Retro Spins: Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe - Barcelona

Like Queen? Like Freddie Mercury? Like opera? That last question is where a lot of people probably drop off with a resounding, "No."

Barcelona. Conceived by Freddie Mercury in his latter years, when all he wanted to do was focus on music. Mercury had long since been a fan of combing opera into his rock and roll music, but this was to be his first official full opera album. He had also for  along time wanted to work with the Spanish operatic singer, Montserrat Caballe. Both of those came to fruition in 1988.

Unlike your traditional opera, I can't honestly say if the album is a story from start to finish. Mainly because I don't know what most of the lyrics are about. Still, this doesn't stop me from listening to, or enjoying, the album.

I suppose if I were to be truthful, I probably wouldn't give this album a minute of my time if it weren't Freddie Mercury. The man has an amazing voice, and this album is the perfect opportunity for him to present it. The melodies, the notes, the pitches, all are perfect. They hit every spot of emotion in your mind.

No, you're not going to find rocking guitar riffs here. Nor very multi-layered tracks. However, this in turn leads to some of its charm. It's a refreshing pace from your typical 80's album, and certainly strays far off the beaten track for most established artists. But it works. Perfectly.

Barcelona is a great album, and if you can allow yourself to listen to it, not just hear it, but listen to it, you may very well find yourself enjoying it too. I suppose it helps immensely if you're already a fan of Freddie Mercury or opera. Either way, I recommend giving it a try.

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Retro Spins: Freddie Mercury - Mr. Bad Guy

Freddie Mercury
Mr. Bad Guy
1985

When I first heard Freddie Mercury's album (Mr. Bad Guy), back around 1991, it didn't impress. In fact, it was quite awful. However, with the release of The Great Pretender (1992), which featured a remixed version of the majority of the tracks, I've come to appreciate this album more. As such, the album has remained relatively "shelved" in my collection in favor of the aforementioned "updated" version.

I gave the 1985 album a listening session for today's Retro Spin, and I have to say, it's grown on me all the more in light of recent Queen activity. Keeping in mind I write these posts far in advance, and to put it into perspective, this listen comes about two weeks after the release of Bohemian Rhapsody in theaters.

It's by no means Freddie's greatest work. In fact, for me, it ranks up there with Hot Space from Queen. However, this is because of the actual music style. It's too club friendly. Heavy bass driven tracks, geared more towards dancing. Lyrically, these are some great tracks. They just aren't mixed well with the actual music style. I dare say, if Queen were to reunite and re-record the actual music, this could be one of their best albums.

With that said, there are still gems to find here. Man Made Paradise and Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow stand out as classics for me. Overall though, I would still recommend the 1992 The Great Pretender from Freddie over Mr. Bad Guy.

This is proof that sometimes going solo isn't necessarily the best career move for a singer. Sometimes you need your band mates to tell you, "No, this isn't good. Let's try it this way," or sometimes even, "Let's move on from it." As great as Freddie Mercury was (is), his work with Queen will always be far superior to that of his solo work because within the band there was that push pull mentality, which (for my money) always resulted in the best.

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Freddie Mercury (Bandai / S.H. Figuarts)

Freddie Mercury
Bandai / S.H. Figuarts
2016

For those of you keeping up with my blog, you probably recognize the below Freddie Mercury figure. I actually shared images of him open in my personal collection back in March 2018. Today though, I'm sharing images I probably should have shared back then - The figure mint in the package.

Bandai released this fairly limited figure in 2016 and since then while it hasn't necessarily gotten to rare to find, the price continues to go up and up. I think, if I recall correctly, when I purchased mine I paid $60.00. These days, I'm seeing it fluctuating in price, but as high as $115.00.

One of the best aspects to this figure is the maximized articulation. You can literally get this figure in just about every single post you can think of. Additionally, he comes with multiple sets of hands and heads. Combined with the articulation, you can create a unique Freddie Mercury you want to display.

What I don't particularly like about this figure is the poor paint jobs on the heads. I don't know what method they used for painting, but it looks spotty. Literally like tiny dots. Additionally, the mustache on one of the three heads (at least on mine) seems to have been missed completely. If you're going to create an ultra collectible figure with a collector's price tag attached, then you need to put 100% effort into it.

