Innuendo (album)

Background

Queen released their thirteenth album, The Miracle, in May 1989, but unlike their previous albums, they did not conduct a live tour. Freddie Mercury conducted an interview with BBC Radio 1, where he said that he wanted to break from the "album – tour – album – tour" routine. During this time, he was diagnosed with AIDS (having been diagnosed as HIV positive in 1987), which was not yet publicised and was only known to the rest of the band; however, rumours had been spreading since 1988 about Mercury's health and of the possibility that he had the disease, with speculation about his health being fuelled by a clear physical decline in his appearance, particularly weight loss. While he kept quiet due to his personal rule not to talk to the media, the other band members denied the rumours; at one point, band member Roger Taylor told reporters that "he is healthy and working". In 1990, Queen won the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. While Mercury accepted the award for the band at the Dominion Theatre, Brian May spoke for the band. Mercury's increasingly gaunt appearance at the ceremony sparked further speculation from the public about his health, which persisted throughout 1990. The 1990 BRIT Awards would be Mercury's final public appearance.

Mercury did not speak publicly about his health, saying that he did not want to sell his music out of the people's sympathy. He was determined to continue working on music with Queen for as long as he could, saying that he would "keep working until I fucking drop". Mercury was persistently bothered by reporters at his London home, making it difficult for the band to record music. As a result, the band relocated to Mountain Studios in Montreux, where the safer and more peaceful atmosphere allowed the band to concentrate. Early in Innuendo's recording, the band decided again that all work would be credited to Queen as a whole instead of to individual contributing members; May said that the decision made a significant impact in the recording process, while Taylor said that it helped eliminate much of the egotistical struggles that would normally cause bands to break up.

The album was released in the US under a new label, the Disney-owned Hollywood Records, in an effort to garner greater exposure there. After Mercury's death, Hollywood would also later gain the rights to Queen's Elektra and Capitol back catalogs.

"Innuendo"

"Innuendo" began as a jam session in Switzerland amongst Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon in spring 1989. Freddie Mercury was upstairs and heard them playing the beat, and turned it into a song, creating the melody and starting off the lyrics. From then on all four worked on polishing the track and Taylor took over the lyrics (which were written as a tribute to Led Zeppelin and their song "Kashmir"). The middle section, written by Mercury, was included later and it featured a synth-orchestra programmed by producer David Richards and a flamenco interlude played by Yes guitarist Steve Howe, who had come to visit them and was asked to play. "Innuendo" was released as a single in January 1991, debuting at No. 1 in the UK.

"I'm Going Slightly Mad"

"I'm Going Slightly Mad" was begun in Mercury's London house, after he'd got the idea of writing a song about madness, inspired by Noël Coward's camp one-liners. Most of the lyrics (like "banana tree" or "one needle") came from both him and his friend Peter Straker, who stayed up all night in Mercury's kitchen, devising ever more outlandish lines. The music is Mercury's as well and it is one of the earliest songs the band were working on in Montreux when Steve Howe came in. The video that accompanied the song saw Mercury dressed in a costume suit with wild hair, white gloves, long pointing shoes and extremely heavy make up, filmed in black and white. Whilst Queen fans were thoroughly amused by the band in the video, in the documentary, Champions of the World, Taylor confessed, from the band's perspective, the video was marred by Mercury's appearance having to be camouflaged by costume and make-up, as Taylor admitted Mercury looked "pretty ill, at that point."

"Headlong"

"Headlong" came from May at the studio they'd got in Switzerland. He recorded it for the solo album he was doing at the same time. May heard Mercury singing it and instantly decided that it worked better as a Queen track. Then the band took it over and they all made modifications.

"I Can't Live with You"

"I Can't Live with You" was also written for May's solo album. He gave it to the band as well since Taylor, Deacon and Mercury were fond of the track. Drums were programmed on synth by May, and the keyboard-pads were added by the producer. An alternative version of this song appeared on the 1997 compilation album Queen Rocks, billed as the "'97 Rocks Retake". It was said to be more along the lines of how May and Taylor originally wanted the track to sound, with a harder, guitar-driven rock edge. May has stated in an interview, that most of the original demo is in the recording, making the song "Impossible to mix".

