A Kind of Magic (1986)
1. One Vision
2. A Kind of Magic
3. One Year of Love
4. Pain is So Close to Pleasure
5. Friends Will Be Friends
6. Who Wants To Live Forever
7. Gimme the Prize (Kurgan's Theme)
8. Don't Lose Your Head
9. Princes of the Universe
10.Forever
By the mid-1980s, Queen had evolved into something of a more mature entity. The sharp edges had been smoothed a bit, the capes and pomposity toned down. But even as they leaned into a more polished, adult-contemporary vibe, the band still knew how to deliver quality music. They were aging — gracefully — and their audience was aging right along with them. The fire hadn’t gone out. It had just been redirected.
In 1986, the band was once again tasked with creating music for a film, this time for the fantasy flick Highlander. Unlike their prior work on Flash Gordon, Queen took a more song-oriented approach. Rather than releasing a traditional soundtrack, they smartly repackaged the music (along with some additional material) into a proper studio album. The result was A Kind of Magic, and while it occasionally carries that unmistakable “movie music” aura, it holds up surprisingly well as a standalone Queen album.
There’s a cinematic sweep to a lot of the material here, and Queen — always masters of the grand gesture — sound completely at home in this space. Who Wants to Live Forever is easily one of their most moving ballads, aided by orchestral backing that enhances rather than overpowers. One Year of Love treads a similar path — tender, emotional, and proof that Queen could wear their hearts on their sleeves without losing their edge. These tracks make you wonder why they didn’t explore this more often.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is the album opener, One Vision, which kicks things off with real force. It’s a tightly wound, hard-driving anthem that somehow manages to feel both futuristic and grounded — and it ranks among their best late-career efforts. Not everything fares quite as well. Gimme the Prize (Kurgan’s Theme) is a muscular rocker, but it suffers from intrusive film dialogue that interrupts the otherwise impressive arrangement. If they’d left the movie samples on the cutting room floor, this track might have hit a lot harder.
The one real dud here is Pain Is So Close to Pleasure, a forgettable dance track that sticks out like a sore thumb amidst the rest of the album’s more cohesive tone. It’s not that Queen couldn’t do dance music — they’d proven otherwise — but this one just feels limp and out of place.
Aside from that stumble, though, A Kind of Magic is a surprisingly strong album — especially considering its piecemeal origins. It’s moody, atmospheric, and uniquely tied to a narrative without feeling enslaved by it. Queen embarked on a massive world tour to support the record (though, as usual by this point, the U.S. remained mostly indifferent), and sadly, it would turn out to be their last with Freddie Mercury at full strength.
In hindsight, that lends this album a kind of bittersweet poignancy. It may not be their best work, but it’s ambitious, sincere, and unmistakably Queen — which is more than enough.
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