''Mr. Bad Guy'' is the only solo studio album by British musician Freddie Mercury, lead singer of

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

. Released in 1985, during a period in which Queen were on hiatus from recording, it contains eleven songs, all written by Mercury himself. The album was reissued on 11 October 2019, in newly remixed form, on CD, vinyl, digital and streaming services, via

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...

Background

In contrast to Queen's typically rock-oriented work, Mercury and co-producer

Reinhold Mack Reinhold Mack (also known as Mack, born 25 August 1949) is a German record producer and engineer. Mack is best known for his collaborations with Electric Light Orchestra, Queen, and Sparks. Biography Early life and education Mack grew up in Mu ...

drew on disco,

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded da ...

and pop influences for ''Mr. Bad Guy'', all of which had surfaced on Queen's previous studio album, ''

Hot Space ''Hot Space'' is the tenth studio album by the British rock band Queen. It was released on 21 May 1982 by EMI Records in the UK and by Elektra Records in the US. Marking a notable shift in direction from their earlier work, they employed many e ...

'' (1982), also produced by Mack. Mercury stated, "I had a lot of ideas bursting to get out and there were a lot of musical territories I wanted to explore which I really couldn't do within Queen." Co-producer Mack added, "he used to get pretty annoyed working with the others, because there was always

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...

saying, 'It needs to be more rock 'n' roll.'" ''Mr. Bad Guy'' took nearly two years to record, as Mercury had to gather enough material together while committing to band activities. Initially, the album was supposed to feature duets with Mercury and

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

. However, other sources state that personal conflicts were to blame for unfinished tracks. Mercury reportedly dropped out of any further collaboration after feeling uncomfortable working with Jackson's pet llama in the studio. One track from these collaborative sessions, " There Must Be More to Life Than This", was reworked for the ''Mr. Bad Guy'' album, although the original recording featuring Jackson was eventually released on '' Queen Forever'' in 2014.

Production

Recording was taxing on Mercury, as he took part in everything from performing the tracks (including vocals, piano and synthesizer), arranging the orchestration and working with the sound engineers. Mercury's use of synthesizers and orchestration in track development added to the diversity of each piece. The album's original title was ''Made in Heaven'', but Mercury changed his mind weeks before the album went to press. Originally released on Columbia/

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, copyrights for ''Mercury Songs'', a company owned by Freddie Mercury's estate, had been revoked following his death in 1991. ''Mr. Bad Guy'' would remain out of print on CD until 2000, when it was included on The Solo Collection, and in 2019, when it was reissued and remixed due to the commercial success of ''

Bohemian Rhapsody "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, '' A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack o ...

'', a biographical film about him.

Singles

Lead single " I Was Born to Love You" with the non-album B-side "Stop All the Fighting" debuted at number 50 on 14 April 1985, peaking at number 11 on 5 May 1985. It also reached number four in South Africa and number 20 on 1 June in Austria. "

Made in Heaven ''Made in Heaven'' is the fifteenth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 6 November 1995 by Parlophone Records in the United Kingdom and by Hollywood Records in the United States. It was the band's first and only release s ...

" peaked at number 57 on the UK Singles Chart on 21 July 1985 and charted for four weeks. "Living on My Own" charted at number 50 in the United Kingdom, while the fourth and final single, "Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow," debuted and peaked at number 76 on the UK chart on 24 November 1985.

Re-worked singles

"Living on My Own" was re-released in 1993 in a remixed form by No More Brothers, while "I Was Born to Love You" became Mercury's only solo chart success in Australia, reaching number 13. That song and "Made in Heaven" were later reworked by the three surviving Queen members and included on the 1995 studio album ''

''.ARCHIVE MR. BAD GUY (1985)
- freddiemercury.com

Track listing

All songs written by Freddie Mercury.

Personnel

The following personnel are credited in the liner notes. * Freddie Mercury –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, synthesizer *

Fred Mandel Frederick Lawrence Mandel (born 1953) is a Canadian session musician, keyboard player and guitarist. Career Born in Estevan, Saskatchewan, Mandel became involved in music from an early age. He started playing the piano at four and picked up t ...

– additional piano, synthesizer, rhythm guitar * Paul Vincent –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featu ...

* Curt Cress – drums * Stephan Wissnet –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Jo Burt – bass guitar on "Man Made Paradise" * Mack and Stephan Wissnet – programming * Rainer Pietsch - orchestral arrangements ;Technical * Mack, assisted by Stephan Wissnet –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

* The Artful Dodger – cover art * Andrzej Sawa – photograph

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mister Bad Guy Freddie Mercury albums 1985 debut albums Albums produced by Reinhold Mack Albums produced by Freddie Mercury Columbia Records albums