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1990's |
The 1990'sBelow is a brief appraisal of the band's album releases during the 1990's, which is followed by a UK singles discography for the decade. All individual album reviews can be reached by following the links on the left. 
Queen's final decade got off to a positive start, but there was an ominous shadow hanging over the band. The 'Innuendo' album released in 1991 had a prevailing sombre ambience, and each song possessed a meditative, melancholic air, particularly the final track 'The Show Must Go On', and its prophetic significance was to be cruelly realised before the year was out. A second hits collection, 'Greatest Hits II', released in October 1991 picked up where the first left off, and is an impressive anthology of Queen's prolific single releases during the eighties and early nineties. Then on November 24th 1991 came the news all Queen fans dreaded, but in all honesty were probably expecting: the death of Freddie Mercury. Each member of the band brought an exclusive quality to Queen, and were all contributory to the band's success, but how could they realistically continue without their charismatic, flamboyant front man? On the 20th April 1992, the three surviving members of Queen commemorated Freddie's life by staging a magnificent live concert at Wembley Stadium, with a multitude of stars taking part, and was a fitting way to celebrate the life and achievements of the peerless Freddie Mercury. 
The next album 'Live At Wembley 86' was a splendid double disc set, wonderfully capturing the band's dynamic stage show at its potent best. 'Live At Wembley 86' is what 'Live Magic' should have been, but is still not quite the equal of 'Live Killers'. During Freddie's last months, he insisted on recording as much material as possible, and Brian, Roger and John eventually finished of these embryonic compositions, and even re-worked a couple of Brian, Freddie and Roger's solo tracks with the unique Queen formula. The resulting album, 'Made In Heaven' has a strange haunting quality, which is hardly surprising considering the nature of its development. It still contains many memorable tracks, and for me is superior to 'Innuendo'. Another compilation album was released in 1997, 'Queen Rocks', a title that should win awards for stating the blatantly obvious! As the name suggests, the album is a collection of their more up tempo numbers, and is an indispensable introduction to some of Queen's album material for those people only familiar with the band's single releases. A significant new inclusion was the emotive single 'No One But You (Only The Good Die Young)', a touching, sentimental farewell to Freddie from the surviving members of the band, with Brian and Roger handling vocal duties. Unfortunately, the band's final album release 'Greatest Hits III', is a clumsily assembled affair with some questionable inclusions, and is hardly an essential purchase. What could have been an ideal means to bring the singles collections up to date, and include tracks that didn't make the previous two hits compilations, proved to be a missed opportunity and ended Queen's album catalogue in a less than satisfactory manner. During their distinguished career, Queen successfully carved their own indelible mark into the formidable ranks of rock's hierarchy. They will always be remembered as the ultimate rock band, and their impressive opus of songs will continue to astound and enchant; winning over continual legions of fans for generations to come. UK singles discography 1990 - 1999Key: All main details are based on the 7" single release. Additional tracks for other formats are noted as follows: * 12" single Innuendo c/w Bijou
I’m Going Slightly Mad c/w The Hitman
Headlong c/w All God’s People
The Show Must Go On c/w Keep Yourself Alive
Bohemian Rhapsody c/w These Are The Days Of Our Lives
Heaven For Everyone (single version) c/w Heaven For Everyone (album version)
A Winter’s Tale c/w Thank God It’s Christmas
Too Much Love Will Kill You c/w We Will Rock You / We Are The Champions
Let Me Live c/w Fat Bottomed Girls / Bicycle Race
You Don’t Fool Me (album version) / You Don’t Fool Me (dancing divaz mix) / You Don’t Fool Me (sexy club mix) / You Don’t Fool Me (late mix) CD single tracks
No One But You (Only The Good Die Young) / We Will Rock You (Rick Rubin 'Ruined' Remix) c/w Tie Your Mother Down / Gimme The Prize (Instrumental Remix)
Under Pressure (rah mix) {with David Bowie} c/w Bohemian Rhapsody
All chart details are based on the: 'Guinness World Records British Hit Singles' 15th Edition Home | 1990's | Innuendo | Greatest Hits II | Live At Wembley 86 |