Welcome to Queen The Greatest.
And this week we celebrate Queen roaring into the 1990s
with their smash hit album Innuendo.
[Dave Richards] “With Innuendo, somebody suggested
that they should play live, and they thought that was a good idea.
So we set them up in the Casino Hall
and the studio itself was linked with 54 mic lines going down
and we could record groups in there.”
[Dave Richards] "They actually created a song live,
by improvising
until it became a song.
And that's how it started."
[Roger Taylor] “We were working abroad together in Mountain Studios,
I think Freddie had then decided he actually loved Switzerland
and he didn't want the studio to be under the lake,
which is where he wanted before."
[Roger Taylor] "There's some very good stuff on Innuendo
and it was quite live as well,
and I think a bigger studio is good for us.”
[Brian May] "There was a feeling of sort of re-exploring our youth,
almost buried in there somewhere.
And it was fun.”
[Brian May] "We were working really flat out on everybody's ideas,
and not being kind of possessive about things,
so there's quite a liberation there."
[John Deacon] “I think we're all throwing in different ideas.
There's a lot more teamwork, but people still get very
precious about the songs that they feel they started off with."
[Dave Richards] "Freddie was singing down there live as well with them,
and there was absolutely no impression from me
that he could have been sick.
He was full of beans
and singing away."
At the beginning of 1991,
the Innuendo album and single were released,
and both entered the UK charts at number one.
[Brian May] "The new album is great.
I think it's the best one for quite a long time.
There's nothing in it that I'm embarrassed about.
You know, very often you put out an album you think
but I wish we'd done this, you know.
This one I feel quite happy about
and I can listen to it without any problem.
I like it a lot."
[Brian May] “Actually, we had some fantastic times,
and I think we got over our stupid,
you know, going out the whole time business, you know?
[Brian May] “And we were a very close-knit group like a family,
and we would work in the studio until, usually until Freddie got very tired."
[Brian May] "I did a complete demo for The Show Must Go On,
including that very high part, you know, 'On with the show.'
And I said to Freddie, because Freddie always used to say
'Oh Brian, you're f**king making me tear my throat to bits again'.
You know, so I remember apologising in as much as I said,
'Look, I've done it in falsetto.
I don't know if it's possible to do it full voice, you know, but obviously that would be great'.”
[Brian May] “And he went 'Oh for God's sake',
you know, he said, 'roll the tape',
a couple of vodkas, and he went for that line,
which is outstanding, you know, for him to reach those notes.
He's reaching heights he's never done before.
He's just finding the energy from somewhere?
And the voice on The Show Must Go On is incredible.
I never heard anybody sing like that in my whole life.
And he rose to every challenge and seemed to reach
heights that he never even reached before.”
This recording experience,
despite the challenges we now know they were facing,
proved to be hugely productive,
and Innuendo marked the band's 20th anniversary in style,
delivering a powerhouse of songwriting and recording
in the finest Queen tradition.