It wasn’t the greatest day in the
history of me today, but I suppose I’ve had worse.
On to the music.
Disc 698 is…. Made in Heaven
Year of Release: 1995
What’s up with the Cover? The silhouette of
the dearly departed Freddie Mercury, raising a triumphant fist as he welcomes
the hereafter – here portrayed as the sunset on a lake. This is Freddie’s last
hurrah, so he is depicted alone, but the band is with him if you fold out the
rest of the photo:
I
love the full picture. Freddie’s journey is over, and after a lengthy illness
he now has calm seas and smooth sailing in front of him. The rest of the band
still have mountains to conquer because for them life goes on.
How I Came To Know It: I love Queen, so this was just
me drilling through their collection. I got this one fairly late; it was hard
to find and I eventually just broke down and ordered it on Amazon. Amazon is a
dangerous service for a music collector – it is just too damned easy.
Fortunately, my desire to support local record stores exceeds my desire to have
everything NOW. Support your local record store, people!
How It Stacks Up: I have 15 Queen albums and sadly I must put “Made in
Heaven” at the bottom of the pile, at 15th.
Rating: 2 stars
The cover of “Made in Heaven” sums the album up – Freddie is apart from
the band now, but not forgotten. Ordinarily I don’t like posthumous
publication, but Freddie wanted the music to go on, and I guess the band weren’t
quite ready to do that without him.
Unfortunately a lot of the magic is missing from this album. There are still
some great moments, including Freddie’s voice, which despite his terrible
illness still has a power and a purity few vocalists will ever possess. Coupled
with the echoing production decisions, it sounds even more orchestral than
usual.
Freddie was a key architect of Queen’s music when he was alive, and his
finishing touch on these songs is notably absent. Songs like “Let Me Live” and “Heaven for Everyone” begin with great promise, but they feel like
they don’t go anywhere. They just keep soaring and repeating themselves. At
best, they feel like the big finale wrap-up of a Broadway musical, which strung
together are just too much theatre and not enough music.
The organ-heavy sound feels at times like the bad production decisions
of the mid- to late eighties as well. I know Queen went in for the big sound on
their last three records, but here it tips into excess.
I think songs featuring the singing voice of Brian May or Roger Taylor
would have provided some nice contrast with Mercury’s vocals, as they do on
many other Queen albums. The record could definitely have used more of May’s
guitar virtuosity.
The one standout song is “Too Much
Love Will Kill You,” which finds Freddie delivering an introspective and sad
tale of loss. The song resonates on its own, independent of the fact that there
is no way to listen to it – or any other song on “Made in Heaven” – without thinking
about the incredible loss the world suffered when Mercury was taken from us too
soon. It’s a Brian May (and others) composition, but Freddie brings it alive.
It is fitting that even the tragedy on this album is the result of a
surfeit of love, rather than a lack of it. It feels like Queen can pull triumphant
out of any situation on this record. For that reason, I’ve tried to mute my
criticism of what is really a pretty average record.
But I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t say that even better
tracks like “Made in Heaven” sound
derivative of earlier work. It is a deliberate decision in places, but it doesn’t
mean I like it. With the exception of “Too
Much Love Will Kill You” most of the lyrics don’t resonate, and the music
isn’t at the awesome level you expect from a Queen album.
For me, “Innuendo” is the more fitting tribute
to the late and exceedingly great Freddie Mercury. I suppose the band just
wanted the show to go on one more time. Who could blame them?
Best tracks: Made in Heaven, Too Much Love
Will Kill You, It’s A Beautiful Day (Reprise)
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