Another expanded discography post from me; this time, it's Queen post-1985. Yeah, if you couldn't tell, I'd decided to give the band back their old name because... well, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. However, they could still be called Smile for their first album, and then they rename themselves Queen in 1973 when John Deacon comes on board, replacing Tim Staffell. The self titled albums are still respectively called Don't Forget to Smile and The Kingdom of Rhye, and the 1974-1980 albums retain their original names from OTL. You can read about that period of Queen's discography here, as well as Hot Space (originally Fun in Space) and Radio Ga Ga.
Now that I've gotten those retcons out of the way, here's the next seven Queen albums! (And yes, that would have also applied to the original version of Strawberry Peppers.)
Side A (21:54)
1. A Kind of Magic - 4:24
2. Princes of the Universe - 3:33
3. One Year of Love - 4:27
4. Gimme the Prize (Kurgan's Theme) - 4:33
5. Who Wants to Live Forever - 4:57 (Greatest Hits II version)
Side B (21:37)
6. The Great Pretender - 3:26 (Greatest Hits III)
7. Strange Frontier - 4:16 (Strange Frontier)
8. Friends Will Be Friends - 4:06
9. Don't Lose Your Head - 4:38
10. One Vision - 5:11
There's never really been an official soundtrack to Highlander, and so I decided to re-arrange A Kind of Magic based upon that little "what if". Side A is comprised of tracks featured in the film, while Side B is the non-film tracks, not dissimilar to the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night and Help! from two decades earlier. Another similarity to the latter is including a cover of "The Great Pretender"; even though Freddie Mercury's cover was released in 1987, I think this is okay as the song was originally recorded by the Platters in 1955, so hopefully I'm not skewing any timeframes here. "Strange Frontier" comes from Roger Taylor's solo album of the same name.
Side A (21:58)
1. Made in Heaven - 5:25 (Made in Heaven)
2. Too Much Love Will Kill You - 4:28 (Back to the Light)
3. Scandal - 4:42
4. My Life Has Been Saved - 3:16 (Made in Heaven; 1989 B-side version)
5. Breakthru - 4:07
Side B (23:35)
6. Heaven for Everyone - 4:54 (Shove It; Roger Taylor lead vocal version)
7. Chinese Torture (Link) - 1:46
8. I Want It All - 4:30 (Queen Rocks version)
9. Man on the Prowl - 3:28 (The Works)
10. The Invisible Man - 3:55
11. The Miracle - 5:02
Now this is where the Queen story diverges further from OTL; as Freddie Mercury does not catch HIV/AIDS in 1987 (but he still does much later on), John Deacon leaves the band following the Miracle Tour, as I believe was his intention before learning of Freddie's disease, which was why he stayed with Queen until 1997. "Too Much Love Will Kill You" was intended for The Miracle in OTL, but because of legal disputes with songwriting credits, it remained unreleased for several years. I prefer Brian May's version as you feel more of a connection to his struggles following his divorce from Christine in 1988. Likewise, I've included Roger Taylor's vocal on "Heaven for Everyone", with also features Freddie on backing vocals. (And for those wondering, The Cross does not become a thing in TTL.)
Side A (22:12)
1. It's a Beautiful Day - 3:58 (Made in Heaven; single version)
2. Back to the Light - 4:59 (Back to the Light)
3. Headlong - 4:38 (Innuendo)
4. New Dark Ages - 4:58 (Blue Rock)
5. Don't Try So Hard - 3:39 (Innuendo)
Side B (21:29)
6. Ride the Wild Wind - 4:42 (Innuendo)
7. Driven by You - 4:11 (Back to the Light)
8. You Don't Fool Me - 5:24 (Made in Heaven)
9. Bijou - 3:36 (Innuendo)
10. Final Destination - 3:36 (Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know)
Bonus track for CD releases
11. A Winter's Tale - 3:49 (Made in Heaven)
Back to the Light is the first album since The Kingdom of Rhye to feature only three songwriters, as well as one of several to feature at least two vocal spots each from Brian and Roger (usually one or the other, but not both at the same time) and the only album to have David Grosman on bass guitar. With the appearance of "Bohemian Rhapsody" in Wayne's World, this inspires Queen to go on a huge tour in North America, as well as make an appearance on Saturday Night Live. However, by the end of tour, Freddie catches AIDS, but because enough research done on the disease, a treatment's been given to Freddie so that he doesn't die. Because of that, Queen goes on hiatus for a few years while they look for a new bassist, and to allow Freddie to recover.
