Album: The Miracle, underrated & overlooked

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[b]mike hunt wrote: [/b]

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[b]doxonrox wrote: [/b]



Wow, I didn't know so many fans like that one.

I thought it was very weak. The new combined writing effort didn't work, in my opinion. The few decent songs were obviously written by one of the members (I Want it All for example) but the rest sounded like weak songs born from fooling around in the studio. Regardless of performance, if the songs aren't there, the rest doesn't matter.

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yea, the album is weak by queen's standards, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the album. Hot space is another album that is weak, but I still enjoy it for what it is.  A fun album full of decent, though not great songs.





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Agreed - to an extent. I can enjoy some of the songs taken one at a time. But the album as a whole is difficult to get through.

The best thing about the Miracle for me is that it set me up for a wonderful surprise with Innuendo!

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[b]mike hunt wrote: [/b]

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[b]Steven wrote: [/b]



I've always felt the album had a strong sense of optimism.  To me the album radiates happiness.  This is wonderful, but the album might have benefited from a love-sick ballad.  Other than that, I have no complaints.  It's not their greatest album, but far from their worst.  The band certainly sounds fresh and exciting.  It's radically different from both its predecessor, A Kind of Magic, and its successor, Innuendo.

Out of curiousity, has anybody ever thought Freddie's voice sounded scratchy on the album?

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yea, I agree. I don't think it was one of freds best albums vocally.  Scratchy is a good word to describe it.


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Glad to know I'm not alone.

I agree with what Doxonrox wrote- IMHO too it's a weak album, and if the songs ain't there...

I am unashamedly a fan of the first five albums, and my litmus test is: how many of the songs on The Miracle would be worthy of a place on Sheer Hear Attack? In my view, none!

The Miracle has a couple of 'moments', the title track has a kind of inventiveness about it with it's tempo changes etc making it a little reminiscent of the band's earlier (and in my view, better) work. I Want It All is a decent enough hard-rocker and I like its fast and furious middle section. Breakthrough I think suffers a little from its 80's type production- the drums and tempo remind me of another archetypically 80's song, "Young Turks" by Rod Stewart!! A heavier treatment would have made it work better, I believe. Was It All Worth It is a reasonably good 'traditional' sounding Queen song, if a little uninspired.

Interestingly one of the tracks 'added' as a bonus when it was released on CD, Hang On In There is better than any number of tracks on the album proper.

As others have said it's a pleasant enough listen I guess... but doesn't seem to have the 'depth' that Queen's best stuff has- I guess you could call it 'Queen Lite'. Just my two cents worth...

P.s I know it's off topic, but where is the 'reply with quote' button in these forums? Cheers.

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[b]Robbieboy wrote: [/b]



I agree with what Doxonrox wrote- IMHO too it's a weak album, and if the songs ain't there...

I am unashamedly a fan of the first five albums, and my litmus test is: how many of the songs on The Miracle would be worthy of a place on Sheer Hear Attack? In my view, none!

The Miracle has a couple of 'moments', the title track has a kind of inventiveness about it with it's tempo changes etc making it a little reminiscent of the band's earlier (and in my view, better) work. I Want It All is a decent enough hard-rocker and I like its fast and furious middle section. Breakthrough I think suffers a little from its 80's type production- the drums and tempo remind me of another archetypically 80's song, "Young Turks" by Rod Stewart!! A heavier treatment would have made it work better, I believe. Was It All Worth It is a reasonably good 'traditional' sounding Queen song, if a little uninspired.

Interestingly one of the tracks 'added' as a bonus when it was released on CD, Hang On In There is better than any number of tracks on the album proper.

As others have said it's a pleasant enough listen I guess... but doesn't seem to have the 'depth' that Queen's best stuff has- I guess you could call it 'Queen Lite'. Just my two cents worth...

P.s I know it's off topic, but where is the 'reply with quote' button in these forums? Cheers.

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I agree, Robbieboy.  I do want to point out that we can't really compare songs from The Miracle to Sheer Heart Attack songs.  Although it's the same band, they're still two very different albums from two very different eras of rock music. 

The 'reply quote' button is the last of the three icons (furthest to the right) just above this message box.

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[b]mike hunt wrote: [/b]

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[b]doxonrox wrote: [/b]



Wow, I didn't know so many fans like that one.

I thought it was very weak. The new combined writing effort didn't work, in my opinion. The few decent songs were obviously written by one of the members (I Want it All for example) but the rest sounded like weak songs born from fooling around in the studio. Regardless of performance, if the songs aren't there, the rest doesn't matter.

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yea, the album is weak by queen's standards, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the album. Hot space is another album that is weak, but I still enjoy it for what it is.  A fun album full of decent, though not great songs.





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It doesn't help that Queen has very high standards, since they are perfectionists.  Queen's weak albums are still strong when compared to most other artists because Queen's low points surpass most bands high points.

