Mr. Bad Guy
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| Mr. Bad Guy | |||||
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| Studio album by Freddie Mercury | |||||
| Released | April 29, 1985 | ||||
| Recorded | 1984-1985 at Musicland Studios, Munich | ||||
| Genre | Pop rock Rock Disco/Dance Pop |
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| Length | 40:41 | ||||
| Label | Columbia | ||||
| Producer | Mack and Freddie Mercury | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
| Freddie Mercury chronology | |||||
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Mr. Bad Guy is the first solo album from Queen singer Freddie Mercury. Released in 1985, during a period in which Queen were on hiatus from recordings, there are eleven songs written by Mercury himself.
Living on My Own was re-released in the 1990s in a remixed form (seven remixes were made by No More Brothers) while "I Was Born to Love You" and "Made in Heaven" were later re-worked by the surviving three Queen members. They were added to the Made in Heaven album released in 1995 along with other songs that had previously been recorded in the studio. The "Mr. Bad Guy" album was originally to be called "Made in Heaven", according to Queen archivist Greg Brooks in the liner notes of The Solo Collection boxed set released in 2000.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
All songs by Freddie Mercury.
Side 1
- "Let's Turn It On" – 3:42
- "Made in Heaven" – 4:05
- "I Was Born to Love You" – 3:38
- "Foolin' Around" – 3:29
- "Your Kind Of Lover" – 3:32
Side 2
- "Mr. Bad Guy" – 4:09
- "Man Made Paradise" – 4:08
- "There Must Be More To Life Than This" – 3:00
- "Living on My Own" – 3:23
- "My Love Is Dangerous" – 3:42
- "Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow" – 3:46
[edit] Songs
'Let's Turn It On' was recorded on April 1984. Mercury sang a high Bb (the same note Roger Taylor reaches at the end of "Bohemian Rhapsody"'s operatic bit) and played the bass-line using a synth. That bass-riff was recycled later and slightly modified for the coda of Queen's 1989 song "The Miracle", also composed by Mercury.
'Made in Heaven' was the working title of the album, and a song Mercury liked a lot. He recorded his piano parts on 31st May 1984 and added vocals shortly afterwards. After Mercury's death, Roger Taylor, John Deacon and Brian May took Mercury's piano and vocals and added their instrument in order to make a Queen version for the 1995 eponymous album.
'I Was Born to Love You' was composed in New York. Mercury recorded his piano and vocals on 25th May 1984. He wasn't entirely pleased with it[citation needed] but the record company pressured him to release it. Years later Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon re-worked it adding their instruments and re-mixing it as a Queen number.
'Foolin' Around' originated at the same sessions as 'Made in Heaven', but was re-worked several times later until the final version was completed in January 1985.
'Your Kind Of Lover' was begun in March 1984 and features some very low vocals by Mercury.
'Mr Bad Guy' was recorded on May 1984 and it's the only track on the album featuring orchestra, which is something Mercury had been meaning to do for a long time.
'Man Made Paradise' was supposed to close Queen's album The Works, but was dropped when Mercury and May composed 'Is This The World We Created?'. The song ends with an operatic bit performed by Mercury on piano and vocals, foreshadowing his next duet 'Barcelona'.
'There Must Be More To Life Than This' began in 1981 as part of the Hot Space sessions. Early versions featured Mercury on piano and Michael Jackson singing.
'Living on My Own' was recorded between April and May 1984, and was re-mixed and re-released in 1993 earning Mercury his only solo #1 single. To this day, he's the only Queen member who has released a solo #1 hit and won a solo Ivor Novello award. Piano is played by Fred Mandel, who worked with Elton John and Supertramp later on.
'My Love Is Dangerous' comes from a session in 29th May 1984 (same as 'Living on My Own' and the first version of 'Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow').
[edit] Personnel
- Freddie Mercury – vocals, piano, synthesizer
- Fred Mandel – additional piano, synthesizer, guitar
- Paul Vincent – lead guitar
- Curt Cress – drums
- Stephan Wissnet – bass guitar
- Jo Burt – fretless bass on "Man Made Paradise"
- Rainer Pietsch – arrangement for "Mr. Bad Guy"
- Mack and Stephan Wissnet – Fairlight CMI, drum programmes
- Mack, assisted by Stephan Wissnet – engineering
- The Artful Dodger – artwork
- A. Sawa – photographs
[edit] Chart performance
| Country | Charts | |
|---|---|---|
| Peak position | Weeks | |
| United Kingdom | 6 | 23 |
| Switzerland | 14 | 6 |
| Japan | 20 | 21 |
| Netherlands | 20 | 11 |
| Austria | 23 | 4 |
[edit] Contributions from Queen members
In his blog dated 13 Jul 2006, Dr Brian May claimed that Freddie Mercury received help on many of the tracks from the other Queen members. Although not stating what form that help took, Brian regarded the sleeve note that thanked the queen members for "staying out of this", as being far from the truth. blog
[edit] External links
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