Innuendo

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Innuendo
Studio album by Queen

Publication
(s)

4th February 1991

Label (s) Parlophone / EMI ; Hollywood Records (USA)

Format (s)

CD , LP , MC

Genre (s)

Rock , hard rock

Title (number)

12

running time

53:43 (CD, MC)

occupation

Guest musicians:

production

Queen and David Richards

Studio (s)

March 1989 to November 1990, Metropolis Studios (London), Mountain Studios (Montreux)

chronology
The Miracle
(1989)
Innuendo Made in Heaven
(1995)

Innuendo (English hint, allusion ) is the 14th studio album by the British rock group Queen . It was released in February 1991 and is the last album released during the lifetime of their frontman Freddie Mercury .

The album

Shortly after the recordings for the previous work The Miracle had been completed in January 1989, the band had been working in the studio on material for another studio album since March of the same year. Due to the health condition of the lead singer Freddie Mercury , it was no longer possible to go on tour at that time, which is why the group was able to invest time in recording new songs.

In August 1990, shortly before the recording of Innuendo was finished, it was discovered that Mercury's HIV infection had developed into AIDS , but the singer continued to deny in public that he was seriously ill. According to guitarist Brian May , he and the rest of the group at Studio Montreux were only  informed of Mercury's deteriorating health in January 1991 - less than a month before Innuendo was released . Overall, the recordings for the album extended to November 1990, that is, over a period of more than one and a half years.

Grandville: Illustration from Un Autre Monde (1843/44)
Graphic used for the back of the cover ( Un Autre Monde )

A quarter of a year after the new recordings were completed, Innuendo was finally released in February 1991, although the group originally wanted the album to be released on Christmas of the previous year. However, due to Mercury's health condition, this project could not be kept. The album cover was designed by the band and Richard Gray. It is based on drawings by the French artist Grandville . Innuendo was the group's last studio album with Mercury's direct involvement. A few weeks before his death, Greatest Hits II was released, a compilation of titles that summarizes all of the band's single releases between 1981 and 1991 (including Innuendo ) on one album.

Track list

In the production notes on the album, Queen is named as the composer for all pieces (with the exception of All God's People , co-written with Mike Moran , for which Queen and Moran were named). The actual main authors are in square brackets.

  1. Innuendo [Mercury / Taylor] - 6:31
  2. I'm Going Slightly Mad [Mercury] - 4:22 *
  3. Headlong [May] - 4:38 *
  4. I Can't Live with You [May] - 4:33 *
  5. Don't Try So Hard [Mercury] - 3:39 *
  6. Ride the Wild Wind [Taylor] - 4:42
  7. All God's People [Mercury / Moran] - 4:21 *
  8. These Are the Days of Our Lives [Taylor] - 4:15 *
  9. Delilah [Mercury] - 3:35
  10. The Hitman [May / Mercury] - 4:56 *
  11. Bijou [May / Mercury] - 3:36 *
  12. The Show Must Go On [Deacon / May / Mercury / Taylor] - 4:35 *

The vinyl edition contains alternative, abbreviated versions of the pieces marked with * ( "versions edited for vinyl" ); Don't Try So Hard is the ninth track between Delilah and The Hitman .

Two more songs appeared on the B-sides of maxi and CD singles : I'm Going Slightly Mad includes Lost Opportunity (May), and the single Headlong was the first track recorded in the 1970s, Mad the Swine (Mercury ) (see the album Queen ).

Was taken Innuendo by David Richards , the engineers were Noel Harris and Justin Shirley-Smith aside.

Information on the individual titles

Innuendo

Deacon, May and Taylor worked out the basic musical concept of this song during a jam session in Montreux . Mercury later completed the piece by adding the melody to the song and the lyrics with Roger Taylor. The flamenco interlude was recorded by Yes guitarist Steve Howe , who happened to be in Montreux at the time.

