Queen
A Kind Of Magic

THE REVIEW

It's difficult to review an album like this; some (myself included) consider it the greatest work of the queen, while others downgrade it and place it behind works like "A Night At The Opera" and "The Game." The fact remains that out of 9 tracks, 7 became hit singles.

The album stayed on the UK chart for 63 weeks and was released in 1986, produced for EMI and Hollywood Records by Queen and the Richards brothers (Mack and Dave); it was the soundtrack of the film Highlander. But now let's begin to review the tracks of this very valid work.

"One Vision": Released as a single in November 1985 and later included in the album "A Kind Of Magic," it was the opening song of the Queen's Magic Tour. The song starts with distorted voices (some say they contain subliminal messages, but that's all false) and then gives way to a true hard rock track, a valid song even if it becomes a bit boring after a while.

"A Kind Of Magic": A very catchy song, with truly splendid work by John Deacon, whose bass plays very cheerful and catchy riffs. The chorus gets stuck in your head after the first listen. Written by Taylor, it succeeded in 35 different nations.

"One Year Of Love": This is one of my favorite songs; it's a sad and melancholic ballad by Deacon with really beautiful lyrics. Furthermore, this track is very innovative because it is the first by Queen to have a saxophone playing a truly charming melody. For me, it remains one of the best ballads of all time.

"Pain Is So Close To Pleasure": Ranked 26th in the Netherlands, it's not one of Queen's biggest hits, although it's very sweet and carefree. Freddie showcases his vocal abilities particularly well in this track. The song is very relaxing and easy, definitely not lowering the album's quality.

"Friends Will Be Friends": This is the "We Are The Champions" of the '80s, although it will never reach the success of the latter. This track seems designed to pack stadiums and get them singing; the guitar intro of this song is truly fantastic, as is Freddie's performance.

"Who Wants To Live Forever": I still can't understand how Brian May composed such a masterpiece in five minutes while in the car. This is a MASTERPIECE!!!!! The song addresses existential issues with a somewhat pessimistic tone (Nobel Prize-worthy lyrics). The Philharmonic Orchestra provides a wonderful melodic background, and Freddie Mercury's voice hits very high notes; it's undoubtedly one of the most beautiful musical pieces in the history of music.

"Gimme The Prize": Certainly the hardest track by Queen, it's very tough, particularly fast, and powerful is the guitar intro, which I believe is the best in Queen's entire career (though the intro of "I Want It All" is also very worthy). Queen shows they know their way around Hard'n'Heavy, as they demonstrated with subsequent hits like "Princes Of The Universe."

"Don't Lose Your Head": This track is very peculiar; you can indeed feel pop, disco, and hard influences. I know these genres don't quite fit together, but this song is very unique and well-executed, although perhaps it is inferior to all the other tracks.

"Princes Of The Universe": What to say, there are no adjectives to classify this song as a 10 with honors. Freddie sings incredibly, Brian delivers incredible solos, and John and Roger show they know how to handle themselves very well in the Hard'n'Heavy realm. This is the best track of the whole album and deserves a lot; a real cherry on top of an excellent work like "A Kind Of Magic."

This is definitely an excellent album with very solid tracks that I would recommend to everyone. The Queen is absolutely grand. In the name of Hard'n'Heavy, Axl salutes you. HOLLA HOLLA HOLLA!!!!!!