Published on Oct 28, 2004
Listening to
Innuendo conjures up bittersweet feelings; on the one hand,
you have one of Queen’s best albums in recent memory. On the other,
you are listening to the last album Queen recorded with their
flamboyant and talented front man, Freddie Mercury. Regardless of
how you want to view Innuendo, it’s a work that exhibits the best
and worst of Queen, even with the presence of Mercury hovering over
it.
Queen started out primarily as a glam rock/punk band, but they
were serious musicians from the get-go. The band was gifted in that
they had the ability to craft bombastic and humorous material that
was taken rather seriously. “Killer Queen,” “Fat Bottomed Girls,”
“Bicycle Race,” and ” Somebody to Love,” are all prime examples.
And of course, everyone that knows classic rock knows every word to
“Bohemian Rhapsody,” the song some call the greatest of all time.
However in the 80s, the band’s sound shifted in much more of a pop
direction, and their success in America dwindled.
Innuendo would only peak at #30, but it would be the closest
thing to classic Queen since the 1970s.
If there was one thing Queen was extremely good at, it was
creating epic songs like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and “The Prophet’s
Song.”
Innuendo kicks off with a song in that same vein, the title
track. It shifts through various styles and tempos, moving from
hard rock to a flamenco inspired guitar solo to power ballad. It
immediately harkens back to the glory days of old, and is an
inspired way to begin the album.
If you want some of the hard-rocking Queen of old,
Innuendo will not disappoint. “Headlong” and “The Hit Man”
are full blown, hard-hitting numbers delivered in the classic
over-the-top Queen style. Brain May has always been an underrated
guitarist in my mind, and he shows off his chops here. When the
band put their mind to writing these kinds of songs, they could
always be counted on to deliver.
Unfortunately, not all of the material on
Innuendo works. There is a return to the 80s Queen style,
which is nowhere near as creative as the 70s output. “I’m Going
Slightly Mad” shows potential, but fails to capture the spirit of
the lyrics. “Delilah” features some decent vocal work, but relies
too heavily on the synthesizers Queen once refused to embrace. I
really wanted to like “I Can’t Live With You,” but the song falls
just short of taking off. It has a great beat and features some
scat vocals from Mercury, but it what it does not have is a
memorable refrain, which it desperately needs. These songs suck the
momentum out of
Innuendo, diminishing what the album could have been.
There is one song that stands heads and shoulders above the
others. That song is “the Show Must Go On.” It is the last track on
Innuendo, and is the most powerful and emotional. Lyrically,
it tugs at the heartstrings, describing a rock star breaking down,
yet continuing to fight. With these words coming from Freddie
Mercury, you have one of the most touching vocal performances of
the 1990s. The song is laden with synthesizers, which lends it an
operatic feel. One gets the sense of a struggle that rises above
the day-to-day rat race. I cannot think of a better song to end the
legacy of Freddie Mercury.
1995 saw the release of
Made In Heaven, an album that consists of demos and
unreleased Freddie tracks the three other members of Queen
completed. Technically, that is the last Queen album, but Innuendo
is the “real” end for Queen. Mercury is considered a rock god
today, and deserves every bit of the praise. He was one of the
greatest front men in rock history, and Innuendo is a fitting
testament to his skills; a proper end to the show.