The Works (Queen album)

History

Following the release of and subsequent touring for their 1982 album Hot Space, the four members of Queen opted to take a break from the band the following year, indulging in solo projects and taking the chance to stretch in individual directions. While a spring tour of South America had been an early possibility, especially following the band's success there two years prior, equipment and promotional problems brought an end to these plans. Brian May worked with Eddie Van Halen and others on the Star Fleet Project, while Freddie Mercury began work on his solo album. By August 1983, however, the band had reunited and began work on their eleventh studio album. It would be Queen's first album for EMI (and its US affiliate Capitol Records) worldwide after the band nullified its recording deal with Elektra for the US, Canada, Australia and Japan.

Recording commenced at Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles – Queen's first time recording in America – and Musicland Studios in Munich. Also during this time, their manager Jim Beach offered them the opportunity to compose the soundtrack for the film The Hotel New Hampshire. The band agreed, but soon discovered much of their time was being spent on the soundtrack instead of the upcoming album, and the project fell through. Only one song written for the soundtrack, "Keep Passing the Open Windows", made it onto The Works. By November 1983, Roger Taylor's "Radio Ga Ga" was chosen as the first single from the album. The Works was released on 27 February 1984.

"Radio Ga Ga"

The Works opens with "Radio Ga Ga". It was composed on keyboards, after Roger Taylor heard his son Felix (three years old at the time) saying "radio ca ca". He wrote it in Los Angeles and locked himself in the studio with a Roland Jupiter 8 and a drum machine. Afterwards John Deacon came up with a suitable bass line. Freddie Mercury reconstructed the track, both musically and lyrically. It was still credited to Taylor since Mercury was an arranger rather than a co-writer. Fred Mandel, their session keyboardist, put together an additive track with piano, synth and a temporary bass part. Brian May used a glass slide for his guitar solo. Taylor sang all the backing vocals, and used a Vocoder throughout the song. Most of the song is made out of electronics and synthesisers.

"Tear It Up"

The second track, "Tear It Up", is May's song, and the demo features him doing the vocals instead of Mercury. It was written as an attempt to revive Queen's old sound. It features stomping percussion similar to "We Will Rock You" that drives the song. When performed live during The Magic Tour, May would play the intro from "Liar" then go into the beginning of the song.

"It's a Hard Life"

The third song on The Works, "It's a Hard Life", is one of May and Taylor's favourite songs from Mercury (although they admitted that they hated the video). May contributed with some of the lyrics, and the intro was based on Ruggiero Leoncavallo's "Vesti la giubba", an aria from his opera Pagliacci. Mercury played piano and did most of the vocals, and conducted May about the scales he should use for the solo, described by May in the guitar program Star Licks as very "Bohemian Rhapsody"-esque.

"Man on the Prowl"

Following "It's a Hard Life" is "Man on the Prowl", a three-chord rockabilly Mercury composition (similar to "Crazy Little Thing Called Love") in which Mandel plays the piano ending. Note that "Tear It Up", "It's a Hard Life", "Is This The World We Created...?" and this song are free of synthesisers. May played the solo using a Fender Telecaster. This was planned as the fifth and final single from the album, with a provisional release date of 19 November 1984, and promotional copies were indeed pressed (QUEEN 5) and sent out (b/w "Keep Passing the Open Windows"), but the band opted for a Christmas single ("Thank God It's Christmas").

"Machines (Or 'Back To Humans')"

The fifth track on The Works, "Machines (Or 'Back to Humans')", came up as an idea by Taylor, and May collaborated with him and finished it. Producer Reinhold Mack programmed the synth-"demolition" using a Fairlight CMI II Sampler, and the song is sung as a duet between a double-tracked Mercury (singing in harmony with himself), and a robotic Taylor (using a Roland VP330 Vocoder). The instrumental remix of the song samples parts of "Ogre Battle" from Queen's second album Queen II, "Flash" and Larry Lurex's "Goin' Back" (in fact Queen (without Deacon) under a pseudonym). This song, along with "Radio Ga Ga" are some of the heaviest uses of electronics on the album.

"I Want to Break Free"

The sixth song, "I Want to Break Free" was written by John Deacon. This pop song is best known because of its video, featuring all four Queen members dressed up as women, in a parody of the British soap opera Coronation Street. The idea for the clip was Taylor's. Mercury commented that 'Everybody ran into their frocks'. Deacon, the song's author, insisted he didn't want a guitar solo on the track so a synth solo was played by Mandel – live, however, May played the solo on guitar. The version used for the single and the promotional video includes an opening and instrumental bridge (after the synth solo) not part of the original mix.

"Keep Passing the Open Windows"

"Keep Passing the Open Windows" is The Works's seventh track, and was written by Mercury in 1983 for the film version of The Hotel New Hampshire, based on a novel by John Irving. The phrase is mentioned on a number of occasions throughout the film and was, according to the opening credits, also co-produced by the band's manager Jim Beach, who changed it in order to suit the album mood better. Mercury played piano and synths and wrote the lyrics after reading the quote in the book.

