Published on Jul 2, 1997
Goddammit, I
hate
moving! Living out of boxes is bad enough, as is the
re-arranging of the Thelen living quarters.
(Editor’s note: Yeah, that’s why I’ve moved again since this
review ran.) The Pierce Memorial Archives is in complete
shambles – either that, or I’ve developed an incredibly complex
categorizing system – and the decent stereo is still in pieces.
So, I’m left to listening to tapes and CDs for a short time. Not
knowing what box contains what, I went to the first box and grabbed
the first thing that looked interesting. Lo and behold, it was
Queen, who last graced these pages way back in January.
But the first two times I tried re-listening to their 1986
release
A Kind Of Magic, I ended up falling asleep midway through
the first side. I attributed this to exhaustion from the move. But
now that I’ve actually plowed through the album, I realized that
the point I fell asleep was the exact point the album went
ashcan.
The album serves as Queen’s first foray back into film
soundtrack music since their debacle with
Flash Gordon five years previous (and yes, I will eventually
re-listen to that one… hell, I may even rent the film), with a
song featured in
Iron Eagle and other songs from
Highlander. I am embarassed to admit I don’t know which were
in the latter, as I have never seen
Highlander, nor do I have a desire to see it. Sorry – just
not my taste in film.
The cut from
Iron Eagle – “One Vision” – opens the album, and
re-solidifies Queen’s power as a rock band. Freddie Mercury has
rarely been in such good vocal form, while Brian May’s crunching
guitar work provides a solid backdrop to the tune. (Of course I
haven’t forgotten about Roger Taylor’s drum work and John Deacon’s
bass lines.) “One Vision” reaffirmed that Queen knew how to go
balls-out – especially after “Radio Ga Ga” had seemingly turned
them into an “electronic” band.
The title track is a shade weaker, but is still a decent number
that gives May another chance to show off his chops, albeit more
subdued. The song seems to fit better on the greatest hits package
that came out in the wake of Mercury’s death in 1992, but still
shows why it fits in with this particular style of Queen music.
Sadly, the only other bright spot on
A Kind Of Magic is the hauntingly beautiful “Who Wants To
Live Forever,” a song which, frankly, scares the shit out of me.
The sparse arrangements on this number tend to remind the listener
of their own mortality, a thought which I prefer not to think
about. It also seems errie that Mercury would be singing about
death – could he have possibly known back then that he was
HIV-positive? I believe this was one of the songs from
Highlander, a movie that features a character who does live
forever – again, I haven’t seen the film, so I am not positive. And
while this track fits the storyline, after Mercury died, it almost
seemed prophetic.
The remainder of
A Kind Of Magic flounders around looking for a style to call
its own. “One Year Of Love” fails to take off, while “Pain Is So
Close To Pleasure” is not one of Queen’s better quirky songs – and
has another title which is quite approprite, ’cause this one is
painful to listen to.
The whole second side – barring “Who Wants To Live Forever” –
also falls under the weight, seemingly made up mostly of
Highlander songs, such as “Gimme The Prize (Kurgan’s Theme)”
(can we
please stop using sound bites from the movie? Didn’t we
learn
anything from the
Flash Gordon soundtrack?) and “Princes Of The Universe,” a
song which seems to be reaching towards the bombastic old days of
Queen. Too bad it doesn’t succeed – it could have been a great
track.
I know I have an outdated copy of
A Kind Of Magic – it was remixed and rereleased with a bonus
track by Hollywood Records – but I don’t think much more could be
done with this album. It has some great moments, but is just
mediocre compared to other albums in Queen’s catalog. Besides, the
three great tracks are on the greatest hits packages.
A Kind Of Magic is one that qualifies as a “diehard fans
only” release.