Tracklist:1. Party
2. Kashoggi's Ship
3. The Miracle
4. I Want It All
5. The Invisible Man
6. Breakthru
7. Rain Must Fall
8. Scandal
9. My Baby Does Me
10. Was It All Worth It
11. Hang On In There [*]
12. Chinese Torture [*]
13. The Invisible Man (12" version) [*]
Magic Accomplishes Miracles – 7,5/10
They’ve given the message now; whatever they were doing or trying in the early 80s, it was all just some experiments. They are really back to rock ‘n roll now, albeit in the style of their time. Though one could think A Kind of Magic was a one-time effort, they actually tried to accomplish the same kind of material for The Miracle. This album, too, contains five singles that climbed various charts, namely “Miracle”, “Breakthru”, “I Want It All”, “The Invisible Man” and “Scandal”. In the eyes of hitlovers this release is just another album they know only a few songs from (albeit this album contained more hits than average), but what is it apart from that?
Let me get one thing straight. Where A Kind of Magic could be seen as somewhat magical, The Miracle is in no way a true miracle. Surely, they managed to entertain once again, but repeating the same formula twice is never a golden idea. The rock ‘n roll meets mature 80s synth pop features once more. There’s one big improvement to the predecessor though: the songs together form an album. They really fit together, which is debatable with A Kind of Magic. The problem of this album is mostly in the songwriting, however. The style might be overall the same; there are some disappointing tracks on here decreasing the value of the album. Good examples are “My Baby Does Me”, which doesn’t really stand for anything. It’s just the cooked synth-sound and Freddie, with a dash of drums from Mr Taylor. “Rain Must Fall” falls under the same category, although this one can be enjoyed at times.
The rest of the album features mostly sugar and spice. The sugar part features sweet tracks like “Miracle” with its cheesy lyrics but addictive epicness, “The Invisible Man” with its driving bass line and “Scandal” with its very melodic verses and supposedly heavy guitars. The spice part is where it all gets more interesting. The album is surprisingly opened by the duo “Party” and “Kashoggi’s Ship”. The former begins oddly with drums only and then Freddie Mercury joins in, with a heavy swinging guitar riff joining in halfway. This description might not suffice, but I can assure you that this move rejected some fans. “Kashoggi’s Ship” is the continuation of the party begun in “Party”, this time packaged in some sort of rock song with heavy chorus on the guitars. There’s a funny ambience in this intro, which makes them special. Furthermore we have “I Want It All”, which is surprisingly heavy for a mainstream rock single, especially the solo part. Also “Breakthru” tends to kick multiple asses at once with a slightly heroic melody in the chorus and a fast-paced rhythm to keep the energy. True highlight, however, is “Was It All Worth It”. I will always keep saying Queen’s better tracks are hidden on the albums, not between the hits. This is a fine example of that very statement. It contains a great heavy guitar riff, an ingeniously epic main melody and unpredictable changes of themes. A great way to close the official album.
Since every CD release comes with three bonus tracks, I might as well involve them in my review. “Hang On In There” is there to add to the spice part of the album and is a nice addition. “Chinese Torture” is probably the latest way of torturing someone’s ear, made in china. But I think Brian May was just moody and was making some loud noise and recorded it for fun. “The Invisible Man (12” version)” is an interesting extended version of the original song, but if you don’t like the original there’s no way you’ll like this one.
All in all, The Miracle is a nice album. It’s great to see Queen is back to making rock music again, even though this album is just a confirmation of that. It’s a good album, but not one of the best, but then again... the 80s aren’t the best of times for music. If you desperately search a Queen album from the 80s, I could recommend either this one or A Kind of Magic. The decision is yours.
Strongest tracks: “Was It All Worth It”, “Breakthru”, “Party” and “I Want It All”.
Weakest track: “My Baby Does Me”.
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