Innuendo Album: 1991

Queen's Final Mercury Masterpiece

Innuendo was released February 4, 1991, marked the band's first studio release under Hollywood Records in the United States. Produced by David Richards and the band, it was the final album released during lead singer Freddie Mercury's lifetime. It topped the UK album charts for two weeks and also reached No. 1 in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland, maintaining the top position for three, four, six, and eight weeks, respectively. It was the first Queen album to achieve Gold status in the US upon release since 1984's The Works.

The album cover was created by Queen and Richard Gray. The booklets and single covers for the album draw inspiration from illustrations by 19th-century French artist Jean-Jacques Grandville.

In a national 2006 BBC poll, Innuendo was ranked as the 94th greatest album of all time.

Due to the total length of the album, five tracks had to be shortened in order to fit on the LP release. These tracks were "I'm Going Slightly Mad" (4:06), "These Are the Days of Our Lives" (3:55), "Don't Try So Hard" (3:33), "The Hitman" (3:43), and "Bijou" (1:19). The track listing for the LP release is also slightly different from the one for the CD release, with "Don't Try So Hard" moved to side 2, between "Delilah" and "The Hitman". Some of the shortened tracks can be found on the B-sides of concurrent 12" singles.

Track Listing

Innuendo – 6:31

I'm Going Slightly Mad – 4:22

Headlong – 4:38

I Can't Live with You – 4:33

Don't Try So Hard – 3:39

Ride the Wild Wind – 4:42

All God's People – 4:21

These Are the Days of Our Lives – 4:15

Delilah – 3:35

The Hitman – 4:56

Bijou – 3:36

The Show Must Go On – 4:35

Total length: 53:48

Did you have Innuendo in your collection? Were you ready for Queen's final Mercury chapter? Share in the comments!

Sources

Information is drawn from my personal knowledge and supplemented by web sources, including Discogs, 45cat, AllMusic, Rate Your Music, Wikipedia and BBC Official Charts