LP Review: Queen – Made In Heaven

Andrew Roy · May 17 2017

An often overlooked, yet extremely uplifting album.

As Freddie Mercury’s health began to drastically deteriorate from AIDS in 1991, he had a final wish; he wanted as much of his vocals to be recorded as possible so that the band could carry on without him. “Freddie said, ‘Write me stuff. Keep giving me words. I will sing,’” May recalled in a Rolling Stone article. It was not until 1995, four years on from Freddie’s death, that the meticulously pieced together album, Made in Heaven, emerged. In my opinion this was the perfect send off for Freddie. Here in this optimistic album, every track feels like a masterpiece in its own right and as a whole the album is my favourite from Queen.

The songs are quite varied throughout. Every song sounds unique, from the harmonic choir in “Let Me Live” to the very dramatic guitar solo in “You Don’t Fool Me”. On top of that, like a lot of Queen’s songs, there is a plenty of structure within each song. Probably the best example of this is “Heaven For Everyone”, my personal favourite on the album. This track, about the dream of a perfect world, goes through several stages. Beginning with Freddie’s soothing vocals, it builds up to a heavier part with drums and then slows again to build up to the drums and guitar. Then there is a third build up with some soft notes from Brian May to a guitar solo before finally slowing down again.

Some other stand out tracks include “Mother Love”, the last song that was recorded from Freddie. Fittingly it is a very haunting song, especially with the emphasized utterance of Freddie’s last lyrics. Freddie never managed to finish the song, however Brian May passionately sings the last verse. “I Was Born To Love You” is probably the fastest song of the album and feels ecstatic all the way through. “Too Much Love Will Kill You” is another beautiful song that feels very reflective and again goes through several phases with an excellent structure. Perhaps two of the weaker songs, “It’s A Beautiful Day” and “A Winter’s Tale”, may be a bit slow and melodic for the average listener, however these do add contrast to the exciting tracks. I feel “My Life Has Been Saved” perfectly sums up the album’s overall message; to be happy to be alive and to appreciate every moment of life.

Queen definitely went out with a bang with this finale. It is a real testament to Freddie Mercury’s talent that, although the lyrics were sung by a dying man, half of the album’s tracks are amongst my favourite songs. If you watch the last filmed performance of Freddie, in the music video for “These Are The Days Of Our Lives”, you’ll see that despite all the make up, Freddie looks very frail and in a poor condition. That was filmed at the end of May and Freddie sang all the way to September, despite only passing away in November.

All in all this is a breathtaking album from, in my opinion, the greatest band of all time at their peak. Queen will always be remembered for that six minute timeless classic, but I believe Queen also deserve to be remembered for their spectacular end.