinary song full of drama and emotion. This is one of the most beautiful, dramatic, touching and emotional songs made by Queen. It seems that this was the last song composed by Freddie Mercury approaching the theme of the feelings of him near his dead. It shows that Freddie Mercury knew perfectly well that his end was very close and, for the second time on the album, his last farewell is again present on it.

Conclusion: "Innuendo" is a great joy and a great sadness at the same time. It's a great joy because it represents the return of the masters of art rock to their great rock and progressive roots. "Innuendo" is, without any doubt, one of the best studio musical works from Queen, the best since the 70's. Of course it hasn't the same quality, progressivity and creativity of "Queen II" and "A Night At The Opera". However, it's perfectly at the same level of "Queen", "Sheer Heart Attack" and "A Day At The Races". It's also a great sadness because it represents the end of a great band and the end of one of the best and most loved composers and singers ever existed. Freddie Mercury and Queen deserve to have a very special place in the history of music. So, thank you Queen. Your contribution to rock music has been immense. However, the show must go on and we still love you too, Freddie. R.I.P., we will never forget you. And that is for sure.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Just six months after the release of their album "The Game", Queen surprises with a new work: the soundtrack of the film "Flash Gordon" (1980), based on the comic books of the 1930s in which a New York field marshal (Flash Gordon) embarks on an intergalactic journey with the female Dale Arden and the scientist Hans Zarkov to the planet 'Mongo' to save the earth from the evil tyrant 'Mingo'.

Queen recreates a cosmic and suspenseful atmosphere through the extensive use of synthesizers, interacting mainly with Brian May's guitar riffs and Howard Blake's orchestral arrangements. A scenario that parallels the timeline of the film, including some of the characters' dialogue, and which as a whole has less to do with the band's known dynamics.

Only two tracks sung by Freddie Mercury accompanied by the backing vocals of May and Roger Taylor are included on the album: the opening single, "Flash's Theme" and the closing "Hero", and in between, and beyond the unexpectedness of seeing Queen in this guise, there are a few tracks that are well worth picking up, such as the gloomy "Ring (Hypnotic Seduction Of Dale)", the very interesting harmonies created from the synthesizers in both the restless "Football Fight" and the spacey "Vultan's Theme (Attack Of The Hawk Men)", the orchestrated and dense "Flash to the Rescue", and above all, the last part of the album, starring May's guitars in the hard rocker "Battle Theme", the beautiful nuptial guitar solo in "Wedding March", the "Flash's Theme Reprise (Victory Celebrations)" and the already mentioned "The Hero" and its explosive ending, surely the best piece of the album.

"Flash Gordon" had no major commercial impact at the time and is remembered more for being 'the film with Queen's music' than for its intrinsic value, but over the years it has come to be considered a cult film linked like Siamese to the soundtrack of the band led by Mercury.

2.5/3 stars

Although "A Night At The Opera" from 1975 is unanimously considered a milestone in both Queen history and pop music, I think it's successor "A Day At The Races" (1976) is just as good. The fact that both album titles are from films by the Marx Brothers make them perfect twins. The similarities are multiple, the differences nil although the white and black album cover suggests otherwise. If we listen to the music, both albums are actually very close to each other. Let me tell you just a little bit about the band itself.

At that time the striking foursome from London knows better and better how to conquer the world with their music. Their songs (especially at that time) all have an artistic and distinctive look. The band does not shy away from a good dose of theatricality when composing and arranging and that makes their mixture of hard rock and pop music so contagious.

Queen has a dynamic rhythm section with drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Deacon. Add the creative, often layered guitar work of Brian May, as well as the sparkling piano playing of Freddie Mercury to that and you're already well on your way. With Freddie Mercury as the singer, Queen has the most fantastic finisher you can think of. The inspired main figure feels like a fish in water. Mercury, with his brilliant voice, has everything to actually be that in full glory. Nothing seems to stand in his way. With his sparkling voice he also excels in the sublime choirs that he performs together with his bandmates. Noteworthy here are the ultra-high parts that Roger Taylor has added to the choruses.

Queen makes music for young and old. I was 13 years old when I bought my first Queen record, "A Day At The Races". For a while there were 3 of them, until this recalcitrant young lover of symphonic music no longer tolerated pop in his collection. From the last song of many at "A Day At The Races", Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together), it was difficult to say goodbye to. What a beautiful song. The atmosphere is carried with a slight bombastic glow over which a strong melody line manifests itself. The fact that the chorus is sung in Japanese is a genius find and also the fact that there is a resigned climax of a children's choir may be called special, especially considering the image of that time. Some guitar playing by Brian May, who is also the composer of the song, concludes this gem.

