A Kind of Magic, An Album By Queen

12th August 2010

It has been firmly established in the annals of time that I am a movie nerd. I love things that movie nerds should love. I am both a Star Trek and Star Wars fan, although I greatly prefer Trek. I have an original one sheet poster for Irwin Allen’s “The Swarm” on my bedroom wall. And, among countless other examples, I love the 1986 “cult classic” Highlander.

In fact Highlander is one of my top 20, possibly even top 10, favorite movies. Russel Mulcahy directs the movie with an assured and very visual flourish. He moves the film along at a lightening fast pace; due in part to some amazing transition shots, and some very progressive camera work. The acting in the film is good, if very over the top at times, from all the leads, but GREAT from Sean Connery. And the centuries spanning plot, about sword fighting immortals that must fight to become the last of their kind, is equal parts mystical, emotional and cheesy (and certainly better than Twilight by a large margin.) But, the last piece of Highlander that sends it from being just a good, oddball 80’s movie, into being a true cult classic is it’s “Music By Queen” credit.

Earlier in the 80’s, my favorite overall rock band, lent their skills to scoring another of my favorite films, Flash Gordon. With Highlander however, they do not provide score, but songs. The songs are very much in tune with the film, all of them equal parts mystical, emotional and cheesy. And, where as there is no official Highlander album for us to experience their glory, Queen was nice enough to put all of the films songs (save a cover version of “New York, New York”), plus a couple of new ones, onto the album in review today; 1986’s “A Kind of Magic.”

“One Vision” kicks the album off with a good start. The song begins with an oddly synthesizer-mixed-with-vocals opening that can only come from the 80’s and lapses into a pulsing back beat, that mixes drum machines and electronic orchestra into the usual Queen-rock of the bulk of the song. Lyrically the song is anthemic, essentially telling the listener to have a purpose or “vision” to their life. As is often the case with Queen songs the lyrics are a bit cheeky and told in a theatrical manner. Freddie Mercury’s vocals are as flawless as ever and the production values are solid, if thoroughly grounded in the time period. It’s a good opener and a great listen on its own.

“A Kind of Magic” is the album’s title track, inspired by a line of dialog from Highlander. Lyrically the song is very closely related to the film, in a sense at least. With thoughts of eternity, “challenging the doors of time” and so forth. The song is like magic in the sense that it doesn’t make a lot of sense. The lyrics are cerebral and archetypal, they don’t tell a linear story, but they are fun to listen to none-the-less. Mercury sings with passion and humor. And the music and production values have that pure Queen feel to them, especially Brian May’s “stereo usurping” guitar harmonics.

“One Year of Love” is next and it’s one of the more solid tracks lyrically. It’s a sentimental and passionate song about unrequited love. Mercury really shows off the pain, passion and theatricality of the lyrics with a soulful vocal performance. The music of the song detracts a bit, as it comes across a bit too cheesy for the subject matter. But if you like well produced 80’s ballads, you’ll like this song.

“Pain Is So Close to Pleasure” is one of the weaker tracks on the album. The song has a do-wappy nature to it. And Mercury’s vocals come across a bit snarky. They’re just a bit too high pitched and the song is just sort of mediocre. It really doesn’t have much point and doesn’t go anywhere. Not much to say about the other band members either, the music is as mediocre as the lyrical content on this one.

“Friends Will Be Friends” is a step up from the previous track for sure. It’s still nowhere near as good as the first three tracks. But this is a solid song and it has that proper Queen feeling and thickness to it. Mercury is back on top form vocally. The production work is pleasing and easy on the ears. The one major failing of the song is that the lyrics don’t really grab you. But Mercury puts in enough effort, and the song builds well enough that you can forget about that and enjoy the listen.

“Who Wants to Live Forever” shoots back into classic territory. Lyrically the song tells a painfully sad tale about eternal love and endless loss. Mercury’s vocal work has never been better. There is no winking in this song. Mercury’s voice takes the story of the song to the highest peaks of emotional depth and seriousness. You can hear in every syllable and nuance that Mercury is committed to selling this song, and he does. The music is just as a good as Mercury’s vocals, it is subtle and quiet when it needs to be and soars up to the rafters with full sonic intensity when the emotions are at their greatest peaks. The song is a classic ballad, a classic Queen song and a real tear jerker. This song is worth the purchase of the album alone.

“Gimme the Prize” opens with a blistering guitar solo, that climbs and climbs in intensity. This is the best part of the song. Mercury is good, as is the music. The lyrics are weak again and the song comes across as filler to a degree. There are snippets of dialog from Highlander interspersed throughout as well, which always throws one off. Not a horrible listen for fans, but a casual listener could skip it.

“Don’t Lose Your Head” comes hot on the heels of Gimme the Prize, it has a similar musical sound, but is a decidedly much better song. The lyrics are strong and Mercury pulls out all the stops singing them with his seemingly effortless vocal style and theatricality. The lyrics also retain Queen’s usual sense of humor. The music and production work is interesting and pleasing, if a bit dated. Drum machines and synthesizers echo about wildly in the background, creating an irresistible beat.

“Princes of the Universe” is another track tied heavily to the film Highlander. This is the theme song to the film, and later the TV series. However, you don’t have to like the film to enjoy the song. It is bombastic and pulse pounding. It’s very much an arena rocker. The music, lyrics and vocals scale the heights of theatricality and pompousness. It is essentially this albums “We Will Rock You.” The bridge and second half of the song are of particular note and quite memorable.

“A Kind of, A Kind of Magic” is essentially album filler. In fact it’s a bonus track on the CD version of the album. It’s basically a karaoke version of A Kind of Magic. But it’s also kind of not. If you like the song and know the lyrics, pull out your best Mercury impersonation and sing along with this one.

“Friends Will Be Friends, Will Be Friends…” is another filler song. Another bonus track, it is also a pseudo-karaoke version of the original track. However, musically this song sounds better to me. So once again, if you know the lyrics, sing along.

“Forever”, the last track on the CD version is yet another bonus track. This one is not so bad. In fact if you’re a fan of instrumental music, it’s quite enjoyable. It is a soulful, piano version of “Who Wants to Live Forever.” Not quite as perfectly emotional as the full song, but a lovely listen none-the-less.

Overall, A Kind of Magic does have that good old Queen magic, at least in places. Of the nine actual tracks 6 of them are great, Who Wants to Live Forever being spectacular. The filler isn’t horrible, but it isn’t amazing. The CD release should have stuck to the original vinyl listing and ended on a high note with Princes of the Universe as the three bonus tracks might annoy casual listeners. But for fans of Highlander and Queen, this is a must have album.

• One Vision- 8/10
• A Kind of Magic- 8/10
• One Year of Love- 8/10
• Pain is So Close to Pleasure- 5/10
• Friends Will Be Friends- 7/10
• Who Wants to Live Forver- 10/10
• Gimme the Prize- 5/10
• Don’t Lose Your Head- 7/10
• Princes of the Universe- 8/10

A Kind of Magic, An Album by Queen- 7 out of 10 broken microphone stands.

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