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Episode 57 covers the fifteenth and final Queen studio album, 1995’s “Made in Heaven.” It was the band’s first release after the death of lead singer Freddie Mercury in 1991. Following Mercury’s death, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor, and bass guitarist John Deacon worked with vocal and piano parts that Mercury recorded before his death, adding new instrumentation to the recordings. Mark, Kevin, Alex, and Chris take you on a historical journey surrounding the album as well as share our favorites and not-so favorites from the record. We go on a deep dive track-by-track listen of this rock album as well as share personal stories of discovering Queen’s fifteenth studio album “Made in Heaven.” Tune in next week for a special bonus episode before we tackle our next full band studio album discography.
Subscribe, Rate, and Review:
Quick Reviews
Mark A respectable catharsis for the grieving band that I’m not sure quite translates to the listener.
Chris A bit overly ethereal – almost takes over at some points. Almost feels like The Division Bell without a “High Hopes”.
Alex Surprisingly a great album. Nothing I hate here and nothing I’d necessarily skip. A few returnable tracks and more consistent than Innuendo.
Kevin First impression was good. Subsequent listens exposed some flaws but overall an excellent way to close out a career.
Love It or Flush It
| M | C | A | K | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "It's a Beautiful Day" | 2:32 | L | L | L | L | |
| 2 | "Made in Heaven" | 5:25 | L | L | L | L | |
| 3 | "Let Me Live" | 4:45 | F | F | L | L | |
| 4 | "Mother Love" | 4:49 | B | B | L | B | |
| 5 | "My Life Has Been Saved" | 3:15 | F | F | F | F | |
| 6 | "I Was Born to Love You" | 4:49 | B | T | B | L | |
| 7 | "Heaven for Everyone" | 5:36 | F | F | L | F | |
| 8 | "Too Much Love Will Kill You" | 4:20 | F | F | L | L | |
| 9 | "You Don't Fool Me" | 5:24 | L | L | F | F | |
| 10 | "A Winter's Tale" | 3:49 | L | L | F | F | |
| 11 | "It's a Beautiful Day" (reprise) | 3:01 | L | L | L | L | |
| 12 | "Yeah" (hidden track) | 0:04 | T | F | T | F | |
| 13 | "13" (hidden track) | 22:32 | F | F | F | T |
Love It or Flush It Legend
L = Love. As many as you like.
F = Flush. Must flush at least one track per album.
B = Buy. Purchased for the ultimate LTS “Best Of” playlist for each of us. One per album.
T = Terminate. Should have never even existed. One per album.
The Rules
Each of us must Love, Flush, Buy, and Terminate AT LEAST ONE track on an album, no matter how great or terrible the album is. Whoever wins the “7 for the Buy” section gets an extra Buy or Terminate to use on the album. Because Chris hosts this section and thus cannot win, he gets an extra Buy or Terminate every 4 albums.
Album Information
Made in Heaven is the fifteenth and final studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 6 November 1995 by Parlophone Records in the United Kingdom and by Hollywood Records in the United States. It was the band’s first release after the death of lead singer Freddie Mercury in 1991. Following Mercury’s death, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor, and bass guitarist John Deacon worked with vocal and piano parts that Mercury recorded before his death, adding new instrumentation to the recordings. Both stages of recording, before and after Mercury’s death, were completed at the band’s studio in Montreux, Switzerland. The album debuted at number 1 in the UK, where it went quadruple platinum selling 1.2 million copies. 500,000 copies were shipped in the United States.
Following the album’s release, Queen released one single in 1997 and subsequently went inactive until 2004 when May and Taylor reunited and started touring with Bad Company frontman Paul Rodgers and later with Adam Lambert; Deacon retired from music in 1997 and has not taken part in any Queen activity since then.
The cover for the album has two different photos: the CD cover photo was shot at dusk, depicting Irena Sedlecká‘s Mercury sculpture located at Lake Geneva in Montreux, Switzerland, on the front, with May, Taylor and Deacon gazing at the Alps on the rear cover; meanwhile, the LP cover photo was shot in the same spot at dawn, depicting the same statue on the front but with May, Taylor and Deacon gazing at the sunrise on the rear cover.
