Queen Album Review – The Works

Cover spread for Queen's album The Works. The front cover on the right shows the 4 band members sitting together on the floor. From left to right, we see Roger, Brian, Freddie and John, alternating between the front and back of the shot. The back cover on the left has a background of large metal machine cogs, over which are individual portrait photos of each of the band members with white borders, and a white panel listing the tracks on the album.

Following the poor reception to Hot Space in 1982, which had focused too heavily on funk and disco sounds, Queen took the hint and brought more rock elements back into the mix for their 1984 album The Works. It also helped that they had taken a break in between those releases, focusing on solo work instead, so they came back refreshed as a group.

The result is a combination of 70s and 80s styles that is much more interesting, and it gave us huge hits like Radio Ga Ga, I Want To Break Free and Hammer To Fall, although the video for one of those songs didn’t go down well in America.

In the UK, the album jumped straight into the charts at number 2 for a week, and while it never managed to reach the top spot, it did return to the second place position 3 months later for a fortnight. It spent 57 consecutive weeks in the top 100 initially (25 of which were top 10), but then kept returning for a little while every so often. So in total it was in the chart for 94 weeks, which is the longest for any Queen album. It’s also their only album from which all of the songs were released as either A or B-side tracks on singles.

So for the latest in my series of Queen album reviews, here’s a look at each of the tracks, along with alternate versions, live performances, covers and more. I hope you enjoy!

Contents

Main Album Tracks:

  1. Radio Ga Ga
  2. Tear It Up
  3. It’s A Hard Life
  4. Man On The Prowl
  5. Machines (Or Back To Humans)
  6. I Want To Break Free
  7. Keep Passing The Open Windows
  8. Hammer To Fall
  9. Is This the World We Created…?

Bonus Material:

For more info, see also:

1. Radio Ga Ga

Written by Roger Taylor

See also: Ultimate Queen / Wikipedia / Song Facts

We start off with this classic sing-along, clap-along banger, that celebrates the power of radio and how it has to compete with TV, film and music videos. The title comes from Roger’s son Felix describing the radio as being “ca-ca” when he heard a song he didn’t like, while the lyrics make reference to the famous radio broadcasts of The War Of The Worlds and Winston Churchill’s finest hour speech. While the album as a whole has more rock elements to it, this particular song uses mainly synthesisers and other electronic instruments to great effect.

It marked the first time that a Queen song written by Roger had been released as a single in the UK, where it got to number 2, held off the top spot by Relax by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. It finally meant that all 4 members of the band had written a top 10 single that was released in the UK or USA. In America on this occasion, however, it reached number 16, and was their last song to make the US chart in Freddie’s lifetime. It did reach number 1 in 19 other countries though, including Ireland, Sweden and Italy.

Alternate Versions

  • Extended Version – The original track is quite long anyway, at 5:48, but this 12″ version uses a new introduction, a longer instrumental break in the middle and other little additions to pad it out to 6:51. So it’s not radically different, but it’s still good to have a longer version. As well as being on the 12″ single (and consequently the 12″ Collection later on), it was also released on the US remaster of the album. But in recent years the best way to get hold of it has been on the 2021 compilation Now That’s What I Call 12″ 80s.

Isolated Tracks

I have the multitracks for this song that people had extracted from the Rock Band video game. It’s actually a slightly remixed edit, which comes to a stop with a guitar slide 30 seconds earlier than the original version, but it’s still a great way to hear all the parts in isolation.

  • Vocals – Because the song has a long intro, it takes about 30 seconds before the first synthesised pronouncement of “radio” is heard. It’s then repeated at 53 seconds in, at which point Freddie begins, and he’s on fine form as usual, with a nice bit of reverb on his vocals. At 4:28 you can also clearly hear the refrains of “Radio Ca Ca”, the original title for the song.
  • Keys – This is the instantly recognisable synthesiser tune that underpins the song. It’s a great piece of music all on its own, making good use of the Roland Jupiter-8.
  • Drums – It’s only a basic rhythm, but this is a nice strong and steady beat from Roger, using a Linndrum machine. It also has the double snare motif in the chorus that inspired the clapping actions in the music video, which in turn told the audience what to do in their live concerts. In my multitracks, the percussion is split into its separate kick, snare and cymbal elements, but they all need to be heard together really.
  • Guitar – Because it has room to spare, this track is partly used as an overflow for some of the synth elements. But there is a nice guitar solo from 2:03 for 30 seconds, then a shorter version at 3:48, and finally there are the lovely guitar slides from 4:45.
  • Bass – John’s bass starts after 17 seconds. A lot of this gets rather buried and thus unappreciated in the final mix, including some lovely flourishes, so it’s great to hear it on its own.