Still, it would be another 45 years before I bought the album again. How could I have ever sold the LP, ten songs with enormous expressiveness, with a mouth-watering drive.

The CD I bought was a feast of recognition right from the guitar introduction. With the rolling riffs of Tie Your Mother Down, the first song sets itself in motion convincingly. This hard rock song has wide choruses, bombastic drums and vicious guitar solos with an over all sound that has a bit of a glam rock allure. The ensuing You Take My Breath Away is breathtaking, Freddie Mercury at his best. Lyrical, passionate, tender and extraordinarily expressive. His singing and his piano playing go together as one. Listen to the timing of his runs. This song is also decorated with beautiful choirs and towards the end Brain May lets his creativity assert itself again (as always). A remarkable song is The Millionaire Waltz, written by Freddie Mercury. The fact that the tempo and atmosphere changes are multiple makes my prog heart beat faster. Sometimes you imagine yourself in a decadent ballroom, sometimes you listen to a Bohemian Rhapsody-like piece of metal. The fact that this is a genuine Mercury composition drips off on all sides. You can smell his grandeur like that, so to speak. You can also hear in this song the good coöperation of everyone. There are beautiful bass loops and the guitar work is also very good.

About the mega hit Somebody To Love I only want to say that I think the complex arrangement of the background vocals is really brilliant. Also important: it fits perfectly with the 6/8th swing of the song. Despite the fact that it is an earwig of the highest order, it remains a sublime song. Sublime yes, and actually it's not even that noticeable. There are so many excellent songs on the album. What always appeals to me is the You And I written by John Deacon that has a smooth rhythm and a strong melody. The sturdy White Man is also remarkable because it closely matches the old Queen. With the Beatles/Klaatu-like Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy, Queen clearly carves out a sound of its own. The smooth song is Mercury at its best. When the album closes with the beautiful Teo Torriatte, you can only conclude that the ten songs together produce an album that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Orginally posten on www.progenrock.com

I have mixed feelings about compilation albums. I think it's okay for some bands like ZZ Top, Status Quo or AC/DC. They've always stayed true to their style and roots, they weren't very diverse, they didn't create conceptual albums, and many of their established hits often rock the listeners just as much as the tracks on the album next to them. In my opinion, starting your first acquaintance with their music with such a compilation is ideal.

It's completely different with bands like Yes, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, ELP. How can you make a guide to their work if many of their outstanding compositions last longer than 10-15 minutes? Theoretically, it's possible, but how will it work in practice? Such songs will be taken out of context, and this will not give a full understanding of the album and period of the band's work from which they were taken. It's like reading Stephen King's Dark Tower in separate chapters. Or even fragments of separate chapters.

There are some nuances with Queen Greatest Hits (I and II). The mention of the word Hit in the title immediately warns that the songs selected here are those that occupied the top lines of the charts, were released as singles and were frequent guests on radio broadcasts. This is logical for promoting the album. But it does not give a full picture of Queen's very diverse creative heritage. I think that it is better to listen to this group as albums to perceive their music more fully. And if someone starts getting to know their music with this collection, they will form the wrong opinion about the group - well-made pop music with separate forays into the territory of more complex musical forms, for example. Of course, this is not really the case. To be convinced of this, it is enough to listen to their classic albums Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack, A Night at the Opera in their entirety. Some songs from that albums are presented on this collection, but even the great Bohemian Rhapsody cannot fully represent the album A Night at the Opera.

Finally I will say that I do not have an answer to the question of how I see the ideal collection of Queen songs. I think it is impossible to compile such a collection. At least for the most interesting period of the band's work before the early eighties. The albums of the band are best listened to in their entirety up to and including The Game. I think that the rating of three stars perfectly corresponds to my conclusion.

Review Nº 805

"A Kind Of Magic" is the twelfth studio album of Queen and was released in 1986. It was based on the soundtrack to the film "Highlander". It was the first of a series of films directed by Russell Mulcahy. Of the nine songs from the album, six appeared on the film but, in different versions. The three songs that didn't appear on "Highlander" are "One Vision", "Pain Is So Close To Pleasure" and "Friends Will Be Friends". Still, "One Vision" appeared in the film "Iron Eagle" directed by Sidney J. Furie. So, this became the second album of Queen used on a soundtrack after "Flash Gordon".

