Live Aid, the Highlander and the magical Wembley

After "The Works" Queen were indeed back on the scene, one year had five hits on the charts and established themselves permanently (and unlike many other '70s legends) in the new decade - but something was missing. You could not exactly describe what. Maybe it was the "Bohemian Rhapsody" of the 80, or legendary Aufritte as Rainbow Theatre 1974 or 1976 Hyde Park. The correct answer had Bob Geldof, who created something with his project "Live Aid", which proved to be a great opportunity. Queen were the first one of many bands and artists who participated in the biggest rock concert of all time, but when she came on stage, something ineffable. Freddie Mercury had packed the huge crowd in front of him and the millions watching on TV screens and let them no longer 20 minutes going. The band played a number of their greatest hits, and it's simply breathtaking when the ground at "Radio Ga Ga" true to the video stretched hands in the air and clapping - regardless of whether they were Queen fans or not, whether they knew at all what they did or not. The band had again touched the sun, and they did not have before, they all too quickly let go.

Now everything went quickly. From the impressions of Live Aid, the band created the song "One Vision", originally by Roger Taylor - formerly acted the song of Martin Luther King, but with time it was transformed. For the first time accompanied cameras work on the piece in the studio, and you can tell how much ambition put the band on the day.
"One Vision" became a hit, is considered one of the best songs Queens. It all went fabulously, even more striking, it seemed that a rest period you wanted to treat yourself to one another. Work on "One Vision" were hard, and the band had no real desire to stomp a new album from the floor immediately. The cells were empty, wanted to be recharged, new ideas should lead the way. Fortunately, the good fortune came flying as before Live Aid, this time in the form of a new movie Highlander with Christopher Lambert. Director Russell Mulcahy wanted to achieve something great for the background music, and he met with the band. They looked at the half-way finished film; you wanted to record a few songs, but in the end the project grew, it was also recorded songs that had nothing to do with the film, and the band had more or less inadvertently added a whole new album.

For new fans who have found after Live Aid to the band, "A Kind Of Magic" was something like the "A Night At The Opera" for the fans of the 70's. "One Vision" opens the new album, it follows the pop theme song (also the first time in Queen, that there was a right, title song of the same name), which proved to be a first single as a hit worldwide. The next single "Friends Will Be Friends" (a typical Mercury / Deacon composition) placed also still good, but then there was a disillusionment. While the album sold dazzling and secured twice platinum in the UK alone, but the single "Who Wants To Live Forever", which is traded today as one of the greatest songs Queens, landed in the home only on # 24. The great rocker "Princes Of The Universe" was a hit in the United States actually are (and should Queens "Rock" -Ambitionen after the disaster there with the pop song "I Want To Break Free" smooth ironing), but placed to do not only in the charts. Then there were two more exclusive Away Singles published; Firstly, the sprightly "Pain Is So Close To Pleasure", which came in Germany at # 52, and the queen unusual Deacon number "One Year Of Love" (so far the only song from the band catalog with a saxophone! ), which however could not tear in France and Spain. So be it, the songs are still top notch (although the Sentimentaliät that expresses "One Year", for many Queen fans so exaggerated is like a box of chocolates in a barrel full of sugar). Apart from that, there are still "Gimme The Prize" - a hard-May Kracher, with Freddie, who has almost biting the microphone and a fabulous solo - and "Do not Lose Your Head", the usual drum-oriented Taylor Song.

Then there is of course again the bonus EP, and this time it has got really annoying. The regular CD edition of the album had three bonus songs; two not particularly useful mixes of "A Kind Of Magic" and "Friends Will Be Friends" (the normal Extended versions, only shortened - original is different), and a nice piano version of "Who Wants To Live Forever", with own title "Forever". Well, just said "Forever" and the annoying "Friends Will Be Friends Will Be Friends ..." there have already managed as a "bonus" songs on the EP. But it has at least two great consolation points; Firstly, the Highlander version of "A Kind Of Magic", very hard to get less pop than the version on the album and so far (let's leave aside Youtube); and the so far unknown "A Child Of Vision", an interesting fusion of "One Vision" and "A Kind Of Magic" - in the booklet then the statement that Taylor said already frequent that the two songs from the same basic idea came, and now we have the proof here! There are then the very nice single remix of "Pain Is So Close To Pleasure" and a live recording of "One Vision", recorded at the Wembley concert - but not from the regular known Saturday concert, but from the less acclaimed show on Friday.

In the end, "A Kind Of Magic" has become a magical affair indeed. A few years ago I could not take pleasure in the music, it looked in my eyes and full of round edges. Even today I am still of the opinion that you can hear the tiredness, which indicated the band as a reason for a possible break for 1985 here and there. But this is a purely subjective opinion, because you can think away this "kind of magic" then do not - it's a very important part in the Queen cosmos. And thanks to the men- tioned above, legendary live concert (s) in Wembley 1986 also forgets the community of that album so quickly.
We conclude with a line of "Brighton Rock", 1974: "A little people magic if you want"