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[b]Steven wrote: [/b]



 



 



 



[b]Robbieboy wrote: [/b]



 



I agree with what Doxonrox wrote- IMHO too it's a weak album, and if the songs ain't there...

I am unashamedly a fan of the first five albums, and my litmus test is: how many of the songs on The Miracle would be worthy of a place on Sheer Hear Attack? In my view, none!

The Miracle has a couple of 'moments', the title track has a kind of inventiveness about it with it's tempo changes etc making it a little reminiscent of the band's earlier (and in my view, better) work. I Want It All is a decent enough hard-rocker and I like its fast and furious middle section. Breakthrough I think suffers a little from its 80's type production- the drums and tempo remind me of another archetypically 80's song, "Young Turks" by Rod Stewart!! A heavier treatment would have made it work better, I believe. Was It All Worth It is a reasonably good 'traditional' sounding Queen song, if a little uninspired.

Interestingly one of the tracks 'added' as a bonus when it was released on CD, Hang On In There is better than any number of tracks on the album proper.

As others have said it's a pleasant enough listen I guess... but doesn't seem to have the 'depth' that Queen's best stuff has- I guess you could call it 'Queen Lite'. Just my two cents worth...

P.s I know it's off topic, but where is the 'reply with quote' button in these forums? Cheers.



 

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I agree, Robbieboy.  I do want to point out that we can't really compare songs from The Miracle to Sheer Heart Attack songs.  Although it's the same band, they're still two very different albums from two very different eras of rock music. 

The 'reply quote' button is the last of the three icons (furthest to the right) just above this message box.



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Very good point about the two different eras, Steven. I guess what I am trying to say is that even allowing for the different eras, the calibre of songs on SHA is miles better than on The Miracle. On Innuendo however, I think the band are closer to the mark in terms of songs that stack up well against their earlier material e.g parts of the title track, Don't Try So Hard, All God's People, Bijou etc.

P.s thanks for pointing out the 'reply with quote' button!

I totally agree. This album is one one of Queen's finest moments. So what if the lyrics aren't as good etc... All that makes a good album is for it to be listenable and enjoyable. I absolutely love it and listen to it weekly. I even almost love it more than the dark and disturbing masterpiece Innuendo which it is tied at as being my favorite. A song is a song. And The Miracle has masterpieces.

The Miracle has to be the Queen album I listen to least along with AKOM. Though I love the anthemic brilliance of I WANT IT ALL and the pop genius of BREAKTHRU, songs like MY BABY DOES ME and WAS IT ALL WORTH IT (dreadful lyrics, overblown vocal) are just not up to scratch and THE INVISIBLE MAN comes close to the worst thing they ever recorded (probably pipped at the post by FRIENDS). Elsewhere, while employing all the studio trickery, it seems a little direction less and without a tour to go with it perhaps you can understand why. Interestingly the original vinyl preferred BABY DOES ME to HANG ON IN THERE (only available on CD). No justice...

Topic creator:







You make the best case I've read for the Miracle, you should be a defence lawyer!

The Miracle was billed (in America) at least as Queen's return to their rock roots. Other than " I want it all" and "was it all worth it" there is not much rock on it. Mostly fluff & pop synth crap. It contains two of their all time worst songs " Rain must fall" & "My baby does me" absolute tripe! Although it's a better offering than their previous CD "A kind of magic" (Their worst album by far) it's still an uninspired, flat & forgettable CD. The best thing about "The Miracle" is the cover.

1. Party - Not bad, I consider it a filler song
2. Kashoggy's ship - Better, but lacking
3. The Miracle - Nice, but the ending is predictable
4. I want it all - Probably the best song on this CD
5. Invisible man - Annoying!! and pure crap
6. Breakthru - Boring! and a stupid video too
7. Scandal - Nice melody, but the synths sound cold
8. Rain must fall - Chit
9. My baby does me - Chit
10. Was it all worth it - Would have been a great song had it not been for that horrible orchestrated section in the middle. Who stupid idea was that?

Thank you Rubbersuit ;-) but I don't know if I should take that a compliment hehe.


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I even almost love it more than the dark and disturbing masterpiece Innuendo which it is tied at as being my favorite

Well that's a interesting point, I have to take another comment from the first page that says that The Miracle it's an album that seems fun with a lot of energy and happiness because that's what you hear overall when you listen to it. And that's probably why there's no sad ballad as some pointed out (which of course I also agree that it would've been fun to listen). I think that after Freddie revieling that he had the illness to the rest of the band they tried to focus (as Freddie did in his personal life) in staying positive and do things to be as happy as possible and that shows in the Album.
Innuendo it's the turn around of that, probably with death as a near fact for Freddie the inspiration that he and the rest of the band had leaded to more low tempo/reflixive or sad oriented songs (Innuendo, Dont Try So Hard, Bijou, TATDOOL, TMO, etc...)

