Flash Gordon (Original Soundtrack - Remastered) Queen

• 1 Flash's Theme 03:31
• 2 In The Space Capsule (The Love Theme) 02:43
• 3 Ming's Theme (In The Court Of Ming The Merciless) 02:41
• 4 The Ring (Hypnotic Seduction Of Dale) 00:58
• 5 Football Fight 01:29
• 6 In The Death Cell (Love Theme Reprise) 02:25
• 7 Execution Of Flash 01:06
• 8 The Kiss (Aura Resurrects Flash) 01:46
• 9 Arboria (Planet Of The Tree Men) 01:42
• 10 Escape From The Swamp 01:44
• 11 Flash To The Rescue 02:44
• 12 Vultan's Theme (Attack Of The Hawk Men) 01:13
• 13 Battle Theme 02:19
• 14 The Wedding March 00:56
• 15 Marriage Of Dale And Ming (And Flash Approaching) 02:05
• 16 Crash Dive On Mingo City 01:01
• 17 Flash's Theme Reprise 01:24
• 18 The Hero 03:31
• Total Runtime 35:18

Info for Flash Gordon (Original Soundtrack - Remastered)

Queen's ninth studio album was the original soundtrack to the movie based on the comic strip character Flash Gordon. It was the band's first sortie into the film world and would prove to be their only full soundtrack album. Later they would write several songs for the first Highlander adventure in 1986, which emerged (in reworked form) as the album A Kind Of Magic, also in that year, but that was not a soundtrack album.

The Flash Gordon music was recorded for Director Mike Hodges and Producer Dino De Laurentiis' $22 million remake of the 1930's black and white sci-fi film. Queen were first approached in 1979, and as writing film music was something they had all thought about but had not yet got around to, their Manager arranged a meeting with De Laurentiis and mentioned Queen's interest in scoring the film. Rumour has it that De Laurentiis' first reaction was simply, “Who are the Queens?” They were, as it turned out, the first rock band he had ever listened to and the outcome was that the band was commissioned to write the music for the movie.

Brian later explained, “We saw 20 minutes of the finished film and thought it very good and over the top. We wanted to do something that was a real soundtrack. It's a first in many ways, because a rock group had not done this type of thing before, or else it's been toned down and they've been asked to write mushy background music. Whereas we were given the license to do what we liked, as long as it complemented the picture.”

Having just finished a lengthy European tour, and a further three-week stint in Japan, spanning January to May, Queen spent the summer of 1979 working on The Game album, mostly at Musicland studios in Munich. It was during these sessions that they also started work on the score for Flash Gordon. Producing two albums simultaneously was not easy, but both progressed well. After touring, holidays and other ventures, more work on Flash Gordon and The Game followed in the early part of 1980, again in Munich, and then a U.S. tour commenced in June and ran through to October. After a well-earned holiday for most of October, Queen recommenced work on the Flash soundtrack in London and had completed it by November.

The music was composed, performed, arranged, and produced by Queen, with the overall album credited as a Brian and Mack production. Like The Game, which was the first Queen LP to feature synthesizers, Flash Gordon continued the trend, though it features significantly more synths than its predecessor. Additional orchestral arrangements on the album were by Howard Blake, who also conducted the orchestra, and all of it was recorded at Anvil Studios. The orchestra features mostly throughout the film, to complement Queen's music, though some of it did also make the final soundtrack album too.

The album cover concept came from Freddie; the Flash Gordon logo over a vivid yellow background, and with a scene from the film on the back, while the inner sleeve featured four individual photos of the band taken during the 1980 USA Game Tour by regular Queen live photographer Neal Preston.

Though some fans were dubious to hear Queen were recording music for a comic character-inspired film adventure, the album that emerged was a pleasant surprise on various levels. The music works well as an accompaniment to the visuals of the film, punctuated by sound effects and dialogue from the cast, including Max Von Sydow, Timothy Dalton, Topol, and the larger-than-life English actor Brian Blessed. Any reservations among the fans were soon cast aside when the album's only single Flash was released worldwide prior to the album and fared well in the charts.

Roger: “We've been offered quite a few films, but Flash Gordon was something which Brian and I were quite attracted to because of its sci-fi thirties connotations. The album was totally under our control and it was our idea to put dialogue on the album. That wasn't the original concept. We thought we'd get little snippets to give some idea of what was happening in the film and some atmosphere of the story.”

All tracks were titled after the appropriate part of the film each part was written for, and when hearing the album in its own right the listener gets a vivid idea as to what's happening in the story. The drama of the action, dialogue and over-the-top special effects, with Queen's distinctive sound threading through it all, is a compelling and greatly unusual blend.

Flash Gordon was released in the UK on 8th December 1980 – a day that will forever live in history as a notorious date because it happens to be the day that John Lennon was shot dead outside his apartment in New York.

The album reached No.10 in the UK charts, achieving Gold award status. It was well received by the press and critics alike and each review of the film made a special reference to the music from Queen. The LP was nominated for a BAFTA award and an Ivor Novello, and the film premiered in London on 11th December 1980.

“We saw 20 minutes of the finished film and thought it very good and over the top. We wanted to do something that was a real soundtrack. It’s a first in many ways, because a rock group has not done this type of thing before...” (Brian May)

Queen

Digitally remastered

Queen
Queen formed in 1971 and in 1973 signed their first recording contract for EMI. That year they released their first album, QUEEN. The same year saw their first major UK tour, and in 1974 they released QUEEN II as well as making their first UK headlining tour. They made their first US tour, and in November released SHEER HEART ATTACK which was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic.