1. Innuendo - 6:31 (Innuendo)
2. I'm Going Slightly Mad - 4:22 (Innuendo)
3. Surrender - 3:36 (Electric Fire)
4. I Can't Live with You - 4:47 (Queen Rocks)
5. Another World - 4:05 (Another World)
6. Let Me Live - 4:45 (Made in Heaven)
7. Stealin' - 4:01 (The Miracle)
8. These are the Days of Our Lives - 4:15 (Innuendo)
9. Heart of Fire - 4:13 (Now)
10. My Love is Dangerous - 3:42 (Mr. Bad Guy)
11. No One but You (Only the Good Die Young) - 4:11 (Queen Rocks)
Total length: 48:28
As evidenced by the title, this album marks a big comeback for Queen; it's their first album to feature Paul Rodgers as their new bassist (and fourth vocalist) and Cozy Powell as their second drummer, usually when Roger is brought in on guitar to fill up the sound for live performances. (In addition, Cozy survives his 1998 car crash.) Several songs were inspired by Freddie Mercury's recovery from initially catching AIDS, but he still lives with the disease for the rest of his life. The closing track, "No One but You", is dedicated to those who died young either from accidents or by living reckless lifestyles.
1. Party/Khashoggi's Ship - 5:11 (The Miracle)
2. Deep Blue - 2:33 (Electric)
3. I Go Crazy - 3:42 (The Works)
4. Your Kind of Lover - 3:32 (Mr. Bad Guy)
5. Mother Love - 4:08 (Made in Heaven; earlier fade out)
6. Believe in Yourself - 5:00 (Electric Fire)
7. Put Out the Fire - 3:19 (Hot Space)
8. Delilah - 3:35 (Innuendo)
9. Drifters - 4:19 (Electric)
10. Wilderness - 4:52 (Another World)
11. Living on My Own - 3:23 (Mr. Bad Guy)
12. The Show Must Go On - 4:35 (Innuendo)
Total length: 48:09
In OTL, "Put Out the Fire" was written as a reaction to John Lennon's murder in 1980, but because that doesn't happen, the song has been repurposed as a reaction to the Kargil War in 1999 between India and Pakistan, becoming an anti-war anthem for the new millennium. There was very little solo recording activity by Brian and Roger in OTL in the 2000s, which means an eight-year gap between albums. I like to imagine that there was an album coming out in 2004 expanding upon the themes of "Put Out the Fire", but coming up with fictional songs is pretty damn difficult to do, even more so than fictional albums. I'll let your imaginations fill the gaps from there.
1. Cosmos Rockin’ - 4:10
2. Time to Shine - 4:23
3. Self Made Man - 4:46 (Innuendo outtake; unreleased)
4. Dog with a Bone - 4:38 (The Miracle outtake; unreleased)
5. Warboys - 3:18
6. We Believe - 6:08
7. I Was Born to Love You - 4:49 (Made in Heaven)
8. Lost Opportunity - 3:53 (Innuendo)
9. C-lebrity - 3:38
10. Through the Night - 4:54
11. Hang on in There - 3:46 (The Miracle)
12. She Blows Hot and Cold - 4:36 (The Solo Collection; ft. Brian May)
Total length: 52:59
The reason I brought Paul Rodgers into Queen earlier was so that fans would be more likely to accept him if he was gradually integrated into their performances. For TTL's equivalent to The Cosmos Rocks, he has more vocal spots, but not as much as Freddie. Speaking of whom, for this album and the next, I dug deeper into the archives and repurposed some late 1980s/early 1990s outtakes to give Freddie more of a presence, assuming that Queen went back to some older songs and reworked them (pretty much like they did with Made in Heaven in OTL). It did save me the struggle of having to come up with fictitious songs in the first place.
1. Face It Alone - 4:52 (The Miracle outtake; unreleased)
2. Voodoo - 4:27 (The Cosmos Rocks)
3. Still Burnin’ - 4:04 (The Cosmos Rocks)
4. The Unblinking Eye - 4:54 (Fun on Earth)
5. I Guess We’re Falling Out - 2:32 (The Miracle outtake; unreleased)
6. Say It’s Not True - 4:00 (The Cosmos Rocks)
7. Machines (Or “Back to Humans”) - 5:10 (The Works)
8. Call Me - 2:59 (The Cosmos Rocks)
9. Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow - 3:46 (Mr. Bad Guy)
10. Hijack My Heart - 4:13 (The Miracle)
11. I Loved a Butterfly (w/ Kerry Ellis) - 3:18 (Acoustic by Candlelight; edit)
12. Was It All Worth It - 5:45 (The Miracle)
Total length: 50:00
The final album with Freddie Mercury (who would've been 65 that year had he lived in OTL) as the lead vocalist of Queen, as well as the last time that he would tour with them. With increasing health problems, Freddie would go into an early retirement, although he would briefly reunite with Queen for a performance at the Super Bowl in the late 2010s, with viewing figures surpassing that of their iconic Live Aid performance. For TTL, "I Loved a Butterfly" ("Some Things That Glitter" from The Cosmos Rocks) is a duet between Freddie and Kerry Ellis, very much a 2010s equivalent to "Under Pressure". Queen still carries on without Freddie (still alive at 75, living a private life in England), even bringing in Adam Lambert as their new vocalist, now going under Queen + Adam Lambert, and continues to tour to this day.
And so, I've finished up Queen's discography for Strawberry Peppers: The Second Coming! It's quite the journey if I do say so myself.
