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	==Reviews==		==Reviews==
-	'''The Orange County Register, 1991'''	+	'''St. Petersburg Times , 1991'''
-	If nothing succeeds like excess, then Queen, the British group for whom pomp and circumstance are as vital as air and water, is one of the most successful bands ever.	+	Combining driving hard rock with elaborate vocal arrangements and intricate song structures was Queen's trademark in the '70s. The group was labeled pretentious and pompous but sold millions of records until the '80s when Queen's creativity seemed to dry up.
-	The band's big mid-'70s hit "Bohemian Rhapsody," an orgy of overdubs and overkill undergirding singer Freddie Mercury's light-operatic pretensions, could be taken as a celebration of bombast or campy send-up of progressive rock's pseudo-classical posturings.	+	With Innuendo, the band's 12th studio album, Queen attempts to reacquaint itself with record buyers. Most of the songs have a '90s feel while maintaining that distinctive sound. I Can't Live With You, with its blaring four-part harmonies, could be an out-take from the classic album Jazz, but it still sounds fresh.
-	To the quartet's credit, it didn't keep recycling the same ideas. Queen tried its hand at dance music ("Another One Bites the Dust," in which the band royally ripped off Chic in the process), rockabilly ("Crazy Little Thing Called Love") and hard rock anthems ("We Will Rock You").	+	Singer Freddie Mercury has toned down the annoying vocal gymnastics. Brian May's flamboyant guitar sound is now meshed with keyboard arrangements (synthesizers once were taboo with Queen) and gives the songs more depth.
-	But with Mercury's vampish theatricality and Brian May's alternately orchestral and metal guitar style, Queen was always, well, Queen.	+	'''Additional Reviews'''
-		+	* [http://www.queenarchives.com/viewtopic.php?t=445 The Orange County Register ]
-	Although Queen was dethroned in terms of US popularity in the '80s, the group is still regarded as royalty overseas. The band was a smash at the 1985 Live-Aid show and the title track to its 1986 "A Kind of Magic" album went to No. 1 in 35 countries. In Sao Paolo, Brazil, the group played to the largest crowd ever gathered (250,000) for one band. In addition, Queen made the first full-length concert film to premiere in Eastern Europe.	+	* [http://www.queenarchives.com/viewtopic.php?t=475 The Times]
-		+	* [http://www.queenarchives.com/viewtopic.php?t=444 The Orlando Sentinel]
-	With such a track record, it's no mystery why Disney's new record arm, Hollywood Records, went after Queen as its first big-name signing. On "Innuendo" (in stores Tuesday), Queen dispenses with any stylistic variations or flirtations with dance music and offers its basic sound: lots of Mercury vocal leaps, fuzzed-out May guitar, choral overdubs and a sense of orchestral importance mixed with straightforward hard rock.	+	* [http://www.queenarchives.com/viewtopic.php?t=446 The Cincinnati Post]
-		+	* [http://www.queenarchives.com/viewtopic.php?t=448 LA Times]
-	Queen is best when it gives in to its campier instincts, whether it's Mercury meowing a love song to his cat ("Delilah"), wallowing in Broadway-bound dementia in "Slightly Mad" (an unofficial follow-up to Stephen Sondheim's "Losing My Mind") or May tossing off a nimble, flamenco-style guitar solo in the middle of the title track, a song with a touch of the old "Bohemian" bombast.	+	* [http://www.queenarchives.com/viewtopic.php?t=449 Dallas Morning News]
-		+
-	In true showbiz fashion, Mercury even offers a nod to the old Judy Garland-Mickey Rooney spirit in the over-the-top "The Show Must Go On." When he sings, "Inside my heart is breaking, my makeup may be flaking, but my smile still stays on," he can be envisioned preening in front of his vanity mirror before taking the stage.	+
-		+
-	Unfortunately, too much of "Innuendo" is given over to would-be arena roof-raisers such as "Headlong," "I Can't Live With You" and "Hitman," all ordinary rockers.	+
-		+
-	"Innuendo" is a mixed bag, but it's precisely the weaker, least quirky songs that will ensure Queen gets radio airplay. Queen is a figurehead these days -- its brand of progressive rock is hardly progressive anymore -- but it looks as if it will clamber back on the album-rock radio throne.	+

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Revision as of 14:09, 24 April 2007

History of this album.

Vinyl version Side 1 01. Innuendo (Queen) - 6:31 02. I'm Going Slightly Mad (Queen) - 4:06 03. Headlong (Queen) - 4:30 04. I Can't Live With You (Queen) - 4:05 05. Ride The Wild Wind (Queen) - 4:42 Side 2 01. All God's People (Queen/Moran) - 3:55 02. These Are The Days Of Our Lives (Queen) - 3:55 03. Delilah (Queen) - 3:35 04. Don't Try So Hard (Queen) - 3:33 05. The Hitman (Queen) - 3:43 06. Bijou (Queen) - 1:19 07. The Show Must Go On (Queen) - 4:27

CD version 01. Innuendo (Queen) - 6:31 02. I'm Going Slightly Mad (Queen) - 4:22 03. Headlong (Queen) - 4:38 04. I Can't Live With You (Queen) - 4:33 05. Don't Try So Hard (Queen) - 3:39 06. Ride The Wild Wind (Queen) - 4:42 07. All God's People (Queen/Moran) - 4:21 08. These Are The Days Of Our Lives (Queen) - 4:15 09. Delilah (Queen) - 3:35 10. The Hitman (Queen) - 4:56 11. Bijou (Queen) - 3:36 12. The Show Must Go On (Queen) - 4:32

Credits

• Musicians:

Freddie Mercury - vocals, keyboards

Brian May - guitars, keyboards, harmonies, vocals

Roger Taylor - drums, percussion, keyboards, harmonies, vocals

John Deacon - bass guitar, keyboards

Mike Moran - keyboards on All God's People

Steve Howe - additional wandering minstrel Spanish guitar - Somewhere In The Middle - on Innuendo

David Richards - computer programming

• Produced by: Queen and David Richards.

• Recorded: March 1989 - November 1990 at Metropolis Studios, London, and Mountain Studios, Montreux.

Charts

• #1 (UK), #30 (US).

Liner notes

• Liner notes.

Additional info

• Info

Reviews

St. Petersburg Times , 1991

Combining driving hard rock with elaborate vocal arrangements and intricate song structures was Queen's trademark in the '70s. The group was labeled pretentious and pompous but sold millions of records until the '80s when Queen's creativity seemed to dry up.

With Innuendo, the band's 12th studio album, Queen attempts to reacquaint itself with record buyers. Most of the songs have a '90s feel while maintaining that distinctive sound. I Can't Live With You, with its blaring four-part harmonies, could be an out-take from the classic album Jazz, but it still sounds fresh.

Singer Freddie Mercury has toned down the annoying vocal gymnastics. Brian May's flamboyant guitar sound is now meshed with keyboard arrangements (synthesizers once were taboo with Queen) and gives the songs more depth.

Additional Reviews

• The Orange County Register
• The Times
• The Orlando Sentinel
• The Cincinnati Post
• LA Times
• Dallas Morning News