Queen – A Kind Of Magic

It's hard to say what kind of album would have been next in Queen's discography after the "Works" back to formula in 1984, if the band had not the proposal to write the score for 1986's Russell Mulchay's cult movie "Highlander". Maybe another mixed offer with chart anxiety like 1980's "The game", certainly not dusting off the 70's art and pomp, but dealing with the dilemma of making personal legend meet with new pop forms and tendencies. That's the critical terroir in which a free rein Freddie had already tricked the band with the debatable 1982's "Hot space", as his lifestyle drove him closely to confuse Queen's role in music with the soundtrack of his crazy nights in clubs. To save expectations here we have the call from Mulchay, who needs a powerful, epic and larger than life music to sustain his first full-lenght feature film, in which chivalrich ideal, eternity of love and the upheavals of the last centuries of man on earth intertwine with a challange to the last decapitation between a group of immortals, till there will be only one to claim a mysterious prize. The final result, the "A kind of magic" album, is not all music from the movie but a heterogeneous collection of proper songs, part of which are featured, in different form, in the film, while the rest are, we have to say, weaker non-soundtrack picks. Furthermore the opening track is the 8 months earlier single "One vision", a vigorous rocker that quotes Martin Luther King and was written as a reply to the blitz Queen operated at Live Aid on July 13, 1985. The title track is the second big hit single by Roger Taylor after "Radio Ga Ga" and its winning features are an enthralling bass line and some gymnic lead guitar phrasings. "One Year Of Love" is a magnificient slow number by John Deacon with a minimal arrangement, held up by Mercury's stentorian commanding vocals. A pair of Deacon-Mercury whatsoever picks, the bubblegum soul of "Pain is so close to pleasure" and the accomodating anthem of "Friends will be friends" lighten a bit too much the album pretences.
Brian May inaugurates the best tracks bundle with the emotional "Who Wants To Live Forever", hastily written by the guitarist on the way home after having seen the movie presentation scheduled for the band. "Gimme The Prize", the antagonist's theme, changes the registry with a sonic manic tapping that opens up a tempestuous declaration of intent from the deranged movie villain, where the band performs at its all-time heaviest, with a bulky saturated sound and an hyperbolic Freddie. "Don’t Lose You Head" recalls the film thematics but actually treats about the withdrawal of the driving license at the expense of both Taylor and Deacon. The main musical feature of the movie is "Princes Of The Universe", a majestic epic conjuncture of different parts that restores early Queen's hard rock extravaganza patching it through to '80s metal. The promotion of the lp is entrusted to the Magic Tour, the last ever live concerts with Freddie. Few months later, the singer discovers to be HIV positive and develops AIDS. We can say how 1986's "A kind of magic" actually marked the end of the age of innocence for Queen. 3,5/5.

Anyone know if and where we’re gonna see a Walmart exclusive of this album? They just released Jazz today and I’m hoping this gets the same treatment!

Probably, this is the version of this great album.
Like almost all DMM pressings, this one also has a deep, hot, and wide sound stage.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is also the first UK pressing of this album.