Last November, I wrote a post celebrating 5 lesser-known (in the U.S.A.) Queen tunes that I absolutely LOVED, in the hopes that you, dear readers, would too. And many of you did!
So I thought, If folks liked those tunes, why not highlight five more? Really, there is no shortage of fabulous Queen songs out there. In fact, I struggled in limiting myself to just five in this post, soooo… I decided to spotlight SIX, instead! Woot!
Oh, and guess who scored Queen + Adam Lambert tickets for this August down in NYC? THIS GAL! 33rd row-center seats, too, thankyouverymuch. Sometimes, when leisurely browsing resale-ticket seats, ya get lucky, ya know? 😉
HOLLA!!
(And yes, I know that I won’t be seeing the ‘real’ Queen. BUT this is the closest I’ll ever get.)
That said, today’s bloggy musings are brought to you in part to celebrate my recent procurement of Queen tickets. I also wrote this because, well, I just love writing about these guys! Good stuff lies ahead, dear readers, good stuff. Here we go!
Ready, Freddie?
#6: The Invisible Man
Album: The Miracle
Written by: Roger Taylor (but credited to Queen)
Year: 1988
My previous Queen post recapped the day yours truly actually discovered Queen, waaay back in early 1992 when I was just 14 years old. The short version of the story is that as I was playing cards at my friend’s house, the ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’/Wayne’s World video began playing on my friend’s bedroom TV. Instantly captivated and mesmerized by the song, as well as the band’s ultra-talented, flamboyant lead singer, Freddie Mercury, at that precise moment, I became a Queen fan for life.
Ah, memories.
Back in the early 90s, I relied on either MTV or VH1 for my Queen fix (along with my VCR) as the internet was not widely used by regular people such as myself. Luckily however, MTV, right after Freddie passed, played several Queen retrospectives in-between constant reruns of the god-awful Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. Yes, I said it. God-Awful. I thought that back then and probably would still today. Liza Minelli’s rendition of ‘We Are The Champions’? No. Just #nope. Soh-ray.
Anyway, back in ’92, I caught a snippet of the video for a Queen song called ‘The Invisible Man’ embedded in one of my taped-off-MTV Queen documentaries. I remember thinking that the tune sounded pretty catchy, however, I didn’t own The Miracle (1988) album, and that particular track wasn’t on either greatest hits compilation cassette I owned a the time. Therefore, ‘The Invisible Man’ didn’t end up becoming a favorite.
Recently though, I came across this track while listening to Queen’s YouTube channel, which contains a plethora of Queen videos, live performances, documentaries, etc. Sidenote: I just love how Queen is cool with having so much of their classic content available, free to the band’s adoring masses via YouTube! Other legendary rock acts should take note (cough Eagles cough). Jussayin.
The first thing I noticed about ‘The Invisible Man’ was its frantic, uber-energetic, thumping bassline, courtesy of Queen bassist and resident ‘regular guy who just happens to possess immense talent’ John Deacon. Besides Deacon’s stellar bass and songwriting chops (JD is, IMO, the second-best songwriter in Queen after Freddie Mercury), ‘Deaky’ is also known (at least by the YouTube QueenFan Faithful) for his very white-man-in-Dad-jeans dance moves, as referenced in the video below:
Other highlights of this tune include four shoutouts, one per band member, at different points. First Taylor yells out “Freddie Mercury!”, followed by Freddie introducing “John Deacon!” during the first incarnation of Deaky’s thumpin’ bassline. After that, Freddie yells out “Brian May! Brian May!” right before May’s guitar solo, and finally, toward song’s end, Roger Taylor spars a bit with Freddie, with Taylor first exclaiming “Look at me! Look at me!” to which Freddie responds “Rrrrrroger Taylor!” rolling the first “r” to emulate the drums at the end of the verse, according to the song’s Wikipedia page.
You have to listen closely though, or you’ll likely miss at least one of the above. Personally, it took me a few attempts to hear them all.