After "A Kind Of Magic", Queen released more three studio albums with Freddie Mercury, "Miracle" in 1989, "Innuendo" in 1991 and the posthumous "Made In Heaven" in 1995. "A Kind Of Magic" would turn to be the band's last album to be promoted with a live tour, due to Freddie Mercury's diagnosis with HIV in the following year, and his dead from AIDS, in 1991. It was released during the height of Queen's mass popular success after their legendary performance at Live Aid.

"A Kind Of Magic" has nine tracks. The first track "One Vision" written by Queen was originally conceived by Roger Taylor. It was the first song of the album chosen to be released as a single, with "Blurred Vision" as the B side. It's a well known song with mysterious distorted vocals in the beginning. This is an excellent pop rock song, very powerful and very pleasant to hear. The second track is the title track "A Kind Of Magic" and was written by Roger Taylor. Curiously, it was the first Queen's album to have a title track. It was the second song chosen to be released as a single of the album and where "A Dozen Red Roses For My Darling" was the B side. It's an excellent pop song, and as the previous one, it's also very pleasant and nice to hear. The third track "One Year Of Love" written by John Deacon is a different song compared with the two previous songs. It's a nice and calm slow ballad with beautiful saxophone solo work and great string orchestral arrangements. It isn't, for sure, one of the best Queen's songs, but I sincerely think it has quality enough to be considered a good song. The fourth track "Pain Is So Close To Pleasure" written by Freddie Mercury and John Deacon was the fifth song chosen to be released as a single, with "Don't Lose Your Head" as the B side of the single. It's, without any doubt, the weakest track on the album, until now. This isn't even a decent song but a really bad song with Freddie Mercury singing in the Bee Gees' style. It can compete as the worst Queen's song ever. The fifth track "Friends Will Be Friends" written by Freddie Mercury and John Deacon was another song chosen to be released as a single. The B side of the single was "Friends Will Be Friends (Extended Version)" and "Gimme The Prize (Kurgan's Theme)". Fortunately, it has nothing to do with the previous song. This is a very beautiful song with good lyrics and that became as one of the most well known Queen's songs. The sixth track "Who Wants To Live Forever" written by Brian May was also chosen to be released as a single, with "Killer Queen" and "Forever" as the B side. Despite be a soundtrack song, it's, in my humble opinion, one of the most emotional ballads made by the band. This excellent beautiful ballad remains, without any doubt, the best and one of the most beautiful musical moments on this album. The seventh track "Gimme The Prize (Kurgan's Theme)" written by Brian May, and as I said before, was one of the songs chosen to be the B side of their single "Friends Will Be Friends". It's a strong rock song with some various lines from the film, in the same vein of many songs from the film "Flash Gordon". This is the hardest and most oriented guitar song on the album. It isn't a bad song but I don't like particularly of it. The eighth track "Don't Lose Your Head" written by Roger Taylor was chosen to be the B side of their fifth single "Pain Is So Close To Pleasure". Despite has some nice keyboard parts, this is, without any doubt, a weak song. It remains with "Pain Is So Close To Pleasure" the two worst songs on the album. The ninth and last track "Princess Of The Universe" written by Freddie Mercury was the third song chosen to be released as a single, with different songs chosen as the B side, depending on the country. It's the shortest song on the album and is really a very good rock song. This is, without any doubt, one of the highlights on the album. It represents an excellent way to close the album and brings to our memory, the good old Queen's days.

Conclusion: In the point of view merely progressive, "A Kind Of Magic" isn't a great album because we can't find on it, practically any kind of progressivity. However and despite "A Kind Of Magic" be based on the soundtrack of the film "Highlander", and in a non progressive point of view, I sincerely think that we are in presence of a real good album. It has, in my humble opinion, two great songs "Who Wants To Live Forever" and "Princess Of The Universe" and three good songs "One Vision", "A Kind Of Magic" and "Friends Will Be Friends". The rest of the album has average songs or bad songs like "Pain Is So Close To Pleasure", which is the worst of all. Still, I really can't deny the fact this album is a good one, actually. But overall, I wouldn't recommend you to buy this album unless you are a die hard fan of Queen. There are better albums to check before. So, after all I said before, I really think the fair rating for this album is 3 stars.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Released in 1973, 'Queen' is the self-titled debut of a band who'd go on to become four of the most famous and beloved Brits in history since the Beatles. With The Beatles having split up just a few years prior, and with Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple laying the foundations of where hard rock and heavy metal were going, Queen's first album slips in flawlessly for that time period, adding theatrical elements and charisma to help carve out their own niche.

