Queen
A Kind Of Magic

THE REVIEW

I know most of you will criticize me over this review for reasons you are well aware of, but the fact is that since Queen is my fourth favorite rock band (after Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and The Beatles), I certainly couldn't skip reviewing one of their works, and one of my absolute favorites.

This "A Kind Of Magic" is mainly known as the soundtrack of the movie "Highlander: The Last Immortal" featuring Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, and Clancy Brown (for those who haven't seen it, I recommend taking a look). The songs on this album are each more beautiful than the last: full of romantic ballads but above all, pure hard rock songs, brimming with adrenaline, fierce and, over the years, have become cult songs and unforgettable masterpieces. Among these hard rock gems, we recall the spectacular and elegant "One Vision," with a spine-tingling introduction and a simple yet effective guitar riff: throughout the song, the listener is enveloped by an energy that only Queen can unleash. It is followed by "A Kind Of Magic," written by Freddy Mercury and arranged by Roger Taylor, very catchy and much loved by the audience. "One Year Of Love" is a beautiful ballad with a delightful sax solo: Freddy's voice is warm and enchanting from the first to the last note. "Pain In So Close To Pleasure," written by John Deacon, has good lyrics and a nice rhythmic base, although after a few minutes it becomes too monotonous, but overall it is more than good. "Friends Will Be Friends" is one of the symbolic songs of Queen in the Eighties, which has become a cult especially in live performances, always highly requested and much loved. Next is "Who Wants To Live Forever," an immortal masterpiece with beautiful violin and guitar melodies, perhaps the most beautiful and grandiose of the album, more thrilling than ever; it's incredible to think that Brian May wrote it in a few minutes while on a taxi to the airport. The lyrics are a masterpiece, as is Freddy's voice, which reaches its peak here. "Gimme The Prize" is a tasty hard rock song with metal hints, rich in sound effects of swords and screams, probably from the movie's antagonist, the Kurgan. "Don't Lose Your Head" is a successful experiment between hard rock and electronic music: nice even though, along with the previous one, it is one of the songs less up to par on the album.

The album ends with "Princes Of The Universe," another great masterpiece rich in excellent changes that combine perfectly. Energetic, sublime, where this time Brian May gives his best with his hypnotic guitar riffs: an explosive charge that ends the album in a spectacular and epic way ("Here we are, born to be kings..."). In contrast, it may not reach the heights of the early Seventies Queen, like "A Night At The Opera" or "Sheer Heart Attack," but it is nonetheless a good work full of gems that have turned Queen into one of the greatest rock bands of all time.