1975 saw their new release, A NIGHT AT THE OPERA, and – significantly – the single Bohemian Rhapsody. At 5’ 55” it should have been too long for successful radio play but it became one of the greatest singles of all time, staying at No. 1 in the UK chart for nine weeks. The video, directed by Bruce Gowers, is credited with being the first genuine promotional video. The song has regularly featured in all major pop polls and was recently named again as the best single of all time. The success of A NIGHT AT THE OPERA was equally stunning, giving the band their first platinum album.

In 1976 they toured the US and Japan and by spring all four albums resided in the UK Top Twenty. Later that year they released A DAY AT THE RACES, and gave a free concert in Hyde Park to an estimated crowd of 200,000 fans. The album was a huge success, advance orders alone amounting to over 500,000. The following year saw two major US tours, the band’s sixth album, NEWS OF THE WORLD and the legendary double A side single, WE WILL ROCK YOU and WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS.

1978’s JAZZ, included another huge hit single in Bicycle Race and Queen toured the US and Canada. They spent much of 1979 touring in Europe and Japan, as well as releasing their first live album, LIVE KILLERS. They were also approached to write the score for a forthcoming feature film, FLASH GORDON. Before that they released THE GAME in 1980 which went five times platinum in Canada alone! Another One Bites The Dust became the band’s biggest selling American single. Later that year the soundtrack for FLASH GORDON was released and by the end of the year Queen had sold over 45,000,000 albums worldwide.

In 1981 they toured the Far East and were the first band to make a stadium tour of South America. They played to 131,000 people in Sao Paolo, the largest paying audience for any band anywhere in the world. GREATEST HITS, GREATEST FLIX and GREATEST PIX were released simultaneously later in the year and Greatest Hits has rarely been out of the UK album charts since. Greatest Flix was the first collection of promo-videos released commercially by any band. Next year saw the release of the band’s twelfth album, HOT SPACE whilst they were in the middle of a European tour.

1984 saw THE WORKS and the single Radio Ga Ga became a worldwide hit, reaching No. 1 in 19 countries. Another huge hit was I Want To Break Free, featuring one of their most famous videos, all dressed in drag. In 1985 they were the headlining act at Rock in Rio, the biggest festival to be held anywhere in the world. They again made history that year with the show-stealing performance at Live Aid from Wembley Stadium, which proved to be a turning point for the band, One Vision being the first post Live Aid release.

1986 saw their 14th album, A KIND OF MAGIC, which was the soundtrack to the Russel Mulcahy film, Highlander. The title track became another worldwide smash and the album entered the UK charts at No. 1; later in the year the 2nd live album, LIVE MAGIC, went into the charts at No. 3. Between 1988 and 1991 Queen released three more albums, THE MIRACLE in 1989 and in 1991 INNUENDO and GREATEST HITS TWO. All three entered the UK charts at No. 1, as did the single Innuendo.

On 23rd November 1991 Freddie Mercury announced to the world that he had AIDS and the next day he died peacefully at his home, surrounded by family and friends. He remains the most high profile loss from the disease in the entertainment world and the news shocked fans throughout the world. As a tribute Bohemian Rhapsody /These Are The Days Of Our Lives was released as a double A-sided single to raise funds for the Terence Higgins Trust. It entered the UK chart at No. 1, where it stayed for five weeks, raising over £1,000,000 for the charity and Queen became the first band to have the same single top the uK charts twice. In December of that year Queen had 10 albums in the UK Top 100. In 1992 Freddie was awarded posthumously the BRIT’s “Outstanding Contribution to British Music” and Days Of Our Lives won Best Single. On 20th April many of the world’s top stars joined Brian, Roger and John on stage at Wembley for an emotional tribute to Freddie.

In 1995 the tracks that Queen had begun in 1991 were completed by Brian, Roger and John and the long-awaited MADE IN HEAVEN was released worldwide. It was the end of an era. Since then the phenomenon of Queen has remained, however, with continuing sales for their recorded output on CD and video. A ballet of their music by famous French choreographer Maurice Bejart was premiered at the National Theatre in Paris in 1997 and in May 2002 the hit musical We Will Rock You opened to sell-out audiences in London’s West End and continues to play to packed houses and standing ovations every night. Queen’s first DVD Greatest Video Hits Vol.1 was released at the end of October 2002, and yet another piece of Queen product entered the UK charts at number 1. October 2002 also saw Queen receive their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Los Angeles, joining The Beatles as only one of a handful of non-US bands to receive the much coveted honour. Last year, 2004 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Walk of Fame, and in the UK were voted by the public into the first UK Music Hall of Fame.

Queen’s musical has since opened in Australia, Spain, Las Vegas,USA, Russia, Germany and is scheduled to open in Japan this May.

Brian and Roger continue to be ambassadors for Nelson Mandela’s 46664 HIV/AIDS awareness campaign and this month, March, played a second benefit concert for 46664 in Fancourt, South Africa.

Brian and Roger took Queen back onto the touring circuit for the first time since 1986 in 2005 and 2008, joined by former Free/Bad Company singer, songwriter and musicial Paul Rodgers playing concerts across the UK and throughout Europe. (Source: www.queenonline.com)

This album contains no booklet.