The Miracle (album)

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For other albums of the same name, see Miracle (disambiguation).
Untitled

The Miracle is a 1989 album by English rock band Queen. It was the band's thirteenth studio album, recorded as the band recovered from guitarist Brian May's marital problems, vocalist Freddie Mercury's not-yet-public AIDS diagnosis, and subsequent near-breakup. Several measures were taken to hide Mercury's deteriorating appearance, such as the growth of a beard to cover up skin blotches caused by Kaposi's sarcoma[citation needed]. The album was originally going to be called "The Invisible Man", but three weeks before the release, according to Roger Taylor, they decided to change the name to The Miracle. The striking cover art utilised then cutting-edge image-manipulation technology to combine photographs of the familiar faces of the four band members into one gestalt image, in line with their decision to dispense with individual credits and simply present their music as the product of Queen the entity; the back cover went a step further with a seamless regiment of the bands' eyes. The album reached #1 in the UK, in Austria, Germany, in the Netherlands and Switzerland, but only managed to peak at 24th on the American Billboard 200 chart.

History

Track listing

Starting with this album, writing credit for all new songs was given to the band as a whole and not to individual members. The actual authors of each song, now known, are listed below.

Party

"Party" began as a jam session between Freddie Mercury, Brian May and John Deacon. Mercury was at the piano and he started off the "we had a good night" section. From then on the three of them worked together and completed it.

Khashoggi's Ship

"Khashoggi's Ship" was again chiefly Mercury's[citation needed], with all four of them contributing to the lyrics. The ship owner in question, is the infamous Adnan Khashoggi.

The Miracle

Main article: The Miracle (song)

"The Miracle" is one of Mercury's most complex songs from his last years. It's one of Brian May's favourites. The entire band contributed with lyrical ideas and Mercury played piano as well as many synth-tracks, using a Korg M1.

I Want It All

Main article: I Want It All

"I Want It All" was composed by Brian May in 1987, the title is said to be inspired by his girlfriend Anita Dobson who would frequently utter "I want it all and I want it now"[citation needed]. The idea of having intro, verses, choruses and solos over the same chord progression was reused on their next album with another May song, "The Show Must Go On". Mercury and May share the lead vocals. Mercury played keyboards, May played classical and electric guitars and Taylor used double-kick bass drum for the first time.

The Invisible Man

Main article: The Invisible Man (song)

"The Invisible Man" is Taylor's first song on the album. The lyrical idea came from a book he was reading after which the beat instantly came to his head. May and Taylor commented (Queen For An Hour interview, 1989) that Taylor wrote part of the song in the bath (similarly to what happened with Freddie Mercury and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" ten years before). The names of all four band members are "hidden" in the vocals: "Freddie Mercury" right before the first verse begins, "John Deacon" after the first verse, "Brian May" (repeated twice) before his guitar solo, and "Roger Taylor" (with the "r" rolled by Mercury to sound like a drum roll) after the lyric "look at me, look at me". Taylor "answers" with a drum fill. An unreleased version features a completely different middle-eight with Mercury singing alternate lyrics in the style of Elvis Presley.

Breakthru

Main article: Breakthru (song)

"Breakthru" is the joint of two songs: "A New Life Is Born", by Mercury, and "Breakthru", written by Taylor and including a lot of input by the others, particularly in the key change. Taylor's songs begun to be in flat keys in mid-80s, when he started writing at the piano instead of guitar.

Rain Must Fall

"Rain Must Fall" is a collaboration between John Deacon and Freddie Mercury. Deacon wrote the music and Mercury contributed to the lyrics (as confirmed by both the producer David Richards and more recently Brian May on his website). Taylor recorded a lot of Latin percussion but most of that was edited out in order to have more space for guitars and vocal harmonies.

Scandal

Main article: Scandal (song)

"Scandal" was written by Brian May about the British press, which had been outright controversial about his recent divorce and his relationship with actress Anita Dobson. May played keyboards and did the guitar solo as a first take. Mercury's lead vocals were a first take too. Synth-bass is played by the producer, David Richards.

My Baby Does Me

"My Baby Does Me" is chiefly Freddie Mercury's, with some input by John Deacon. Both of them had the idea of a simpler track in order to ease off the album. In a Radio 1 interview in 1989 both Mercury and Deacon claim each other came up with the bass line.

Was It All Worth It

"Was It All Worth It" features a crushingly heavy riff, was composed by Freddie Mercury and includes an orchestral interlude entirely written, arranged and performed by him (using a Korg M1 keyboard). The four band members contributed to the lyrics, for instance, Taylor wrote "we love you madly" ]][citation needed].

Singles

Five singles were released from the album, all in 1989:

  • "I Want It All" was the lead single from the album, released in the UK on May 2, 1989; it hit #3 in British charts but made it to #1 hit in numerous other European countries. The song became an anti-apartheid anthem among youth in South Africa. It has also been used as a Gay rights protest song. This well-known anthem has been heard as a rallying song for African youth. The song became Queen's first American rock radio hit since Under Pressure by peaking at #3 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Singles chart, but only reached #50 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.
  • "Breakthru," the second single, was released in the UK on June 19, 1989; its video was filmed on a private steam train known as "The Miracle Express." The song peaked at #7 in the UK. The song was also released as a single in the US. Also appearing in the video was Debbie Lang, who was at the time Roger Taylor's girlfriend.
  • "The Invisible Man," released in the UK on August 7, 1989, hit #12 in the UK and was a hit throughout Europe; the video featured scores of computer-duplicated band members moving in unison. This song was later covered by the late Scatman John.
  • "Scandal" was the fourth single from The Miracle. It's a protest song about the way the tabloids dealt with May's relationship with actress Anita Dobson.
  • "The Miracle," the fifth and final single from the album of the same name, released on November 27, 1989 in the UK, reached #21 on British charts. Its video mimicked that of "The Invisible Man" in that it featured duplicate band members; however, these were actually young Queen lookalikes (including a then-unknown Ross McCall) who performed a Queen-style stage show. The real band appeared only at the end jamming with their younger counterparts.

Personnel

Since the album doesn't feature credits, this personnel has been compiled from various interviews to the band and the producer.

  • Lead vocals by Freddie Mercury except 'The Invisible Man' (Mercury & Roger Taylor) and 'I Want It All' (Mercury & Brian May).
  • Drums by Roger Taylor.
  • Bass by John Deacon.
  • Synth-bass in 'The Invisible Man' and 'Breakthru' by Roger Taylor.
  • Synth-bass in 'The Miracle' by Freddie Mercury.
  • Sampled bass in 'Scandal' by David Richards.
  • Synths by Freddie Mercury except 'Scandal' (Mercury & May), 'Rain Must Fall' (Deacon) and 'My Baby Does Me' (Mercury & Deacon).
  • Pianos by Freddie Mercury.
  • Guitars by Brian May.

Charts

Country Charts Sales
Peak position Weeks Certification
Germany 1 Platinum 700.000
United Kingdom 1 37 Platinum 600.000
United States 24 14 Gold 500.000
Italy 3 300.000
Spain 4 Platinum 170.000
Netherlands 1 Platinum 100.000
Switzerland 1 Platinum 50.000
Finland 1 45.000
Austria 1 Gold 25.000
Portugal 4 Gold 20.000
Sweden 6
Japan 23

Album reviews

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