A Kind of Magic

This article is about the album by Queen. For their song of the same name, see A Kind of Magic (song). For other uses, see A Kind of Magic (disambiguation).

A Kind of Magic
Studio album by
Queen
Released2 June 1986[1]
RecordedSeptember 1985 – April 1986
Studio
Genre
Length40:42
Label
Producer
Queen chronology
The Complete Works
(1985) 		A Kind of Magic
(1986) 		Live Magic
(1986)
Singles from A Kind of Magic
  1. "One Vision"
    Released: 4 November 1985 (UK)
  2. "Princes of the Universe"
    Released: 12 March 1986 (US)[4]
  3. "A Kind of Magic"
    Released: 17 March 1986 (UK)
  4. "Friends Will Be Friends"
    Released: 9 June 1986 (UK)[5]
  5. "Pain Is So Close to Pleasure"
    Released: 20 August 1986 (US)[6]
  6. "Who Wants to Live Forever"
    Released: 15 September 1986[7]
  7. "One Year of Love"
    Released: September 1986 (France)[8]

A Kind of Magic is the twelfth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 2 June 1986 by EMI Records in the UK and by Capitol Records in the US. It is based on the soundtrack to the film Highlander, directed by Russell Mulcahy.

A Kind of Magic was Queen's first album to be released since they had received acclaim for their performance at Live Aid in 1985. It was an immediate hit in the UK, going straight to number one and selling 100,000 copies in its first week. It remained in the UK charts for 63 weeks,[9] selling 600,000 in the UK alone. The album spawned four hit singles: the album's title track "A Kind of Magic", "One Vision", "Friends Will Be Friends",[10] and "Who Wants to Live Forever", which features an orchestra conducted by Michael Kamen, while the album's final track, "Princes of the Universe", is the theme song to Highlander.[11]

Although Queen would release another two albums with Freddie Mercury still alive, A Kind of Magic would turn out to be his last album promoted with a concert tour, due to his diagnosis with AIDS the following year.

  1. ^ a b Brooks, Greg; Taylor, Gary. "Discography: A Kind Of Magic". Queenonline.com. Archived from the original on 20 March 2016. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  2. ^ "Queen – A Kind Of Magic (1986, Gatefold, DMM, Vinyl)". Discogs.com. 1986.
  3. ^ "A Kind Of Magic Liner Notes". QueenVault.com.
  4. ^ "Queen singles".
  5. ^ "Queen singles".
  6. ^ "Queen singles". Queen Vault.
  7. ^ "Queen singles".
  8. ^ "Queen singles".
  9. ^ A Kind Of Magic Chart Stats. Retrieved 15 August 2011
  10. ^ A Kind of Magic review. The Times. 21 June 1986. Archived at queenarchives.com
  11. ^ Bartkowiak, Mathew J. (2010) Sounds of the Future: Essays on Music in Science Fiction Film p. 19. Retrieved 15 August 2011