Music Videos

  • Original Video – Ironically for a song about radio, it was the video for this track that really helped it to become successful, grabbing the attention of the MTV generation. It uses footage from a 1927 black and white German film called Metropolis, with the band flying over the city in a car, which is cleverly done to make it look like they’re in the movie. It also has 500 extras dressed in white boiler suits to represent the city’s workers, who all watch the band sing on stage and do the double claps in the first chorus, which was then copied by the fans at Queen’s concerts. And there are fleeting clips from a few of their earlier music videos included as well, as they sing about watching the stars on videos for hours and hours. This video was included on the 2011 iTunes reissue of the album and is also on the Greatest Video Hits 2 DVD.
  • Days Of Our Lives Video – This was produced exclusively for the DVD and Blu-ray releases of the Days Of Our Lives documentary as a bonus feature. It uses a shorter edit of the song, but it’s a great mixture of behind the scenes footage, outtakes and alternate camera angles from the recording of the original video, all presented in colour. It’s fun to see the band, and especially Freddie, having a laugh on set.

Live Performances

Queen

The song quickly became a very popular part of Queen’s setlists, performed in the latter stages of each gig, so there are many versions that have been released or broadcast. Here are the most notable examples:

  • Wembley Stadium, London on Friday 11 July & Saturday 12 July 1986 – The Friday concert was only released on the 2011 DVD of Live At Wembley, but the Saturday show is on all the CD and DVD editions. The Saturday performance is a little bit frustrating though, because after the introduction the tempo slows down as Freddie starts to sing, so it puts you off your stride just as you’re getting into it. But it’s still a great performance regardless.
  • Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary on 27 July 1986 – Released on Hungarian Rhapsody. However, a 40th anniversary remastered version of the show is being released on October 30 this year, and the video of this song has just been published on Youtube as part of the promotion for it. It’s Sony Music Vision’s first official project with Queen since the company took over the band’s catalogue.

Brian & Roger

When Brian and Roger started to play live as Queen again in the early 2000s, with the aid of guest musicians, Roger provided the lead vocals for this song, which was sometimes performed as a short version with just the first verse and chorus. It’s strange to see him standing front and centre on the stage, instead of sitting behind the drums, and his voice isn’t powerful like Freddie’s, but he still does a good rendition of it in his own style.

Roger has also performed the song separately from Queen on various occasions, for example:

Queen + Paul Rodgers

Paul Rodgers did a good job with the lead vocals for this song during his concerts with Queen, duetting with Roger for the 2005 shows and then singing it himself for the 2008 tour. For instance:

Queen + Adam Lambert

Adam Lambert, meanwhile, is naturally great at singing this song and getting the crowd going. Examples include:

Cover Versions

Lady Gaga famously took her stage name from this song, but has never actually performed it. It was also the name of a long-running satirical radio show in Slovenia, which used the song as its theme tune.

But beyond that, there are several people who have recorded their own versions of the track.

For example, in 2022 MTV launched its Originals series by inviting 3 artists to produce their own covers of the song at Abbey Road Studios in just one day, with Roger Taylor on hand to check out the results. None of them are versions I would listen to again, but they have all put their own spin on it quite effectively to be fair:

Beyond that, some other covers include:

2. Tear It Up

Written by Brian May

See also: Ultimate Queen

This marks a welcome return to Queen’s rock sound, with great guitar playing over a strong and steady beat.

Although the song was never released as a single, a music video was later needed when it was featured on the 1997 Queen Rocks compilation, to go on the associated video release the following year. So Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher put together a montage video using visuals from other Queen music videos, including some behind the scenes footage.

Live Performances

Here are a few live performances that have been released. In the 1986 shows, Brian incorporates a riff from Liar in his introduction, which is a nice nod back to their early days considering they didn’t perform any songs from their first couple of albums in those gigs.

Another notable performance is on the final episode of the first series of Al Murray’s Happy Hour, broadcast on 10 March 2007. The song We Will Rock You was performed by the cast of the musical, with the surprise reveal of Brian and Roger for the closing guitar solo. But to extend it further, the performers do a snatch of Tear It Up before everyone sings the We Will Rock You chorus multiple times.

Some tribute bands have naturally performed it live as well. But apart from that, and people sharing home videos of themselves playing drums or guitar along with it, there are no cover versions online to speak of, surprisingly.

3. It’s A Hard Life

Written by Freddie Mercury

See also: Ultimate Queen / Wikipedia / Song Facts

Life might be hard sometimes, but this ballad is very easy to listen to, with its beautiful instrumentation and harmonies alongside Freddie’s impassioned vocals about maintaining a relationship. The melody used for the opening lyrics was inspired by the aria Vesti La Giubba from the opera Pagliacci by Ruggiero Leoncavallo. The fans appreciated this return to Queen’s traditional style as well, getting it to number 6 in the charts.

Alternate Versions

  • Early Version – This is a low quality recording of a short demo extract played at a Queen convention, which is similar to the final version but the lyrics are a bit different.
  • Instrumental Version – Released on Greatest Karaoke Hits. It’s lovely to have the opportunity to focus more on the intricacies of the music here, especially the piano and guitar parts. Brian’s solo is amazing.
  • Extended Version – The 12″ mix extends the track by a minute, simply by repeating a section in instrumental form as well as some harmonies, which works nicely.

