Best song on A Kind Of Magic - Queen

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by stunner2020, Jun 15, 2017.

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  1. stunner2020

    stunner2020 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    [​IMG]

    For a while, it seemed Queen had hit a dead end. The Works had been a moderate success, and largely restored Queen's reputation after Hot Space, but the subsequent tour had been derailed by drunkenness, injuries, throat infections and, worst of all, a residency in apartheid-era South Africa. Break-up rumours abounded as Freddie Mercury earned the largest advance in the history of CBS for a solo album (which would become the global flop Mr. Bad Guy).

    Of course, Queen's legendary set at Live Aid put the kibosh on any potential disbanding, and A Kind Of Magic followed a year later as the new album of reinvigorated band proudly back at the bosom of the British public, becoming a UK no. 1 as well as featuring three top 20 singles.

    It is, however, ultimately something of a hotch-potch record, with half of the songs forming the majority of Queen's second film soundtrack, this time for swashbuckling epic Highlander, a handful of other songs and a year-old single.

    Regardless; as ever, pick up to three as your favourites from this album!

    Winners so far:
    Queen - "Keep Yourself Alive"
    Queen II - "The March Of The Black Queen"
    Sheer Heart Attack - "Killer Queen"
    A Night At The Opera - "Bohemian Rhapsody"
    A Day At The Races - "Somebody To Love"
    News Of The World - very close between "It's Late" and "We Are The Champions"
    Jazz - very close between "Don't Stop Me Now" and "Fat Bottomed Girls"
    The Game - very close between "Dragon Attack," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Save Me"
    Flash Gordon - "Flash's Theme"
    Hot Space - "Under Pressure"
    The Works - very close between "Radio Ga Ga" and "Hammer To Fall"
     
  2. 1. Who Wants to Live Forever (one of my all time favorite songs by anyone)
    2. A Kind of Magic
    3. Princes of the Universe

    I like every song on the album.

    Here's a rendition of "Who Wants to Live Forever" by Louisa May, Brian's 8 year old daughter. I read somewhere that Brian used it to demo the song to the other members of Queen.

     
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2017
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  3. stunner2020

    stunner2020 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    This one seems to be getting even less love than Flash Gordon! :laugh:
     
  4. stunner2020

    stunner2020 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    Any more opinions, before we move onto The Miracle?
     
  5. gotblues

    gotblues Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts
    Who Wants to Live Forever is my own favorite, musically, from this LP. Plus it's naturally among the many Queen songs that took on so much additional meaning after what happened. For my ear it is I agree a hodgepodge patchy album, one I cherry-pick from rather than listening to as a whole. I could definitely have done without the Kurgan's Theme plopped into things (at least it feels plopped-in to me). All in all given everything going on with them at the time it could have been a much worse result.

    I think the diminution of commitment and focus they were going through in those years really makes itself felt on both Hot Space and Magic. And I say this as a dedicated Queen person. As always, ymmv.
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2017
  6. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    One Vision, for me.
     
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  7. PretzelLogic

    PretzelLogic Feeling duped by MoFi? You probably deserve it.

    Location:
    London, England
    The beginning of the end. I like all of these songs just fine, but I don't love any of them. They're flawed in a way that's either very charming or very irritating. I'd have as much of a definitive answer if I choose one now as I would have picking one out of a hat.

    But for now, I'm going for 'Princes Of The Universe'.

    Saying that, I'm surprised that 'One Year Of Love' (which doesn't even feature Brian May) has got a vote and 'Don't Lose Your Head' has none.
     
  8. Sammy Waslow

    Sammy Waslow Just watching the show

    Location:
    Ireland
    I actually prefer A Dozen Red Roses for My Darling to Don't Lose Your Head. Terrible lyrics and a very minor yet obtrusive Joan Armatrading contribution.
     
