Flash Gordon (album)

Flash Gordon - Original Soundtrack Music
Soundtrack from Queen
Publication (s)	December 8, 1980
Label (s)	EMI / Parlophone ; Elektra , Hollywood Records (USA)
Format (s)	LP , MC , CD
Genre (s)	Film music , rock
Title (number)	18th
running time	35:11
occupation	John Deacon : bass guitar , guitar , synthesizer . Roger Taylor : drums , vocals , synthesizers. Brian May : Guitars, vocals, synthesizers, piano in Flash's Theme and The Hero , organ in The Wedding March . Freddie Mercury : lead vocals, synthesizer.
production	Brian May and Mack ( Executive Producers : Queen )
Studio (s)	The Town House, The Music Center, Advision, Utopia Studios, Anvil Studios
chronology The Game (1980) Flash Gordon - Original Soundtrack Music Greatest Hits (1981)

Flash Gordon - Original Soundtrack Music is the first soundtrack album by the British rock group Queen , released in December 1980 . It contains the soundtrack to Mike Hodges ' eponymous film adaptation of originating from the 1930 science fiction - Comics . The recordings produced by Brian May and Mack took place in England in October and November 1980.

Content and production

With the exception of the first and last tracks ( Flash's Theme and The Hero ), all the tracks on the album are instrumentals. Some of them - especially when compared to other recordings by Queen - are extremely sparse, sometimes arranged in a downright minimalist way. The synthesizer plays an important role - an instrument that the band didn't use in the 1970s (“No Synths!”).

Brian May played a major role in the compositions. The Wedding March is his instrumental interpretation of the bride's song at the beginning of the third act of Richard Wagner's opera Lohengrin, first performed in 1850 . The Flash Gordon album also features numerous excerpts from the film's dialogues.

The album was produced by Brian May and Mack . The sound engineers were Alan Douglas (in the studios The Town House, The Music Center and Advision) and Mack on the song The Hero (in the Utopia Studios). The arrangements were made by Queen. Additional orchestral arrangements by Howard Blake were conducted by him and recorded by John Richards and Eric Tomlinson at Anvil Studios.

Track list

Page 1:

1. Flash's Theme (May) - 3:29
2. In the Space Capsule (The Love Theme) (Taylor) - 2:42
3. Ming's Theme (In the Court of Ming the Merciless) (Mercury) - 2:40
4. The Ring (Hypnotic Seduction of Dale) (Mercury) - 0:57
5. Football Fight (Mercury) - 1:28
6. In the Death Cell (Love Theme Reprise) (Taylor) - 2:24
7. Execution of Flash (Deacon) - 1:05
8. The Kiss (Aura Resurrects Flash) (Mercury) - 1:44

Page 2:

1. Arboria (Planet of the Tree Men) (Deacon) - 1:41
2. Escape from the Swamp (Taylor) - 1:43
3. Flash to the Rescue (May) - 2:44
4. Vultan's Theme (Attack of the Hawk Men) (Mercury) - 1:12
5. Battle Theme (May) - 2:18
6. The Wedding March (Arrangement: May) - 0:56
7. Marriage of Dale and Ming (And Flash Approaching) (May / Taylor) - 2:04
8. Crash Dive on Mingo City (May) - 1:00
9. Flash's Theme Reprise (Victory Celebrations) (May) - 1:23
10. The Hero (May) - 3:31

Alternative versions of the songs and further uses

Single mix:

• Flash (1980; included on the 1981 album Greatest Hits )

5.1 surround sound mix:

• Flash (DVD Greatest Video Hits 1 , 2002)

Official remixes :

• Flash's Theme (1991 Bonus Remix by Mista Lawnge, Hollywood Records)
• Flash (Remix by Vanguard : released in 2002 under the name "Vanguard" and 2003 under the name "Queen + Vanguard")

Four of the 18 tracks on the album were played live: Flash's Theme (or Flash ) - The Hero - Vultan's Theme (Attack of the Hawk Men) - Battle Theme .

In 1988, Public Enemy used a sample from Flash in their track Terminator X to the Edge of Panic , included on their hip-hop album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back .

reception

Record Mirror (Great Britain), 1980, by Robin Smith: “From here on it's warp 10 ending in the glossy 'The Hero', which is the sort of stuff I haven't heard since Charlton Heston won the chariot race in 'Ben Hur . ' An album of truly epic proportions that warrants an equally epic + + + + + "(" From then on it goes on with Warp 10 and ends with the brilliant 'The Hero'; I haven't heard such music since Charlton Heston won the chariot race in ' Ben Hur '. An album of truly epic proportions that justifies epic + + + + + [5 of a maximum of 5 points, note]. ")

Sounds (Great Britain), circa 1980/81: "As a film soundtrack, Flash Gordon is something extraordinary." ("As a film score, Flash Gordon is something extraordinary.")