Music Video

The music video, available on the DVD Greatest Video Hits 2, shows the band at a big medieval ball, where the set is very ornate and the extras are dressed in elaborate period costumes. But it’s most famous for Freddie wearing a huge red prawn outfit covered in eyes, which is bizarre yet fascinating. I got to see it at Sotheby’s in 2023, when I visited the exhibition Freddie Mercury: A World Of His Own. It was one of many items of his stage fashion on display and it sold in the auction for £69,850.

Brian, meanwhile, holds a specially built guitar that has a large skull at one end, which cost £1,000 at the time, and John is carrying a horse’s head. Roger, however, was very uncomfortable in his big collar and hated making the video, as he states in the DVD commentary, even though the song itself is one of his favourites by Freddie.

An asymmetrical scarlet elastane catsuit, the right side and arm made of intricate red lacing, the left side with long sleeve, the stirrup legs with diagonal pleats overall in a vein-like pattern. The torso is embellished with thirteen ‘eyeballs’ of white plastic, hand-painted in black and brown, surrounded by red velvet ‘eyelids’ with hand-drawn black outlines extending up the torso to the shoulder. The back has a detachable decorative ‘spine’ made of layers of different fabrics in red, black and gold cut to resemble flames, one end with a sheaf of long plumes worn at the left shoulder, including peacock and ostrich.
Close-up of an asymmetrical scarlet elastane catsuit, the right side and arm made of intricate red lacing, the left side with long sleeve, the stirrup legs with diagonal pleats overall in a vein-like pattern. The torso is embellished with thirteen ‘eyeballs’ of white plastic, hand-painted in black and brown, surrounded by red velvet ‘eyelids’ with hand-drawn black outlines extending up the torso to the shoulder. The back has a detachable decorative ‘spine’ made of layers of different fabrics in red, black and gold cut to resemble flames, one end with a sheaf of long plumes worn at the left shoulder, including peacock and ostrich.

Live Performances

This song was only performed on the Works Tour, so there are just a couple of live versions that have been officially released. The vocal range of the studio version is difficult to match on stage, but Freddie adapts his singing accordingly to avoid some of the high notes – especially in Japan as his voice is knackered by then – and he still sounds great.

There is another live performance of the track worth mentioning though, because Keane frontman Tom Chaplin sang it with Brian and Roger at The Prince’s Trust Gala on 17 November 2010, and also joined everyone else for We Will Rock You. It’s an inspired choice and an incredible performance, as he even sounds close to Freddie at times.

Tom is clearly a big Queen fan, as he’s also performed this song along with several others by the band as part of a special edition of Sunday Night Is Music Night on BBC Radio 2, and also at his own live concerts. It does make you wonder what it could have been like if he’d toured with Brian and Roger after that one-off collaboration with them in 2010. Could it have been as successful as the Adam Lambert partnership? I don’t think he’s got the same level of exuberant energy as Adam, but it could still have worked well. Indeed, it’s surprising that Adam hasn’t performed this song in all his years on stage with Queen, as he would probably do it justice too.

Tom is almost the only major artist to have covered the song as far as I can tell though, which is a surprise really. The only other big name I’ve come across is James Last, whose arrangement of the song appears on his album Non-Stop Dancing ’85. There are various covers by tribute bands and other people on Youtube though, some of which are quite nice.

4. Man On The Prowl

Written by Freddie Mercury

See also: Ultimate Queen

This is a very catchy song about going out and looking for trouble after a break-up, and it feels like a follow-up to Crazy Little Thing Called Love, with its rockabilly vibe and Freddie channeling Elvis Presley. There’s also a fantastic piano layer, with the energetic finale provided by Fred Mandel.

The song was nearly released as a single in its own right, and would have done pretty well I reckon. But instead it was released as the B-side to Thank God It’s Christmas, with the 12″ disc including a great extended version that’s over 2½ minutes longer than the album cut. It features a longer introduction that focuses on the piano part, an extended bridge section that gives welcome prominence to John’s groovy bassline and Brian’s solo on the Fender Telecaster, and an outro that comes to a firm stop compared to the piano run at the end of the album version. It feels like a fun jam session, ultimately.

Sadly they never performed the song live, and there are no significant cover versions out there.

5. Machines (Or Back To Humans)

Written by Brian May & Roger Taylor

See also: Ultimate Queen

For young people today, it’s hard to imagine a life without computers and robots, but back in the 1980s they were very new and unfamiliar to the general public. As a result, there were real concerns that they would significantly disrupt or even destroy humanity by doing everything instead of us. So this enjoyably heavy track is a nod to hose fears, including a return to the use of synthesisers to represent our automated overlords.

And in the current age of AI – which many companies and individuals are relying on far too heavily for work and creativity, despite its many flaws, inaccuracies, limitations and ethical infringements – this song feels just as relevant today, if not more so. In many ways we really do need to go back to humans.

An instrumental remix was also produced, which featured on the American 12″ single for I Want To Break Free. It includes some extra guitar by Brian, as well as extracts from Queen’s earlier tracks Ogre Battle and Flash, and the song Goin’ Back recorded by Freddie in 1973 under the name Larry Lurex.

