Queen

In a 1990 interview, guitarist Brian May was asked directly if Freddie Mercury had AIDS. "Yeah, I know where those rumors and innuendos come from," May replied. "The fact is, Freddie is perfectly healthy and fit." You'll notice, of course, that he didn't outright DENY the question, and it was really no surprise to me when Freddie kicked the bucket a year later. But with a name like "Queen", what the hell did you expect?? Though I will admit, you wouldn't know it to look at the guy...he's definitely a "masculine gay", unlike the holy host of other English queerboys (Elton John, for example, or Frankie Goes to Hollywood) In fact, it's not even fair to say he was gay, but bisexual. Actually, you could say he was really "omnisexual" -- he'll fuck ANYTHING!!

Now...beyond all that, this band certainly has had a looong history in my personal past. I remember back in fourth grade chanting the refrain to "We Will Rock You" (actually the other kids chanted it, to my supreme annoyance), and of course the ubiquitous "We Are the Champions" being played at every damn sporting event (that song, in fact, was recorded by four of the 1981 L.A. Dodgers as the "Big Blue Wrecking Crew" after they won the World Series...boy did it SUCK, too!) Then in middle school, "Another One Bites the Dust" hit the airwaves, and slowly I became accustomed to it. As time passed and I bought more and more of their albums, I became a bigger and bigger fan...and so did the rest of the U.S., apparently. Their tribute concert after Freddie's death was one of the best I've ever seen (on TV, of course -- I couldn't quite afford the plane ticket to London.)

"Queen"

  1. "Keep Yourself Alive" (3:47)
  2. "Doing All Right" (4:09)
  3. "Great King Rat" (5:43)
  4. "My Fairy King" (4:08)
  5. "Liar" (6:25)
  6. "The Night Comes Down" (4:23)
  7. "Modern Times Rock 'N' Roll" (1:48)
  8. "Son and Daughter" (3:20)
  9. "Jesus" (3:44)
  10. "Seven Seas of Rhye..."--instrumental (1:15)
  11. "Mad the Swine" (3:20)
  12. "Keep Yourself Alive"--"long lost re-take" (4:04)
  13. "Liar"--1991 bonus remix (6:25)

The band's first album, which I didn't buy for a long time after becoming a fan. People more familiar with their recent work will probably be taken aback by the music here -- pure "acid rock", and quite a bit glam-ish. The CD includes a couple nifty bonus tracks ("Mad the Swine", and the "Keep Yourself Alive" outtake) as well as one of those infamous "1991 remixes" that fester on their CDs these days (although, to the record company's credit, this particular remix of "Liar" isn't all that bad.)

"Queen II"

  1. "Procession"--instrumental (1:12)
  2. "Father to Son" (6:12)
  3. "White Queen (As it Began)" (4:33)
  4. "Some Day One Day" (4:21)
  5. "The Loser in the End" (4:01)
  6. "Ogre Battle" (4:08)
  7. "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke" (2:39)
  8. "Nevermore" (1:17)
  9. "The March of the Black Queen" (6:03)
  10. "Funny How Love Is" (3:14)
  11. "Seven Seas of Rhye" (2:48)
  12. "See What a Fool I've Been" (4:32)
  13. "Ogre Battle"--1991 bonus remix (3:30)
  14. "Seven Seas of Rhye"--1991 bonus remix (6:36)

Now this album is trippy indeed...in fact, when I first heard the song "Ogre Battle", I thought, "What the hell is THIS shit??" But of course I got used to it eventually....

I actually had to buy this CD twice, because the first time I bought it, I tried ripping off the magnetic barcode that the record store stamped on all its used CDs. Never caused any problem before, but this time it ripped off the protective coating and TOTALLY FUCKED IT UP!! Boy was I PISSED...until I found another copy which had the bonus tracks. So maybe it really was God telling me something? (Naah, couldn't be...) I should also mention that the "Seven Seas of Rhye" 1991 remix is DISGUSTINGLY bad, the worst of all the ones I've heard!!