Also, while Roger Taylor was not a prolific, hit-producing songwriter for Queen in the 1970s like the other three were (Taylor’s 1975 ode to vehicular molestation ‘I’m in Love With My Car’ being mocked in the Bohemian Rhapsody movie even now in 2018), Taylor definitely redeemed himself in the 1980s. Besides penning the 1984’s monster jam ‘Radio Ga Ga,’ TayTay also co-wrote the 1991 Queen masterpiece ‘Innuendo’ (with Mercury), as well as the composition here, among several notable others during the decade of Excess.
However, even Brian May himself has admitted (and do I hear it too) that the tune sounds a LOT like the song ‘Ghostbusters,’ especially at the very beginning. Oops. I wonder if Ray Parker, Jr. noticed that!
Here is that video for comparison purposes:
Below is the official video for ‘The Invisible Man,’ but in this first video, as it plays, you’ll actually hear Brian May and Roger Taylor talking over the song (don’t worry, I posted the official video without the talking too. Stay tuned). There are a bunch of these ‘Brian and Roger Talks’ Queen videos available for one’s listening pleasure on YouTube and I gotta say- they are fascinating. Beyond May and Taylor’s intriguing discussions about the featured song and video, their diametrically opposing personalities up the entertainment quotient of these mini-commentaries even more. While Brian May is typically soft-spoken, diplomatic, and optimistic, Roger Taylor is a legit curmudgeon and a big ol’ complainy pessimist. It gets pretty hilarious listening to the two of them reminisce. Check it out:
Beware: the picture and song are not in sync. Also, I noticed that Roger Taylor is pretty chill during this video discussion, which completely discredits everything I just said regarding his cantankerous persona. But fear not- take a listen to the ‘Brian and Roger Talks’ videos for the Queen songs ‘It’s a Hard Life’ and ‘Body Language,’ and you’ll see- Taylor is totes crankalicious, and it’s quite entertaining. 😂😂😂
Additionally, to echo Brian and Roger’s musings, I agree that this particular video was pretty ahead of its time. Even the special effects were impressive- at least for 1988, that is. In fact, while watching, I occasionally caught myself thinking-wow, this doesn’t seem old at all.
Then I remember that the little boy in the video is about 3-4 years younger than I am.
And am reminded that this video is pretty damn old.
As am I.
Here is the official music video, sans discussion:
And here is an alternate video version, comprised of the band members performing as shadows:
#5: Seven Seas of Rhye
Album(s): Queen I, Queen ll, Sheer Heart Attack
Written by: Freddie Mercury
Years: 1973-1974
Queen’s sophomore album, released a year after their debut 1973 album, possesses the most unoriginal title on Earth.
Queen II. (Wow! What creative genius thought up THAT TITLE??)
Might as well have titled the record Queen Jr. Or Queen Returns? Queen Strikes Back?
Anyway, the irony of the plain-Jane album title is not lost on hardcore Queen fans such as myself, as most of us totes KNOW that Queen II, the album with the unoriginal, boring name, is actually anything BUT.
No no no. Unoriginal and boring does NOT adequately describe Queen ll.
The phrase “A damn masterpiece” totally does, though!
The song ‘Seven Seas of Rhye’ wraps up the whole epic shebangabang that is Queen II, as the final song on Mercury’s ‘side black’ (as in the side of the record containing only Mercury-penned tunes.)
Additionally, ‘Seven Seas of Rhye’ was not just relegated to wrapping up Queen ll in epic fashion. The track also concludes Queen’s first album, Queen (another epic moment in album-titling creativity) as an instrumental! WHAAT?
I’ll explain. Initially, according to the song’s Wikipedia page, ‘Seven Seas of Rhye was “simply an ‘instrumental musical sketch closing their first album.’ An expanded rendition, for the upcoming album Queen II, was publicly premiered after Queen appeared on Top of the Pops in February 1974 (where they performed the tune, I gather) and rushed to vinyl two days later. Additionally, ‘Seven Seas’ became Queen’s first Billboard chart entry, peaking at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart. This resulted in Freddie Mercury becoming adequately persuaded to make Queen his full-time career.”