"Hammer to Fall"

"Hammer to Fall", the eighth song, is May's other rock song on the album. Live versions were considerably faster and he sang it in his solo tours as well. Synths are played by Mandel and most of vocal harmonies were recorded by May himself, particularly in the bridge (save for "oh no" which is Taylor). The song harks back to the Queen of old, with a song being built around a hard angular and muscular riff. The song features Mercury on lead vocals, doing a call and response with May, who sings the chorus. The song's music video directed by David Mallet, contains footage of a performance of the song in Brussels. "Hammer to Fall" was a concert favourite, and was the third song the band performed at Live Aid in 1985. The song also features in both the setlist of the band's Works Tour and Magic Tour in 1986.

"Is This the World We Created...?"

The album concludes with "Is This the World We Created...?" was written in Munich after Mercury and May watched the news of poverty in Africa; the song was performed at Live Aid as an encore. Mercury wrote most of the lyrics and May wrote the chords and made small lyrical contributions. The song was recorded with an Ovation but live May used Taylor's Gibson Chet Atkins CE nylon-stringed guitar. A piano was tracked at the recording sessions for this song, but ultimately not included in the final mix.

Unreleased Songs and Demos

The sessions for The Works were highly productive, resulting in an overwhelmingly large body of material written and recorded. Only nine of these were used on the album, but many of those remaining have been released in other forms.

"Back to Storm"

Believed to originate from the Works sessions, this is a fast-paced track dominated by the piano and drums. Only a low-quality demo version exists, and very little is known about the track. It is little over a minute long. At the end of the track, Mercury can be heard to say: "very good, ha, ha. It's gotta go somewhere, but it just, er, wasn't"; the rest of the dialogue is inaudible.

"I Dream of Christmas"

When Queen wanted to write a Christmas single in 1984, Roger wrote the basics of "Thank God It's Christmas" while Brian wrote "I Dream of Christmas". The group then had to choose between the two, and opted for "Thank God It's Christmas", which Brian and Roger then wrote together. It is rumored that "I Dream Of Christmas" was recorded by the band, though nothing has ever been confirmed. Brian later worked on "I Dream Of Christmas" with his future wife Anita Dobson, which was released as a single in 1988 and also features John Deacon.

"I Go Crazy"

Written by May some time in 1981, the song was recorded during the album sessions but never made it onto the final cut. it was instead used as the b-side to the single release of "Radio Ga Ga".

"Let Me In Your Heart Again"

Written by May, this song went through several rewrites and re-recordings before it was left unfinished and subsequently recorded by Anita Dobson, featuring May, for her 1988 album 'Talking of Love'. In 2014, the band released a completed version of the song which features elements from a number of Queen demos of the track, with new backing vocals from Brian and Roger, and new guitars from Brian on the album Queen Forever.

"Let Me Live"

"Let Me Live" was originally recorded by the band in 1983 as a duet between Mercury and Rod Stewart. It originally also featured Jeff Beck on guitar. The song was never released, although it was reworked by the band for inclusion in their 1995 studio album Made in Heaven, released after Mercury's death. The finished version one features one verse and the chorus sung by Mercury, while the rest is sung by May and Taylor. It is unknown why the Stewart version was never used.

Little Boogie

Believed to originate from the Works sessions, this is an alternative piano version of "Back to Storm". Nothing else is known about the track.

"Love Kills"

Written by Mercury and Giorgio Moroder, "Love Kills" was originally recorded for the band's 1984 studio album The Works, but was ultimately rejected. It was then reworked as a Mercury solo track for inclusion in Moroder's 1984 restoration and edit of the 1927 silent film Metropolis, and was also released as a single. The track was later remade into a Queen ballad and released on the 2014 album Queen Forever.

"Man Made Paradise"

This song was later re-recorded as a Mercury solo track and released on his 1985 solo album Mr. Bad Guy.

"Man on Fire"

"Man on Fire", written by Taylor, is believed to have been recorded in 1984 for The Works, before it was re-recorded and then released on Taylor's second solo album Strange Frontier that same year. An early promo cassette for The Works features a very different track listing, where its title appears. Nothing else is known about the track, or even whether a complete version exists.

"Thank God It's Christmas"

This track, written by May and Taylor, was eventually released as a Christmas single in 1984, and later appeared as the b-side to the "A Winter's Tale" single in 1995. It was also released as part of the 1999 compilation Greatest Hits III. It was the only-ever Christmas song Queen recorded.

"There Must Be More to Life Than This"

Written by Mercury, this song was originally recorded by Mercury and Michael Jackson before being re-recorded by Queen in 1981 for their Hot Space album. The track was then going to be recorded to close The Works before Mercury and May wrote "Is This the World We Created...?". It was ultimately recorded as a solo track by Mercury and released on his 1985 solo album Mr. Bad Guy. In 2014, a reworked Queen version with Mercury and Jackson duetting was released on the album Queen Forever.

Personnel

Additional personnel

Singles

For the first and only time in their career, all the songs (and one non-album track, "I Go Crazy") from a Queen album were used as either A-sides or B-sides on singles. Starting with this album, the group began issuing singles in the UK under their own catalogue numbers.