"Sheer Heart Attack"

  1. "Brighton Rock" (5:08)
  2. "Killer Queen" (2:57)
  3. "Tenement Funster" (2:48)
  4. "Flick of the Wrist" (3:46)
  5. "Lily of the Valley" (1:43)
  6. "Now I'm Here" (4:10)
  7. "In the Lap of the Gods" (3:20)
  8. "Stone Cold Crazy" (2:12)
  9. "Dear Friends" (1:07)
  10. "Misfire" (1:50)
  11. "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" (2:13)
  12. "She Makes Me (Stormtroopers in Stilettoes)" (4:08)
  13. "In the Lap of the Gods...revisited" (3:42)
  14. "Stone Cold Crazy"--1991 bonus remix (2:12)

"Brighton Rock" is my favorite song here, one of my favorites of all Queen's music, in fact. (Though I wonder how tight Freddie's pants had to be to make that high-pitched falsetto!) "Stone Cold Crazy", of course, was covered by Metallica for Elektra's 40-year anniversary set, and I do say it's better than the original!

"A Night at the Opera"

  1. "Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to...)" (3:44)
  2. "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon" (1:07)
  3. "I'm in Love with My Car" (3:05)
  4. "You're My Best Friend" (2:50)
  5. "'39" (3:30)
  6. "Sweet Lady" (4:02)
  7. "Seaside Rendezvous" (2:14)
  8. "The Prophet's Song" (8:20)
  9. "Love of My Life" (3:34)
  10. "Good Company" (3:17)
  11. "Bohemian Rhapsody" (5:59)
  12. "God Saves the Queen"--instrumental (1:12)

Now THIS is a fantastic album. Not only does it include the famous "Bohemian Rhapsody" (which, of course, was made even more famous in that classic scene from Wayne's World), but every song is played with pure, classic originality. LOTS of different musical styles here...there's the acoustic, country-ish "'39", the bouncy & eclectic "Seaside Rendezvous", the hoe-down style "Good Company", and the psychedelic, bombastic anthem "Prophet's Song" (my personal favorite from this album.) There's even the cheap 70's pop song "You're My Best Friend", the quiet piano ballad "Love of My Life", and a snippet of the British national anthem! And best of all, this CD version predates the Hollywood rereleases, so there are NO ANNOYING FUCKING REMIXES!!!

"Zoom" (2CDR bootleg; 3/29/76, Osaka, Japan)

    disc one:
  1. "Bohemian Rhapsody" (3:00)
  2. "Ogre Battle" (4:16)
  3. "Sweet Lady" (4:15)
  4. "White Queen (As it Began)" (5:44)
  5. "Flick of the Wrist" (3:55)
  6. "Bohemian Rhapsody" (2:24)
  7. "Killer Queen" (2:05)
  8. "March of the Black Queen" (1:36)
  9. "Bohemian Rhapsody (cont.)" (1:00)
  10. "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" (1:43)
  11. "Brighton Rock" (9:42)
  12. "Son and Daughter" (2:10)
  13. "The Prophet's Song" (8:22)
  14. "Stone Cold Crazy" (1:58)
    disc two:
  1. "Doing All Right" (5:50)
  2. "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon" (1:26)
  3. "Keep Yourself Alive" (5:16)
  4. "Liar" (8:59)
  5. "In the Lap of the Gods" (3:29)
  6. "Now I'm Here" (6:57)
  7. "Rock and Roll Medley" (6:51)
  8. "God Save the Queen"--instrumental (1:08)

Queen ROIO's have never been high on my priority list, but after a kind trader sent me this show, that very well may change! The performance here is PHENOMENAL, chock full of acid-rock classics from their first four albums. Just check out that set list! I've always wanted a live version of "The Prophet's Song", and while this rendition doesn't quite work out (the multi-layered vocal affects were a stumper, as Freddie tried to layer them a la May's solo in "Brighton Rock", but it winds up sounding like crap) at least they tried. "Bohemian Rhapsody" is oddly chopped up into three parts, starting with the operatic mid-section (from tape) to open the show, then having the 1st and 3rd parts bookened the traditional medley. "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" is almost completely instrumental, and the "Rock and Roll Medley" is mostly comprised of "Jailhouse Rock" with a few other dittys thrown in. Sound quality is damn good for a '76 boot -- excellent audience, with some tape distortion & channel dropouts that pretty much disappear after "Ogre Battle". I sure hope all the other Queen boots sound this good!