For that fact alone, ‘Seven Seas of Rhye,’ is freaking awesome. But wait, there’s more! First, here is the instrumental teaser that wrapped up the band’s debut album, Queen (1973).
Second, Wikipedia states that the song’s “inclusion here on the final track of Queen II is briefly mirrored via whistling during the first few seconds of ‘Brighton Rock,’ which opens their [follow-up third] album, Sheer Heart Attack.”
Yes, kids, ‘Seven Seas of Rhye’ appears on not one, not two, but the first three Queen albums in some form. Here is the version of the song that opens the Sheer Heart Attack record as a lead-in to ‘Brighton Rock.’ The above-referenced whistling runs from about 0:11-0:25.
Third, on a personal note, I first heard ‘Seven Seas of Rhye’ on 1992’s Queen’s Greatest Hits, the second Queen cassette I purchased in the early 90s. On that particular compilation, the song immediately followed one of my other favorites, ‘Play The Game’ which I had featured in my previous Queen post. I recall the 1-2 punch of those tracks as a pretty stellar listen, with both tunes containing top-notch song quality not often found on ‘side twos’ of cassette albums back then. Currently, nearly 30 years later, I also feel that I only now truly appreciate the complexity and musicality of Seven Seas in a way I likely couldn’t way back in the day, too.
Fourth, those that saw the recent Bohemian Rhapsody quasi-biopic may recognize this song from one of the flick’s best scenes, included below for your viewing pleasure. The scene I speak of features the boys of Queen “getting experimental” as they record their first album during their rented studio time, overnight, that the band paid for with own money (which is not what really happened at all, save for the whole “recording overnight” thing, as being an unknown act gets you the crappiest studio time. Makes sense, right? Overall good stuff here though, even if much of it is fiction.
Fifth and finally, here is the official video for ‘Seven Seas of Rhye’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJFZfibRf7k#4: Spread Your Wings
Album: News of the World
Written by: John Deacon
Year: 1977
As I previously stated (more than once), back in ’92, little by little, I began amassing Queen albums on cassette. Initially, I procured the compilations Classic Queen and Queen’s Greatest Hits, followed by 1979’s Live Killers. After that, I began collecting their studio albums. I based my album choices on band eras and songs I already liked a lot, in the hopes I’d like the rest of the record, too.
The fourth album I ended up owning (and the first non-compilation/studio album) was 1975’s A Night At the Opera (on which ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ could be found, so it had to be the next one). This was followed by 1991’s Innuendo, and then the sixth and final Queen album I received, (as a Hanukkah gift, likely in December of 1992) was 1977’s News of the World. I was pretty stoked to receive this particular record, too, as I had been wanting to hear the other songs on the album that contained the incredible We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions one-two punch. Plus, News of the World dropped the year I was born! A good omen, amirite?
Last December (2018), it had been about 26ish years since I last heard ‘Spread Your Wings.’ I had actually forgotten it existed as a Queen tune until… good ol’ ‘Brian and Roger Talks’ on YouTube!
Thank you, gentlemen. I forgot how much I like this song! Here is the ‘Brian and Roger Talks’ video for ‘Spread Your Wings’:
“[John Deacon] didn’t write that many [songs], but a lot of them were hits.” Yup! damn straight, Brian May. Similar to Randy Meisner-the OG Eagles bassist, John Deacon was all about song quality, rather than quantity. And even though Deaky claims significantly fewer composer credits than his three other bandmates, he still is, IMO, the second-best songwriter in Queen, behind Mr. Fahrenheit himself, Freddie Mercury.
There is just something about those quiet, soft-spoken, legendary bass players of the 1970s and 80s, I tell ya. Personally, I LOVE them.
Recently, I also found this glorious nugget deep in the YouTube annals, which is pretty convincing evidence that Queen, in 1978 (when ‘Spread Your Wings’ was released), was quite far away from ‘legendary’ status at the time LOL. Check out how I know:
Dammit Freddie, put that brandy bottle down! 😂 And yo-they straight FORGOT Brian May’s NAME!
