Thoughts on latter day Queen? (A Kind of Magic onward)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Osato, Jan 2, 2018.

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  1. Ethan B

    Ethan B Forum Resident

    Location:
    san diego
    At that point they were complete crap and had forgotten what made them good in the first place. Happened to a lot of bands. Status Quo being another major embarrassment.
     
  2. Sondek

    Sondek Forum Resident

    They hadn't forgotten what made them good. I consider this to be one of the best tracks of their entire career.

     
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  3. bladerunner555

    bladerunner555 Forum Resident

    I have mentioned this before,but A Kind of Magic never really felt like a proper Queen album.To me,its more like Highlander sountrack,plus One Vision,and the fact that PISCTP,Friends Will Be Friends and OYOL are my three least favorite Queen songs,doesn't help any.
    Whose idea was it to put a sax solo on OYOL?I don't think Brian even plays on that track!
    I have thought about what if some of the songs on the Time soundtrack ,Freddies Mr Bad Guy,Rogers Strange Frontier and the first Cross album,had instead been recorded by Queen for the AKOM album?
    Take away all the Highlander stuff(with the exception of the title track),take away Pain Is...keep One Vision and ok,Friends Will Be Friends and use Queen versions of My Love is Dangerous,Mr Bad Guy,Man Made Paradise,Heaven For Everyone,Love Lies Bleeding,Man on Fire and In My Defense.
    Now that would have been a pretty damn good Queen album!

    The Miracle is ok,Though I think Khashoggis Ship is too short.Hang On In There should not have been a bonus track but instead been featured on the album.
    Invisible Man but features no where enough of Brians guitar.

    My only complaints about Innuendo;Not enough of Brian on I'm Going Slightly Mad.Hmm,that might be my only complaint.I really don't mind Delilah.
    The title track has been my absolute favorite song ever since hearing it in March of 1991.

    I won't comment on Made In Heaven except for I think the guys said that the unlisted track 13,is supposed to be an interpretation of Freddies spirit entering Heaven.
    They did a good job because that is exactly what I imagine every time I hear it.
     
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  4. Chew

    Chew Casual Stalker

    OK, I can't argue that. It is not at the top of my list, but I understand it's status as a "classic".
     
  5. George Co-Stanza

    George Co-Stanza Forum Resident

    Location:
    America
    It's nice to see the love for Innuendo. I also consider it one of the best Queen songs ever.
     
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  6. Sondek

    Sondek Forum Resident

    Another track I really like....

     
  7. georgwithoutane

    georgwithoutane Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia
    I maintain that The Show Must Go On is Queen's finest track, with Bohemian Rhapsody. The latter is astonishing in the ground it broke, but the former is just so powerful and full of raw emotion and optimism that it remains my quintessential Queen song.
     
  8. George Co-Stanza

    George Co-Stanza Forum Resident

    Location:
    America
    That one was a slow grower for me, but over time it has become one of my favorite songs from Innuendo. Freddie's vocal is astonishing, when you consider the shape he was in.
     
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  9. The Doctor

    The Doctor Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philidelphia, PA
    Personally I love every Queen album, Hot Space included. So of course I love A Kind of Magic and onward.
     
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  10. mikaal

    mikaal Sociopathic Nice Guy

    One of my faves too. Especially like the remix version on the extras disc as well. One of only a few tracks worth it in the deluxe remasters.
     
  11. Ethan B

    Ethan B Forum Resident

    Location:
    san diego

    I'm sorry this is just pure cheese. Horrible gated drums that sound like biscuit tins and wet as a fart keyboards. They are desperately trying to rock but the whole thing ( naff Aha video included ) comes across as cardigan rock.
     
  12. Sondek

    Sondek Forum Resident

    You don't have to apologise for your opinion. I strongly disagree with it though. It's a great track, as is the video. I know I'm far from alone on that one too.
     
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  13. Audioresearch

    Audioresearch Forum Resident

    Innuendo is a pretty good album
     
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  14. Benn Kempster

    Benn Kempster Who else?

    Location:
    Tring, UK
    This isn't going to be popular, but.......

    At the time I was absolutely transfixed by it; a NEW Queen album - Boom.

    Hindsight, though, is a wonderful thing.

    No matter of remastering can take away the fact that the production on the album is nothing short of AWFUL. There's absolutely no depth or emotion to any of the performances. The LONE exception to this is Steve Howe's playing on the title track and Freddie's "My soul is painted" line on "The Show Must Go On".

    "The Hitman" and "Headlong" ought to be ballsy, thumping rockers but are thin and just sound tired.
    "Delilah" and "I'm Going Slightly Mad" might be cute dittys and based on Freddie's demise, get caught up in nostalgia but ought to have been nothing more than b-sides.