"A Day at the Races"

  1. "Tie Your Mother Down" (4:47)
  2. "You Take My Breath Away" (4:39)
  3. "Long Away" (4:00)
  4. "The Millionaire Waltz" (4:54)
  5. "You and I" (3:25)
  6. "Somebody to Love" (4:56)
  7. "White Man" (4:58)
  8. "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy" (2:53)
  9. "Drowse" (3:43)
  10. "Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)" (5:54)

A companion piece to Night at the Opera, I suppose...notice the black/white duality of the covers? Okay I'm getting out there...well, I'm not nearly as familiar with this album as I should be, but I really couldn't get into it. "Tie Your Mother Down" is a monster rock anthem, of course, and I also like the quirky "Millionaire Waltz"; "Somebody to Love" was a song I *hated* until I saw George Michael's stunning performance at Freddie's AIDS benefit concert...yes, GEORGE MICHAEL!! (And we all know about him now, don't we?? *wink* *wink*) And since I've gone there, might as well say that it's songs like "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy" that really make you realize why they called themselves "Queen" in the first place...that song is just so, umm, well...GAY!!!

"News of the World"

  1. "We Will Rock You" (2:01)
  2. "We Are the Champions" (2:59)
  3. "Sheer Heart Attack" (3:24)
  4. "All Dead, All Dead" (3:09)
  5. "Spread Your Wings" (4:32)
  6. "Fight from the Inside" (3:03)
  7. "Get Down, Make Love" (3:51)
  8. "Sleeping on the Sidewalk" (3:07)
  9. "Who Needs You" (3:07)
  10. "It's Late" (6:27)
  11. "My Melancholy Blues" (3:29)
  12. "We Will Rock You"--1991 bonus remix (4:47)

A pretty good album, featuring the famous "We Will Rock You"/"We Are the Champions" double-hit. As a result, the rest of the album is kinda overshadowed, but really should not go unnoticed..."Sheer Heart Attack", oddly titled after their album from several years previous, is a blistering punk-rockish anthem (it was covered by Hallow's Eve as well); "Spread Your Wings" (covered by Blind Guardian) is a lovely power ballad, and the funky "Get Down, Make Love"...well the title says it all, doesn't it! (That particular song was covered by Nine Inch Nails, btw -- lotsa covered songs on this album, eh? But don't EVEN mention Warrant's blasphemous attempt at "We Will Rock You"...) "Sleeping on the Sidewalk" is a toe-tapping shuffle sung by Brian May (hasn't been covered by anyone I know of) and "It's Late" is a powerful rocker hearkening back to their earliest material.

"Jazz"

  1. "Mustapha" (3:01)
  2. "Fat Bottomed Girls" (4:17)
  3. "Jealousy" (3:14)
  4. "Bicycle Race" (3:02)
  5. "If You Can't Beat Them" (4:15)
  6. "Let Me Entertain You" (3:01)
  7. "Dead on Time" (3:23)
  8. "In Only Seven Days" (2:30)
  9. "Dreamers Ball" (3:31)
  10. "Fun It" (3:29)
  11. "Leaving Home Ain't Easy" (3:15)
  12. "Don't Stop Me Now" (3:29)
  13. "More of That Jazz" (4:16)

Kind of a weird album, although you gotta love any band that does a song called "Fat Bottomed Girls"! (That song drew a lot of heat from feminist groups, too...yeah, like any of them have gotten dick in centuries!) "Don't Stop Me Now" was a big hit in England, but if you listen carefully to the lyrics--"I'm gonna make a rock and roll man outta you"--you'll understand why it didn't go over big in America. Funny how different the gay prejudices are between the U.K. and the U.S.?

"Live Killers" (dbl live CD)
    disc one:
  1. "We Will Rock You" (3:18)
  2. "Let Me Entertain You" (3:15)
  3. "Death on Two Legs" (3:31)
  4. "Killer Queen" (1:59)
  5. "Bicycle Race" (1:28)
  6. "I'm in Love with My Car" (2:01)
  7. "Get Down, Make Love" (4:31)
  8. "You're My Best Friend" (2:08)
  9. "Now I'm Here" (8:42)
  10. "Dreamers Ball" (3:44)
  11. "Love of My Life" (4:57)
  12. "'39" (3:26)
  13. "Keep Yourself Alive" (4:02)
    disc two:
  1. "Don't Stop Me Now" (4:28)
  2. "Spread Your Wings" (5:22)
  3. "Brighton Rock" (12:13)
  4. "Bohemian Rhapsody" (6:02)
  5. "Tie Your Mother Down" (3:40)
  6. "Sheer Heart Attack" (3:35)
  7. "We Will Rock You" (2:48)
  8. "We Are the Champions" (3:27)
  9. "God Save the Queen"--instrumental (1:31)

A damn fine live album, chock full of hits from the first half of the band's career. Truly, a lot of these songs I heard for the first time on this album. Kinda interesting how they did the middle part of "Bohemian Rhapsody" by walking offstage and playing that part from tape...oh yeah, and in the intro to "Death on Two Legs", Freddie says, "This song is about a BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" I wonder what the hell he SAID?!?!?