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[b]louvox wrote: [/b]

The Miracle was billed (in America) at least as Queen's return to their rock roots. Other than " I want it all" and "was it all worth it" there is not much rock on it. Mostly fluff & pop synth crap. It contains two of their all time worst songs " Rain must fall" & "My baby does me" absolute tripe! Although it's a better offering than their previous CD "A kind of magic" (Their worst album by far) it's still an uninspired, flat & forgettable CD. The best thing about "The Miracle" is the cover.

1. Party - Not bad, I consider it a filler song
2. Kashoggy's ship - Better, but lacking
3. The Miracle - Nice, but the ending is predictable
4. I want it all - Probably the best song on this CD
5. Invisible man - Annoying!! and pure crap
6. Breakthru - Boring! and a stupid video too
7. Scandal - Nice melody, but the synths sound cold
8. Rain must fall - Chit
9. My baby does me - Chit
10. Was it all worth it - Would have been a great song had it not been for that horrible orchestrated section in the middle. Who stupid idea was that?

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How can the end of a song be predictable..?
Listen carefully, there are not many songs that have synths in it.

1. Party - sounds like a demo. Filler.
2. Kashoggy's ship - ditto
3. The Miracle - okay pop
4. I want it all - good rocker: bit of a throwback to earlier times
5. Invisible man - Queen are in the house! Wrong house though :(
6. Breakthru - Keep Passing the Open Windows part deux: has its moments.
7. Scandal - My favourite Queen song of the post-The Game era. Excellent lyrics and Fred's great here. 
8. Rain must fall - less said about this the better. 
9. My baby does me - Nicely done but not my favourite side of Queen
10. Was it all worth it - Great affirmation of life at a time when Fred must've known his days on this Earth were numbered.

Overall, upbeat pop-rock, but like most of Queen's work after 1981, mostly forgetable.

Party-    Worst opener in Queen's history
K.Ship-  Better, but not great
Miracle-  good song
IWIA-     Classic Queen
Invisible man-  Weak song
breakthru-   Great song
Rain must fall-   For some reason I like this one, great guitar work
scandal-  good song
My baby does me-  filler, but somewhat catchy
Was it all worth it-   classic Queen

Have to say I love the Miracle cd

I find that they were oozing with creativity on this one....so much so that they had time to the other things like the weird guitar solo at the end of the title track and the intro to Breakthru....it's because they were working with many many ideas....some tracks were not as strong but the strong ones were absolutely great.....Another thing that really comes across on this cd is that they were having fun and the joy comes across on the album.  The Production on this cd also allows that to come across - you can hear soaring vocals,guitars and drums - great bass too.  On some cds it is held back more in the mix

[b]Party[/b] - fun song - hate the drum track, love the guitar and love how much fun they seemed to have recording it
[b]Khasshoggi's ship[/b]  - love the drums. guitar and vocal - shame it ended so soon - cool outro
[b]Miracle [/b]- nice song - ok - doesn't blow me over but has some cool musical moments - favourite is the last 30 sec
I[b] Want It All[/b]  - the fantasic rocker I wanted - love the cool heavy guitar and drum part in the middle - heavy - Freddie rocked it
[b]Invisible Man[/b] - ok - not a favourite but still get enjoyment with a listen every now and then
[b]Breakthru[/b] - really like it - great video - my wife's favourite for sure -fun (really wish I could have seen this done live and rockin)
[b]Rain Must Fall[/b] - at first didn't really like it don't like the samples - great solo and vocal though - warmed up to it
[b]Scandal [/b]- really like it - great lyrics - cool sound - still has heaviness - great guitar work
[b]My Baby Does Me[/b] - great guitar work - a cool song to listen too - even with the drum track
[b]Was It All Worth It[/b] - Absolutely love it - great intro - amazing power guitar riff - wish it was a single - love it especially considering it was about his last days

Now the extra tracks:
[b]Hang On In There[/b] - really enjoyed this one - while I can see why it may have been cut from the lp version it shows the fun and creativity they were having in the studio - wish the guitar drum outro did not fadeout - wished that part would go on longer - glad they included with the CD
[b]Chinese Torture[/b] - I'm a guitar man - so even though the backing was not enjoyable -any solo from Brian will catch my attention - still better as an extra track though and off the cd
[b]Stealin' [/b] - I really love this one and wish it was included on the cd  all except this weird offkey Freddie falsetto in the middle -cut that 6 seconds and it is a great track - why was this not used on Made In Heaven?
[b]My Life Has Been Saved[/b] - filler or b side material really although I still enjoyed it - think I like this version better than the one on Made In Heaven - partly for the guitar
[b]Hijack My Heart[/b] - fun Roger track - filler or b side for a Queen album but enjoyable as a listen every now and then -could have been on one of his solo projects....

Actually surprised they didn't save the extra tracks for release after Freddie's death

I rank this one ahead of AKOM, Made In Heaven, Hot Space for sure when considering the modern era CDs and think it stacks up well along with the others...Queen albums fit certain moods...."what do I want to listen to today?"