Barcelona (album)

Track listing

All tracks written by Freddie Mercury and Mike Moran, except where noted.

Barcelona

The song was composed and produced by Mike Moran and Freddie Mercury. The recording sessions include violins by Homi Kanga and Laurie Lewis, cello by Deborah Ann Johnston, horn by Barry Castle and percussion by Frank Ricotti. "Barcelona" was chosen to be the anthem of 1992 Olympics in Spain, but Mercury died less than seven months before the games. It was, however, featured at the opening ceremony, and it was used as the title music to the BBC's coverage of the 1992 Summer Olympics. The music video was filmed at the world's largest nightclub, Ku, nowadays named Privilege in Ibiza.

Russell Watson covers it on his album The Voice with Shaun Ryder.

La Japonaise

The song was recorded on 9 November 1987 (an early demo comes from 1 September). Mercury wrote all the lyrics including the ones in Japanese, and sang some parts in falsetto which were kept on the final version.

The Fallen Priest

Originally a virtuoso piano piece by Moran with some high vocals from Mercury, it was named "Rachmaninov's Revenge" (demos come from 26 January and 19 February respectively). Then it was named "The Duet" and finally "The Fallen Priest" when Tim Rice wrote the lyrics for it. Elaine Paige was living with Rice at the time and she was working on an album of Queen covers. Also released in 1987 it was also produced by Moran who conducted the orchestra, wrote the arrangements and played piano and keyboards.

Ensueño

When Mercury first met Montserrat Caballé on March 1987, he brought in a piece he and Moran had composed called "Exercises in Free Love", to which Caballé added lyrics and became "Ensueño" later on. She asked him to sing it in his natural speaking (baritone) voice.

The Golden Boy

This song also included lyrics from Rice and was recorded on 1 December 1987 (early demos come from 2 May and 9 November). The celebrity gospel choir featured Madeline Bell, Dennis Bishop, Lance Ellington, Miriam Stockley, Peter Straker, Mark Williamson, and Carol Woods. Straker was Mercury's friend who helped him out with some lyrics of "I'm Going Slightly Mad", and Stockley sang later on with Brian May.

Guide Me Home

Originally titled "Freddie's Overture", it was one of the last numbers to be written (early 1988).

How Can I Go On

This song comes from spring 1987. On the album its beginning is seamlessly merged with the end of the previous track. It features John Deacon on bass.

Overture Piccante

The last track on the album mixes parts of other tracks into a new piece.

Special edition (2012)

The 2012 special edition replaces original instrumentation, created using synthesizers and samplers, with a full symphonic orchestra.

The score was transcribed and re-orchestrated by Stuart Morley, the musical director for Queen's musical We Will Rock You, who is also the album's producer. Morley listened to the original record to capture the harmony and leading parts, then re-orchestrated the score with traditional paper, pen and eraser, using Rimsky-Korsakov's Treatise on Orchestration and Scheherazade, Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony and Debussy's La Mer as a reference.

The score was performed by the Prague FILMharmonic Orchestra. Naoko Kikuchi recorded a koto part for ‘La Japonaise’, while Rufus Taylor, the son of Queen member Roger Taylor, recorded drums for the ‘The Golden Boy’ and ‘How Can I Go On’, and classical violinist David Garrett recorded a new violin solo for the latter.

Disc one – New orchestrated album

1. "Barcelona" - 5:43
2. "La Japonaise" - 4:52
3. "The Fallen Priest" - 5:46
4. "Ensueño" - 4:22
5. "The Golden Boy" - 6:04
6. "Guide Me Home" - 2:50
7. "How Can I Go On" - 3:49
8. "Exercises in Free Love" - 3:57
9. "Overture Piccante" - 6:47
10. "How Can I Go On" [Bonus Track featuring David Garrett] – 3:56

Disc two – The Best of the Rarities and Session Outtakes

1. "Exercises in Free Love" [1987 B-side] – 4:26
2. "Barcelona" [Early Version: Freddie's Demo Vocal] – 4:21
3. "La Japonaise" [Early Version: Freddie's Demo Vocal] – 4:41
4. "Rachmaninov's Revenge (The Fallen Priest)" [Later Version: Freddie's Demo Vocal] – 5:51
5. "Ensueño" [Monsterrat's Live Takes] – 5:36
6. "The Golden Boy" [Early Version: Freddie's Demo Vocal] – 3:54
7. "Guide Me Home" [Alternative Version] – 2:50
8. "How Can I Go On" [Alternative Version] – 4:03
9. "How Can I Go On" [Alternative Piano Version] – 3:44

Disc three – Album orchestral version

1. "Barcelona" [Instrumental] – 5:39
2. "La Japonaise" [Instrumental] – 4:51
3. "The Fallen Priest" [Instrumental] – 5:47
4. "Ensueño" [Instrumental] – 4:01
5. "The Golden Boy" [Instrumental] – 6:03
6. "Guide Me Home" [Instrumental] – 2:50
7. "How Can I Go On" [Instrumental] – 3:37
8. "Exercises in Free Love" [Instrumental] – 3:57
9. "Overture Piccante" [Instrumental] – 6:43

Disc four – DVD

1. "Barcelona"

1. "Barcelona"
2. "How Can I Go On"
3. "The Golden Boy"

Personnel

Album

Album Barcelona

Singles

Single Barcelona (1987/1992)

Single The Golden Boy (1988)

Single How Can I Go On (1989)