"The Game"

  1. "Play the Game" (3:32)
  2. "Dragon Attack" (4:15)
  3. "Another One Bites the Dust" (3:03)
  4. "Need Your Loving Tonight" (2:48)
  5. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" (2:44)
  6. "Rock It (Prime Jive)" (4:32)
  7. "Don't Try Suicide" (3:52)
  8. "Sail Away Sweet Sister" (3:32)
  9. "Coming Soon" (2:49)
  10. "Save Me" (3:42)
  11. "Dragon Attack"--1991 bonus remix (4:20)

It's the funky "Another One Bites the Dust" that really launched the band's American popularity. "Dragon Attack" is another funk/dance tune, and so is "Don't Try Suicide" (to a certain extent.) The rockabilly tune "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" was another major hit, once again proving the band's mastery of infinite musical styles. Then there's the title track...the first Queen song ever to feature a synthesizer. This, after all their early albums proudly proclaimed "NO SYNTHESIZERS USED" in the liner notes. And they really should have stuck to that promise, because that song STINKS!!

"Queen's Greatest Hits"

  1. "Bohemian Rhapsody" (5:52)
  2. "Another One Bites the Dust" (3:32)
  3. "Killer Queen" (2:59)
  4. "Fat Bottomed Girls" (3:21)
  5. "Bicycle Race" (2:59)
  6. "You're My Best Friend" (2:50)
  7. "Don't Stop Me Now" (3:29)
  8. "Save Me" (3:48)
  9. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" (2:41)
  10. "Somebody to Love" (4:53)
  11. "Now I'm Here" (4:12)
  12. "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy" (2:53)
  13. "Play the Game" (3:28)
  14. "Flash" (2:46)
  15. "Seven Seas of Rhye" (2:47)
  16. "We Will Rock You" (2:00)
  17. "We Are the Champions" (3:00)

This album was one of the VERY first crappy vinyl albums I ever bought, and also the first time I leared that the word "Queen" had any other meaning besides a female monarch or a type of honeybee. My father looked at the cover and said, "Is Queen gay?" (Hey, I was twelve years old at the time, and had a sheltered childhood to boot...) Of course, the idea of Freddie & company being baloney-pony smokers was a concept too bizarre to accept...weird thing is, I really never thought about it, it just kinda was something I accepted all the way up until Freddie's AIDS death. Weird how things turn out like that?

This particular CD is the UK version (in fact, I bought it in London) and therefore has a much different track list than the American crappy vinyl version. "Don't Stop Me Now", "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy", "Now I'm Here" and "Seven Seas of Rhye" are added, but it DOESN'T include their David Bowie collaboration, "Under Pressure"! I think the version of "Flash" is different as well. Of course, now I'm wondering why I should even keep this CD, since I have every other song on other CDs (except for the Flash Gordon soundtrack, which I really have no inclination to buy...) I figure I'll keep it as a collector's item, though.

"Hot Space"

  1. "Staying Power" (4:10)
  2. "Dancer" (3:46)
  3. "Back Chat" (4:31)
  4. "Body Language" (4:29)
  5. "Action This Day" (3:32)
  6. "Put Out the Fire" (3:18)
  7. "Life is Real (Song for Lennon)" (3:28)
  8. "Calling All Girls" (3:50)
  9. "Las Palabras de Amour (The Words of Love)" (4:26)
  10. "Cool Cat" (3:26)
  11. "Under Pressure"--with David Bowie (4:02)
  12. "Body Language"--1991 bonus remix (4:45)

Oh my...$8.99 for this piece of crap, simply to fill the last remaining hole in my collection. It's hard to believe Queen could put out something this BAD. (Of course, played next to The Miracle, this album sounds pretty damn good!) Let's see if we can salvage anything here..."Under Pressure", of course, is a mega-classic (although I do have about 30 other copies of it), "Body Language" is humorously sexy, and "Action this Day" & "Put Out the Fire" manage to rock sufficiently enough to be on par with Queen standards. "Staying Power" also has it's moments, I guess. The rest, without question, is purely unlistenable garbage. Period.

