Freddie Mercury: Messenger Of The Gods – The Singles

7” coloured singles box - Released on September 2 by Mercury Records/ Universal / Hollywood Records

Pre-order now @ https://MessengerOfTheGods.lnk.to/FreddieStore

Freddie Mercury was a man of many talents and many different sides. The songs he wrote for and with Queen filled stadiums around the globe and have rightly gone down in history, but he also embarked on a solo career that took him from the clubs of Munich and New York to the great opera houses of the world.

He was the ultimate showman, but he kept his private life away from the prying eyes of the media; a larger than life rock star who loved disco, classical music and ballet. He was a restless spirit, a true chameleon who reveled in his own contradictions.

All the different sides of this iconic musician can be found on Freddie Mercury: Messenger Of The Gods – The Singles. Fittingly released on Mercury Records for the world outside North America, and on Hollywood Records in North America, this box set brings together all 13 of Freddie’s solo singles on individually coloured vinyl.

From his debut solo single I Can Hear Music, released under the name Larry Lurex, through the dance floor-influenced solo anthems of the 80s and up to his collaborations with legendary Spanish opera singer Montserrat Caballé including the timeless Barcelona, this is a journey through the career of a unique talent.

Born Farrokh Bulsara on the East African island of Zanzibar on September 5, 1946, the rechristened Freddie Mercury was already a star in his own mind by the time he formed Queen with Brian May and Roger Taylor in 1970. Where his band mates had studied astrophysics, dentistry and electronics at college, Freddie majored in stardom.

His first solo single actually emerged a week before Queen’s own debut 7”. Released in 1973 and credited to Larry Lurex in a nod to the fashionably flamboyant noms de rock of the glam era, the Beach Boys cover I Can Hear Music and its B-side, Goin’ Back, were recorded as a favour towards a musical project by Trident Studios’ house engineer Robin Geoffrey Cable, in 1972.

As Queen’s career rocketed towards the heavens, Freddie poured his energies into the band. It would be more than a decade before he released his second solo single, the pulsating, electronic Love Kills. Originally released in 1984, Love Kills was a collaboration with famed Italian disco producer Giorgio Moroder for the soundtrack to Moroder’s update of the groundbreaking 1927 silent movie Metropolis. A Top 10 UK hit, it found Freddie moving away from Queen’s traditional sound, paving the way for what he would do next.

Released in 1985, Freddie’s debut solo album, Mr Bad Guy, fully explored the music he had fallen in love with in the dance clubs of Munich and New York. The four hit singles released from that album – I Was Born To Love You, Made In Heaven, Living On My Own and Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow, all of which are included in the Messenger Of The Gods box set – crackled with playfully hedonistic energy, but they also hid a more serious side to Freddie. Here was a man who craved the good times but wanted something deeper as well.

Within two years, he had abandoned the sound of the clubs for the music of the opera house – though not before releasing both the epic single Time, the theme to the lavish stage musical of the same name produced by Dave Clark, and his outrageous (and strangely revealing) Top 5 cover of The Platters’ 1965 hit, The Great Pretender.

In 1987, he dived headlong into the world of opera and classical music with the towering single, Barcelona. A duet with legendary Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé, an idol of Freddie’s, it came about after the opera star asked him to write a song about her home town.

Barcelona remains one of the most momentous hit singles not just of Freddie’s career but in pop history. Not only did it lead to an album of collaborations between these two huge talents, but the title track was also chosen as the official anthem of the 1992 Olympics. That song, together with the two other singles taken from the album, The Golden Boy and How Can I Go On, are all included as part of Messenger Of The Gods with their original B-sides.

In October 1988 Freddie and Montserrat were invited by the King and Queen of Spain to perform Barcelona on the steps of Barcelona’s National Palace of Montjuic at the open air La Nit festival which was staged to mark the arrival of the Olympic Flag from Seoul.

But sadly, Freddie would not live to see the fruits of his collaboration with Montserrat Caballé showcased at the Barcelona Olympics. He passed away on November 24, 1991, just seven months before the Games took place. The grand opening ceremony was a fitting tribute to a man who thrived on spectacle.

Messenger Of The Gods is completed by two posthumous singles, In My Defence and Living On My Own (No More Brothers Radio Mix), the latter of which became Freddie’s first solo number 1 and was the biggest selling European single of the year in 1993.

Had he lived, it is anyone’s guess where this most restless and protean of singer’s muses would have taken him. But Messenger Of The Gods – The Singles is a towering legacy, a collection of songs which will never lose their stature of classics and will live on forever.