Live Performances

The band never performed this track live on stage in Freddie’s lifetime, but they did play the introduction over the sound system to kick off the concerts on their Works tour. Roger then added live percussion to segue from the recording to the band performing the first proper song. Two such examples were released:

  • Rock In Rio Festival, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on 12 January 1985 – Released on Live In Rio.
  • Yoyogi National Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan on 11 May 1985 – From Final Live In Japan in that country, and the unofficial Tokyo 1985 album.

However, the song has been performed live during the Queen + Adam Lambert tours, with some of Freddie’s vocals played in alongside Adam’s, while on other occasions they’ve played the album version as an introduction to the show, leading to a live rendition of Radio Ga Ga. None of those versions have been officially released though. And there are no cover versions to mention either.

6. I Want To Break Free

Written by John Deacon

See also: Ultimate Queen / Wikipedia / Song Facts

This brilliant and catchy song, about a guy trying to get out of a difficult relationship to be with someone he loves more, reached number 3 in the UK, where it stayed for 3 weeks. I’m surprised it didn’t hit the top spot, but that was held by Lionel Richie’s Hello for a week and The Reflex by Duran Duran over the next fortnight, with Against All Odds by Phil Collins consistently in second place. So it was tough competition, but I think Queen’s song is better than those others personally. Its 15-week residency in the top 100 is also the second longest for any Queen sing, with Bohemian Rhapsody having held on for 2 weeks longer. It was a big hit in many other countries as well.

Alternate Versions

  • Single Version – What’s particularly unusual about this is that it’s longer than the album track, by a whole minute in fact, thanks to a longer introduction featuring keyboards and guitar, and an extended synth solo. It’s my favourite version of the song, and indeed the one that people know best, because of its inclusion on Greatest Hits 2 and its use in the music video, and it was also included on the 2011 reissue of The Works. Confusingly, the soundtrack album for the Bohemian Rhapsody movie presents a mixture of the two, by using the album version with the longer intro from the single.
  • Extended Version – This was released on the 12″ single and runs for over 7 minutes. It lengthens the intro by repeating an instrumental section from later in the song, and then has a longer outro with occasional new vocals by Freddie, before the final minute is a medley of other tracks from the album. As 12″ mixes go it’s not the most exciting way to stretch out a song, but it’s still nice. This version was also released on the 1991 Hollywood Records remaster of the album in America.
  • Instrumental Version – The full instrumental was not only released on Greatest Karaoke Hits, but it also plays in full on the Greatest Video Hits 2 DVD, on the menu for The Works.

Isolated Tracks

I have the multitracks for the single version of this song from the Rock Band video game, but instead of fading out the track is edited to come to a proper end.

  • Vocals – As usual, Freddie is amazing, so it’s always worth appreciating him in isolation.
  • Keyboards – These are played by session musician Fred Mandel. After the introduction they aren’t used for the first couple of verses, but then they’re played throughout the rest of the track, including the synth solo that some people mistakenly think is done on guitar.
  • Guitars – The acoustic and electric guitar parts are separated in my copy of the multitracks. The acoustic part provides a steady riff that is somewhat repetitive by its nature, so the electric layer is more interesting, with some great solo moments.
  • Percussion – This is split into kick, snare and room in my multitracks, but it’s best to hear them together. It’s nothing fancy, but I really like the rhythm, and there are some nice little variations as the song progresses.
  • Bass – This is simple and steady, which is all it needs to be, often repeating a note several times in a row.

Music Video

The song is of course famous for its iconic and controversial music video, which is on the Greatest Video Hits 2 DVD. Apart from featuring lots of people dressed as miners and Freddie doing some nice choreography with the Royal Ballet, it’s most well known for the band members dressing up as women. Roger makes a surprisingly good schoolgirl, while Freddie was persuaded to keep his moustache as the housewife to add to the silly humour of it all. The whole group had a lot of fun making it. In 2002, Roger even reprised his schoolgirl role for a parody of the song in the Channel 4 sketch show Bremner, Bird & Fortune.

Those crossdressing scenes in a suburban house were an affectionate tribute to the long-running soap opera Coronation Street, and British people latched on to that straight away quite happily. Some members of the cast even paid tribute two decades later with their own parody of the song on a show called Queen Mania in 2005.

But Americans didn’t get the joke and felt that men in drag was very inappropriate, so the song was banned by MTV and radio stations. In some cases the banning of a song can be very beneficial for sales, with people not wanting to be told what they can or cannot enjoy, but in this case it did hit hard, and Queen never fully recovered their status in the States in Freddie’s lifetime.

Live Performances

Queen

This song was very popular with Queen’s concert audiences, who enjoyed singing along with it, so there are several live versions that have been released:

  • Wembley Stadium, London on Friday 11 July & Saturday 12 July 1986 – The Saturday performance is on all the CD and DVD editions, with a bit of rehearsal footage also available on the DVDs as a bonus feature. The Friday performance is on the 2011 DVD only.

