Flash Gordon by Queen
Flash Gordon is the ninth studio album of British rock band Queen, and is one of the two film soundtracks Queen produced, along with Highlander. It is the album to the science fiction film Flash Gordon, and features lyrics on only two tracks. The track Flash's Theme was the only single to be released from the album, under the title Flash. The album reached number 10 in the UK charts and number 23 in the United States. The album was reissued worldwide 27 June 2011 (excluding US & Canada, where it was released 27 September 2011) as part of the band's 40th Anniversary. The reissue adds an EP of related tracks.
In 1979, the director Mike Hodges approached Queen about writing a soundtrack for his movie adaptation of the comic book <i>Flash Gordon</i>. The band members were game: Not only was this an opportunity for them to explore a new medium—it was also an opportunity to contribute to a mythology that at least a couple of the members had lived with since childhood. (In a clash that foreshadowed countless internet arguments to come, Hodges’ idea faced resistance from film producer Dino De Laurentiis, who thought Queen was too campy.) You wouldn’t mistake 1980’s <i>Flash Gordon</i> for a proper Queen album, but it continues the musical evolution the group had begun on <i>The Game</i>. That album had found Queen finally embracing the synthesiser—an instrument that plays a central role in <i>Flash Gordon</i> (“In the Space Capsule”, “Football Fight”). And, at a time when the band was exploring a more spontaneous approach, Hodges’ film gave Brian May plenty of room to shape, layer and play with sound—as evidenced by a handful of instrumentals that weave in dialogue and effects from the movie itself (“Flash to the Rescue”, “Vultan’s Theme”). De Laurentiis may have been resistant to Queen coming aboard <i>Flash Gordon</i>, but anyone listening to the soundtrack now would have a hard time thinking of a band more perfectly suited for Hodges’ tongue-in-cheek epic. Queen was just as lighthearted, action-packed and state-of-the-art as <i>Flash Gordon</i> itself—not to mention equally retro. Besides, the group had been making superhero music for years—tights and sequins and fate-of-the-universe grandiosity included. <i>Flash Gordon</i> just let them take it to another galaxy.