As stated in the ‘Brian and Roger Talks’ video, the official videos for ‘Spread Your Wings’ and ‘We Will Rock You’ were both filmed on the same day and in the same location-the front yard of drummer Roger Taylor’s newly purchased house. Below, I’ve linked the ‘We Will Rock You’ video for comparison purposes.
In the Bohemian Rhapsody film, there was also a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Easter egg reference to ‘Spread Your Wings’ that I recently caught on my 30th or 40th listen to the film in my car on my commute to work. I wonder how many people noticed it too, as it was a very quick and very subtle reference to this track, that not many people know of to begin with. Personally, I found the obscure reference pretty neat-especially since the scriptwriter peeps made sure to involve John Deacon in the moment, giving Deaky a hat-tip for writing this song with out actually saying that out loud.
Sidenote: I noticed that the Bohemian Rhapsody script was quite reverent toward Deaky, actually, save for Freddie Mercury’s jabs at the poor guy, calling him ‘boring’ (another film falsehood, as Mercury and Deacon were actually pretty tight with one another. I mean, JD left the band pretty much after Freddie died and hasn’t performed with May and Taylor since. Also, Mercury and Deacon even wrote a few songs together, and legend has it that the two men even shared something like a big-little brotherly-type bond, with Deaky 5 years Mercury’s junior).
The shoutouts and respect paid to Deaky’s Queen contributions throughout the film were very subtle, but definitely there. At least four of Queen’s hit songs were specifically referred to as John Deacon compositions in the movie at different times- ‘You’re My Best Friend,’ ‘Another One Bites The Dust,’ ‘I Want To Break Free’ (occurring at 0:18 in the video below), and at 1:22, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it reference to ‘Spread Your Wings.’ No other band member received that much songwriting accolades- not even Mercury.
Oh, and Joe Mazzello did an amazing job portraying Deaky in the film. Looked JUST like him, too!
I must admit, I kinda love the understated respect given to Deaky in the BoRhap movie, even though at present, John no longer speaks to Brian May and Roger Taylor at all (why? nobody knows, though I have a few theories that I don’t plan to share). After the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, the final 1995 Queen album Made in Heaven, and the Taylor-May-Deacon Freddie tribute song ‘Noone But You (Only the Good Die Young)’ John Deacon left Queen- and that was that. I give him a lot of respect for the path he has chosen since Freddie passed too, I have to say.
Here is the official video for ‘Spread Your Wings’:
#3: Flash’s Theme
Album: Flash Gordon (soundtrack)
Written by: Brian May
Year: 1980
![Queen Flash Gordon](https://i0.wp.com/www.doublesmom77.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/flash.jpg?resize=300%2C286&ssl=1)
“45 RPM Queen Flash’s Theme A/K/A Flash b/w Football Fight” Flickr photo by A.Currell shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC) license
“FLASH!! AH-AAAAAAHHHHH!!! Savior of the Universe!!”
Ok, ok. This song is definitely not a masterpiece. I know this. In fact, when I made my husband-who likes Queen a lot-listen to this track, he gave me the side eye. But I don’t care. I love this song! Apparently, this track is pretty much the best thing about the Flash Gordon film as well, though I actually have yet to see it. Is it on Netflix? LOL.
Brace yourself. Here is the trailer for the film:
The Flash Gordon movie straight-up reminds me of 1970s orange-red shag carpeting. Is it just me, or does every scene emit an orangey-red hue?
Ok. Flash Gordon the movie looks ridiculous. And just trying to skim through the film’s plot via its Wikipedia page is giving me Forest Whitaker eye as well. Sam J. Jones, who plays Flash, was a Playgirl centerfold five years prior to his casting in the kitch-fest 1980 Flash Gordon film, where he beat out both Kurt Russell and Arnold Schwarzenegger for the titular lead role.
Say WHAT?? That last sentence of the above paragraph is a lot to unpack!! LOL. Who knew?