"Under Pressure" (3-inch CD single)

  1. "Under Pressure"--with David Bowie (4:06)
  2. "Soul Brother" (3:37)
  3. "Body Language" (4:32)

Some years ago, those itty-bitty 3-inch mini-CD singles became the rage...for about twenty seconds. :-) As a result, I wound up buying a bunch of them, including this one which has the unreleased track "Soul Brother", and the two best songs from their awful Hot Space album.

I remember one day when my sister heard "Under Pressure", and she said, "Isn't that a Vanilla Ice song?" I just HAD to slap her...

"The Works"

  1. "Radio Ga Ga" (5:49)
  2. "Tear it Up" (3:28)
  3. "It's a Hard Life" (4:08)
  4. "Man on the Prowl" (3:28)
  5. "Machines (or Back to Humans)" (5:10)
  6. "I Want to Break Free" (3:20)
  7. "Keep Passing the Open Windows" (5:21)
  8. "Hammer to Fall" (4:28)
  9. "Is This the World We Created...?" (2:13)
  10. "I Go Crazy" (3:42)
  11. "Radio Ga Ga"--extended version (6:50)
  12. "I Want to Break Free"--extended mix (7:12)

A pretty good album, with the exception of two songs..."It's a Hard Life" and "Man on the Prowl", which are blatant, shameless ripoffs of "Play the Game" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" respectively! But the rest of the music here is quite good..."Radio Ga Ga" is a new wave-ish hit that I'm sure you're all familiar with, "Machines" is a fantastic dance number (and even has shades of early industrial rock), "Keep Passing the Open Windows" is a superb road tune, and "Hammer to Fall", of course, is one of their BEST rock songs ever! Hard to believe that this was actually the beginning of the band's decline...

"I Want to Break Free" (3-inch CD single)

  1. "I Want to Break Free"--extended single version (4:23)
  2. "Machines (or Back to Humans)" (5:06)
  3. "It's a Hard Life" (4:08)

This version of "I Want to Break Free", identical to the video version, is the BEST mix of the song out there...the album version idiotically cuts out the instrumental bits in the intro and the bridge, and the "extended version"...well, we all know about remixes don't we??

"A Kind of Magic"

  1. "One Vision" (5:10)
  2. "A Kind of Magic" (4:24)
  3. "One Year of Love" (4:26)
  4. "Pain is So Close to Pleasure" (4:21)
  5. "Friends Will Be Friends" (4:07)
  6. "Who Wants to Live Forever?" (5:15)
  7. "Gimme the Prize (Kurgan's Theme)" (4:34)
  8. "Don't Lose Your Head" (4:37)
  9. "Princes of the Universe" (3:32)
  10. "A Kind of 'A Kind of Magic'" (3:36)
  11. "Friends Will Be Friends Will Be Friends" (5:57)
  12. "Forever"--instrumental (3:21)

This was the last DECENT album put out by Queen, and in fact it's basically a soundtrack to the movie Highlander, since every single song appears in that movie (except "One Vision", which was the theme song to Iron Eagle.) I sought out the CD version especially for the three bonus songs, which of course turned out to be pointless remixes ("Forever", a piano track ripped from "Who Wants to Live Forever?", is pretty good though.) I must say, the more recent versions of this CD have COMPLETELY DIFFERENT bonus tracks, so pardon me if I swagger a bit here. :-)

"A Kind of Magic" (3-inch CD single)

  1. "A Kind of Magic" (4:21)
  2. "A Dozen Red Roses for My Darling"--instrumental (4:43)
  3. "One Vision"--single version (4:01)

Yet another cheap 3-inch mini-CD, and did I mention how annoying it is to play these on a regular CD player?? They used to have "adapters" which fit the outside of the CD to make it a regular 5" size, but christ, you can't even FIND those anymore...