Roger Taylor

Surprisingly, there are a couple of instances where Roger has performed the song separately from the band, even though he didn’t write it:

  • Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London on 15 September 1994 – Released on the CD single for his song Happiness.
  • Wintershall Estate, Surrey on 11 June 2005 – This was one of 3 songs performed by Roger at a charity concert organised by a supergroup called Band Du Lac. It was released on a DVD called One Night Only Live.

Queen + Paul Rodgers

Queen + Adam Lambert

Adam has also performed the song very well away from Queen on several occasions. For example:

Cover Versions

There are of course a shedload of covers and remixes available for this song online, so there are hundreds on my covers playlist linked at the start of this post. Here are just a few:

  • Al Murray’s Happy Hour – The song was performed twice on Al Murray’s chat show – first in a reggae-like style by The Ordinary Boys (Series 1, Episode 5 in 2007) and then as a big band number by Des O’Connor (the very last episode of the show, at the end of the third series in 2008).
  • Christina Perri – This surprising but lovely video of her performing the song at the piano was posted on her Youtube channel.
  • Frank Turner – Here he performs a live acoustic version of the song.
  • Katie Price – Better known to many as Jordan, she dressed up as Freddie in the music video to do a routine to this song, in both the first show and the final of Let’s Dance For Comic Relief in 2011. She didn’t win.
  • Lily Allen – This ballad interpretation of the song was performed at Sofar London to mark the release of the Bohemian Rhapsody movie.
  • Marc Martel – This solo rendition at the piano was performed online during lockdown in 2020. He’s also performed it live on stage several times with a full band.
  • Michael Jackson Mashup – This combination of the song with Black Or White works surprisingly well.
  • Tom Chaplin – The Keane frontman played this solo acoustic version at home during the Covid lockdown. He has also performed the song live on stage for BBC Radio 2 (for a special programme where he sang various Queen hits) and at other concerts.
  • Gary Mullen – Gary performed this cover to launch the Series 12 final of TV singing competition Stars In Their Eyes on 2 December 2000, having won Series 11 in May that year with his performance of A Kind Of Magic. Host Matthew Kelly gave him a lovely statue of Freddie and a very sweet note by Brian May after his rendition. Gary also entered the European Championship the following year, again singing A Kind Of Magic, and came a very respectable second to a Celine Dion impersonator.
  • CoolKillers – A very catchy funk version of the track.
  • The Status Quo Way – A great instrumental cover in the style of another iconic band.
  • Naudo – This impressive acoustic guitar instrumental has over 1 million views.
  • Sangah Noona – A beautiful slow piano version with improvisation.
  • Pub Choir – An epic performance featuring over 6,500 people filmed across 10 shows. It also contains a selection of lyrics from other Queen songs at one point. The audio from this was also used without credit in a viral parody video, which is cleverly edited to show a North Korean band performing the song for their leader Kim Jong Un.

The song has also been used in various commercials, including:

  • British Airways – To mark Freddie’s birthday and the release of the Bohemian Rhapsody movie, and because Freddie was once a baggage handler at Heathrow in his younger days as Farrokh Bulsara, a group of staff in that same role donned his iconic yellow jacket and white trousers to do a fun dance routine to this song.
  • Doritos 3D – This advert, broadcast during the 2021 Super Bowl, features a flattened version of Matthew McConaughey, who only becomes 3D once he’s got into a vending machine to eat some Doritos. There’s also a brief interview with him about it on the company’s Youtube channel.
  • Pepsi Zero – This was recently shown during the Super Bowl in 2026, and finds a polar bear from the Coca-Cola ads discovering in a blind taste test that he actually likes Pepsi better. Coca-Cola have used it as well.
  • KitKat – The song is currently being used in KitKat adverts on TV, to tie in with their “Have a break” slogan.

7. Keep Passing The Open Windows

Written by Freddie Mercury

See also: Ultimate Queen

This song is from a soundtrack project that was never completed, as the band had been invited to compose the score for The Hotel New Hampshire, until the producers decided they wanted classical music instead.

In the film the song’s title is a catchphrase used to encourage perseverance, and so the lyrics reflect that attitude, by trying to dissuade someone from taking their own life, reminding them that love is all they need. It has lovely instrumentation, particularly the piano part and the guitar solos, while a key riff in the bassline sounds a bit like A Kind Of Magic from the next album. The band never performed the song live.

Alternate Versions

  • Extended Version – This was released on the 12″ single for Thank God It’s Christmas. It’s basically the same as the album version most of the way through, but lengthens the ending with looping beats and jamming on the synthesiser.
  • Early Home Demo – In this leaked recording we hear Freddie playing an early version of the melody on the piano, while ad libbing the vocals as he doesn’t have any lyrics yet.
  • Later Studio Demo – Here we get a nice piano, bass and drums performance by the group, while Freddie sings over the top, although the lyrics are still incomplete. Brian is absent, as he’ll add his guitar parts after the backing track has been finalised.
  • Covers – The only notable cover I can find is a nice performance by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, on an album called Passing Open Windows – A Symphonic Tribute To Queen.