Granted, the album itself is still a bit 'meh' for me. This is before the Londoners became known for the absolute mega hits that they'd go on to record, and so as a whole, this release is just kind of there. It could be that they were still adjusting to each other and gelling as a unit, but while the musicianship is solid and you can hear early signs of front man Freddie Mercury's showmanship creeping in, I just don't really find myself getting into these songs.

Opening track 'Keep Yourself Alive' is pretty decent, and 'Great King Rat' is a great example of those early theatrical elements that the band would go on to integrate more and more into their music, but other than these two songs, I'm really finding it hard to maintain interest. There's definitely a lot of energy and youthful enthusiasm in the performances though, and you can hear that this is a band that certainly will go on to much bigger things.

And maybe that's just the problem. I'm not hearing 'Bohemian Rhapsody', 'I Want to Break Free' or 'We Are the Champions' here, so maybe I'm just unwillingly dismissing it? I don't mean to, sometimes it's just a matter of taste. I don't think I'll come back to 'Queen' very much, if ever, but I do know that great things will follow.

Officially released 40 years late, "Live at the Rainbow'74" is a priceless gift for Queen fans and especially for those who appreciate their early work, which had little to do with the more recognised and popular discography that the band generated later on. A double album that unites the concerts of March and November 1974, at a time when the Englishmen were struggling to find their identity and their place in the world of rock, and whose value is even greater due to the quality of the recording, which prioritises the clarity of the instrumental performance over the interaction with the audience that these live dynamics entail.

Both concerts open with the funereal ambience created by Brian May's guitars in the brief instrumental "Procession", and give way to a sampling of songs that represent the corrosive and dense character of the band at the time, such as the powerful "Ogre Battle", the raspy riffs of "Father to Son" and "Son and Daughter" in the style of seventies Black Sabbath, a multi-layered guitar solo taken from "Brighton Rock" courtesy of May's famous Red Special, the galloping "Great King Rat" and "Keep Yourself Alive", and the huge Zeppelin chords of "Liar", further evidence of the guitarist's excellent form.

On the other hand, Queen's versatility is also present with less hostile tunes like the delicate "White Queen", the progressive vein with "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke" and an extract from the excellent "The March Of The Black Queen" (a premonitory exercise prior to the immortal "Bohemian Rapsody" released a year later), the tribute to Presley's fifties rock with "Jailhouse Rock" and the bluesy "See What A Fool I've Been", songs that feature the powerful and unsurpassable voice of a very loquacious Freddie Mercury interacting with the audience, and with the sound base of the always correct John Deacon on bass and Roger Taylor on percussion.

Except for sporadic appearances, most of the pieces from "Live at the Rainbow '74" have disappeared over the years from live setlists, buried by the worldwide mega-hits that Queen produced. But without a doubt this is an excellent way to delve into the band's beginnings and appreciate their most representative songs performed on stage.

4/4.5 stars

Review Nº 782

"The Miracle" is the thirteenth studio album of Queen and that was released in 1989. It was recorded when the band was recovering from Brian May's marital problems and Freddie Mercury's AIDS diagnosis. The album was originally to be called "The Invisible Man", but three weeks before its release, they decided to change the name to "The Miracle". The striking cover art utilized the Quantel Painbox, a computer graphics workstation for composition of broadcast television video and graphics, which state of the art image manipulation technology, to combine photographs of the familiar faces of the four band members into one morphed image. The back cover of the album went a step further with a seamless of the bands' eyes. This album was considered their most energetic and interesting release of the 80's since "The Game".

