Search - Freddie Mercury :: Great Pretender

An exercise in free love

Becke D. | New York, USA | 01/13/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Unfortunately, I have never had the opportunity to hear the famed 1985 album "Mr. Bad Guy", for which I am quite regretful. I very much hope that it will be re-released someday, but in the meanwhile, this album has what we need: FREDDIE! The only way to tackle a review of this incredible chunk of pure Mercury is to take it song by song. It starts off with Freddie's amazing rendition of the Platters' "The Great Pretender". WOW. That's about all one can say. Next comes "Foolin' Around": cute, catchy, and reminiscent of late-eighties Queen. "Time", the third track, is a lovely song, well suited to Freddie's style and voice. "Time" inevitably reminds one how little time he himself had left when this album was released: how can we refuse as he appeals to us to use what time we have wisely? Next, the fun "Your Kind Of Lover" goes from a thoughtful opening to a disco-pop toe-tapper. Now we come to the fifth song - remember to breathe when you listen to this one. "Exercises In Free Love" makes me cry every single time I hear it. Without contest, this is Freddie's most unspeakably beautiful creation. All by itself, this song makes the album worth owning. Ok... I know it's hard, but let's tear ourselves away and move on. Number six, "In My Defence", is a typically gorgeous Freddie tune, and, like "Time", it's an exhortation to do what we can while we can. "Mr. Bad Guy" rocks along, a snarl that is, in this version, really just a grin. Rock on, Mr. Mercury. "Let's Turn It On" is a socially conscious disco number with a decently danceworthy beat. Next comes the awesome "Living On My Own". Woo hoo! Lyrics you can sing along with the first time, kickin' beat, and the line "I don't have no time for no monkey business"! Sing loud, laugh hard. "My Love Is Dangerous" makes no excuses. Love is a fire dance and Freddie knows it. "Love Kills" continues the extravaganza with metal-esque guitars and Freddie's growling rock'n'roll voice. And as far as the official tracklist goes, that's the end of this album. I'm not gonna tell you about the hidden bonus remix track...oops..."

Don't believe the remix negativity, this is a good one!

Michael Allred | Niles, Michigan United States | 04/29/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's strange how you can be a fan of Queen, a band known for their genre breaking style, yet knock a remix which makes it a bit more techno-like. Queen fans are well known for their dislike of remixes and for the most part, they are misguided for hating this album.This CD features, for the most part, remixes or complete reworkings of songs off the "Mr. Bad Guy" album. If you've never heard that particular album, you haven't missed much as Freddie, for whatever reason, filled it to the brim with horribly cheesy synths which marks them forever with a bad 80's sound. "The Great Pretender" album fixes all of that, making them timeless."Living On My Own" is the best example of this. In it's original 1985 form, it barely made the top 50 on the UK singles chart yet when it was remixed in 1993, it went to #1 and I believe that says something. For the record, that remix is the ONLY Queen solo song EVER to be a #1 single anywhere in the world. It was brilliantly done, updating it for the 90's, giving it a faster, techno beat.Another great example is "Love Kills" which, oddly enough, was a synth dance number in it's original form but now they made a kicking rock song out of it!Let it be known that a good number of other "remixes" on here aren't all that different from the originals like "Time" and "In My Defence" which were taken from a musical."Exercises In Free Love" is one of my favorites and Freddie, playing piano and harmonizing sound ever so haunting...Tori Amos would love this one.This is the best of Freddie's solo releases (and yes, I believe he would've loved the new versions....especially the success it would've brought him!)"

Good...but the original versions were better!

Becke D. | 06/17/1998

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Picture it...1993. I, a Queen fan, go to the record store to buy the newly released "Great Pretender" by Freddie Mercury. I listened to it, and thought "Hey, these songs are pretty good!" They were "dancier" then most of Queen's songs and revealed a somewhat different side of Mr. Mercury. A year or two later, I found a copy of "Mr. Bad Guy", an album released in 1985, and my opinion changed. I heard the original versions of several songs on the album (including My Love is Dangerous, Mr. Bad Guy, and Foolin Around), and liked them MUCH better. These were the songs as Freddie intended them...not remixed to someone else's wishes. Likewise, I heard the original versions of the Great Pretender and Love Kills, and I liked those better too. Unfortunately, for the time being (hopefully!), the original editions of all these songs are out-of-print. Mr. Bad Guy has been for several years, the Time soundtrack (with Time and In My Defence on it) is hard to find, and some of the songs were only released as singles. So, we must turn to this album, and the Barcelona album to experience Freddie's solo work. Serious fans should buy it so that they can hear the songs (at least, these versions of the songs), until the record companies give us what Freddie really wanted - namely, his songs done his way!"