September 5, 2010 saw The Mercury Phoenix Trust, the HIV AIDS charity set up in Freddie’s name by the remaining members of Queen and manager Jim Beach, launch ‘Freddie For A Day’, a major annual initiative designed to celebrate Freddie’s life each year on his birthday and to support the on-going work of the Trust.

Taking it one stage further, Freddie’s 70th birthday, September 5, 2016, will be marked on Sunday September 4th with a major celebration in Montreux, the Swiss town he so loved. The event is in aid of The Mercury Phoenix Trust, and will see fans and friends gather at Montreux Casino to remember Freddie and raise a toast to him at midnight. Official tribute band, the Queen Extravaganza will fly into Montreux especially to perform for the evening marking their first performance in Freddie’s Swiss home town.

Freddie Mercury: Messenger Of The Gods – The Singles is released by Mercury/Universal on September 2 as a box set featuring 13 x 7” singles on coloured vinyl with a booklet featuring photos, some of which are previously unpublished, and text. It will be released in North America through Hollywood Records.

Watch the product unboxing video here:https://MessengerOfTheGods.lnk.to/Video

FREDDIE MERCURY:
MESSENGER OF THE GODS – THE SINGLES
COLOURED 7” SINGLES VINYL BOX

DISC 1 - BLUE
(A) I Can Hear Music - Larry Lurex (1973)
(B) Goin’ Back – Larry Lurex

DISC 2 - ORANGE
(A) Love Kills (1984)

DISC 3 - YELLOW
(A) I Was Born To Love You (1985)
(B) Stop All The Fighting

DISC 4 - RED
(A) Made In Heaven [Single Remix] (1985)
(B) She Blows Hot And Cold

DISC 5 - WHITE
(A) Living On My Own [Single Edit] (1985)
(B) My Love Is Dangerous

DISC 6 - RED
(A) Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow (1985)
(B) Let’s Turn It On

DISC 7 - CYAN
(A) Time (1986)
(B) Time [Instrumental]

DISC 8 - ORANGE
(A) The Great Pretender (1987)
(B) Exercises In Free Love [Freddie’s Vocal]

DISC 9 - CLEAR
(A) Barcelona [Single Version] (1987)
(B) Exercises In Free Love [Montserrat’s Vocal]

DISC 10 - GOLD
(A) The Golden Boy [Single Edit] (1988)
(B) The Fallen Priest [B-Side Edit]

DISC 11 - GREEN
(A) How Can I Go On [Single Version] (1989)
(B) Overture Piccante

DISC 12 – NEON PINK
(A) In My Defence (1992)
(B) Love Kills [Wolf Euro Mix]

DISC 13 - YELLOW
(A) Living On My Own [No More Brothers Radio Mix] (1993)
(B) Living On My Own [Julian Raymond Album Mix]

Freddie Mercury: Messenger Of The Gods – The Singles will also be available on 2CD with a 20-page booklet and as a digital album.

All formats available to pre-order now:
https://MessengerOfTheGods.lnk.to/FreddieStore

 

I'm curious to know if She Blows Hot And Cold will be the original b-side mix with studio chatter and a count-in, plus I wasn't aware that Montserrat ever recorded a vocal for Exercises In Free Love - that could be interesting to hear (though I'm puzzled as to why this doesn't appear to have been issued before now)...

 

Milking that cow again.....

This is simply the contents of "Lover Of Life Singer Of Songs" repackaged using the same old pictures and text amended from the Solo Collection liner notes........

Mary Austin must be spending that fortune pretty nicely..........

 

Available on available on both 1988 and 1992 single releases of Barcelona. No idea why it wasn't put out on the Solo Collection box.

 

Thanks for the clarification - I'd previously avoided tracking down the original Barcelona single pressings because I (wrongly) assumed the b-side version of "Exercises" was simply the same as that released on The Solo Collection, so it's news to me that Montserrat's vocal is already out there. This box really would benefit from its best, least-repeated content being issued on a CD, perhaps with a bonus disc of whatever could be approved from the vaults or even just a few extra incentives tacked onto the end, such as highlights of the various outtakes recorded during the sessions for The Works, The Miracle and Innuendo, since it's clear QPL have no interest in doing anything with those. Instead, we're left with yet another pointless box that's only for casual collectors, though I suppose it's a good enough representation of Freddie's work outside Queen that will sit nicely as a companion piece to the group's own recent coloured vinyl reissues... If only his two albums had been included as well!

 

*sigh*
It'd be nicer to bring the solo box set back into print, and finally give it an official US release.