    "I Can't Live With You", "Don't Try So Hard" and "Ride The Wild Wind" are a decent enough triumvirate with some nice lyrical threads, but are simply destroyed by poor mixing and mastering. It's almost as if what was released is a work-in-progress mix but the team ran out of time and gave up the ghost trying to figure out how to make it all more dynamic.

    I've NEVER understood the comparisons (even at the time) with the album and "A Night At The Opera" other than the fact that there's an epic and a couple of pseudo-music hall themed numbers, but in terms of production, mix and mastering, "Innuendo" is right up there with the first part of "Mustapha"............ Sad, really, given the amount of money and the tools available to the band at the time where a better job really ought to have been done.
     
  15. Thoughtships

    Thoughtships Forum Resident

    Location:
    Devon, UK
    Magic 7/10
    Miracle 8/10
    Innuendo 9.5/10
     
  16. BurtThomasWard

    BurtThomasWard Guided by Loke In Memoriam

    Location:
    Norge
    I do love Queen. Even a lot of the '80's stuff. But I think it is pretty safe to say that the year 1982 draws a line in the sand, quality-wise. Hot Space isn't as bad as people claimed, tho. In fact it is pretty brilliant in places. And The Works is also pretty solid, if a little dull here and there.

    A Kind of Magic has always been my least favorite album by them. Someone mentioned earlier that it feels more like there's an ep struggling to get out here and agree with that point of view. "One Vision", "Friends Will be Friends", "A Kind of Magic" and "Who Wants to Live Forever" are all good to great. The rest is largely forgettable. That album cover is also the worst thing in the world. Really? WHY!? And what? Just horrid. I'd rate it 5,5/10

    The Miracle was the first new Queen album I bought. Very uneven. As with the one before it is mostly the singles that are good. Exception being "Was it All Worth it" which in my opinion is the best thing on the whole record. A very weak 6/10

    Innuendo felt like such a huge step up in quality when it was released but that probably had something to do with the events surrounding it as well. Another uneven album but still much stronger than what came before. Sounds sterile and brittle in places. Yet there are moments here that I feel are the best and most Queen-like since 1977. Freddie sounds incredible here, really. A strong 7,5/10.

    Made in Heaven I haven't heard one second of. Should I? Seemed like a very bad idea at the time.

    To end it on a less happy note: shame on Taylor and Deacon, one of the better rhythm sections in rock, for growing so lazy and lacking in creativity that they more or less stopped playng their own instruments on their records. I usually have no problems with synths, drum machines and programming but when they are supplanting instead of complimenting like here, it is truly just atrocious.
     
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  17. Pim

    Pim Forum Resident

    I'd rank Made In Heaven in my top 5 Queen albums, so yes - IMO you should. Worth it for the title track, Mother Love and Heaven For Everyone alone IMO.
     
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  18. BurtThomasWard

    BurtThomasWard Guided by Loke In Memoriam

    Location:
    Norge
    Well, I shall try it out. I just remember feeling that the whole thing felt so fake and also being made a bit nauseous by the inclusion of "Too Much Love Will Kill You", a song I just hated when Brian released it as a solo artist.
     
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  19. Michael Rose

    Michael Rose Forum Resident

    Location:
    Davie,Fl
    I agree about Brian's version but, it's a much better with Freddie on vocals.
     
  20. Michael Rose

    Michael Rose Forum Resident

    Location:
    Davie,Fl
    I also love 'You Don't Fool Me'. No matter what is said of the piecing together and creating something out of nothing, it came out pretty damn good. David Richards created a great dance beat around the vocals, I think Freddie would've loved it.
     
  21. Pim

    Pim Forum Resident

    The whole album is pieced together from bits all over the place, with the real 'new' songs (Beautiful Day, Let Me Live, Mother Love, You Don't Fool Me, A Winter's Tale) ranging from 1980-1991 and the other songs mainly being remakes of 1985-1988 material. Too Much Love is identical to the version which would've appeared on The Miracle in 1989. Still, what an amazing collection of songs. I'd love Brian and Roger to do a MIH2, but as we can hear on the new versions of There Must Be More To Life Than This and Let Me In Your Heart Again they obviously don't want to spend much time on it anymore.
     
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  22. Michael Rose

    Michael Rose Forum Resident

    Location:
    Davie,Fl
    How the hell was this song not included in MiH?
     
  23. Pim

    Pim Forum Resident

    Maybe at that point in time (1993-1994) the archives were not in order yet? They could've easily filled an entire album with 'new' material like Self Made Man and other left-overs from the Miracle/Innuendo sessions - but instead they chose to go with remaking MIH, IWBTLY, H4E and MLHBS.
     
  24. Michael Rose

    Michael Rose Forum Resident

    Location:
    Davie,Fl
    That song I could do without. What has your life been saved by??? I know it's a Deacon tune but it's inappropriate tune for the album imo.
     
  25. Pim

    Pim Forum Resident

    I agree, My Life Has Been Saved sticks out a bit.
     
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