Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Queen
Label: EMI Records
Released: 1986
Runtime: 49:56
Rating: 4.5/5
Who wants to love forever
Who wants to dream forever?
“A Kind Of Magic” was built on the never officially released soundtrack material for the cult sci-fi film Highlander (the Slovenian title, Gorjan, sounds a lot goofier), directed by Russell Mulcahy and starring Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod, a Scottish immortal of deep melancholy, countless memories and sarcastic quips. Unlike “Flash Gordon” (1981), far less interesting for classic rock fans and a soundtrack in the true sense of the word, not all the songs on this album showed up in the film, and some of them appeared there in a rather different form. So it’s more accurate to call “A Kind Of Magic”, which deserves a lot of the credit for the sci-fi spectacle’s immortal status, a quasi-concept album, with most of the songs inspired by various twists and turns from the movie.
For Queen it marked an important stylistic about-face, back to their classic rock and art rock roots and away from the synthetic pop that had started to dominate their music by the mid-80s. You could say it was a transitional album between the pop rock, synth-laden Queen of the 80s and their more classic, slowly reawakening and more beloved incarnation as masters of art/hard rock, the one they’d cultivated in the 70s. Their old fans were surely waiting impatiently for this step. Even though a few tracks on the album are still closer to synth pop than classic rock, the rest made it clear that the heroes of progressive rock were slowly returning to where they had always been at their best.
Given that this was a transitional period in their career, it’s quite surprising that they came up with such a strong record, one that holds some of their most beloved evergreens, led by classics and hits like “One Vision”, “A Kind Of Magic”, “Friends Will Be Friends”, “Who Wants To Live Forever” and “Princes Of The Universe”, which still fire up the imagination and creative inspiration of crowds of listeners and young bands around the world. As was usually the case with all their 80s albums, “A Kind Of Magic” isn’t free of flaws either. The individual tracks swing quite a bit in quality, especially in the first half of the album, which contains two songs below their usual standards. But thanks mostly to a noticeably better second half, it comes out as one of their classics and, in my opinion, their best album of the 80s. The album also has a special charm thanks to its great atmosphere and the way the music and lyrics weave into the film’s motifs, which anyone who’s seen the movie will have no trouble recognizing.
Queen announce with the opening track that they’re slowly coming back to a more familiar hard rock and art rock sound. The energetic hard rock hit “One Vision”, which appeared in the film Iron Eagle, is a convincing opener, even if it doesn’t offer anything out of this world, especially compared to their earlier legacy of excellent heavy rock numbers and powerful openers. It’s an average but solid mid-tempo track with a simple structure, May’s trademark guitar riffing, a strong synth backdrop, another fascinating vocal performance from Mercury as always, and a typical multi-voice chorus that sticks in your ear in no time. The song supposedly came about right after Mercury, inspired by their unforgettable Live Aid performance, literally forced the rest of the band to head into the studio and knock it out in a hurry. The Live Aid experience is also reflected in the idealistic lyrics, which, thanks to Freddie, soon turn into a kind of comic sketch with an unforgettable “fried chicken” ending.
This energetic hard rock opening is followed by a nostalgic pop rock fairy tale, the esoteric ultra-hit “A Kind Of Magic”, which, along with “Radio Ga Ga” and “I Want It All”, is in my opinion one of the three best pop rock songs of their career. According to Taylor, its title and central chorus were inspired by one of the film’s dialogues. Like its older brother “Radio ga Ga”, “A Kind Of Magic” is almost entirely Taylor’s baby, though Mercury had a say in its final shape too. The secret of this song’s incredible nostalgia lies in its seductive, magical arrangements and an unforgettable chorus, crowned as usual with Mercury’s indestructible vocal charisma and rich backing harmonies. Mysterious synth effects, played here by special guest Spike Edney, add to the mystical feel. The song appears in the film in a slightly different version, over the end credits.
The syrupy ballad “One Year Of Love”, written by bassist John Deacon, dampens the otherwise mostly excellent atmosphere of the album a bit and costs it a few credit points. Deacon also played the synths here, while May’s guitar was replaced by guest saxophone from Steve Gregory. The orchestral arrangements, one of the few bright spots of this track, were handled by Lynton Naif. They’re laid down very well, but the song’s problem lies in its shallow lyrics and boring central melody, even though Mercury gives his all in his vocal delivery, as usual. “One Year Of Love” appears in the film during a bar scene, when MacLeod is suddenly gripped by melancholy.
The title of worst track on the album goes to the dismal motown (a genre crossing pop and soul) experiment “Pain Is So Close To Pleasure”, which with its rhythmic pulse and chorus could easily pass as music for a strip club, if not for the gay club scene (with all due respect to Freddie’s beliefs and orientation). For all its below-average quality, it’s one of the last Queen songs where you can hear Freddie sing in falsetto. Queen wouldn’t be Queen if they hadn’t put at least one subpar track on the album, one that not everybody can like, which only testifies to their eternal, remarkable stylistic diversity.