"Live at Wembley '86"

    disc one:
  1. "One Vision" (5:50)
  2. "Tie Your Mother Down" (3:52)
  3. "In the Lap of the Gods" (2:44)
  4. "Seven Seas of Rhye" (1:19)
  5. "Tear it Up" (2:12)
  6. "A Kind of Magic" (8:41)
  7. "Under Pressure" (3:41)
  8. "Another One Bites the Dust" (4:54)
  9. "Who Wants to Live Forever?" (5:16)
  10. "I Want to Break Free" (3:34)
  11. "Impromptu" (2:55)
  12. "Brighton Rock Solo"--guitar solo (9:11)
  13. "Now I'm Here" (6:19)
    disc two:
  1. "Love of My Life" (4:47)
  2. "Is This the World We Created?" (2:59)
  3. "(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care" (1:34)
  4. "Hello Mary Lou (Goodbye Heart)" (1:24)
  5. "Tutti Frutti" (3:23)
  6. "Gimme Some Lovin'" (0:55)
  7. "Bohemian Rhapsody" (5:50)
  8. "Hammer to Fall" (5:36)
  9. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" (6:27)
  10. "Big Spender" (1:07)
  11. "Radio Ga Ga" (5:57)
  12. "We Will Rock You" (2:46)
  13. "Friends Will Be Friends" (2:08)
  14. "We Are the Champions" (4:05)
  15. "God Save the Queen"--instrumental (1:27)

Fantastic live set recorded in 1986 at Wembley (well, duh!), which turned out to be Queen's final show before Freddie died. Originally, this show was released as a single crappy vinyl record called "Live Magic", with only half the songs; the full concert wasn't released until a couple years after Freddie's death. I've also got a bootleg cassette of a show on this tour from Mannheim, Germany, where Fish guested on vocals for the 60's rock tunes! Sadly, Fish does not appear here....

"The Miracle"

  1. "Party" (2:24)
  2. "Khashoggi's Ship" (2:48)
  3. "The Miracle" (5:02)
  4. "I Want it All" (4:40)
  5. "The Invisible Man" (3:56)
  6. "Breakthru" (4:07)
  7. "Rain Must Fall" (4:20)
  8. "Scandal" (4:42)
  9. "My Baby Does Me" (3:22)
  10. "Was It All Worth It" (5:45)
  11. "Hang on in There" (3:46)
  12. "Chinese Torture" (1:46)
  13. "The Invisible Man"--12" version (5:29)

Ooh, what else can I say but...YECHH!! BLECH!! BARF!! This album is TERRIBLE!! It SUCKS!! It's got to be the WORST PIECE OF CRAP ever recorded! So why do I even have it? Well...this is where you get an insight to how hopelessly obsessive I am. You see, for a long time, this CD (and their next one, Innuendo) were the ONLY Queen CD's I owned, since I had a complete crappy vinyl collection and the CDs were only available as imports (strange, that was.) Well, I really couldn't justify that the only representatives in my CD collection were their absolute WORST albums, so I sold both of 'em. Now, many years later, with my Queen collection more or less complete, I've let both of 'em slip back in. Does this sound like I need Prozac? (On second thought, don't answer that!) Well, in my defense, it only cost $4.99 to re-purchase this CD...which of course is about $5.99 more than what it's worth!!

"Innuendo"

  1. "Innuendo" (6:31)
  2. "I'm Going Slightly Mad" (4:22)
  3. "Headlong" (4:38)
  4. "I Can't Live Without You" (4:33)
  5. "Don't Try So Hard" (3:39)
  6. "Ride the Wild Wind" (4:42)
  7. "All God's People" (4:21)
  8. "These Are the Days of Our Lives" (4:15)
  9. "Delilah" (3:35)
  10. "The Hitman" (4:56)
  11. "Bijou" (3:36)
  12. "The Show Must Go On" (4:32)

This was the band's final album while Freddie was still alive (their posthumous release, Made in Heaven, isn't really an album IMHO.) I really shouldn't dog on it, because there are some songs here that are quite good. "Innuendo" and "I'm Going Slightly Mad" are two of the best, featuring a dreamy, psychedelic twinge that hasn't been present in their music for at least fifteen years..."Headlong" is also listenable, though shamelessly pop, and "The Show Must Go On" is a great paen that's also quite chilling when you realize it was the very last song made before Freddie croaked. As for the rest...well, it gives The Miracle a run for its money in some places! "The Hitman" is a fast-paced rocker, in fact one of the heaviest songs Queen has ever made, yet it falls flat for some reason I can't put my finger on. "Delilah", an ode to Freddie's cat, is just downright GAY (there, I said it again!) -- and I don't even wanna MENTION that pathetic, drippy, disgusting ballad, "These Are the Days of Our Lives"! It's songs like that that made me sell the CD in the first place...and also glad that Freddie kicked the bucket when he did, God only knows what hideous, sappy crapola they would have come up with!

