I'm getting tired of reading many peoples threads bashing The Miracle. Saying things like "the only good thing about The Miracle is the cover". I thought I'd take a little time to tell you why The Miracle is the second best (right behind Innuendo) Queen album of all time. Ok:
1. Party - Good up-tempo song to kick off the album continuing the tradition of great rock openers (ie: Keep Yourself Alive, Brighton Rock, Tie Your Mother Down, We Will Rock You, One Vision).
2. Khashoggi's Ship - Still wondering where the title came from. Good segway from Party into this one. Another up-tempo song to get the album going.
3. The Miracle - "The masterpiece" of the album with the same name. Great lyrics, and very moving. Definitely has a special feel when listened to for the first time.
4. I Want It All - Possibly the best rocker of the 80's from Queen. Great section where Brian and Freddie trade vocals. Awesome guitar work by Brian as well (and throughout the album also).
5. The Invisible Man - Definitely the weakest of The Miracle singles but still good. Again great guitar work although kinda dumb lyrics.
6. Breakthru - Great upbeat song, cool video with the boys playing on a moving train. (Is it just me or does Roger look like Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden in the vid?). Anyway, the song is great and definitely has a cool feel to it.
7. Rain Must Fall - A mixture of different sounds make this track unique. A simple song but good nonetheless.
8. Scandal - A very message oriented song (just watch the video). A very underrated single, Scandal is a great song.
9. My Baby Does Me - The worst song on the album by far, just terrible. Cheesy lyrics make this one a skipper.
10. Was It All Worth It - Great song. Sit and listen to it with your eyes close and you can just picture the band through the years. Great rock song.
11. Hang On In There - Not much to say about this track. I didn't like it at first listen but it has grown on me. Not as good as the singles but not bad.
12. Chinese Torture - The weirdest instrumental ever IMO. Still it's fun to listen to because it has that orchestral sound mixed with great guitar and drum work.
Overall I rate this album 9/10. I'll be posting my reviews of all the other albums soon. Take care and feel free to give feedback on this thread.
Seems like a main reason why people don't like Mustapha and My Baby Does Me is their lyrics... Yeah, of course lines like "Flash a-ah" is much better... People enjoy of Freddie's demos with all these "la la la da de doh", but can't deal with "my baby does me" lines...
"Party" is better? Well... It's all up to personal tastes, but I always will defend MBDM.
Old QZers remember Philipp Nothaft and here is something what he wrote about this song: "My Baby Does Me is one of the little-known tracks. The song-material itself is rather b-side-style, but the incredibly large-scale Miracle production-standards made a clever piece of music out of it. It's not the melody or the lyrics which count with this track, but the arrangement and the atmosphere. Check it with stereo-headphones and some concentration, and you won't be disappointed."
Lets try this, all you MBDM-haters! Seems like you've listen to this track just one time and skipped it after first 30 seconds (like many fans doing that after last line on "Who Wants To Live Forever" and they just have not got any clue about this masterpiece outro of the song - lyrics is over, song is over - this is a damned wrong rule!)
Serry...<h6>The Negative QZer wrote: It's not the melody or the lyrics which count with this track, but the arrangement and the atmosphere. Check it with stereo-headphones and some concentration, and you won't be disappointed."
Fantastic point made. Another song to add to the "songs cut to shreds because the lyrics aren't outstanding" list is Sweet Lady. Not every song requires state-of-the-art lyrics, so that is not a fair reason to denounce an entire song. I'm right with you there, Serry.
I'm fully in agreance that The Miracle is a great album. If we are going to be honest, it is their only eighties album that rises above the parapet of drum machines and processed songs. Even the more disco flavoured tracks have scorching guitar on them (particularly my baby does me)whereas Pain/Pleasure and Body language, songs of a similar genre are all keyboards in the main. As Brian May said at the time they got the songs by jamming, not sitting down with a drum machine and synth like they did for some of their other eighties songs. There is something for everyone on that record. There is rock ("I Want it All, Khashoogi's Ship, Was it All Worth It and Breakthru- a lot heavier than most people think), there is pop (Invisible Man, Scandal,Rain Must Fall) and in the title track and Chinese Torture, examples of Queen's older sound.
Furthermore, they got rid of mack so the drum sound improved completely; the harmony vocals are better and for the first time in a while, they actually sound like they care about every little sonic nuance that makes up a song; like the counter-melodies, and little percussion and guitar fills that were stripped away for AKOM etc. Just compare the song AKOM and Breakthru. Just as catchy and clever as the first song is, it sounds processed ,whilst with breathru there is some heart there too.
Innuendo is better in my view, but The Miracle is a step in the right direction.
deleted user 29.10.2005 11:24
Despite al the adversity they made something brillaint and happy.
Serry...<h6>The Negative QZer wrote: Seems like a main reason why people don't like Mustapha and My Baby Does Me is their lyrics...
hm.....
i listen all those bootlegs and i hear people wanting, singing and enjoying musptapha
personaly i always liked mustapha
that song instantly grew on me
my baby does me i don´t hate, but i do skip it most of the times
The Miracle is fantastic....In particular Brian's guitar work....I Want It All is one of the best heavy rock songs ever....but the thing I love the most is that Brian's guitarwork is everywhere....
My feelings toward 'The Miracle' are the same now as they were in the thread posted by GH. :)
deleted user 30.10.2005 14:00
yeah its wicked hehe i lke few songs,lol but the only reason its not my top because freddie has aids,when he released it and some songs are not in my top 10.
i don't think the Miracle is one of Queen's best although there are few good tracks on it - Scandal, THe Miracle and Breakthru - all fantastic songs. but the best is Was It All Worth It. this one is undoubtedly one of Queen's greatest songs ever. brilliant.
The Miracle could been a masterpiece if they removed two first tracks. They just destroy an album for me. I wonder what people thought about it back in 1989. They had bought a new Queen record, brought it home, stared to listen and ... first song (hmm?)...second (wtf!)...Queen is dead!