Innuendo (1991)
1. Innuendo
2. I'm Going Slightly Mad
3. Headlong
4. I Can't Live Without You
5. Don't Try So Hard
6. Ride the Wild Wind
7. All God's People
8. These are the Days of Our Lives
9. Deliah
10.The Hitman
11.Bijou
12.The Show Must Go On
At the time of this album’s release in 1991, the general public had no idea that Freddie Mercury was gravely ill. The band, understandably, had chosen to keep the singer’s diagnosis with AIDS a private matter. But in hindsight, knowing what was coming, Innuendo carries an unmistakable sense of finality. It would be the last true Queen album — “true” meaning that all four members were actively involved in its creation from start to finish. One more record, Made in Heaven, would follow years later, but that one was assembled posthumously using leftover vocal takes.
Despite the circumstances, or maybe even because of them, Innuendo stands as one of Queen’s strongest efforts from their final decade. Gone are the flirtations with dance-pop that had haunted some of their '80s output. In its place is a return to the kind of musical ambition and stylistic range that made them great in the first place. It’s not a flawless album, but when it’s good, it’s incredibly good.
Bookending the album are two of the best songs Queen ever recorded. The title track Innuendo kicks things off in grand style — an ambitious, genre-hopping six-minute epic that somehow manages to juggle Spanish guitar, Middle Eastern flourishes, and full-blown hard rock without missing a beat. It’s the band’s most complex piece since Bohemian Rhapsody, and it lands with the same kind of dramatic impact.
The closer, The Show Must Go On, is equally powerful. It’s impossible not to read the lyrics through the lens of Mercury’s condition, and the performance feels like a deliberate and defiant farewell. The song is loaded with tension and catharsis — a last statement from a performer who refused to be diminished.
In between, the album holds together with a surprising amount of strength. Headlong is a full-throttle rocker that gives Brian May plenty of room to stretch out, while Bijou is a more restrained piece that lets May’s guitar do most of the storytelling. These Are the Days of Our Lives is another emotional highlight — reflective and quiet, but all the more moving because of it. It was also, poignantly, the last song Mercury filmed a video for, and it received more radio airplay in the U.S. than anything Queen had released in years.
Of course, not everything here works. Delilah — a whimsical ode to Mercury’s cat — feels out of place. It’s hard to imagine why they included it, except maybe as a small indulgence for Freddie near the end. And as was often the case with Queen, a few tracks sound more like filler than fully realized songs. But by this point, a bit of inconsistency was almost part of the charm.
Mercury’s death later that year brought renewed attention to Queen’s legacy, and a flood of compilations and live releases soon followed — some better than others. But Innuendo stands apart. It’s not just a solid Queen album — it’s a moving, powerful work that proves the band still had plenty to say, even as time was running out. It’s a goodbye that doesn’t feel like a surrender.
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