CD Odyssey Disc 113: Queen

After a brief hiatus over Easter, while I listened to some of my new stuff, the CD Odyssey returns along with my daily commute from work (on the way to work I boringly listen to the news).

And to no surprise, the Odyssey randomly selects yet another Queen album.

Disc 113 is...Innuendo
Artist: Queen

Year of Release: 1991

How I Came To Know It: I have discussed how I came to know Queen in many posts. In the case of Innuendo, my buddy (and Queen apologist) Spencer convinced me to finalize my collection. This album is harder to find than you'd expect, and I only just found this used copy at Lyle's about 3 months ago. One to go!

How It Stacks Up: I have fourteen of Queen's studio albums. Although this one comes late in their career, it holds its own admirably. I'll say it is about 8th or 9th.

Rating: 4 stars.

This album really moved me - in part because of its place in Queen's history. I understand this album was the first one made with the band fully aware that Freddy Mercury was dying of AIDS. While I try not to engage in the post-modern tendency to contextualize art through biography, it is hard to listen to this album and not think about how so many songs relate to the hard truth about Freddie's health.

Fittingly, the three that put the biggest lump in my throat are by three different members of the band. While none of these songs, specifically reference Freddie's illness, the connections are hard not to draw. In "Don't Try So Hard", Freddie sings:

"If you're searching out for something -
Don't try so hard
If you're feeling kinda nothing -
Don't try so hard
When your problems seem like mountains
You feel the need to find some answers
You can leave them for another day
Don't try so hard."

Then Roger Taylor adds his take, with the wistful "These Are the Days Of Our Lives", which harkens back to a simpler time:

"The days were endless, we were crazy - we were young
The sun was always shinin' - we just lived for fun
Sometimes it seems like lately - I just don't know
The rest of my life's been - just for show."

And a few songs later, as the album wraps up, Brian May lays a lordly rock anthem on us as foil to the introspection of Taylor, with the five star anthem "The Show Must Go On.":

"The show must go on
I'll face it with a grin
I'm never giving in
On - with the show -
I'll top the bill, I'll overkill
I have to find the will to carry on
On with the -
On with the show -
The show must go on."

The show will never be the same without Freddie, but this album is a great part of his legacy. I've had my issues with enjoying Queen's post-Freddie Mercury albums, but I'm starting to realize it isn't the music that's at issue. It is more of a deep sadness within me, which doesn't want to acknowledge he's really gone.

Fortunately, Freddie will always be with us through music, and while this review has left me thoroughly depressed, I'll end by recommending that after a hard listen to "Innuendo" skip back to track 9 and play it again.

It is a song about Freddie's cat, "Delilah" (like me, Freddie was an incurable cat-fancier). Delilah cuddles, meows and at one point in the song makes Freddie "slightly mad" by peeing on his Chippendale Suite. You see - Freddie wouldn't want us to be sad - so let him entertain you.

Best tracks: Headlong, Don't Try So Hard, These Are The Days of Our Lives, Delilah, The Hitman, The Show Must Go On.