The Miracle
LP by Queen
Released	May 30, 1989
Recorded	July to August, 1988 in Europe
Genre	Classic Rock
Length	58:40
Label	Parlophone (UK), Hollywood Records (US)
Producer(s)	Queen and David Richards
Professional reviews
AMG (2/5)
Queen chronology
Live Magic (1986)	The Miracle (1989)	Innuendo (1991)

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. The album was orginally 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 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. Queen - The Miracle album cover Used on Wikipedia under fair use guidelines: Low resolution copy of the album cover Ðåñηÿßôý | Talk 22:19, 6 Sep 2004 (UTC) This is an album cover. ... 33â…“ LP vinyl record album from the 1960s A gramophone record (also phonograph record, or simply record) is an analogue sound recording medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed modulated spiral groove. ... Queen are an English rock band formed by Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor in 1970 from the remains of Smile, with John Deacon completing the lineup the following year. ... May 30 is the 150th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (151st in leap years). ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... World map showing Europe Political map Europe is one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ... A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... Classic rock was originally conceived as a radio station programming format which evolved from the album oriented rock (AOR) format in the mid-1980s. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Parlophone Records Parlophone is a record label which was founded in Germany prior to World War I by the Carl Lindstrom Company. ... Hollywood Records is a record label owned by Disney. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Queen are an English rock band formed by Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor in 1970 from the remains of Smile, with John Deacon completing the lineup the following year. ... David Richards is a record producer. ... AMG is the acronym for the following: All Media Guide: the worlds largest music, movie, and game metadata database company. ... Queen are an English rock band formed by Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor in 1970 from the remains of Smile, with John Deacon completing the lineup the following year. ... Live Magic is a vinyl and compact disc live album by British rock band Queen. ... Innuendo is a 1991 album by British rock band Queen. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages English Capital London Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population –mid-2004... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... Queen are an English rock band formed by Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor in 1970 from the remains of Smile, with John Deacon completing the lineup the following year. ... Brian Harold May CBE is the guitarist for the British rock band Queen. ... Freddie Mercury, born Farrokh Bulsara, was a British-Indian songwriter and singer, best known as the frontman for the English rock band Queen. ... The Red ribbon is a symbol for solidarity with HIV-positive people and those living with AIDS. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS or Aids) is a collection of symptoms and infections in humans resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by infection with... Roger Meddows-Taylor, a. ...

Track listing

Though starting in 1989 all new Queen songs were credited simply to the band and not to individual members, the actual authors of each song, now known, are listed below. 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Side 1

1. "Party" (Freddie Mercury, Brian May and John Deacon)
2. "Khashoggi's Ship" (Queen)
3. "The Miracle" (Mercury) *
4. "I Want It All" (May) *
5. "The Invisible Man" (Roger Taylor) *

Side 2 Freddie Mercury, born Farrokh Bulsara, was a British-Indian songwriter and singer, best known as the frontman for the English rock band Queen. ... Brian Harold May CBE is the guitarist for the British rock band Queen. ... John Richard Deacon was the bassist for the rock band Queen. ... The Miracle is the fifth and last single from Queens 1989 album The Miracle. ... I Want It All is a song by the British rock band Queen. ... The Invisible Man is a song by British rock band Queen, written by drummer Roger Taylor. ... Roger Meddows-Taylor, a. ...

1. "Breakthru" (intro - Mercury, the rest - Taylor) *
2. "Rain Must Fall" (Deacon, Mercury)
3. "Scandal" (May) *
4. "My Baby Does Me" (Mercury, Deacon)
5. "Was It All Worth It" (Mercury)

CD bonus tracks Breakthru is a song by English rock band Queen. ... Scandal is the fourth single from Queens 1989 album The Miracle. ... Was It All Worth It is a song from Queen album The Miracle. It was written and composed by Freddie Mercury and it is regarded as his musical legacy. ...

1. "Hang On In There" (Mercury)
2. "Chinese Torture" (May, Mercury)
3. "The Invisible Man (12" Version)" - (Taylor) - (5:29)

(* singles) - On the album all songs are credited to "Queen".

1991 US reissue (Hollywood Records) also contains:

1. Scandal (12" Mix) - (May) - (6:34)

Non-album tracks

1. "Stealin'" (Mercury) - B-side to 'Breakthru' (an almost 12-minute demo of this song exists)
2. "Hijack My Heart" (Taylor) - B side to 'The Invisible Man'
3. "My Life Has Been Saved" (Deacon) - B-side to 'Scandal' (re-worked version later released on Made in Heaven)

Made in Heaven, which was released in November 1995, was Queens last proper album. ...

Songs' Story

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page.

"Party" began as a jam session between Freddie, Brian and John. Freddie 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. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ...

"Khashoggi's Ship" was again chiefly Freddie's^{[citation needed]}, with all four of them contributing to the lyrics. The ship owner in question, is the infamous Adnan Khashoggi. Adnan Khashoggi (or Kashoggi) (Arabic:عدنان خاشقجي)(born 25 July 1935) is a billionaire Saudi arms-dealer and businessman, and was involved in the Iran-Contra Affair. ...

"The Miracle" is one of Freddie's most complex songs from his last years. It's one of Brian's favourites but unfortunately not a successful single. 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" was composed by Brian May in 1987. 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. Freddie and Brian share the lead vocals. Freddie played keyboards, Brian played classical and electric guitars and Roger used double-kick bass-drum for the first time.

"The Invisible Man" is the first Roger's song on the album. The lyrical idea came from a book he was reading after which the beat instantly came to his head. Apparently he wrote part of the song in the bath (similarly to what happened with Freddie and Crazy Little Thing 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" cleverly rolled by Freddie to sound like a drum roll) after the lyric "look at me, look at me". Roger "answers" with a drum fill.

"Breakthru" is the joint of two songs: "A New Life Is Born", by Freddie, and "Breakthru", written by Roger 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" is a collaboration between John and Freddie. John wrote the music and Freddie contributed to the lyrics. Roger 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" was written by Brian about the British press, which had been outright controversial about his recent divorce and his relationship with actress Anita Dobson. Brian played keyboards and did the guitar solo as a first take. Freddie's lead vocals were a first take too. Synth-bass is played by the producer, David Richards.

"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.

"Was It All Worth It" 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, Roger wrote "we love you madly". It's possible that the "hurlyburly's done" line came from Brian, since at the time they did this album he'd been given the job to write a musical score for Macbeth. John Deacon loved this song.

Personnel

• 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.

<This "personnel" information is obviously not taken from the sleeve notes. Sources?>

Singles

Five singles were released from the album, all in 1989: 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• "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.

May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ... The gay rights movement is a collection of loosely aligned civil rights groups, human rights groups, support groups and political activists seeking acceptance, tolerance and equality for non-heterosexual, (homosexual, bisexual), and transgender people - despite the fact that it is typically referred to as the gay rights movement, members also... June 19 is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 195 days remaining. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... August 7 is the 219th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (220th in leap years), with 146 days remaining. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Scatman John John Paul Larkin (March 13, 1942 - December 3, 1999), better known as Scatman John, was a famous stutterer who invented a unique fusion of scat singing and disco. ... Anitas Christmas single cover Anita Dobson (born April 29, 1949 in Stepney, London, England) is a British television actress. ... November 27 is the 331st day (332nd on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External link

• Queen Picture Hall's page on The Miracle