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Rating: When in 1995 I saw the video for "Heaven For Everyone" by Queen on TV, I said to myself: "where did this come from?" Like others my age, I had gotten into Queen too late, due to the uproar generated by Freddie Mercury's passing. I had become a fervent fan, a kind of obsessive maniac, even dressing up for carnival. From an emotional point of view, I took the release of Made In Heaven as an immense and unexpected gift, and listening to it gave me magnificent emotions. It didn't seem real to me.
Nine years later it remains one of my favorites, but naturally, maturity has also allowed me to see the less happy sides of this CD.
First of all, it is clearly a cunning commercial operation: taking advantage of the still strong emotional wave of Freddie's death, the remaining Queen members use the very latest recordings of the late artist to assemble an album full of pathos. A success, a frenzy for Freddie's orphaned fans, excellent money in already swollen pockets.
Having analyzed the most base characteristic of the work, let’s analyze the artistic and musical side, perhaps the most interesting.
A fan like me or any attentive listener cannot help but notice that Freddie's voice is enormously different from track to track. Once again denying the myth of a computer-recreated voice, let's unveil the mystery.
"Made In Heaven" and "I Was Born To Love You" can be found on Freddie's 1985 solo album, Mr. Bad Guy.
"It's a Beautiful Day" and "Let Me Live" are probably vocal fragments from unfinished or half-done songs by Freddie, dating between 1985 and 1989.
"Heaven For Everyone" is a song by Roger Taylor sung and released by him on his parallel band THE CROSS's album. In 1986 Freddie had recorded it and it was supposed to be on A Kind Of Magic, but then it was discarded.
The same goes for "Too Much Love Will Kill You", which was supposed to be on The Miracle with Freddie's vocal, but it was excluded and sung by Brian May in his album Back To The Light.
"My Life Has Been Saved" also belongs to the period of The Miracle (1989), a b-side of one of the album's singles.
The only songs actually recorded by Freddie specifically for this album are "A Winter's Tale", "Mother Love", and "You Don't Fool Me".
Recorded in Montreux studios in 1991, a few months before his death, these are the true last efforts of a dying Freddie. The singer would detach himself from IV drips to record these tracks because he wanted to leave as much as possible on tape, he wanted to say goodbye to life and his fans in this way.
For this reason, one can say that it is an album strongly desired by Freddie and perhaps justifies the actions of the remaining Queen members, bound to the singer by a firm pact. The singing in these three songs can be immediately traced back to 1991; the voice, sharp and cutting, is the same shown in the last album Innuendo.
The vocal performance wouldn't seem like that of a man on his deathbed, because it is full of personality and charm. In "Mother Love" the highest point is reached, and I don't deny getting a chill down my spine every time I listen to it (if you don’t want to listen to the whole album, at least hear this track).
It must be admitted that the continuous reference to heaven, to the fact that Freddie is dead, starting from the title of the work (it's like a stamp on the cover) and other songs ("Heaven For Everyone", "My Life Has Been Saved") is at times embarrassing and a bit morbid. However, it is in line with the pompous and exaggerated style of Queen, and their embodying a spirit of pure entertainment.
That said, this album cannot be denied its charm; excellent from a musical point of view and with a well-conceived track list and selection. The voice and memory of Freddie do the rest; his immortal spirit powerfully lives again through his last and old works, unexpectedly delivering to history one of the greatest singers and showmen in the history of music.
Thank you Freddie... IT'S BLISS
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
07 Heaven for Everyone (05:36)
This could be heaven
This could be heaven
This could be heaven for everyone
In these days of cool reflection
You come to me and everything seems alright
In these days of cold affections
You sit by me - and everything's fine
This could be heave for everyone
This world could be fed, this world could be fun
This could be heaven for everyone
This world could be free, this world could be one
In this world of cool deception
Just your smile can smooth my ride
These troubled days of cruel rejection, hmm
You come to me, soothe my troubled mind
Yeah, this could be heave for everyone
This world could be fed, this world could be fun
This should be love for everyone,
This world should be free, this world could be one
We should bring love to our daughters and sons
Love, love, love, this could be heaven for everyone
You know that
This could be heave for everyone
This could be heave for everyone
Listen - what people do to other souls
They take their lives - destroy their goals
Their basic pride and dignity
Is stripped and torn and shown no pity
When this should be heaven for everyone
09 You Don't Fool Me (05:24)
Words and music by Queen
You don't fool me
You don't fool me...
