A Kind Of Magic (EMI, 1986)
The Miracle (EMI, 1989)
Innuendo (Hollywood, 1991) The last five years of Queen as a band were way more successful with their audience than the twelve before; not with the critics because Queen never got along with the music press. But it seems that the lyrics of “Bohemian Rhapsody” worked as a fateful prophecy that applied to lead singer Freddie Mercury: a tragedy in which the fortunate man finds that there’s no life ahead, just a furious grim reaper approaching him at a tremendous speed. The speed of AIDS.
We don’t know the exact moment in which Freddie Mercury found out he carried the HIV virus. It could have been a little after the apotheosis of the A Kind Of Magic tour, in which we find Freddie in his best shape, form and relationship with the audience; specially the one at Wembley Stadium on July 12, 1986. After that tour, and after recording the Miracle album, Mercury announced that Queen didn't have any plans to go around the world promoting it.
The three records mentioned here, specially The Miracle, are way underestimated by the critics who thought Queen was repeating themselves each three years playing hymns for sold out stadiums, listening and admiring a singer who was a real showman, deeply in love with fame –not fortune- and the love of his audience, that invisible being that understood his troubles and tribulations everytime he hit the stage.
A Kind Of Magic was, besides yet another Queen record in the eighties, the second effort of recovery after that bad joke called Hot Space. It came also with a fantastic movie, Russel Mulcahy’s Highlander, and some songs from the album were used in the film, like “Don’t Lose Your Head” and “One Year Of Love.” The movie tells the story of a Scotsman who belongs to an immortal warrior race that’s been fighting between themselves since Middle Age, and has to choose between immortality and a limited-time life of love with his beloved woman. In the case of Mercury there was no room for choice, but a quick rush to grandeur with this album and the spectacular tour of ’86, ending on August 9 at Knebworth Park in London, Queen’s last performance as a quartet.
We don’t know the exact moment in which Freddie Mercury found out he carried the HIV virus. It could have been a little after the apotheosis of the A Kind Of Magic tour, in which we find Freddie in his best shape, form and relationship with the audience; specially the one at Wembley Stadium on July 12, 1986. After that tour, and after recording the Miracle album, Mercury announced that Queen didn't have any plans to go around the world promoting it.
The three records mentioned here, specially The Miracle, are way underestimated by the critics who thought Queen was repeating themselves each three years playing hymns for sold out stadiums, listening and admiring a singer who was a real showman, deeply in love with fame –not fortune- and the love of his audience, that invisible being that understood his troubles and tribulations everytime he hit the stage.
A Kind Of Magic was, besides yet another Queen record in the eighties, the second effort of recovery after that bad joke called Hot Space. It came also with a fantastic movie, Russel Mulcahy’s Highlander, and some songs from the album were used in the film, like “Don’t Lose Your Head” and “One Year Of Love.” The movie tells the story of a Scotsman who belongs to an immortal warrior race that’s been fighting between themselves since Middle Age, and has to choose between immortality and a limited-time life of love with his beloved woman. In the case of Mercury there was no room for choice, but a quick rush to grandeur with this album and the spectacular tour of ’86, ending on August 9 at Knebworth Park in London, Queen’s last performance as a quartet.
The Miracle tunes, had being played live, would have delighted the masses. “I Want It All” is so strong we can find it on Digital TV commercials. It has a certain fatalistic touch probably because Mercury already knew by that time he was sick and also Brian May was divorcing his second wife, British actress Anita Dobson. The irony of this record is that, no matter how much pain and sorrow they could sing of, people loved them unconditionally, posting them on the top of the charts. Same curse Cobain suffered until his suicide, but in the case of Queen, they suffered it with quiet desperation, the English way.
Innuendo, released on February 1991, has so many hidden messages about the Grim Reaper that by May rumors were flying on Mercury’s counted days. The first single, “Innuendo,” was an analysis on time spent in fame and a chant to keep fighting until the end for life itself. November arrived, Mercury announced he was an HIV carrier and he was dying and two days later he died, entering the pantheon of Rock and Roll Glory. As simple as that, he kept the secret for a considerable amount of time and his fatalism and anger went beyond his own tragedy: “This is just the tip of the Iceberg,” said Freddie two days before he died. Elton John and David Bowie might have been sweating cold. The keys for the announcement of his premature departure can be found in “Headlong” and “I’m Going Slightly Mad,” where the unavoidability of sudden death is present in almost all verses. For “The Show Must go On,” Freddie regrets being close to death, but he takes it holding his head high, ready to die with the make-up on, entertaining his audience. The fans couldn’t have been in more pain on the next day of his departure, but Freddie left this world leaving a very, very strong musical legacy, full of personality and syle.