I'm going slightly mad

Freddie Mercury's I'm Going Slightly Mad was born in his London house after trying to write a song about going mad , inspired by lyrics by Noël Coward . Peter Straker, a friend of Mercury's, who was present at the time, also contributed to the humorous, at the same time melancholy text. I'm Going Slightly Mad was recorded by Queen as one of the first songs on the album at Mountain Studios in Montreux. DoRo shot the black and white video for the second single on February 15, 1991.

Headlong

Brian May originally wrote Headlong for his solo album Back to the Light , which he was working on at the same time. However, when he heard Mercury sing the song, May decided to produce Headlong with Queen. Headlong was released as the third single on the album. The accompanying video shows the band playing live in the studio and contains, among other things, a guitar passage played by May, which has not yet been found on any other release of the piece.

I can't live with you

Mays I Can't Live with You was originally intended for his solo album. May programmed the drum computer . The recording sounds comparatively "loud" since parts of the demo version were also used for the final album mix. A later recorded version with drums played by Taylor appeared in 1997 on the compilation Queen Rocks .

Don't try so hard

According to Brian May, who lists Don't Try So Hard among his personal favorites among Queen songs, this song was mainly written by Freddie Mercury.

Ride the Wild Wind

Roger Taylor wrote Ride the Wild Wind and recorded a demo he sang himself. In the Queens version, however, Mercury sings most of the lead vocals, although Taylor's voice can also be heard in some places.

All God's People

All God's People was actually written by Freddie Mercury and Mike Moran for Mercury's Barcelona project (with Montserrat Caballé ) entitled Africa by Night . He had later asked May for guitar accompaniment, which eventually led to the whole band interpreting the song. This was accompanied by Moran with keyboards.

These Are the Days of Our Lives

These Are the Days of Our Lives was written by Taylor. The keyboards were programmed by the band members in the studio. The music video for this song was Mercury's last appearance on a video, and with a farewell look into the camera, Mercury whispers “I still love you” at the end of the song. By the time the video was shot, it had been impossible to hide that Mercury was seriously ill. The video was shot in color but converted to black and white. The color photographs were also published at a later date.

Delilah

Freddie Mercury wrote Delilah about his cat of the same name. Brian May used a talk box for the first time when recording the "meow" sounds produced by an electric guitar .

The Hitman

The basic idea for The Hitman also came from Mercury. The original version on the keyboards was written in a different key . May took Mercury's approach and changed the key so that it was possible to play the track on guitar. So he recorded the harder version of the piece as a demo. The background accompaniment was also sung by May.

Bijou

Bijou was written by Mercury with May. Mercury created the chords , lyrics, and title of the song, and together they did the guitar parts. Mercury sang the verse, and then May began the melody with his Red Special . The title also differs in its structure from other Queen songs. May plays the first and last third of the piece with his guitar while Mercury sang the middle section.

The Show Must Go On

This title was developed jointly by all band members. The starting melody is based on a simple chord progression composed by Taylor and Deacon. May and Mercury wrote the text after they had found a topic.

reception

Chart placements

album

Charts Top ranking Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK) Germany (GfK) 1 (48 weeks) 48
Austria (Ö3) Austria (Ö3) 2 (20 weeks) 20th
Switzerland (IFPI) Switzerland (IFPI) 1 (36 weeks) 36
United Kingdom (OCC) United Kingdom (OCC) 1 (37 weeks) 37
United States (Billboard) United States (Billboard) 30th (17 weeks) 17th

Single releases

year Title
album
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1991 Innuendo
Innuendo
DE5 (16 weeks)
DE
AT12 (10 weeks)
AT
CH3 (12 weeks)
CH
UK1
silver
silver

(6 weeks)UK
-
First published: Jan 14, 1991
Sales: + 200,000
I'm Going Slightly Mad
Innuendo
DE42 (10 weeks)
DE
- - UK22 (5 weeks)
UK
-
First published: March 4, 1991
Headlong
Innuendo
- - - UK14 (4 weeks)
UK
-
First published: May 13, 1991
The Show Must Go On
Innuendo
DE7 (23 weeks)
DE
- CH11 (11 weeks)
CH
UK16
silver
silver

