Queen: Innuendo - 1991

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Queen's last album released while the great Freddie Mercury walked the earth, was a solid affair, with many echoes of their heavy-ish rock albums of the mid-seventies. 

Innuendo is a lengthy, inventive, almost "prog-rock" in places number, with some excellent heavy bits plus a flamenco guitar part played by Yes's Steve Howe. There are also some bombastic, operatic parts. It is a song that changes mood and vibe many times throughout its nearly seven minutes. It is a superb piece of work, one of the band's last true classics. There are hints of Led Zeppelin's Kashmir in it, for me.

I'm Going Slightly Mad is an intoxicating, atmospheric Mercury song. It is a camp-ish, rather amusing typical Mercury ditty. Given the circumstances of the time, though, it always sounds very poignant to me. It has some excellent Brian May guitar in it, too (now there's a surprise).

Headlong is, as its title suggests, a breathless number. It is one May had written for himself but, upon hearing Mercury sing it, decided it was better as a Queen song. It is one of their finest later-era rockers. It is simultaneously heavy and poppy. The same applies to May's I Can't Live With You, another catchy, riffy rocker. It appears in a more guitar-dominated format on the Queen Rocks compilation. 

Don't Try So Hard is a Mercury piano and vocal ballad, plaintive and melodic. Ride The Wild Wind is one of Roger Taylor's better compositions - an upbeat, rhythmic number with some great guitar underpinning it. 

All God's People is a laid-back and melodic Mercury number that is ok but doesn't stick in the mind too much. Unlike the evocative, beautiful Mercury swansong - surprisingly written by Taylor - These Are The Days Of Our Lives. The video was heartbreaking. Even now I get sad listening to it. "I still love you" whispers Freddie at the end. Likewise. 

A lot of Queen fans pretty much disown Delilah, a quirky song Freddie wrote about one of his cats. As a cat-lover myself, I have always related to it. 

Fans will be delighted to hear Hitman next, though, with is powerful chunky riffs. There is a copper-bottomed May guitar solo on it too. Bijou begins with some excellent guitar then Mercury sings a floaty verse before it ends with more sumptuous guitar. It is really a track that is all about Brian May's guitar parts. 

The Show Must Go On is a bombastic stadium-pleaser to end the album. It has actually never been one of my favourites, although I can understand its appeal. It is a bit too melodramatic for my liking. Mind you, get a load of Brian's guitar at the song's climax.

Overall, this album has a bit of a feel of the posthumous Made In Heaven about it. Apparently a lot of it was recorded in different bits and then put together, largely due to Mercury's ever-declining health. as good as it is in places, you can sort of tell. As a fulfilled album, I prefer The Miracle.

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