Queen: Made In Heaven (Half Speed Mastered) (180g) (2LP)

“I’m a man of the world and they say that I’m strong / But my heart is heavy and my hope is gone,” Freddie Mercury sang in September 1991 in the song “Mother Love,” just two months before his tragic death. Although the remaining band members were aware of Mercury’s wish for another album, it took four years before they finally brought themselves to release *Made In Heaven*—Queen’s last album with its original lineup—on November 6, 1995. The result is a literally heavenly record that still exudes the bittersweet atmosphere of the time it was created. When *Innuendo* was released in February 1991, Freddie Mercury was already firmly in the grip of AIDS. Nevertheless, the exceptional musician insisted on continuing to come to Queen’s own Mountain Studios in Montreux to record even more songs. Guitarist Brian May recalls: “We were practically living in the studio for a while, and as soon as he called and said he could stop by for a few hours, we made it a point to make the most of it.” To gather as much material as possible, the band deviated from its usual workflow for the first time: Instead of creating complete instrumental versions before the vocal recordings, Freddie recorded rough drafts of the planned songs. The singer told May, “Write me something. Keep giving me lyrics. I’ll sing.” And so, despite the emotional burden, the quartet pulls itself together to fulfill their friend and bandmate’s wish. While Freddie was still alive, songs like “A Winter’s Tale” and “You Don’t Fool Me” were created; for “Mother Love,” Brian May had to take over the vocals for the final verse because the frontman was already too unwell to sing it. His death on November 24, 1991, hit the band hard. Roger Taylor admits: “I’ve never gotten over it. None of us have. We probably all thought we’d get over it quickly, but we underestimated the impact his death had on us. I still find it hard to talk about.”