Da, da da da dah
Da da da dah
Da da dah...
You don't fool me - those pretty eyes
That sexy smile - you don't fool me
You don't rule me - you're no surprise
You're telling lies - you don't fool me
Mmm, mama said be careful of that girl
Mama said you know that she's no good
Mama said be cool, don't you be no fool
Yup bup ba ba ba ba da da da dah!
You don't fool me
You don't fool me, you don't fool me
She'll take you
You don't fool me, and break you
You don't rule me, you don't fool me
You don't fool me, she'll take you
You don't fool me, and break you
Sooner or later you'll be playing by her rules
Baby you don't fool me, yeah
You don't fool me, you don't have to say 'don't mind'
You don't have to teach me things I know
Sooner or later you'll be playing by her rules
Oh, (fool you) oh, (rule you) she'll take you (take you)
And break you (break you)
Yeah
Mama said be cool
Mama said she'll take you for a fool
She'll take you, and break you
Ba ba ba ba bap bap ba baah
La la la la la lah
You don't fool me
You don't fool me...
10 A Winter's Tale (03:49)
It's Winter-fall
Red skies are gleaming, oh
Sea-gulls are flyin' over
Swans are floatin' by
Smoking chimney-tops
Am I dreaming
Am I dreaming?
The nights draw in
There's a silky moon up in the sky, yeah
Children are fantasizing
Grown-ups are standin' by
What a super feeling
Am I dreaming
Am I dreaming?
Woh woh woh woh
(Dreaming) So quiet and peaceful
(Dreaming) Tranquil and blissful
(Dreaming) There's a kind of magic in the air
(Dreaming) What a truly magnificient view
(Dreaming) A breathtaking scene
With the dreams of the world in the palm of your hand
(Dreaming) A cosy fireside chat
(Dreaming) A little this, a little that
(Dreaming) Sound of merry laughter skippin' by
(Dreaming) Gentle rain beatin' on my face
(Dreaming) What a extraordinary place
And the dream of the child is the hope of the hope of the man
It's all so beautiful
Like a landscape painting in the sky, yeah
Mountains are zooming higher, mmm
Little doves scream and cry
My world is spinning and spinning and spinning
It's unbelievable
Sends me reeling
Am I dreaming
Am I dreaming
Oooh it's bliss
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Other reviews
By claudio1
MADE IN HEAVEN... is a worthy conclusion to the story of Queen!
I like to believe that Heaven For Everyone and Too Much Love Will Kill You are two gift-tributes from Roger and Brian to Freddie.
By Josh
“The sun is shining, and no one can stop me” takes on a courageous and moving connotation.
One perceives the heartrending communicative necessity of one of the greatest musicians of the century.
By Old King Cole
These clever guys thought it wise to mix everything together and create a new album, passing off the songs (sung by Mercury) contained within it as new.
For a band whose strength lies thus in live performances, what sense does it make to release an album that can never be brought onto a stage, as it is 'sung by a DEAD person'?! Well, the answer is so simple… Money, money, money!
By andrew1992
"Made In Heaven is certainly an album full of pathos; not so much for the tracks but more so for the period that both the fans and the band were experiencing."
Freddie had an ambition: to create a universal art that united music with the art and magic of theater, and he did not want death to destroy his desire.
By Frenk
This album cannot and must not be interpreted as an album... This is a goodbye, this is a 'hey people, this is us, we are Queen, this was Freddie.'
'Mother Love... The most emotional moment... a spine-chilling solo, completely clean, there is nostalgia, pathos, suffering, fear, the end.'