Yet Queen agreed to compose the entire soundtrack to this movie, which I actually find completely hilarious. It’s almost akin to Nirvana composing the soundtrack to Showgirls, FFS.
But I digress.
The video for ‘Flash’s Theme’ is pure gold. The band was, according to the song’s Wikipedia page, performing the tune in Anvil Studios, London, back in November 1980 while a screen in the room played a bunch of clips from the film. All four members of Queen are expertly playing their instruments (Freddie’s instrument being his voice) with serious expressions on their faces as the campy AF flick ‘flashes’ (pun intended) across the screen behind them. Freddie Mercury hits some insane high notes in this tune, too. That man had an unbelievable vocal range. Day-um.
And while all this is happening, Sam J. Jones begins to fly across the screen in what looks like a magical Segway.
![Flash Gordon](https://i0.wp.com/www.doublesmom77.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Flash.jpg?resize=213%2C300&ssl=1)
“Flash! Ah-ah! He’ll save every one of us!” “FlashPads” Flickr photo by Patrick_Gug shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license
Truthfully, I have a feeling that Queen is a big part of the reason for Flash Gordon‘s cult status of today. Below is the official video for ‘Flash’s Theme’ and beware: this song is a total earworm. When S12 heard it for the first time, her first reaction was “yeah, this is going to be in my head all day” followed by cracking up at Flash on his magical Segway. I’m not sure which is more humorous, actually- the Segway itself or the special “flying” effects courtesy of the year 1980.
Oh and the best line of the film? (not that I’ve seen it, but it has to be) can also be heard in this video:
“Flash! Flash I Love You! But we only have 14 hours to save the Earth!”
SO GOOD. 😂😂😂😂😂
Behold:
Here is an alternative promo video, featuring different film clips and angles of the band:
Finally, here is an amazing scene from the 2012 movie Ted that you need to watch (that involves Flash Gordon as well as ‘Flash’s Theme.’)
And before you ask, YES! that is TOTALLY the real Sam J. Jones!!
#2: Back Chat
Album: Hot Space
Written by: John Deacon
Year: 1982
The final two songs listed here I’ve just recently discovered. And by recently, I really truly mean within the past several months. Apparently, I had been unaware of the existence of two of the greatest lesser known Queen songs, like, ever, for years! Discovering them now must be what it feels like to enjoy newly released music- a feeling I haven’t experienced in many years, sadly. But yeah, currently, I am HOOKED on these last two tunes.
First, let’s discuss ‘Back Chat.’ I saw this video nestled in Queen’s Offical Music Videos playlist, and during my commute to work one morning it began to play. Instead of swiping past to the next track like I typically do when I come to an unfamiliar song buried in a mix of tunes I like, I decided to take a listen.
Very glad I did, too! This song is TERRIFIC. It makes me wanna DANCE!!
May I also just say that I don’t fully understand what all the brouhaha surrounding Queen’s 1982 Hot Space album was all about? Hot Space was a pretty decent record! Yes, it didn’t rock all that hard, but neither did Queen’s previous album, 1980’s The Game. The Game was a straight pop album with some rock elements thrown in, and it’s follow up, Hot Space was an almost-straight funk album with some rock elements thrown in. Which is fine with me, so long as the songs are well-crafted. And most of the tunes on Hot Space are-including of course- ‘Under Pressure,’ as well as ‘Staying Power,’ ‘Las Palabras de Amor,’ ‘Calling All Girls,’ and most especially, ‘Back Chat.’
![Album by Queen](https://i0.wp.com/www.doublesmom77.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/HotSpace.jpg?resize=625%2C522&ssl=1)
Hot Space was, like scandalous, and I don’t get why. “QUEEN Hot Space 12″ LP vinyl album” Flickr photo by vinylmeister shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC) license
‘Back Chat’ is another John Deacon-penned tune that hit the Top 40 in numerous countries. However, according to the song’s Wikipedia page, “Deacon had chosen a no-compromise method of eliminating any rock elements from his songs for [the album] Hot Space. This act of defiance caused friction amongst fellow band members, particularly Brian May, who fought to retain at least some rock sensibilities in their funk diversions.”