8. Hammer To Fall

Written by Brian May

See also: Ultimate Queen / Wikipedia / Song Facts

This fabulous heavy rock number is about the importance of living the one life you have, because the hammer is brought down on all of us in the end.

Released as the 4th and final single from the album, it only reached number 13 in the UK charts, which is very respectable but still feels unfairly low for a banger of this nature. To be fair, however, in that particular week there were other really big names in the top 10 like Stevie Wonder, Ray Parker Jr, U2, Sister Sledge, George Michael, David Bowie, Black Lace, etc (yes, it was beaten by Agadoo, just to remind us how crazy the 80s could be).

It was also beaten by Freddie’s solo hit Love Kills, which was at number 12 that week. It was the second of 5 weeks in which both songs were in the chart together, with Hammer To fall beating it first time around. And this therefore marks the first occasion in which multiple Queen songs were in the Top 40 at the same time (including solo hits).

The song also appears in the 1986 film Highlander, while the band’s other tracks for the movie appeared on their next album, A Kind Of Magic.

Alternate Versions

  • Single Version – This simply trims out some of the guitar instrumental parts to tighten up the track. It’s the version that appears on Greatest Hits 2 and is used for the music video. The Queen Rocks compilation CD, however, includes the full album version.
  • Headbanger’s Mix – This brilliant extended mix lives up to its name with a heavier introduction and an incredible extra guitar solo. It was initially released on the 12″ single, but later became more widely available on the 2011 reissue of the album.
  • Brian Malouf Mix – This appeared on a US promo CD, and is very similar to the album version but with more percussion and other effects, and Freddie’s voice echoes a bit more. So it’s good, but I prefer the Headbanger’s Mix.
  • Instrumental Version – This was released on Greatest Karaoke Hits and retains some of the backing vocals. A slightly remixed instrumental that enhances the percussion and has no vocals was included in Queen’s video game The Eye.

Isolated Tracks

I have the multitracks for the single edit of this song, again presumably from the Rock Band game.

  • Guitar – This is the most interesting element of course, with Brian’s excellent playing throughout. There are 2 layers of guitar in the middle of the song, one of which is catered for in a secondary track.
  • Vocals – Freddie’s on top form as usual, with plenty of power, including all the improvisation he does at the end. There are some nice backing harmonies in the middle as well.
  • Percussion – The kick is in a separate track to the rest of the drums, but it’s best to hear them all together, providing a great solid beat.
  • Keys – There are 3 places where keyboards are used. First is a repeating riff that’s a bit like the guitar riff, from shortly after 0:50 for 15 seconds, then there are 2 notes played around 1:35 for one of the “Oh no!” lines. The longest section then occurs from approximately 2:15 for almost a minute, starting with the earlier riff before a secondary one starts repeating, and then the two melodies combine.
  • Bass – A great counter-melody from John with nice occasional flourishes, especially towards the end.

Music Videos

The music video simply shows Queen miming a performance of the track on stage in Brussels, beneath an enormous lighting rig (which Roger says on the Greatest Video Hits 2 DVD commentary is his favourite from all their tours). It has some great close-up views of each member of the band, along with shots of the audience and the audio of them cheering at the end to make it feel live. It uses the single version of the track, whereas the video on Queen Rocks is a different edit that uses a combination of the single and album versions for the audio.

Live Performances

This was another very popular song live, so there are lots of performances available.

Queen

Freddie always gave this song his all. Granted, he would sometimes struggle with the high notes in the bridge section, but he would adjust accordingly if he realised he wasn’t going to hit them, as was the case with various other songs.

Brian May

Brian also performed the song during the 1990s and early 2000s:

Additionally, during the Covid lockdown in 2020, Brian challenged people to jam along with him, as he posted a fabulous video of himself playing the full guitar part. Lots of people took him up on the offer for this track and other songs, including The Classic Rock Show, whose performance got over 1.7 million views, and The LSwFF All Star Band, whose video Brian shared on his own channel because it features his friend Jeff Scott Soto (and also has a guy playing percussion on wheelie bins!).

Queen + Paul Rodgers

Queen + Adam Lambert

Cover Versions

Most of the covers online consist of the many lockdown collaborations with Brian mentioned above and live performances by tribute bands. But there are some others out there, including a couple of famous music stars who have done it:

9. Is This the World We Created…?

Written by Brian May & Freddie Mercury

See also: Ultimate Queen / Wikipedia / Song Facts

This is a really beautiful, thought-provoking, acoustic song to close the album. It was written in response to the poverty in Africa that was making headlines at the time, long before Band Aid or Live Aid had been conceived. But it also has a much wider meaning about the planet in general, which is still very relevant today, and it was included on a Greenpeace compilation album in 1985.

A piano part was apparently recorded for the track, but wasn’t included in the final version, and sadly hasn’t been released or leaked. The track works perfectly without it, so it doesn’t need it, but it would be interesting to hear it one day nonetheless.