All Music Guide (USA), by Greg Prato: “Although at first many fans criticized Flash Gordon since it was issued as an official Queen release rather than a motion picture soundtrack, it has proven to be one of rock's better motion picture soundtracks over the years. The majority of the music is instrumental, with dialogue from the movie in place of Freddie Mercury's singing (only two tracks contain lyrics), but the songwriting is still unmistakably Queen. […] With Queen involved, Flash Gordon is certainly not your average, predictable soundtrack. "(" Even though many fans criticized Flash Gordon first for being an official Queen release rather than a movie soundtrack, it has gotten over highlighted the years as one of the better rock movie soundtracks. ")

Entertainment Weekly (USA), 2000, by Marc Bernardin: "To truly quantify the gloriousness of the soundtrack to the 1980 sci-fi flick Flash Gordon, you've got to understand just how terrific a choice it was to have Queen [...] create the music for such a cornball movie. […] This album is such a fully rendered piece of art it rests on the same aural plane as great opera: You can take as much from listening as you can from seeing, maybe more. You see, dear friends, it's like you never have to watch the movie again! And if loving this makes me guilty, then I don't wanna be innocent. ”(“ To judge the size of the soundtrack to the sci-fi movie Flash Gordon, you have to understand how fantastic it was, Queen […] for such to write the music for a Cornball film. [...] This album is such a perfectly rendered piece of art, it is on the same level as great opera: you can take as much from hearing as from seeing, maybe even more. Dear friends, it's like you never have to watch a movie again! And if it makes me guilty to love this album, I don't want to be innocent. ")

Chart placements

The album reached the highest chart positions in Austria (No. 1) and Germany (No. 2), in Great Britain it achieved gold status. The only single released under the shortened title Flash was a remix of the title Flash's Theme ; B-side is the album track Football Fight . Like the album, the single also reached the top of the Austrian charts.

album

The soundtrack album Flash Gordon reached the following positions in the charts :

• # 1 - Austria.
• # 2 - Germany.
• # 10 - Great Britain ( gold ).
• # 12 - Japan.
• # 13 - Netherlands.
• # 15 - Italy.
• # 23 - USA.
• # 25 - Norway.
• # 29 - Sweden.

Single releases

The highest chart positions of the only single release Flash (1980/1981): # 1: Austria; # 3: Germany; # 10: Great Britain (silver); # 10: Ireland; # 13: Australia; # 17: Sweden; # 18: Netherlands; # 19: Canada; # 42: USA; # 73: Japan.

Web links

• Flash Gordon - Pictures of the album cover. Queenpedia

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Information on piano and organ according to Brian May: Letters; April 22, 2003, Jena, Lady Mercy, Playing piano on early albums, Mr Pavarotti .
2. ↑ Robin Smith: Wham! Bam! Thank you ma'am! Queen - 'Flash Gordon' . In: Record Mirror , December 13, 1980, p. 17. (See QueenCuttings ( Memento of the original of February 8, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ) 
3. ↑ Quoted from Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. As It Began. Sidgwick & Jackson, London 1992, ISBN 0-283-06052-2 , p. 135.
4. ^ Greg Prato: Queen - Flash Gordon. Review . In: All Music Guide .
5. ↑ Marc Bernardin: "Flash Gordon" soundtrack. We're Coming Clean With Our Dirty Entertainment Secrets . In: Entertainment Weekly , March 1, 2000.
6. ↑ ^{a b} austriancharts.at: album ; Single .
7. ↑ ^{a b} charts surfer ; www.ifpi.de .
8. ↑ ^{a b} everyhit.com - UK Top 40 Hit Database ; tsort.info
9. ^ ^{A b c d} Andrew Young: Queen International Album Chart Positions (USA, Japan, Netherlands, Italy).
10. ↑ norwegiancharts.com .
11. ↑ ^{a b} swedishcharts.com: album ; Single .
12. ^ ^{A b c d} Andrew Young: Queen International Singles Chart Positions (USA, Japan, Netherlands, Australia).