The mood picks up fast with the very good anthemic ballad and hit “Friends Will Be Friends”. It continued their tradition of rousing, society-minded songs, with Mercury’s typical piano accompaniment and his incredible vocal ability to get even the most withered souls on their feet with his emotional fire. A deeply moving ballad that suits just about any social occasion and faithfully follows the tradition of their better-known rousing anthems like “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions”.
The best moment on “A Kind Of Magic” arrives with the unforgettable ballad “Who Wants to Live Forever”, in my opinion their most shattering and touching ballad ever. It’s not just the best track on the album, it’s one of the most beautiful love ballads of all time. May handled the synths and the vocals on the first verse here, while the dramatic orchestral arrangements came from an orchestra led by Michael Kamen. The orchestra also took over all the bass lines and percussion in place of Deacon and Taylor. The song takes on incredible, epic-melancholic dimensions when Mercury’s voice comes in, delivering in a gripping way a lifelong message about eternal love that conquers death. While the orchestral arrangements are exceptionally melancholic, the central chorus is incredibly rousing and positive. In the film version of the song, Mercury sings the first verse too. There, the song appears during MacLeod’s memories of his first wife and the love of his life.
What follows is a complete change of mood with the red-hot “Gimme The Prize” (known in some versions as Kurgan’s Theme, named after the film’s main villain). It’s a sudden swerve into heavy metal and one of the heaviest things in their career. Up front are May’s heavy metal riffing, Taylor’s merciless drum bashing and an unusually furious vocal performance from Mercury, closer to the style Ronnie James Dio (Dio, ex-Rainbow, ex-Black Sabbath) usually cultivates. In the background, through most of the song, you can hear the voices of the film’s two leads, the main antagonist Kurgan and MacLeod with his famous line “there can be only one”. For a short while a witty riff based on the Scottish national anthem cuts in, until a great guitar solo takes over. Fans of the film will pick out a bunch of different sounds from it along the way that bring certain scenes to mind. In my opinion, it’s the most overlooked track on the album.
The fun disco experiment “Don’t Lose Your Head” is a short, harmless pop rock interlude, where popular British singer Joan Armatrading joins as a special guest on backing vocals in one of the verses. May’s synths are pushed way up front here over Taylor’s repetitive drum machine and the central riff. In some stretches the song veers toward some of Mercury’s solo work. The title and chorus contain a humorous nod to the film, where the most important thing in a sword fight was keeping your head where it belongs. It briefly shows up in the scene where Kurgan kidnaps Brenda, MacLeod’s friend and love interest.
The closing epic heavy metal classic “Princes Of The Universe”, which was used as the film’s main theme and later as the main theme in the Highlander sequels, is a real treat for all lovers and seekers of epic fantasy in music. It’s undoubtedly still a huge inspiration for legions of power metal bands today. Despite pronounced power metal traits like the epic chorus, bristling guitar, dramatic vocal performance and fantasy lyrics, the constantly shifting structure, especially the many sudden changes of motif and with them mood, is closer to progressive metal, if not outright progressive rock. After an excellent first part, the song loses some of its dramatic fire at the first transition, but the ending is then pulled off very well again. Among their lesser-known songs it’s definitely a favorite, a cult track and the perfect close to the album.
However you slice it, and even though it’s not without its weaker moments (like most of their albums), there’s no doubt that “A Kind Of Magic” is rightly recognized today as one of their classics and one of the best pop rock, if not classic rock, albums of its time. For longtime fans it was a huge relief and exactly the step in the right direction they wanted from the band, as the hard rock passages and the epic, mystical themes returned to their music. Alongside its successor “The Miracle” (1988), it’s undoubtedly their best album of the 80s. After its release came their last tour as the one and only true Queen, which, sadly, the vast majority of music fans will never see again. It was their last great triumph and the end of the happy, carefree days, because after Mercury’s HIV-positive diagnosis, carefully hidden from the public, the hard days began to follow one after another.
Lineup
Freddie Mercury – vocals, piano, backing vocals, synthesizer
Brian May – electric guitar, backing vocals, synthesizer
Roger Taylor – drums, electronic drums, backing vocals, synthesizer
John Deacon – bass guitar, electric guitar, synthesizer
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Spike Edney – additional keyboards
UMI & BBC B – computer keyboards
Joan Armatrading – backing vocals on “Don’t Lose Your Head”
Steve Gregory – alto saxophone on “One Year of Love”
Lynton Naiff – orchestral arrangements on “One Year of Love”
Michael Kamen and the National Philharmonic Orchestra – orchestral arrangements on “Who Wants to Live Forever”
Production
Queen, Mack and David Richards
Track List
1 One Vision (5:08)
2 Kind of Magic (4:23)
3 One Year of Love (4:26)
4 Pain Is So Close to Pleasure (4:19)
5 Friends Will Be Friends (4:07)
6 Who Wants to Live Forever (5:13)
7 Gimme the Prize (Kurgan’s Theme) (4:32)
8 Don’t Lose Your Head (4:35)
9 Princes of the Universe (3:30)