Despite this, I would be lying if I said I didn't love this figure. As a huge fan of Queen, it's great to have this in my collection. I'd really like to see Bandai take it a step further and release the remaining band members.

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It's A Kind Of Magic

Now that things have finally settled in my move and I have my toy room all set up it's time to get back into some photos.

In this Blogger's personal opinion, he was the lead singer of the greatest band of all time.

Their albums span twenty-two years, starting with their self titled debut and ending with a posthumous album - A tribute to their lead singer.

Though Freddie Mercury tragically died of AIDS in 1991, he remains a legacy.

I had my eyes on NECA's Freddie Mercury figure for the longest time, but didn't pick one up until just recently. However, as the figure was in transit from the seller to me I had this thought in my head. I wanted to pose the figure with a piano. Something which would not be achievable in a very display friendly way with NECA's all but statue version. As such, when it arrived I decided to keep it in the package and continue my search.

That's when I found a fantastic version from Bandai / SH Figurarts. This thing boasted a ton of articulation from head to toe and I knew it would work perfectly - Which are the loose photos shown here today.

This figure has articulation in the neck, breast bone, shoulder, bicep, elbow, wrists, stomach, waist, knees, ankles and even toes. In short, if you can think of a pose, you can get this figure into it.

If that wasn't enough, it also features several interchangeable heads and hands as well as two microphones - One on a stand and one without. Unfortunately, there is a downside to this. While the heads easily change out, the hands are a tad more difficult. It took me about five to ten minutes to get the two on that I wanted for posing which is why you won't see any other photos beyond the one above showing the various hands. I didn't dare bother fighting with them to change them around again.

For those of you unfamiliar with Queen, this particular version of Freddie is based on the 1986 Magic Tour which is most notably remembered for its Wembley Stadium venue - A great concert in its own right. It shows the group at their height of popularity and unfortunately their last concert series due to Freddie's illness.

As I mentioned above, I wanted Freddie to be displayed with a piano. The problem was I didn't know where to find one. At first I looked at wooden doll furniture versions, but these were going to cost me two to three times more than I paid for the figure. So, those were quickly out of the question. I then looked at a Barbie piano from 1984, but knowing Barbie was ten to twelve inches tall knew this too probably wasn't the best solution for this figure.

Then I stumbled upon this purple piece...

This piano came packed in with Chelsea, Barbie's younger sister. Okay, this was a start in the right direction, but would it be compatible with Freddie? A quick Google search answered that question. Chelsea stands five and a half inches high - The exact same height as this figure. A match made in plastic heaven.

When I initially purchased it I thought I would at least paint it to match a real piano. However, I have to be honest and say the purple color with Freddie's yellow and white clothing really work great together. So, I decided to leave it as is.

The perfect backdrop for this figure to be displayed with is a fantastic record I recently scored; Queen's Sheer Heart Attack...

...Autographed by the band (hopefully). This one is on my list to get PSA certified and I have to be honest and say at a glance it looks pretty legit. I've been able to find signatures on other memorabilia which looks dead on to the ones on this record. The seller also didn't bat an eye when I told him I was going to get it PSA certified. In fact, he took it a step further and said, "You should look into a more reputable autograph authenticator (not a real word apparently). PSA is all opinion based while people who specialize in this field do a handwriting analysis." He also provided a thorough write up of how the autograph was obtained and by who. Typically when you mention getting something authenticated to someone selling fakes they pull the plug and cancel the sale on the spot.

Here's a closer look at those beautiful signatures;

What do you think? Legit?

I'll let everyone know what the verdict is.

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Freddie Mercury (Neca)

Freddie Mercury
Neca
2006

7" Action Figure 

Freddie Mercury

1979 Live Killers Outfit

 

7" Action Figure 

Freddie Mercury

1986 Live at Wembley Outfit

 

18" Doll

Freddie Mercury

1986 Live at Wembley Outfit

 

Join us next time when we take a look at Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light!

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