"Made in Heaven"

  1. "It's a Beautiful Day" (2:32)
  2. "Made in Heaven" (5:26)
  3. "Let Me Live" (4:46)
  4. "Mother Love" (4:49)
  5. "My Life Has Been Saved" (3:15)
  6. "I Was Born to Love You" (4:50)
  7. "Heaven for Everyone" (5:36)
  8. "Too Much Love Will Kill You" (4:20)
  9. "You Don't Fool Me" (5:25)
  10. "A Winter's Tale" (3:49)
  11. "It's a Beautiful Day (reprise)" (3:06)
  12. --unnamed instrumental, unlisted (22:33)

Oh God, I spoke too soon. This album, released four years after Freddie's death, consists of songs made up from a bunch of vocal sessions Freddie recorded during the final months of life. A nice tribute, I'll admit, but goddammit they should have at least written decent MUSIC!! A couple tunes manage to rock enough to be interesting, but that's only because they're juxtaposed with such utter CRAP. At the very least, they could have released it as solo material instead of using the Queen moniker, in which case I could have ignored it completely. But noooo...

I do like that new-agey instrumental at the end, though. Real groovy to listen to while stoned. And I will say this...as sucky as the music is, Freddie's voice was strong right up until the end. Man, what a loss. Yeah, "Too Much Love Will Kill You", as the song says -- but then, a major Liza Minelli fixation doesn't help, either.

"Greatest Hits III"

  1. "The Show Must Go On"--live, Elton John vocals (4:35)
  2. "Under Pressure"--w/David Bowie, "rah mix" (4:08)
  3. "Barcelona"--Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballe (4:25)
  4. "Too Much Love Will Kill You" (4:18)
  5. "Somebody to Love"--live, George Michael vocals (5:07)
  6. "You Don't Fool Me" (5:22)
  7. "Heaven for Everyone" (4:37)
  8. "Las Palabras de Amour (The Words of Love)" (4:29)
  9. "Driven by You"--Brian May (4:09)
  10. "Living on My Own"--Freddie Mercury (3:37)
  11. "Let Me Live" (4:45)
  12. "The Great Pretender"--Freddie Mercury (3:26)
  13. "Princes of the Universe" (3:31)
  14. "Another One Bites the Dust"--remix, feat. Wyclef Jean (4:20)
  15. "No-one But You (Only the Good Die Young)" (4:11)
  16. "These Are the Days of Our Lives" (4:22)
  17. "Thank God It's Christmas" (4:19)

Ok, I bought this compilation for the three Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert songs from '92, solely to trigger my Bad Karma and cause the band to FINALLY release that full show on CD. Unfortunately, the attempt backfired, because only ONE of those songs ("Somebody to Love", which is actually one of the best songs from that show, despite George Michael singing it) comes from that concert -- "The Show Must Go On" is actually from another benefit concert in 1997, where Elton John sung all the vocals. (Man, how come I never heard of THAT show before?? Hey, Queen bootleggers!! Help me out here!) The Wyclef Jean version turns out to be some horrid, vomit-inducing remix; same goes for "Under Pressure", yuck! Thank God for "skip track" buttons! The other unreleased songs include a Brian May track (actually pretty good), and a shitload of songs from Freddie's solo career, all of which royally suck (except "The Great Pretender", which is so Broadway-cheesy that I actually get a kick out of listening to it.) There's also a brand new song, "No One But You", which presumably is an outtake from the Made in Heaven sessions. Oh...did I mention? Who the FUCK decided to add FOUR SONGS from that awful posthumous album?? What's the fucking POINT?? Yeah, I get it, Freddie was a saint and an AIDS martyr but for crying out loud, he's been dead for YEARS NOW, let's accept it and move on, okay? It also doesn't help that the other previously unreleased songs are also the most sappy, cheesy tunes from past albums ("Princes of the Universe" being an obvious exception); oh well, at least the old b-side "Thank God It's Christmas" is worthwhile. But STILL...ah, what do I care.



Farewell and godspeed, Freddie...
try not to suck any dick on your way up to heaven, ok?

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