Queen - Innuendo
Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today, I will be reviewing Queen's second to last album, Innuendo. This would also be the last album the band released whilst the legend himself, Freddie Mercury, was still alive. The album was released in February 1991, and only 9 months later, Freddie would die of AIDS-derived pneumonia. But let's try not to sadden ourselves here, you've come hear to read my review of the album, so let's jump straight in.
As powerful drums and loud organ chords greet us, we open on the title track. Freddie describes the world, as a powerful instrumental booms behind him. This first section of the song is probably the band's most anthemic song. But it quiets down, as echoey vocals gentle sing over soft guitar plucks. Then suddenly, a flamenco melody performed by guitarist of legendary prog rock band, Yes, Mr. Steve Howe plays. The transition is so sudden, yet it works incredibly well. Then, just like in Bohemiam Rhapsody, an operatic section encourages us to be ourselves, followed by an epic hard rock guitar solo by Mr. Brian May. We then return to the anthemic section from the beginning of the track. Slowly, we close this masterpiece of a song, which in my opinion, is better than Bohemiam Rhapsody.
In contrast, we have I'm Going Slightly Mad, a slow, psychedelic-like rock song, with choir synth chords, and dreamy effects on Freddie's vocals. This track describes the vocalist's state at the time. Another wonderful song.
And then, we return to the hard rock with Headlong. It does have a bit more of a "pop-py" feel, but the guitar work on this song is just incredible, and the vocals from Freddie are amazing. We also find a guitar solo reminiscent of Brighton Rock with a crunchy sound to it, creating an incredible song.
I Can't Live With You is in the same vein as Headlong, but with a bit more of ballad feel to it. The mid-tempo beat creates a different vibe.
Don't Try So Hard opens as a mainly synth driven song, with a very gentle and soft sound. Towards the middle, we hear as the song starts to pick up in pace, afterwards bringing in a guitar, and a solo, with these undermining synth chords, that create a hopeful feel to this song.
Ride The Wild Wind is a bit more of a quieter song, with a running bassline, pounding drums and a crunchy guitar sound. I also have to point out the panning on this album. Many things on here are panned to left and right ear everywhere.
All God's People brings in a bit of a different sound, with some more synth chords and echoey vocals, and whilst Queen has always been rather radio-friendly, this is a bit too radio-friendly for my liking.
These Are The Days Of Our Lives is another softer song, with mainly synth driven instrumentation, with a guitar here and there. Also, almost every drum beat is panned to the left and right ear, one after another.
Delilah is another too radio-friendly song for me. It also does not sound like anything from the band. It sounds like a cheap synthpop song.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have probably the hardest hitting song the album in, The Hitman. Loud, bombastic guitars, pounding drums and amazing vocals from Freddie.
Bijou opens with a high pitched guitar notes, leading one to believe that it would be another hard rock song, but no. It's an almost entirely instrumental song, with a hopeful guitar melody, backed by serene synth chords.
And finally, we closes on The Show Must Go On. We all already know this song, it's anthemic, it's grand, it's Queen.
So, this album is a return to the band's origins. Loud, energetic hard rock, but with a few tricks they learned across their time on the world stage. An incredible end to this band's rollercoaster of a discograph- oh wait... there's another album we must go over... oh...
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