"Don't Try So Hard"

"Don't Try So Hard" came from Mercury. The intro "rain" is actually the pre-set sound of the Korg M1, which appears when it is switched on ("00: Universe"). Mercury sings most of the song in falsetto, but sings up to a D₅ in full voice in the chorus. The song's middle section is written in a style reminiscent of Queen's early 1980s-songs such as "Play The Game".

"Ride the Wild Wind"

"Ride the Wild Wind" was composed by Taylor, who recorded a demo with his own vocals. The definitive version is sung by Mercury with Taylor on backing vocals. The song is a sort of sequel of Taylor's A Night at the Opera composition, "I'm in Love with My Car", which focused on Taylor's passion for cars and race. This time, the song involved all of the other members, that gave life to a fast song with beating drums and rhythmic bass line, eerily note-for-note similar to The Smiths' "Shakespeare's Sister", which create the sensation of speed and engine's roar. In the mid-part, a May solo, which accentuates the sense of high velocity, and also gives the song a heavier sound. In some parts, a racing car can be heard. It was released as a single in Poland, peaking at No. 1.

"All God's People"

"All God's People" started off as part of Mercury's Barcelona project under the title "Africa by Night" (hence the co-writing credit with Mike Moran). He'd asked May to play guitar, then one thing led to another and the entire band played. Piano was recorded by Moran. The song features Mercury singing a chest-voiced F₅, his highest sustained full-voice note, as well as some very low notes.

"These Are the Days of Our Lives"

"These Are the Days of Our Lives" was written by Taylor. It is harmonically and structurally one of the simplest songs of the band's catalogue. Keyboards were programmed by all band members in the studio, and conga percussion was recorded by David Richards. The music video for this song was Mercury's last appearance in a video medium, and with his knowing farewell look straight at the camera, Mercury whispers "I still love you" at the end of the song. By the time the video was made, it had become impossible to disguise that Mercury was seriously ill. The video was filmed in colour, but converted to black and white to minimise Mercury's frail appearance. At a later date, colour footage of the band making the video was released, revealing just how ill Mercury was at the time.

"Delilah"

"Delilah" is a song Mercury penned for his favourite female tortoiseshell cat, which was called Delilah. May recorded his solo using a talk box. Reportedly, Taylor was not fond of the song and agreed to let it be included in the album only at Mercury's insistence.

"The Hitman"

The fly-away rocker "The Hitman" was started by Mercury as well. The original version was apparently on keyboards and in a different key. May took Mercury's riff (not un-common), changed the key and recorded a demo of the heavy version. Deacon then re-arranged the structure and they all filled the gaps in lyrics and recorded it. All of the backing vocals were done by May. The demo version is sung by May, with Mercury making spoken comments (like "Bite the bullet baby!"). The finished product features Mercury's vocals peaking at an E♭₅.

"Bijou"

"Bijou" was an idea Mercury and May had of making a song "inside-out" (having guitar doing the verses and the vocal doing the break). Mercury put the chords, title and lyrics, and the two of them worked on the guitar parts. Mercury sang the first line and then May transferred the melody to his Red Special. The song was finished without any input from Taylor or Deacon. The idea was not new and already used by Yes on their song "Soon". May later credited Jeff Beck's 1989 song "Where Were You" as the inspiration for 'Bijou'. In 2008, Queen + Paul Rodgers performed this song in their shows of the Rock the Cosmos Tour by May playing the verse live and then having Mercury's studio vocals play while a screen showed footage from the band's famous Wembley concert in 1986, with the visuals put in sync with the tape. Afterwards the Mercury part would fade out and May would lead into "Last Horizon".

"The Show Must Go On"

"The Show Must Go On" was written primarily by May. The initial idea was a chord sequence Taylor and Deacon were working on. The rhythm of the refrain is similar to the Queen's 1989 song, "I Want It All". May decided to use the sequence, and both he and Mercury decided the theme of the lyrics and wrote the first verse together. From then on May finished the lyrics, completed the vocal melody and wrote the bridge, inspired by Pachelbel's Canon. Some keys and ideas were suggested by the producer too. The song chronicles the effort of Mercury continuing to perform despite approaching the end of his life. The song was initially not released as a single as part of promotion for the Innuendo album, but was released in October 1991 as the band launched their Greatest Hits II album. The video for the song featured a compilation of clips from all their videos since 1982, in support of the Greatest Hits II album. Due to Mercury's critically fast fading health at the time of its production, a fresh appearance by the band in a video was not possible. A live version featuring Elton John on vocals appeared on the Greatest Hits III album. A personal favourite of Elton, he performed the song at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert with the remaining members of Queen, and Tony Iommi playing rhythm guitar.