"The Miracle" has ten tracks. The first track "Party" written by Freddie Mercury, Brian May and John Deacon is a song built around disharmonic vocals and drum beat from the drumming machine. I really think that we are in presence of a very weak song, without any kind of creativity and imagination. In my humble opinion, this is one of the worst openings for a Queen's album, only superseded by "Staying Power", the song that opens their album "Hot Space". The second track "Khashoggi's Ship" written by Queen is another rock song like the previous one. Unfortunately, it has more in common with that song that it should have. So, despite be a little bit better than "Party" is, it's a very repetitive song also without any kind of creativity and imagination. The third track is the title track "The Miracle", which was written by Freddie Mercury and John Deacon. It was the fifth and the last song to be chosen as a single from this Queen's album. It was released six months after the album. This is a very good and interesting song that represents, for me, one of the highlights on the album. It's a very creative song with some very complex musical arrangements. If such thing existed, we could call to it a true great progressive pop song. The fourth track "I Want It All" written by Brian May was the song chosen to be the lead single of the album. This is a great rock song, with full of mood changes and some nice guitar solos. It's a kind of a classic Queen's hard rock song that satisfies almost all rock fans and represents the second highlight on the album, really. The fifth track "The Invisible Man" written by Roger Taylor was the song released as the third single of the album. This is clearly a pop song with a synthesizer bass driven. It's a very fast song and very repetitive too, so typical for that pop era. Sincerely, I don't like particularly of this song and, as happened with "Party" and "Khashoggi's Ship", it represents, for me, another weak point on the album. The sixth track "Breakthru" written by Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor was the song chosen to be released as the second single of the album. This is a good rock song with a nice gospel vocal overture, which rocks very fast, indeed. Despite I prefer other songs on the album, this one represents one of the best musical moments on the all album. The seventh track "Rain Must Fall" written by Freddie Mercury and John Deacon represents, without any doubt, one of the weakest musical moments on the album, despite it has some great guitar work. Sincerely, I don't like of this song. It has the power to annoy me a little bit and it makes me a bit nervous, really. The eighth track "Scandal" written by Brian May was the song released as the fourth single from the album. The song is about the attention that Brian May and Freddie Mercury received of the press, involving Brian May's divorce and Freddie Mercury's health problems. It's a great and brilliant dark song with some great musical moments. This is, for me, another highlight on the album. The ninth track "My Baby Does Me" written by Freddie Mercury and John Deacon is almost the same of "Rain Must Fall" and represents, therefore, another weak musical moment on the album. Both songs represent, without any doubt, the worst tracks on the album. But, "Don't Try Suicide" from "The Game" is much worse. The tenth and last track "What Is All Worth It" written by Freddie Mercury is, fortunately an excellent track. But, unfortunately, this is the best and only truly progressive song on the album. It's a song with great musical moments that reminds the good old Queen, which closes the album perfectly and beautifully.

Conclusion: I can't agree with many of my colleagues here that consider "The Miracle" the best Queen's album of the 80's. By one hand, I'm absolutely convinced that Queen hasn't released any great studio album in the 80's. By the other hand I'm also absolutely convinced that "The Works" is their best musical studio work from that musical era. In my humble opinion, "The Miracle" is a non balanced album that oscillates between some very good songs and some very weak songs. "The Miracle", "I Want It All", "Breakthru", "Scandal" and especially "Was It All Worth It" are the only real good songs on the album. The other songs are average or even bad songs, really. Besides, on the subject of merely of progressive rock music, I can't see anything really progressive on it. In my humble opinion, after the 70's, the only great studio album from Queen is "Innuendo". However, "Made In Heaven" deserves also to be mentioned as an album with some great musical moments. So, this is another poor Queen's album that doesn't deserve more than 3 stars, really.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

I can't say I was looking forward to spending time with this cd but this has turned out to be a nice surprise. I actually only got this a couple of years ago when my daughter was getting rid of her cd collection and gave me first crack at it. Might have got ten or so including this one. "II" is very consistent which I like. I feel like I grew up with this band but they were never a friend, more like an acquaintance that would frequent the same parties as I.

The two things that made this band great, the guitar of May and vocals of Mercury just didn't jive with me. And back then for me the lead guitarist and the vocalist were the two most important band members and I just never liked May's tone, he uses a coin for a pick. So gifted too. Freddie hits all kinds of octaves like Demetrios Stratos but in both cases I struggle to enjoy such vocal exploits. But hearing and loving many songs on the radio made me respect them I just never bought their music in real time. There were a few songs that I really disliked as well, again all from the radio for me.

And in the liner notes "...and nobody played synthesizer...again" makes me smile because I was all for no synths back then and to a point still feel this way. It was also interesting to see them show the cover arts for the single "Seven Seas Of Rhye" in the liner notes of this 1991 re-issue I have with four versions shown all different from Germany, The Netherlands, Japan and Yugoslavia. After that brief one minute intro track this recording starts very strong with four straight killer tunes. I like "March Of The Black Queen" on the second half as well, a strong top five right there.

