Search - Queen :: Miracle

Not your older brother's Queen.

Joseph M. Perorazio | Columbus, OH USA | 11/10/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"By the late 80's, Queen had evolved (some would say de-volved) into a slick Euro-pop band, recording in musical styles ranging from soul to calypso to guitar ballads to heavy rock. In the process they lost most of their U.S. fanbase, and this album did nothing to bring those fans back into the fold. Unfortunate, because this LP is among the best of their 80's output, and one of their most diverse. The heavy rockers are still there; tracks like "I Want It All" and "Khashoggi's Ship" prove that Queen still could Rock You. But the real fun here is in the tracks that go off the beaten musical path. "Rain Must Fall" is a festive calypso number that features Freddie summoning up the ghost of Carmen Miranda, and "Breakthru" is simply an excellent 80's synth pop song. "The Invisible Man" and "The Miracle" are 2 other standout cuts that add to this very diverse musical mixture. Queen's late-period music was light years beyond "Bohemian Rhapsody" or "We Will Rock You"; not better, not worse, just completely and utterly different. Perhaps those fans that were turned off to Queen in the 80's will give this album another listen, if for no other reason than to experience a band that wasn't afraid to break away from formula and routine. One wonders what other musical horizons Queen might have explored had Freddie lived. Fortunately, they covered a lot of musical ground during their 20-year career, and they left us one of the largest and most diverse catalogs of the rock era. A miracle indeed.

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