The song was also used for a We Are The Children campaign in 2019, inviting people to spread the word by filming themselves lip-syncing to the lyrics, with the hashtag #InThisTogether.

Live Performances

This song was performed at all of Queen’s concerts on the Works and Magic tours, so there are several versions that have been released. In amongst all of the heavier and upbeat music, it stood out as a moment of calm reflection, and was usually paired with the equally exquisite Love Of My Life.

Brian has also performed the song with different vocalists since Freddie’s death:

Cover Versions

The most well known star to have covered this song is Elaine Paige, with a lovely interpretation on her Queen covers album. But it was also recorded by English theatre actress Linzi Hateley on her album For The First Time, and Canadian-English actor Ramin Karimloo on his album From Now On.

There are plenty of great covers on Youtube as well though, with one of the most popular being a duet by Tuva & Mia, which has had over 50,000 views.

Non-Album Tracks

Several other songs were recorded or planned around the time of the studio sessions that didn’t end up on the album. But some of them have since been released, 3 of them on the Queen Forever compilation in 2014. Except for the ballad version of Love Kills, none of the other tracks have been performed live on stage by any iteration of the band.

I Go Crazy

This track began its life during the sessions for Under Pressure on Hot Space 3 years earlier, before it was eventually recorded and released as the B-side to Radio Ga Ga. It was then later made available on the 1991 US remaster and the 2011 reissue of The Works, as well as some other box sets.

It’s a great catchy song about a guy whose girl has left him for a rock star she met at a gig – seemingly Mick Jagger, giving the assertion that he isn’t going to see The Rolling Stones any more, nor Queen either! An instrumental demo of the track, which is fairly similar to the final version, was also played at a Queen convention, but has never been officially released.

Thank God It’s Christmas

This pleasant track is Queen’s only dedicated Christmas song. It was released on 26 November 1984 and stayed in the charts for 6 weeks, reaching number 21 in its second week. It wasn’t included on any Queen album until it appeared on Greatest Hits III in 1999 and the reissue of The Works in 2011. It has also featured on some Christmas compilations over the years.

It’s the only single by the band that didn’t have a promotional video made for it, which Brian felt was the reason it didn’t chart higher – although it also might have something to do with the fact that it came out at the same time as Do They Know It’s Christmas? by Band Aid. An animated video with a snowy theme was later made and shared on Queen’s Youtube channel in 2019.

Incidentally, it was actually one of two Christmas songs that Queen worked on in 1984 and chose between. The other was I Dream Of Christmas, which is rumoured to have been recorded but no proof has yet surfaced. However, Brian May and John Deacon later played guitar and bass respectively in a version recorded by Brian’s future wife Anita Dobson with the Langdon School Choir, which was released as a single in 1987. It didn’t make an impact on the charts though, only reaching number 79.

But I digress. Thank God It’s Christmas wasn’t very well known for quite some time, so it was only after its inclusion on Greatest Hits III that it really got people’s attention, and since then a lot of artists have interpreted it in various ways. Here are just a few examples:

Let Me In Your Heart Again

This song was recorded over several takes during the sessions for The Works, but never finished as the band weren’t happy with it, particularly Freddie who found it difficult to sing some of the lyrics. So the first person to release a version of it was actually Anita Dobson on her album Talking Of Love in 1988. It sounds pretty good too, not least because Brian produced the album as well as adding guitar and backing vocals on most of the tracks, including this one.

Many years later however, when revisiting Queen’s own attempt at the song, Brian found that they actually had enough material they could use between the various takes. So this completed version, which was released on Queen Forever, is primarily made from elements in those recordings, along with some new guitar elements and backing vocals by Brian and Roger. The lyrics are therefore different to Anita Dobson’s version in places, because they kept changing in the different Queen recordings that have been combined here.

You wouldn’t know it was such a piecemeal recording however, as it’s been produced to sound like a truly finished song. Freddie’s voice is incredible, as he sings about wanting to get back with someone he loves dearly, and I really like the piano and guitar parts underpinning his vocals. A nicely edited music video was also produced, which combines concert and backstage footage from their Works tour with clips from the filming of promo videos for other songs.

In addition, a week before Queen Forever came out, a remix by William Orbit was released online as a single, to help raise money for an AIDS awareness campaign by Product Red and Coca-Cola. It only peaked at number 97 in the UK though, and I’m not surprised. It’s not awful, but with its dance beat, synthesiser notes and other alterations, it doesn’t feel as powerful as Queen’s version, which would have made more sense to release. The music video for this remix is very similar to the other one, just extended a couple of minutes.

Love Kills (The Ballad)

The original upbeat disco version of Love Kills, which was considered for inclusion on The Works, became Freddie’s first solo single. It still featured all of the other members of Queen, but they weren’t credited at the time.

It was written for the soundtrack of the 1984 restoration of the film Metropolis, which was released on a different record label (CBS) to the ones Queen were contracted to at the time (EMI & Capitol), which may explain why it was attributed solely to Freddie. Soon after, CBS signed him as a solo artist for his Mr Bad Guy album. Footage from the original 1927 Metropolis film was used in the Radio Ga Ga music video.

