Queen Made In Heaven (2 LP)

Queen’s 15th studio album was also, tragically, their last with Freddie Mercury. Following Freddie’s death in 1991, the remaining band members - John Deacon, Roger Taylor and Brian May – spent the next four years working sporadically on a new project with the vocal recordings left behind by Freddie. It was a difficult and enormously challenging process on many levels, but when Made In Heaven emerged it quickly established itself as one of Queen’s finest and most accomplished pieces of work. The album took its title from one of Freddie’s solo songs of 1985 which the band had reworked.
Although Freddie was told by his doctors in 1989 that he might not be around long enough to finish the project he and the band were working on in that year, The Miracle album, in fact he went on to finish that LP and indeed the next project too, Innuendo, in 1991. His health and physical condition was however, by the end of the Innuendo sessions, severely compromised. Despite innumerable difficulties, Freddie remained utterly focused, determined to record more and more vocals until he could record no more. It was his wish that wherever possible, and particularly in terms of work, that things carry on as normal, and so it was that he and the band set about recording as much as they could within the time left to them. The first half of 1991 saw an unusual period of recording like no other in the band’s career, governed largely by Freddie and his failing health.
Regardless of his personal difficulties, Freddie somehow found the strength to muster some truly breathtaking vocal performances, among of the most extraordinary of his career, digging deep within himself and finding a depth and spirit like never before. He seemed to find a new dimension to his voice and poured his very soul into every note. It is impossible to believe that the magnificent voice behind songs such as "A Winter’s Tale," "You Don’t Fool Me" and "Mother Love" could have been recorded by someone as physically weak as Freddie was by then. Though many people agree that these performances (and those on Innuendo) are not only great, but among the best and most moving of Freddie’s career.
Queen's final two albums, Innuendo and Made In Heaven were actually formatted primarily with the CD in mind, with a longer running time, so the contents had to be edited down to fit them on to the two sides of a vinyl album. For the first time, these two albums have been cut at full length as double vinyl LPs!
"I'm a man of the world and they say that I'm strong / But my heart is heavy and my hope is gone," Freddie Mercury sings in September 1991 in the song Mother Love, just two months before his tragic death. Although the rest of the band members are aware of Mercury's desire for another album, it took four years until they finally got over their hearts on November 6, 1995 to release Made In Heaven, the last Queen album in the original line-up. The result is a literally heavenly record that breathes the bittersweet atmosphere of its time of origin to this day.
When Innuendo was released in February 1991, the AIDS disease Freddie Mercury was already firmly in its clutches. Nevertheless, the exceptional musician does not miss the opportunity to continue to come to Montreux to Queen's own Mountain Studios to record even more songs. Guitarist Brian May recalls: "We lived in the studio for a while, so to speak, and as soon as he called and said that he could come by for a few hours, it was important to us to use that as much as possible."
In order to collect as much material as possible, the band deviates from their usual way of working for the first time: Instead of creating complete instrumental versions before the vocal recordings, Freddie records rough versions of the planned songs. To May, the singer says: "Write me something. Keep giving me words. I will sing." And so, despite the emotional burden, the quartet pulls together to fulfill their friend and comrade-in-arms' wish.
During Freddie's lifetime, titles such as A Winter's Tale and You Don't Fool Me were created; for Mother Love Brian May has to take over the vocals of the last verse, because the frontman is already too bad for that. His death on November 24, 1991 hits the band hard. Roger Taylor admits: "I never got over it. None of us. We probably all thought we could deal with it quickly, but we underestimated the force with which his death hit us. I still find it hard to talk about."

Features:

• 180g Vinyl
• Double LP
• Half-Speed Mastered
• Gatefold jacket
• Sourced from the Original Master Tapes
• Mastered By Bob Ludwig
• Cut at Half-Speed at Abbey Road Studios
• Pressed at Optimal in Germany

Selections:

Side A
1. It's A Beautiful Day
2. Made In Heaven
3. Let Me Live
4. Mother Love
Side B
1. My Life Has Been Saved
2. I Was Born To Love You
3. Heaven For Everyone
Side C
1. Too Much Love Will Kill You
2. You Don't Fool Me
3. A Winter's Tale
4. It's A Beautiful Day (Reprise)
Side D
1. "13"