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  9. gotblues

    gotblues Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts
    Brian May has said, in an interview I can't seem to readily dig up now, that those Munich days were a mistake - dark, depressing (weatherwise and otherwise) - and that they could barely get Freddie to stay in the studio for any length of time. That he wanted to just zip in, do his bit and zip back out into the scene of the day. And they were at that approximate ten-year mark that can be so deadly for successful bands creatively and personally.
     
  10. George Co-Stanza

    George Co-Stanza Forum Resident

    Location:
    America
    Top 3:

    One Vision
    Who Wants to Live Forever
    Gimme the Prize

    A bit of a choppy album, thanks to a few dud tracks, but the standouts here really stand out.
     
  11. Psychedelic Good Trip

    Psychedelic Good Trip Beautiful Psychedelic Colors Everywhere

    Location:
    New York
    One Vision
    Who Wants to Live Forever
    Gimme the Prize


    Love Give Me The Prize.

    Bought this lp the day it came out. I got the cd later in the fall 1986.
     
  12. aphexj

    aphexj Sound mind & body

    One Vision is IT. Total commitment and focus.
     
  13. gotblues

    gotblues Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts
    True on that one, yup. :thumbsup:
     
  14. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Senior Member

    Not an official album track, but a bonus track that I adore:
     
  15. humpf

    humpf Allowed to write something here.

    Location:
    Silesia
    Geburt Einer Nation by Laibach completely overshadows the original One Vision for me. Who Wants to Live Forever gets my vote.
     
  16. DiabloG

    DiabloG City Pop, Rock, and anything 80s til I die

    Location:
    United States
    One Vision
    Who Wants to Live Forever
    Don't Lose Your Head, (because I like it and want to give it some praise. That synth bass is great.)
     
  17. pdenny

    pdenny 22-Year SHTV Participation Trophy Recipient

    Location:
    Hawthorne CA
    By a country mile.
     
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  18. PretzelLogic

    PretzelLogic Feeling duped by MoFi? You probably deserve it.

    Location:
    London, England
    Interesting to see 'Friends Will Be Friends' languishing in the poll. Thought it was just me that considered it their weakest single up to then.
     
  19. Standoffish

    Standoffish Smarter than a turkey

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Who Wants to Live Forever?
    One Vision
    Gimme the Prize

    This isn't Queen at their best, but it's a really good album. "Forever" is especially poignant in the wake of Freddie's death.
     
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  20. StuJM84

    StuJM84 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kent, UK
    Who Wants to Live Forever.
    One Vision
    A Kind of Magic
     
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  21. 905

    905 Senior Member

    Location:
    Midwest USA
    My favorite is Friends will be Friends
     
  22. greelywinger

    greelywinger Osmondia

    Location:
    Dayton, Ohio USA
    One Vision
    Friends Will Be Friends

    Darryl
     
  23. Sammy Waslow

    Sammy Waslow Just watching the show

    Location:
    Ireland
    The One Vision video always looked like great fun - as did the extra footage on Magic Years ("Chicken feed, babe!") - but I'd say it was a very bleak time and that comes across in the lack of focus on the album. Also, the studio in Munich is like a concrete bunker. That hardly did them any favours either.
    I remember one of those monthly band-specific magazines did a Queen career overview and they regarded A Kind Of Magic the same way as Dirty Work by The Rolling Stones. A heritage act struggling with image and direction in the mid-eighties.
    I have to say, the Studio Collection box set LP is a nice listen - I even found myself appreciating One Year of Love - but it's not a Queen album I play very much.
     
  24. Zach Johnson

    Zach Johnson Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    Love that track. It should have been on the official album (LP) closing side 2. With WWTLF opening side 2, it would have made for a perfect album closer after the rocking Princes of the Universe.
     
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  25. Hadean75

    Hadean75 Forum Moonlighter

    • One Vision
    • A Kind Of Magic
    • Who Wants To Live Forever

    Honorable mention:

    • Princes Of The Universe

     
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