News

A new Freddie Mercury anthology will be released this fall, chronicling the late Queen singer’s solo tracks on two CDs and 13 vinyl singles.

Messenger of the Gods: The Singles features 25 tracks recorded by Mercury and released between 1973 and 1993–several of which were never released in America, or released widely on CD.

Among the set’s rarer treasures is Mercury’s first “solo” single, credited to Larry Lurex in 1973. The single, featuring covers of Phil Spector’s “I Can Hear Music” (recorded by The Ronettes and a U.S. Top 40 hit for The Beach Boys in 1969) and Gerry Goffin & Carole King’s “Goin’ Back,” was in fact recorded by all four members of Queen, who were working on their debut album at Trident Studios while engineer Robin Geoffrey Cable was attempting to recreate Spector’s “Wall of Sound” technique. It never charted, and both sides have been sparingly included on past solo collections for Mercury.

Also included: “Love Kills,” Mercury’s proper solo debut from Giorgio Moroder’s 1984 rescoring of the 1927 film Metropolis; all the singles from the albums Mr. Bad Guy (1985) and the operatic Barcelona (1988) with Monserrat Caballé; and non-LP U.K. hits “The Great Pretender,” “In My Defence” and the chart-topping remix of “Living on My Own.”

Both the singles box and the 2CD version (which separates A and B-sides on each disc) are available on September 2.  Currently Amazon U.S. links are active for the vinyl edition and Amazon U.K. for the CD edition; we will update as soon as both sites have links to both editions available.

Freddie Mercury, Messenger of the Gods: The Singles (Hollywood, 2016)

Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Disc 1 (blue – EMI 2030 (U.K.)/Anthem AN-204 (U.S.), 1973)

1. I Can Hear Music – Larry Lurex
2. Goin’ Back – Larry Lurex

Disc 2 (orange – CBS A-4735 (U.K.)/Columbia 38-04606 (U.S.), 1984)

1. Love Kills

Disc 3 (yellow – CBS A-6019 (U.K.)/Columbia 38-04869 (U.S.), 1985)

1. I Was Born to Love You
2. Stop All the Fighting

Disc 4 (red – CBS A-6413 (U.K.), 1985)

1. Made in Heaven (Single Remix)
2. She Blows Hot and Cold

Disc 5 (white – CBS A-6555 (U.K.)/Columbia 38-05455 (U.S.), 1985)

1. Living on My Own (Single Edit)
2. My Love is Dangerous

Disc 6 (red – CBS A-6725 (U.K.), 1985)

1. Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow
2. Let’s Turn It On

Disc 7 (cyan – EMI 5559 (U.K.), 1986)

1. Time
2. Time (Instrumental)

Disc 8 (orange – Parlophone R-6151 (U.K.)/Capitol B-5696 (U.S.), 1987)

1. The Great Pretender
2. Exercises in Free Love (Freddie’s Vocal)

Disc 9 (clear – Polydor POSP-887 (U.K.), 1987)

1. Barcelona (Single Version) – Freddie Mercury & Monserrat Caballé)
2. Exercises in Free Love (Monserrat’s Vocal)

Disc 10 (gold – Polydor PO-23 (U.K.), 1988)

1. The Golden Boy (Single Edit) – Freddie Mercury & Monserrat Caballé)
2. The Fallen Priest (B-side Edit) – Freddie Mercury & Monserrat Caballé)

Disc 11 (green – Polydor PO-29 (U.K.), 1989)

1. How Can I Go On – Freddie Mercury & Monserrat Caballé)
2. Overture Piccante – Freddie Mercury & Monserrat Caballé)

Disc 12 (neon pink – Parlophone R-6331 (U.K.), 1992)

1. In My Defence (Ron Nevison Remix)
2. Love Kills (Wolf Euro Mix)

Disc 13 (yellow – Parlophone R-6355 (U.K.), 1993)

1. Living on My Own (No More Brothers Radio Mix)
2. Living on My Own (Julian Raymond Album Mix)