This statement motivated me to go check the writing credits for all the songs on Hot Space to see how much influence Deaky actually had on the record. When I did this, I noticed something quite odd, too.
John Deacon is credited to exactly ONE song on Hot Space as a solo composition (that would be ‘Back Chat’) and he also co-composed ‘Cool Cat’ with Freddie Mercury. That’s it, other than the fact that Deaky came up with the bass riff for ‘Under Pressure’ (which is pretty damn impressive). But altogether, a legendary bassline and one and a half songs sum up John Deacon’s total Hot Space contribution.
Yeah-though I do love me some Brian May, he needs to chill the F out sometimes. Really.
In fact, of the 11 songs on Hot Space, 5 were actually written by either Brian May and Roger Taylor, Queen’s resident rock and roll tag team! ‘Under Pressure’ is credited to Queen, and Mercury and Deacon composed 5 tunes either collectively and on their own. So I don’t know why Brian and Roger pin/pinned the new-at-the-time funkalicious Hot Space sound along with the album’s overall lack of warm longtime fan reception on just Deacon’s preference for funk music and the Freddie Mercury/Paul Prenter disco-lovin combo (Prenter was Mercury’s manager from 1977-1984 and extremely disliked by May and Taylor-which is putting it kindly.)
May and Taylor composed half the songs on that album! So why they be hatin’? Taylor’s ‘Calling All Girls’ is totally New Wave-sounding. What’s up with that, Rog?
Speaking of Roger Taylor, he has been quoted (not sure of the source) as saying Freddie and Paul Prenter wanted Queen’s music to sound like ‘gay disco music’ or something to that effect. I’m pretty sure that in Roger’s mind, ‘Back Chat’ falls in that category, too, which is pretty funny given the fact that John Deacon is the standard portrait of male heterosexuality, and he wrote the darn thing. Nobody would dare question Deaky’s heterosexuality-in fact, Freddie Mercury, back the band’s early days, gave everyone in his inner circle female nicknames (Freddie was ‘Melina,’ Brian was ‘Maggie,’ Roger was ‘Liz,’ et. al) but according to legend (and this article), Deaky, in Freddie’s mind, was just too damn masculine for a lady moniker. JD was and is a manly-ass-woman-lovin-man.
So ‘Back Chat’ = ‘Gay Disco Music’? I think NOT.
And even if it is, hell-I’d like to hang at an early 1980s gay disco. Why not? Sounds fun! I’d probably like the music a lot!
Here is the ‘Brian and Roger Talks’ video for ‘Back Chat.’ The commentary is pretty funny here, as both men obviously dislike the song and VERY obviously HATE the video. In the 1982 music video itself, you can even see May and Taylor’s unhappiness too even as they mock-play their instruments, which makes their kvetching here, years later, even more hilarious.
Finally, here is the official video for ‘Back Chat,’ in all its glory. SUCH a good song. Freddie and Deaky knew it, too- as they both dance their asses off in this clip. Enjoy!
#1: Princes of the Universe
Album: A Kind of Magic
Written by: Freddie Mercury
Year: 1986
![Highlander movie](https://i2.wp.com/www.doublesmom77.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Highlander-Poster.jpg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1)
The Daddest Movie That Ever Was: Highlander. “There can be only one” Flickr photo by markhillary shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license
“Heeeere we aaaaare…
Boooorn to be kiiiings…
We’re the princes of the uuuuniveeeerse…”
Seriously, who else but Queen could sing those lyrics and still be taken seriously?
Oh. My. Goodness. This song rocks so freakin’ hard. Although released on Queen’s 1986 album ‘A Kind of Magic,’ this track is better associated with the British-American fantasy-action-adventure flick Highlander, the second-of-three movies Queen is associated with, post-Flash Gordon (1980) and pre-Wayne’s World (1992).