 

With improved mastering and the inclusion of things like the live tracks from "Time", the "Wacko Jacko" collaborations etc.....

 

I'm so dissapointed with this forthcoming release. Although we get all his solo singles on coloured vinyl now we had all his solo singles in the past with the FM solo collection boxset or the Lover of life singer of songs compilation. For the new release we even not getting never before seen pictures. And i forget a couple of other Freddie compilations with all his singles. I was hoping for a spectacular release for his 70th birthday because our hero deserves it. Like what Chief said, i would buy that. How about some Queen demos Freddie worked on on his own. Video footage, interviews, The Great Pretender performance from a German show. So many options... But again the fans are left standing.

 

Actually, if these are true to the original vinyl releases, I think we should be getting some items that haven't been released digitally yet:

Made In Heaven (single version)
She Blows Hot And Cold (original single version)
The Golden Boy (7" edit)
The Fallen priest (7" edit)

In fact, I think the 7" edit of The Golden Boy may have been on a Time Rice Best Of.. (!), but these specific original vinyl edits were not included in 'The Solo Collection' or 'Lover Of Life..'. Some of the edits are very slight and subtle, but are there. The excellent 'Queen Chronology' book documents them all.

Assuming the CD version of this set replicates the vinyl, that will be remedied.

 

I guess it's all about getting Freddie back on catalog since Queen left EMI a few years ago. All of his solo stuff outside the US has been out of print. I also like there are multiple formats for purchase if you so choose (download, CD, vinyl). A few edits/mixes haven't been available on digital/CD before.

Living On My Own (Single Edit) - Audio also used for the video version I believe
Made In Heaven (Single Remix)
She Blows Hot And Cold (Full Version) - the 1992 release (which was also on the Solo Collection) had the studio banter at the beginning edited
The Fallen Priest (7" Edit)
The Golden Boy (7" Edit)

 

Sorry about that Phil, you beat me to the post! I agree.. the Queen Chronology book is great; I'm probably biased since I'm a Co-Author.

 

Well,,... thank you! Its an impressive book, but a double edged sword! - as soon as I'd given it a good read I started tracking down those obscure edits and mixes - 'Teachers' soundtrack, 'Star Fleet' UK 7", And am still looking for a good copy of the 'Time' LP....

But I digress...

I for one like the idea of this set, and will probably get at least one version of it.

 

1965? Mmmkay. But I am relieved that the writer even knew about the original. It's amazing how many times I've had people inform me that the Platters' version was a total ripoff of Freddie's.

 

It serves Queen right that the Platters ripped them off with "The Great Pretender", after Queen ripped off Vanilla Ice's marvelous "Ice Ice Baby" bass line for "Under Pressure".

 

If nothing else, it seems to be an accurate representation of what was on the original 7" releases. A lot of these mixes/edits were omitted on the Solo Collection box set.

 

Seems nice enough, though I do hope it's not the only incoming release for Freddie's 70th birthday year.

 

Judging on the running time 3:38 the studio chat finally will be included. Actually there are three really worthy tracks which are not on CD yet. They are Made In Heaven (single remix), Living On My Own (US extended version) and She Blows Hot & Cold (with studio chat & count-in). All these 7" edits are worthless and can be made in 5 minutes from album cuts.
So the only track still not on CD after 2nd September 2016 will be Living On My Own (US extended version).

 

Aesthetically, those records look horrid!

 

How's the mastering on that one? Is it the best CD mastering of this material?

 

What else is there to release?

Documentaries have been done to death and I can't face more of Peter Freestone or Paul Gambaccini telling us how much Freddie loved Munich........

Books - Jim Hutton released the only book of any worth on Freddie. The less said about Lesley Ann Jones' tabloid the better.

Music - Freddie's solo career was limited to a mere 2 albums all of which have been well-documented in The Solo Collection box. The <ahem - ha ha!> "Archivist" Greg Brooks said that there was to be "some exciting Freddie news this year" at one point - I was wildly hoping that some previously unknown / undocumented sessions had been discovered. Alas, I fear that this is it.

Pretty colours and pictures - polishing up to resemble something else which they, really, aren't.

The only thing now possible to release in terms of Freddie as a solo artist is a multi-media hologram of him available to purchase where you can actually have "Hologram Fred" available to download in your home and fit him out on one of the many outfits he used during his solo career. This will link up to a PlayStation9 collection of music that he can sing for you in your living room.

There will eventually be a Queen bolt-on pack where you can leotard him up, add or remove a moustache and generally have him cavort about all over the place to your heart's content.