(10 weeks)UK
US-
gold
gold
US
First published: October 14, 1991
Sales: + 850,000

Awards for music sales

Country / Region Award Sales
Awards for music sales
(country / region, Award, Sales)
Argentina (CAPIF) Argentina (CAPIF) Gold record icon.svg gold 30,000
Germany (BVMI) Germany (BVMI) Platinum record icon.svg platinum 500,000
Finland (IFPI) Finland (IFPI) Gold record icon.svg gold 38,221
France (SNEP) France (SNEP) Platinum record icon.svg platinum 300,000
Canada (MC) Canada (MC) Gold record icon.svg gold 50,000
Netherlands (NVPI) Netherlands (NVPI) Platinum record icon.svg platinum 100,000
Austria (IFPI) Austria (IFPI) Platinum record icon.svg platinum 50,000
Poland (ZPAV) Poland (ZPAV) Platinum record icon.svg platinum 100,000
Switzerland (IFPI) Switzerland (IFPI) Platinum record icon.svg 2 × platinum 100,000
Spain (Promusicae) Spain (Promusicae) Platinum record icon.svg platinum 100,000
United States (RIAA) United States (RIAA) Gold record icon.svg gold 500,000
United Kingdom (BPI) United Kingdom (BPI) Platinum record icon.svg platinum 300,000
All in all Gold record icon.svg4 × gold
Platinum record icon.svg9 × platinum
2,168,221

Main article: Queen (band) / Music Sales Awards

Other versions of the songs

  • The so-called "Explosive" version of Innuendo is located only on the 12 "single of Innuendo . After Mercury abschließendem" Until the End of Time "follows as the only change an" explosive ", clearly-developed instrumental conclusion.
  • Furthermore, numerous songs on the vinyl record differ from the CD version. The songs were sometimes shortened, for example in These Are the Days of Our Lives the first verse starts immediately, the beginning is missing. There are also cuts in I'm Going Slightly Mad , Headlong , I Can't Live with You , All God's People , Don't Try So Hard , The Hitman , Bijou and The Show Must Go On . This is one of the most noticeable with Bijou ; the CD version is 3:37 minutes long, but the LP version is only 1:19.
  • There are also versions of the songs that differ from the album versions on a promo cassette. For example, the chorus is missing from Headlong .
  • I Can't Live with You was reissued as part of the release of Queen Rocks . The so-called "1997 Re-Take" of the song is noticeably more rock-like than the original.
  • A live version of Ride the Wild Wind, sung by Roger Taylor in a solo performance, is found on the 1994 7 "CD single and the cassette single of Taylor's piece Happiness .

Demos

In the Innuendo session in 1989/90, a number of pieces were written that had not previously been released on an official Queen recording:

  • Self Made Man - Mainly sung by May, Mercury is represented with a verse in the middle section.
  • Robbery - A short rock piece that continues mainly instrumentally after Mercury's brief vocal performance.
  • My Secret Fantasy - Written by Deacon, with Mercury as the lead vocalist.
  • Face It Alone - Somewhat sad demo, two previews were released, but the entire track, which is almost 11 minutes long, has not yet been released.
  • Freedom Train occupies a special position. The song was written and recorded during the Innuendo session, but it was also not published. But a modified version is on Roger Taylor's solo album Happiness? represented.
  • In addition, there are preliminary demos of some tracks that are on some bootlegs . There is a demo by Headlong (which works without an electric guitar), one by Delilah (which contains significantly more vocals by Freddie Mercury) and finally a demo by The Hitman , which is sung exclusively by Brian May.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. rocktimes.at (Grandville-Grafik) accessed on May 6, 2013
  2. a b The Life of Brian. Extreme's Nuno Bettencourt, rock's brightest new star, fires the questions and Queen's legendary Brian May supplies the answers in an historic meeting of the minds . In: Guitar World , August 1991.
  3. Quoted from Q Classic , March 2005. (See brianmay.com )
  4. ^ Final Freddie Mercury performance discovered. May 30, 2011, accessed November 7, 2019 .
  5. a b c d e f Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US