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It was just a chance remark, really, when a commenter mentioned that he was ten years old when Now 44 came out. With another birthday coming up (hint, hint) my thoughts turned to the current Now album at the time of my own tenth birthday, which rather symmetrically proves to be Now 10. And there's some minor historical import to it too, as the first album in the series to be given a complete CD release, as opposed to the truncated single-disc versions that had been toyed with before. As you can see though, the running time is still kept down to two hours so it fits comfortably on a double LP. I might get this one done within the month.
Anyway, they've picked a nice subtle track to start with here. Actually, it does seem a bit out of place as an opener - it has grand finale written all over it. Apparently 'Barcelona' was commissioned as a theme song for the 1992 Olympic games, hence the presence of native Barcelonan Caballe. 1987 might have seemed a bit early to be doing that but then again, it seems wise in retrospect since Mercury didn't live to see 1992 itself. This seems to have come as news to whoever placed the advert on YouTube to tell us we could get the latest news about him in The Sun. Certainly, he throws himself wholeheartedly into the idiom, but then that's no surprise from the man behind 'Bohemian Rhapsody': it's the dozens over overdubbed Freddies bellowing "Baar-ceLOna" that really grabs your attention, sounding almost more operatic than the actual opera singer on the record. In fact, when I read that the legendary unreleased, unbootlegged, unheard by anyone not massively off their faces (except George Martin, presumably) Beatles track 'Carnival Of Light' features repetitive shouts of "Barcelona", this is always what it reminds me of.
Still, there's something in here that doesn't totally seem to work; possibly it lies in the slight lack of chemistry between the two leads, or maybe it just seems to fall between two stools - as a pop record it doesn't have the same force as some of the operatic rock Queen used to make, and it obviously doesn't have the same weight as true classical music would. Also, if you don't want to deafen yourself during the loud bits you can't really hear the quiet sections properly.
On a totally irrelevant note, doesn't he look weird without the moustache?
Freddie Mercury also appears on: Now 9, 25. [This track is repeated on Now 23]
Available on: The Very Best of Freddie Mercury
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