 

A reissue of The Solo Collection, or, at the very least, Mr. Bad Guy would have been appreciated. If Mr. Bad Guy and this new singles box-set make their way onto Spotify (Freddie's streaming presence is limited to the Barcelona set from a couple of years back as well as "The Great Pretender" and "Living On My Own" from Queen's Greatest Hits III) then at least it's all available.

There had been whispers of the remaining Michael Jackson duets as well, though I always thought that was a bit pie in the sky, and I'm fairly sure they belong to Jackson's estate anyway.

 

So, I just got the 2 CD Hollywood Records version today. This set is the UK Mercury Records version with a Hollywood Records UPC/sticker over the Mercury barcode. The packaging is exactly like the Rainbow 2 CD digipack set. The booklet and liner notes are fine and the song descriptions are a bit longer than those in Greatest Hits. There are a few pictures I haven't seen before, so that was nice too. The booklet is housed like the Rainbow booklet was, which makes it hard to access.

There are a few song versions that are not necessarily correct. Namely, the Time tracks use the 2000 Dave Clark Remixes. Dave Clark is very possessive of his catalogue, and I assume these are the only versions he would allow. So, this makes an incorrect version for In My Defence, which should be the Ron Nevison Mix. The Time version should be the original 1986 Single Version, but again is the Dave Clark 2000 remix. Masterings are from a mix of sources. The liner notes state that the discs are remastered by Kevin Metcalfe with help from Peter Mew and Eddy Schreyer. Each song has a specific copyright date, which would tell you which remaster it is. Here we go....

Disc 1
1. Living On My Own (Single Mix) – 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
2. The Great Pretender – 1999 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe – from GH3?)
3. In My Defence – 2000 Remaster (Peter Mew). Liner notes list it as a Dave Clark Remix. When comparing it to the Ron Nevison Mix, this is the Dave Clark Remix.
4. Love Kills - 2000 Remaster (Peter Mew)
5. Barcelona (Single Version) - 2000 Remaster (Peter Mew)
6. Made In Heaven (Single Remix) - 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
7. Time – 2000 Remaster (Peter Mew). This is the Dave Clark 2000 Remix.
8. Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow – 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
9. I Was Born To Love You - 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
10. The Golden Boy (Single Edit) - 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
11. I Can Hear Music - 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
12. How Can I Go On (Single Version) - 2000 Remaster (Peter Mew).
13. Living On My Own (No More Brothers Radio Mix) - 2000 Remaster (Peter Mew).

Disc 2
1. Goin' Back - 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
2. Let's Turn It On – 2000 Remaster (Peter Mew)
3. My Love Is Dangerous - 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
4. She Blows Hot And Cold - 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
5. Living On My Own (Julian Raymond Mix) - 1992 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe – from Freddie Mercury Album?)
6. Stop All The Fighting – 2000 Remaster (Peter Mew)
7. Time (Instrumental) – 2000 Remaster (Peter Mew)
8. Exercises In Free Love – 2000 Remaster (Peter Mew)
9. Exercises In Free Love (Montserrat Vocal) - 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
10. The Fallen Priest (Single Edit) - 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)
11. Overture Piccante - 1992 Remaster (Eddy Schreyer, from Hollywood Records Barcelona CD)
12. Love Kills (Wolf Euro Mix) - 2016 Remaster (Kevin Metcalfe)

A few things to note:
- She Blows Hot And Cold is the complete, correct version that appeared on the original vinyl single. Later releases did not include the studio banter and count in at the beginning. This is the first time this has appeared digitally.
- I Can Hear Music and Goin' Back have new remasters.
- The Exercises In Free Love (Montserrat Vocal) is the correct version and does not have studio banter at the beginning (unlike the 2012 Special Edition box set).
- Most of the Mr. Bad Guy tracks were remastered except for Let's Turn It On, which still uses the Peter Mew remaster. I was hoping the whole album was remastered for a future release, but Let's Turn It On not being remastered leads me to believe that is not the case.
- For whatever reason, The Great Pretender uses the old GH3 remaster. I suppose to keep the Kevin Metcalfe mastering credit where they could?
- Overture Piccante, which is the only Barcelona album version to appear, is sourced from the 1992 Eddy Schreyer remaster. This remaster was used on the Solo Collection as well. To my knowledge, Barcelona has only had one remaster, and that would be the 1992 Schreyer one.

 

Here in Brazil, the album will be release only in september 16.

 

I thought Mew's reign of terror had come to an end!

 

Thanks for detailed technical review.
I'm glad that Larry Lurex single has new remaster. It it an improvement over 2000 remaster? What do you think?