Singles

"Innuendo" was the lead single from the album in most countries save the US where "Headlong" was released to radio as a promo before the album's release. The single was released on 14 January 1991 in Europe and in March 1991 in the US as a promo single, becoming Queen's twelfth No. 1 single. The song also achieved modest success in the US, charting at No. 17 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Still, the length and style of the track limited its appeal, and it only spent one week at No. 1 in the UK and quickly slid down the chart, spending only six weeks in the top 75. (B-side on 7 inch release: "Bijou").

"I'm Going Slightly Mad" was released on 4 March 1991. It reached No. 22 on the UK charts. (B-side on 7 inch release: "The Hitman" in some countries, in others it was "Lost Opportunity", which was a non-album cut). The song reached No. 1 in Hong Kong.

"Headlong" was released as a promotional single in January 1991 in the US and as a single on 13 May 1991 in the UK. It entered the UK charts at No. 14, and reached No. 3 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. (B-side on 12 inch release: "All God's People" in some countries, in others, "Lost Opportunity" and in a few, "The Hitman". The 12" and CD also feature "Mad the Swine").

"I Can't Live with You" was released as a promo single to radio stations in the US. This two-track promo single, completely remixed by Brian Malouf, uses slightly different lead vocal tracks by Mercury, louder and tighter harmony tracks, and reprogrammed synth drums, resulting in a much more punchy and "over the top" poppy version than included on the album. It reached No. 28 on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

"Ride the Wild Wind" was released as a single but only in Poland.

"These Are the Days of Our Lives" was first released in the US on Mercury's birthday, 5 September 1991 on cassette and to radio. In the UK it was released in December 1991 following Mercury's death, as a double A-side with "Bohemian Rhapsody". The single was the UK's Christmas No. 1 of 1991.

"The Show Must Go On" was released on 14 October 1991 in the UK. The single was taken from the album, although it had not been released as a single from Innuendo, and released as promotion for the Greatest Hits II album (Classic Queen in the US/Canada), and peaked at No. 16 on the UK charts. After Mercury's death in November, the song re-entered the British charts and spent as many weeks in the top 75 as it had upon its original release. This single was released just six weeks before Mercury died. In 1992, the song was released as a double A-side with "Bohemian Rhapsody" in the US and reached No. 2 in the US. (The original B-side in October 1991 was "Keep Yourself Alive").

"Delilah" was released as a single, but only in Thailand, it reached number 1 on the Thailand Singles Chart.

Critical reception

Innuendo received mixed reviews. Rolling Stone magazine stated "Innuendo is so lightweight you'll forget it as soon as it's over". People wrote "If this is cartoon rock and roll, at least it's good and brazenly cartoonish." Years later, AllMusic wrote "Innuendo was a fitting way to end one of rock's most successful careers."

Track listing

All tracks credited to Queen, except for "All God's People" which is credited to Queen and Mike Moran. Listed below are the respective writers.

1991 LP

All tracks written by Queen, except where noted. Due to the length of the original album, several tracks had to be shortened in order to fit on the disc without excessive noise reduction or compression. The track listing is also slightly different from the CD version, with "Don't Try So Hard" moved to side 2, between "Delilah" and "The Hitman". Some of the shortened tracks can be found on the B-sides of concurrent 12" singles, and the double LP of Greatest Hits II. This was not the only LP album that had to be shortened; Pink Floyd's The Division Bell also had the album shortened on the original LP release.

(*) Edited versions for vinyl

2015 LP

Innuendo was re-released on vinyl on 25 September 2015, alongside all of Queen's other studio albums. This is the first time that the album has been presented on vinyl in full, spread across 2 LPs; however, "These Are the Days of Our Lives" and "I Can't Live with You" have swapped places - the former now being the fourth track on the album, the latter now being the eighth.

Personnel