Welcome to this special edition of Queen The Greatest,
in which we look back at Queens sixteenth album release The Miracle
By the time The Miracle hit the shelves in May 1989,
there had been a two year wait since the last Queen release. Agony for fans,
but as John and Brian explain, vital to the band.
(John Deacon) The wait from 1986
I think, really, was after we did the tour.
We were all absolutely exhausted and,
basically, we didn't want to work together or see each other for a while.
And then, towards the end of that second year,
we met up and Freddie suggested
we try a little time in the studio.
We were refreshed from having two years off,
and that helped get the album off to a good start.
(Brian May) These are some of our best studio times.
We've made the decision that
all the songs we write will be credited to all of us,
so it kind of releases a bit of positive energy in us.
(Jim Beach) They became closer without any doubt at all,
and the sharing of writing credits was a major breakthrough.
This new-found togetherness was echoed
in the album's ground-breaking cover design,
and as fans rushed to buy it,
thereby ensuring Platinum status within a week of release,
it was clear the wait had been worth it.
The band's new, collective way of working
produced a string of hit singles with iconic music videos
starting with the powerhouse I Want It All
followed by Breakthru.
Invisible Man
Scandal
and the title track, The Miracle.
Indeed, for Freddie, this particular track
summed up the renewed closeness
the band found in the studio.
(Freddie Mercury) That's a song we all contributed to.
Its the closest we've ever actually been,
in terms of actually writing together, and that's quite true.
The four of us really put everything into it because
somebody would come in with a line and say that's terrible and change it,
so, in one way I hate that because I have to keep singing
the different lyrics every day,
until we agree on the final one.
I'd say lyrically, The Miracle is a definite four-way split.
The album went on to achieve huge global success,
most noticeably reinvigorating support in the US
which many attributed to Brian, Roger, Freddie and John
producing a record bursting with the energy
vigour and inventiveness of classic Queen.
(Roger Taylor) I think it would've been silly if we'd tried to
end up sounding like Prince or what's happening at the time.
We have to stick to our guns
and make an album of the kind that we feel that people wanted from us.
So, no, it's not fashionable,
and it's not heavily influenced by outside sources,
I think it's very us
and goes right back to our beginnings in many ways.
We'd decided we'd only come back together if we wanted to,
it felt like the early days to us,
and we got excited and said Oh yes!
This'll be great,
and out came a load of tracks.
I think I seem to remember
we had to choose from about 30 tracks
to get down to this last 10.