Queen – A Kind of Magic

Released in 1984

Anyone familiar with the film Highlander will be aware of the relevance of the title of this album. While this album isn’t wholly consisting of tracks from the film (One Vision is from Iron Eagle II), it’s still a piece of classic, yet modern, rock music.

Obviously, the title track must be familiar to most people. Very pop and yet with rock undertones, this is still a great track today. Being of a slightly more metallic persuasion though, tracks: Gimme the Prize is a great track partnered excellently by Princes of the Universe which made a perfect theme tune to the Highlander TV series. Those two tracks are about as close to Heavy Metal (with other Heavy Rock classics like Bohemian Rhapsody, Now I’m Here, Stone Cold Crazy, and countless others) as they got.

Musicianship is as good as it ever is/was, singing is excellent and harmonies are in the usual Queen whispering, yet screaming, way. This album has everything from ballads (Who Wants To Live Forever) to 80s Dance (Don’t lose your Head) to pop (A Kind of Magic) to Rock/Metal (One Vision, Gimme The Prize, Princes of the Universe) amongst others. Go get it.