Maps of Music

A Kind of Magic (1986)

Where the lyrics of A Kind of Magic take you, and where it was really made.

Recorded in studios across Europe, this Queen album began as an unofficial soundtrack to the film Highlander and went straight to number one in the UK.

Key places

Mountain Studios, Montreux (1986)

Recording site Mountain Studios — The album was recorded in part at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Musicland Studios, Munich (1986)

Recording site Musicland Studios — The album was recorded in part at Musicland Studios in Munich, West Germany. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Townhouse Studios, London (1986)

Recording site Townhouse Studios — The album was recorded in part at Townhouse Studios in London, UK. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Orchestra recording at Abbey Road (1986)

Recording site Abbey Road Studios — The orchestra part of "Who Wants to Live Forever" was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: Jubilee line to St John's Wood station, then about a 5-minute walk.

Album story

Overview

• Twelfth studio album by the British rock band Queen
• Released 2 June 1986 by EMI Records in the UK
• US release on 27 June 1986 by Capitol Records
• Serves as an unofficial soundtrack to the 1986 film Highlander, directed by Russell Mulcahy
• Six of the nine songs appear in the film, in different versions
• Promoted during the Magic Tour, which included two concerts at Wembley Stadium
• Final tour with the band's original formation

Background

• First Queen album released after their acclaimed performance at Live Aid in 1985
• No official soundtrack album was released for Highlander
• The title comes from a line the character Connor MacLeod says about his immortality
• The band recorded three more albums with Freddie Mercury as lead vocalist before his death in 1991

Recording

• The sessions for "One Vision" were filmed and later released on the 2003 DVD set Greatest Video Hits 2
• The orchestra on "Who Wants to Live Forever" was arranged and conducted by Michael Kamen
• Orchestra recording for "Who Wants to Live Forever" took place at Abbey Road

Cover

• Album cover illustration credited to Roger Chiasson
• Sleeve design credited to Richard Gray

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1970 by Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), and Roger Taylor (drums, vocals).
• John Deacon (bass) joined in February 1971, completing the classic line-up.
• Mercury suggested the name "Queen".
• Early works were influenced by progressive rock, hard rock and heavy metal, later expanding into arena rock and pop rock.

Members

• Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano, 1970–1991, died 1991).
• Brian May (guitar, vocals, 1970–present).
• Roger Taylor (drums, vocals, 1970–present).
• John Deacon (bass, 1971–1997, retired).
• Paul Rodgers (vocals, 2004–2009) and Adam Lambert (vocals, 2011–present) toured as "Queen +".

Career

• First UK chart hit with Queen II (1974); international success with A Night at the Opera (1975) and "Bohemian Rhapsody", which topped the UK chart for nine weeks.
• News of the World (1977) contained "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions", now sports anthems.
• Greatest Hits (1981) is the best-selling album in UK chart history.
• Live Aid performance (1985) is ranked among the greatest in rock history.
• Estimated record sales of 250–300 million, one of the world's best-selling music artists.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001; received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 and the Polar Music Prize in 2025.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone described the album as "heavy plastic" and urged the band to bring back some pomp to its rock
• The Times called it one of "the most spectacularly successful releases this year" but questioned its appeal
• People Weekly found the album short of personal expression and said the group was "just overbearing" here
• Kerrang! asked how much of the album was the real Queen and how much was shaped by writing for a movie

Reappraisal

• AllMusic's Greg Prato wrote that the album may not have been as cohesive as other Queen albums but was their best work in some time
• Queen biographer Mark Blake called the album somewhat uneven, with only the title track and "Who Wants to Live Forever" likely to outlast its shelf life

Records

• Went straight to number one in the UK, selling 100,000 copies in its first week
• Stayed on the UK charts for 63 weeks, with 600,000 sold in the UK alone
• Four hit singles: "A Kind of Magic", "One Vision", "Friends Will Be Friends" and "Who Wants to Live Forever"
• In the 1994 edition of The Guinness All Time Top 1000 Albums, voted No. 171 among the greatest rock and pop albums
• In 2006, voted the 42nd-greatest album of all time in a national BBC poll
• In 2007, Classic Rock ranked it the 28th-greatest soundtrack album of all time

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title track was covered by Elaine Paige in 1988 on her album The Queen Album
• "Princes of the Universe" takes its name from the film's original working title
• The album's unofficial soundtrack status came from the absence of any official Highlander soundtrack release
• Six of the nine songs on the album were used in Highlander, though in different versions
• "Pain Is So Close to Pleasure" was not in the film; "One Vision" was used in the 1986 film Iron Eagle instead

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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