As good as advertised, their best, and a solid 4 stars

Review Nº 767

"Made In Heaven" is the fifteenth studio album of Queen and was released in 1995, four years after the dead of Freddie Mercury. This is the last album from the band to feature vocals from him when he was alive. However, after Freddie Mercury's dead in 1991, the remaining members of Queen have worked with previously recorded vocals and piano parts that Freddie recorded before he passed away, along with newly recorded lyrics by the remaining band's members, to create another new studio album. It included two songs, with a new musical arrangement of Freddie Mercury's solo album, "Mr. Bad Guy" and "I Was Born To Love You", and "Made In Heaven". The song "My Life Has Been Saved" has a version launched in 1989, the compact with the song "Scandal" released on their thirteenth studio album "The Miracle".

Prior to its release, some critics thought Queen were cashing in. Instead, Queen wrote the perfect final chapter to an amazing career. Some fans were disappointed in the 80's and some new fans were introduced in the 80's. Still, "Made in Heaven" is an album that won't disappoint, whether you're a fan of the 70's hard rock or the 80's pop rock, indeed.

"Made In Heaven" has officially, eleven tracks. The first track "It's A Beautiful Day" written by Queen and Freddie Mercury is a nice song, where the vocals and piano sounds beautifully. This is a good song to introduce the album. The second track "Made In Heaven" written by Freddie Mercury was originally from his solo album "Mr. Bad Guy". This is a version which was given a special treatment to sounds more like a Queen's song. I think this is a better version than the original. The third track "Let Me Live" written by Queen is a rock ballad that features vocals from Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor. It was completed after Freddie Mercury's dead. It's a good song that sounds to the early Queen's sound. The fourth track "Mother Love" written by Freddie Mercury and Brian May was the final song co-written by both, and was also Freddie Mercury's last vocal performance. It's a good and beautiful song with sad and depressing lyrics that notice that he knew perfectly well that he was going to die soon. The fifth track "My Life Has Been Saved" written by Queen and John Deacon is, in my humble opinion, one of the weakest songs on the album. However, it remains a good and enjoyable song to hear. The sixth track "I Was Born To Love You" written by Freddie Mercury, was another song originally recorded for his solo album "Mr. Bad Guy". After he passed away, the band remixed it and added instrumentation, turning it into a fast rock song. This is a good and nice song to hear. The seventh track "Heaven For Everyone" written by Roger Taylor is a beautiful and sentimental track. Despite be a song taken from Roger Taylor's album "The Cross", this version sounds as a Queen's song. The eighth track "Too Much Love Will Kill You" written by Brian May, Frank Musker and Elizabeth Lamers is one of the highlights on the album. It was initially made for "The Miracle", but it was never released. Later, Brian May recorded it for his debut solo album "Back To The Light". This is a nice song that I like very much. The ninth track "You Don't Fool Me" written by Queen was one of the last songs to be recorded for the album. It isn't a very good song. It sounds too much to funky and disco and has nothing to do with the Queen's sound. It's a bit dated in our days. The tenth track "A Winter's Tale" written by Queen and Freddie Mercury is a beautiful song. It was the last song composed solely by Freddie Mercury and was recorded two weeks before his dead. The eleventh track "It's A Beautiful Day (Reprise)", as its name says is the reprise of the first song. It's a better version than the first one. It has new and different musical arrangements and a heavier rock piece of music at the end of it.

The CD also features two tracks that aren't presented on the data shed of the album. The twelfth track "Yeah" is an excerpt from "It's a Beautiful Day (Reprise)", where Freddie Mercury shouts "Yeah" that has no more than 4 seconds. The thirteenth track is a light track, where hardly we can hear anything because is recorded too much low. Its name was never mentioned, but some says is called "Mystique". It symbolizes the passing of Freddie Mercury to the Paradise.

Conclusion: I can see some parallelism between "Made In Heaven" and "An American Prayer" of The Doors, despite being two completely different musical proposals. As many of you know, both albums were released with some material recorded by both artists before their dead, and were released by the remaining members of both bands, after they died. Relatively to "Made In Heaven", and musically speaking, we are in presence of a great album, with songs like "Made In Heaven", "I Was Born To Love You", "Heaven For Everyone" and "Too Much Love Will Kill You", which did our delights, while we drove our cars and listened the car radio, instead of having to listen some kind of pop music without any kind of quality and imagination. So, "Made In Heaven" probably should be rated with 4 stars. However, I have a problem in doing that. In the first place, its music hasn't any kind of progressivity and we are on a progressive site. In the second place, I rated "Queen", "Sheer Heart Attack", "A Day At The Races" and "Innuendo" with 4 stars. Thus, it would be unfair to give the same rating to it too. So, the right thing to do is to rate "Made In Heaven" with 3 solid stars, really.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)