Review Summary: Freddie Mercury's swan-song album features the lead vocalist at the absolute height of his abilities, resulting in arguably Queen's finest record.
Oftentimes the legacies of bands are determined by the quality of material they put out during the middle of their career. It's rare that a band actually is able to go the extra mile and put out career-defining material near the end of their existence, let alone at the very end. Certainly Queen is not a band that would come immediately to one's mind when thinking of bands that could accomplish such a feat; much of their commercially successful work took place during the mid-late 70's and early 80's, and even most diehard fans of the band would begrudgingly admit that their 80's albums were rather inconsistent. It's not that their records from that era contained awful music necessarily, but something seemed lacking from many of those albums. They seem rather uninspired and more a product of their era rather than any sort of grand statement put out by the band members. 1989's
The Miracle was certainly a step in the right direction by all accounts, with lead singer Freddie Mercury discreetly referencing his recent AIDS diagnosis on songs such as "Was It All Worth It", but something was still missing. The passion Mercury demonstrated in that song needed to be spread throughout the entire record to make it *really* resonate emotionally.
Enter 1991's
Innuendo, a record emblazoned with that exact passion throughout its entire 53 minute run-time. Recorded during the very height of Mercury's illness, the band was well-aware throughout the year-and-a-half spent creating it that their time was extremely short, and Freddie's talents needed to be used as much as possible before they were lost for good. A melodramatic description? Perhaps, but if you read any interview with the members or watch any documentary about Queen, you'll realize that this was their exact mentality throughout this record and the short-lived sessions for what would become their final record, 1995's
Made in Heaven. Time was of the essence if Mercury wanted to leave one last mark upon the world before his death.
And yet Mercury doesn't shy away from his illness whatsoever on this record; even if his diagnosis wasn't to become public knowledge until November 23, 1991 (the lead singer would pass on just one day afterwards), it's discussed in no shortage of songs on here. The track "I'm Going Slightly Mad" is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the bouts of dementia Freddie periodically suffered from (a common side-effect of AIDS). With lyrics ever-increasing in absurdity (some personal favorites: "I'm knitting with only one needle", "I think I'm a banana tree"), it gives the record a real sense of comedy. And it's not the only light-hearted number on here: the track "Delilah" is a playful tribute to one of Mercury's pet cats, while its follow-up "The Hitman" is an unabashed hard-rocker that has no shame in delivering some of the most playfully stupid lyrics in the band's catalog. Even the production doesn't seem foreboding in any way. While I'm not a fan of how far down the bass is mixed, it allows the higher frequencies to shine and thus take away from a lot of the darker tendencies that one might expect an album such as this to possess. So for those anticipating
Innuendo to be 100% full of doom-and-gloom storylines and dark atmosphere, you'll be pleasantly surprised by how light this album actually is.
That being said, there are serious moments on here, and while they never get to the point where they're *overly* dark, there is an overwhelming sense of finality to many of
Innuendo's 12 tracks. The opening track (which also happens to be the title track) demonstrates this to a tee; the diversion of a middle section incorporates a fair bit of whimsy, thanks in large part to a flamenco guitar part played brilliantly by Yes's Steve Howe, but the opening and closing thirds are defined by this march-like dirge, reminiscent of Zeppelin's "Kashmir", but with less of a "forge ahead!" feel and more of a "we're approaching the end" feel. The song is commonly seen as one of Queen's best (it's my personal favorite song of theirs, in fact), and it's not difficult to see why. Much the same in terms of melancholia and finality is the Roger Taylor-penned "These Are the Days of Our Lives", meant initially as a tribute to the drummer's son but ending up almost as an epitaph to Mercury, thanks in large part to the haunting music video that remains the last recording of Mercury ever, whether it be audio or visual. The soothing percussion gives the track a wistful, somber feel, and Brian May's guitar solo in the middle is a work of art, perhaps his most emotive solo ever. I should point out that May's guitar-work throughout the record is masterful, with some of his best riffing and solo-work present throughout. The guitar-feature "Bijou", which acts as an interlude into the closing track that we will discuss momentarily, is breathtaking. The higher register guitar sobs contrast magnificently with the synths in the background, and Mercury's "vocal solo" in the middle (to contrast with the guitar lead in what could be considered the verses) makes it all the more difficult to listen to.
I suppose it's about time I mention Mercury's vocals, because my god, they are absolutely magnificent. If there were a pantheon of all-time great rock vocal records,
Innuendo would easily be in it. Never before has Freddie sounded this consistent and this ethereal with his higher belting, even with a slightly thinner tone thanks to the disease slowly ravaging his strength away from him. Not even in the early 80's could Mercury pull off songs such as the mournful "Don't Try So Hard" or the bombastic "All God's People" with the passion and the technical skill that he does here, and when you consider what he was dealing with at the time and how the band needed to be very conservative with how they pushed him because of his waning energy, it's wonderful to behold. And then...there's the closing track, the timeless classic "The Show Must Go On". Allegedly recorded in a single take despite Brian May's concerns that the track would be too difficult for Mercury to sing, the lead singer's delivery is flawless, brimming with confidence and just oozing raw power, particularly towards the end on lyrics such as "I'll face it with a grin, I'm never giving in, on with the show". Some believe it paints a rather unfair picture of Mercury as this sort of behemoth who could look death in the eyes and laugh, and maybe they're right in believing that. In the meantime I'll continue listening to this track until the day the cows come home.
(Oh yeah, I guess I should bring up John Deacon and Roger Taylor. They deliver perfectly...acceptable performances, but neither of them are really given a chance to stand out apart from Roger a bit in "Ride the Wild Wind", where he delivers a great drumbeat and contributes a few brief spoken sections. Deacon in particular is basically a non-factor due to being hampered by a low bass mix.)
Whether one wants to go so far as to call
Innuendo the best Queen album ever is up to them. Certainly
A Night at the Opera takes more chances than this record does, and from a songwriting standpoint it is probably the superior album because of it. But where
Innuendo has its contemporaries in the Queen catalog beat is passion. It's a record that clearly was paid careful attention to, a record that might not have been made were it not for the four band members coming together to crank out tunes at the very best of their abilities. It's a record that features Freddie Mercury at his absolute finest vocally, as well as some of Brian May's best guitar moments. Even the weaker songs on here are still at least listenable, if not somewhat enjoyable. Is that enough to put it at the top of the heap when it comes to Queen's discography? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. But what it does make it is absolutely essential listening not just for Queen fans, but for rock music fans in general.