*****
Los últimos cinco años de Queen como banda fueron mucho más exitosos con la audiencia que los anteriores; de más está decir con la crítica porque Queen nunca se llevó bien con la prensa. Pero pareciera que la letra de la canción "Bohemian Rhapsody" se le cumplía a su vocalista Freddy Mercury cual profecía: una tragedia en la cual el hombre afortunado de tener toda una vida por delante ve que no hay más que una muerte que viene que bufa.
No sabemos el momento exacto en el cual Freddy Mercury se entera que es portador del virus del SIDA. Pudo haber sido después de la apoteósica gira del A Kind Of Magic, en donde a Freddie se le ve en su mejor forma y relación con la audiencia, especialmente la del estadio de Wembley en aquel 12 de Julio del '86. Después de aquella gira, Mercury anuncia que Queen no tiene planes de seguir paseándose por el mundo con el álbum que grabarían después, The Miracle.
Los tres discos mencionados aquí, especialmente The Miracle, están muy subestimados por la crítica quienes consideraban que Queen se repetía a sí misma cada tres años tocando himnos para estadios en donde no cabía un alfiler de llenos que estaban, escuchando y admirando a un verdadero showman quien estaba enamorado perdidamente de la fama -no de la fortuna- y del cariño de su público, aquel ente invisible que entendía sus tribulaciones cada vez que salía al escenario.
A Kind Of Magic fue, aparte de un disco más de Queen en los ochenta, el segundo esfuerzo de la banda al recuperarse de aquella broma de mal gusto llamada Hot Space. Vino a la par con una película fantástica, Highlander de Russell Mulcahy, y algunas canciones se usaron en dicho filme, como "Don't Lose Your Head" y si no me equivoco, "One Year Of Love." La película cuenta la historia de un Escocés que pertenece a una raza de guerreros inmortales que ha estado luchando entre sí desde el Medioevo, y tiene que decidir entre la inmortalidad o la vida de tiempo limitado junto a su amada. En el caso de Mercury no iba a haber decisión, pero sí un apresuramiento a la grandeza con este disco y la espectacular gira del 86, que finalizaría el 9 de Agosto con el último concierto de Queen como cuarteto en Knebworth Park, Londres.
Las canciones del Miracle, de haber sido tocadas en vivo por Queen, hubieran encantado a las masas. "I Want It All" por ejemplo, es tan fuerte que se usa ahora en comerciales de TV digitales. Tienen un cierto toque fatalista porque al parecer por ese entonces Freddie ya sabía de su enfermedad y Brian May se estaba divorciando de su esposa, la actriz Anita Dobson. Lo irónico de este disco, al igual que los otros dos, es que por más drama y tristeza que ponían, la gente los adoraba colocándolos en el número uno de la mayoría de listas. Es la maldición que Kurt Cobain sufrió hacia el fin de su vida de la misma forma, pero en el caso de Mercury y Queen, la sufrían con desesperación calmada, al típico estilo Inglés.
Innuendo, aparecido en Febrero de 1991, tiene tantos mensajes escondidos refiriéndose a la Pelona que para Mayo ya corrían rumores de que Mercury tenía los días contados. El primer single, "Innuendo," era un análisis al tiempo pasado en medio de la fama, y la arenga a seguir luchando hasta el fin por la vida misma. Noviembre llegó, Mercury anunció al mundo que era portador del VIH y el 24 de Noviembre el SIDA lo mandó al panteón de la Gloria del Rock And Roll. Así de simple, mantuvo el secreto durante un tiempo considerable y su fatalismo fue más allá de su propia persona: "Esto es la punta del Iceberg," dijo dos días antes de morir. David Bowie y Elton John debieron haber estado sudando frío. Las claves están en "Headlong" y "I'm Going Slightly Mad", en donde la inevitabilidad de la muerte intempestiva está presente en casi todos los versos. Para "The Show Must Go On," Mercury se lamenta estar al borde de la muerte, pero lo toma con la frente en alto, dispuesto a morir con el maquillaje puesto. Sus fans no pudieron estar más adoloridos al día siguiente de su partida, pero él se fue dejando un legado musical muy fuerte, lleno de personalidad y estilo.
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