Solo (Mr Bad Guy/Barcelona/Bonus) - Freddie Mercury

...best and possibly best known solo album released in 1983 at a time when critics of Queen were lampooning the band's seeming loss of direction.

The album consists of 11 tracks and is alot poppier than Queen's output ever was. It's a mix of up beat dance and piano based ballads.

Two tracks - Made In Heaven and I Was Born To Love You - will be recognised by Queen fans as appearing on the 1995 Queen album Made In Heaven. ...
...the broader works of Freddie's solo career on the whole. But for big fans or those looking to broaden their musical knowledge this could be considered an excellent purchase, certainly compared to the much more comprehensive and much higher priced 10 CD and 2 DVD version also released at the same time.

As I would not recommend this box set to everyone, I have only rated it 3 out of 5 stars for a review which will be read by a cross ... more

Let's be honest from the start of this review. This is not a collection for the casual, curious fan coming across Freddie for the first time. If you are that sort of person, then you should probably be looking at the more recent "greatest hits" style album that has just been released. For the more dedicated fan however, this is a decent package containing 2 complete albums - 1983's Mr Bad Guy and 1998's Barcelona, a collaboration with Monserrat Caballé - along with a bonus CD.

Disc 1 - Mr Bad Guy is probably Freddie's best and possibly best known solo album released in 1983 at a time when critics of Queen were lampooning the band's seeming loss of direction.

The album consists of 11 tracks and is alot poppier than Queen's output ever was. It's a mix of up beat dance and piano based ballads.

Two tracks - Made In Heaven and I Was Born To Love You - will be recognised by Queen fans as appearing on the 1995 Queen album Made In Heaven. On this album, both are quite alot more piano based without Brian May's guitar, with IWBTLY being very poppy and upbeat.

Personally, 3 tracks on this album make me cringe. The lyrics of Mr Bad Guy, Man Made Paradise and My Love Is Dangerous portraying Freddie as a sexual God and they just don't quite seem right to listen to at ease.

The highlights for me on this album are 2 of the ballads - There Must Be More To Life Than This and Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow - just what Freddie does supremely, use his voice to great effect over a slow piano in the background.

Disc 2 - Barcelona is an 8 track operatic masterpiece recorded as a duet with the opera singer Monserrat Caballé.

Everyone must have surely heard the title track which was released as a single in 1998 reaching number 8 in the UK single's charts and then rereleased in 1992 as an anthem for the Olympic Games in the Spanish city, reaching at number 2 that year. Undoubtedly it is the highlight of the album, although that does not mean that the rest of it should be ignored. Queen fans should be warned that this is the album of Freddie's least like his Queen work. Very operatic and piano based with elements of gospel at times. The majority of tracks are sung in English, although Spanish is featured in a number of tracks and perhaps unsurprisingly, La Japonaise has an element of Japanese song in it.

Big Freddie fans might also notice that the backing music for Ensueno was also used for Exercises In Free Love (which doesn't feature in this package). Ensueno being a Spanish sung duet.

Disc 3 - this is a 7 track bonus CD. And what a bonus it is.

The cover of The Beach Boys I Can Hear Music was originally released in 1973 under the pseudonym of Larry Lurex so people wouldn't confuse the track with anything from the forthcoming Queen debut album. The song didn't chart, but is a most excellent track.

Also featured on the bonus CD is another cover version of The Great Pretender. 2 versions of Love Kills, the 1993 version of Living On My Own which reached number 1 when rereleased as a single, and 2 tracks from Dave Clark's Time musical - Time and In My Defence.

What really makes this collection appeal is the 28 page booklet which accompanies it. Lyrics to every track are contained as well as a brief overview of each album and track, an insight which helps one understand and go deeper into the music when hearing it.

Overall at around £20, this 3 CD box-set is not something which is going to appeal to everyone. It doesn't concentrate on the hits, but on the broader works of Freddie's solo career on the whole. But for big fans or those looking to broaden their musical knowledge this could be considered an excellent purchase, certainly compared to the much more comprehensive and much higher priced 10 CD and 2 DVD version also released at the same time.

As I would not recommend this box set to everyone, I have only rated it 3 out of 5 stars for a review which will be read by a cross section of people. If I was writing for an audience of Queen fans only, I'd rate it at least 4 stars. 

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