I personally remember Highlander as one of the biggest dad-flicks of my (or actually my father’s adult) generation, along with the likes of Crocodile Dundee, Platoon, and The Terminator, among others. I’m pretty sure my father had a bootleg copy of Highlander on VHS that he illegally taped off of Showtime via a cable box of questionable origin. I also hope the statute of limitations for such an offense has expired by now since I’m, like, admitting it out loud.
They can’t get us now, right? 30+ years after the fact?
I surely hope so. Love you, Dad! <3
Exhibit A: The BOX that launched a thousand R-rated movies I was waaay too young to watch but did anyway.
![Push button cable box](https://i0.wp.com/www.doublesmom77.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/800px-Push_button_cable_box.jpg?resize=300%2C166&ssl=1)
My father had a push-button cable box similar to this one when I was a kid and it certainly opened my eyes to a whole new world of television and movies. Which was not always a good thing, but it sure always was a fun thing!
But I digress; back to Queen.
‘Princes of the Universe,’ musically speaking, sounds more like a Brian May composition than a Freddie Mercury creation, until you listen to the lyrics. Freddie’s stamp is ALL OVER the track’s narrative, indeed and the lyrics are pretty stunning. Also, according to the track’s Wikipedia page, “[‘Princes of the Universe’] is notable for being one of the most hard-edged tracks performed by the band, featuring a bombastic sound reminiscent of contemporary hard rock and heavy metal and vocals by Mercury akin to opera. A music video for the song, which featured Mercury sword-fighting, achieved some notoriety.”
Ah, the music video. Let’s talk about that.
‘Princes’ the song is straight rock and roll, and that’s no lie. The music video does the song proper justice too, I’ve gotta say, as it is literally one of the most rock and roll television moments I have ever seen. Not lying.
Said video, according to Wikipedia, was shot “at Elstree Studios, London, on the Silvercup rooftop stage used for the film. It consists mostly of Queen performing the song, intercut with scenes from Highlander. Christopher Lambert reprises his role as Connor MacLeod for a brief appearance in the video, where he swordfights Freddie Mercury, [with Freddie using] his microphone stand as a sword.”
That last sentence is just chock-full of awesomeness. For realz.
And folks that’s not all! At Brian May’s cray-cray guitar solo mid-song, right after the “E” falls off the Silvercup sign, all hell just breaks loose in the video. Walls come crashing down, waterfalls of sparks rain down and shoot every which where, Freddie starts yelling some hard-to-decipher gibberish in a triumphant-sounding tone, and May and Deaky go ape-nuts on their respective guitars all while the apocalypse continues to surround the quartet. Then, a tropical storm-force wind gust blows Roger Taylors golden locks back as TayTay drums and sings, literally sweeping him up in the epicness of the moment.
Rock and Roll, ladies and gentlemen. That is how it’s DONE.
According to the ‘Brian and Roger Talks’ video for ‘Princes of the Universe,’ the crazy rocktastic section mid-song was actually just the band messing around in the studio. Yet somehow, it fits into the song just perfectly. These guys are geniuses, I tell ya! Here is May and Taylor’s commentary:
Additionally, may I just add that the four members of Queen all look smokin’ hot in this video as well? Especially Freddie. Holy Hotness! I’m typically not a fan of The Mercury Mustache, but dang, Mr. Fahrenheit looks sexy as hell in this clip. It’s hard to believe that he’d be gone from this Earth only 5+ years after this song was released, as he looks quite healthy in the music video as well. I hate what ended up happening to that man, I really, truly do.
My final thought: being that Freddie just oozes sexiness in this video, I wonder what Jim Hutton- Freddie’s boyfriend at the time- thought upon watching this for the first time? I like to think that he immediately jumped Freddie’s bones after viewing his man’s performance here. He’d be crazy not to!
Here is the official video for ‘Princes of the Universe’:
Annnd… that about sums it all up! If your reading eyeballs made it this far, I both thank and salute you for stickin with me all this way!
Here is a Spotify playlist of all 6 fabulous tunes for your listening pleasure:
And here is a YouTube playlist of all 6 official videos!
Thanks for reading. Until next time!