The new ballad version of Love Kills, released on Queen Forever in 2014, came about after Brian listened to the master tapes and found that Freddie’s vocals had been recorded cleanly, without any instruments or other noise audible in the background. So he and Roger added their own parts and turned it into a slower version, which works really well.

Audiences first got a taste of it, however, when Queen + Adam Lambert performed it live on stage earlier in the year, with a rendition from iHeartRadio Theater, Los Angeles on 16 June 2014 included on their Live Around The World album.

There Must Be More To Life Than This

The first version of this beautiful song to be released was on Freddie’s album Mr Bad Guy in 1985. It had been recorded by Queen for potential inclusion on Hot Space and The Works but never finished, so Freddie decided to do it as part of his solo work instead.

However, it was also one of three tracks that Freddie recorded with Michael Jackson between 1981 and 1984, and for decades it looked as though they would never be released, earning them mythical status amongst the fans.

But finally, in 2014, a remix by William Orbit was included on the Queen Forever compilation, bringing together Michael’s vocals from 1983, with Freddie, Roger and John’s parts from Queen’s session recordings. A brand new guitar part was also recorded by Brian in 2014 as he wasn’t on the original master tapes, and William added new keyboard elements.

It’s had mixed reviews, and I agree that Freddie’s solo version is much better. But this is still enjoyable, because they’re both incredible singers in their own way, and it’s fascinating to hear them together in a way that we never thought we would for so long.

An alternate mix by Chris Thomas was in fact also produced, which Brian and Roger preferred, but the Jackson estate refused permission for its release. Assuming the video linked in this paragraph is the genuine mix, it’s very stripped back, almost too much so, but it’s still ok. The William Orbit mix has much more of interest in it though.

As for the other songs Freddie and Michael did together, State Of Shock has been bootlegged online, but it was officially recorded by The Jacksons & Mick Jagger, and performed live by Mick Jagger & Tina Turner at Live Aid. The other song is called Victory, and while there is a video on Youtube claiming to be a leaked extract from the recording, it’s not known if it’s genuine.

Interviews & Other Extras

Greatest Video Hits 2 DVD

The Greatest Video Hits 2 DVD has a section of bonus features related to this album, all of which were filmed in 1984. The menu plays the full instrumental version of I Want To Break Free, and the extras consist of:

  • Montreux Golden Rose Pop Festival (16:40) – This feature begins with a very brief interview with Brian and Roger, where they talk about what drew them to perform at the festival and what it’s been like getting back together after their break. The band are then seen miming to 4 tracks from the album, which they always hated doing instead of performing live, and it feels strange when they have to stop as the songs fade out. But Freddie still does a good job leading the group. You can tell that Radio Ga Ga hasn’t made its full impact yet, as the audience, while clearly enjoying themselves, aren’t doing the double claps in the chorus.
  • A Musical Prostitute (15:31) – This is the uncut video of Freddie’s most famous interview by Rudi Dolezal, filmed at Musicland Studios, Munich, shortly before The Works was released. He discusses what it’s like doing press conferences, the band members doing solo projects (including the album Mr Bad Guy that he’s working on), how the four of them sometimes fight when working together on their music, going on tour, Boy George, the most important thing to him in life, working on songs with Michael Jackson and David Bowie, how he feels about himself as an artist, and what all the members of Queen bring to the group. So it’s fun and interesting to watch.
  • The Works Interviews (11:51) – This is a nice compilation of clips of the band members talking about the album and some of the songs.

On Air Box Set

The On Air 6-CD box set contains 4 interviews related to the album and its associated tour, all of which are worth a listen and were broadcast on BBC Radio 1:

  • Saturday Live, March 1984 (11:43) – Brian is interviewed by Richard Skinner & Andy Foster about the band taking a break, going back to their traditional sound with the new album, the creative chemistry and differences between the band members, their use of synthesisers, his guitar, being experimental and the Radio Ga Ga music video.
  • Newsbeat, August 1984 (2:31) – Freddie discusses the upcoming tour, including his concerns about a leg injury he’s recovering from, and also briefly mentions the solo album he’s working on.
  • Newsbeat, September 1984 (2:44) – Brian is asked about his enjoyment of touring, his guitar heroes and getting back together with the group after their time apart.
  • Saturday Live (September 1984 (5:11) – Freddie talks to Graham Neale about people’s varied reactions to their music, how his lifestyle and fan interactions have changed over the years, the band’s use of synthesisers, the importance of people liking their music, the pros and cons of having 4 writers in the band, and being self-disciplined in the recording studio.

Conclusion

And that’s it for another epic post for another great album, so I hope you enjoyed looking through that. Queen were back on form with this one after Hot Space, and they would continue to do magical things with their next release, which I will of course be reviewing in due course. See you then!

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Author: Glen

Love London, love a laugh, love life. Visually impaired blogger, culture vulture & accessibility advocate, with aniridia & nystagmus, posting about my experiences & adventures.

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