Hollywood RecordsLate Queen frontman Freddie Mercury would have turned 70 in September. To coincide with the milestone, a special vinyl box set gathering all of the legendary singer’s solo singles is set to be released. Freddie Mercury: Messenger of the Gods — The Singles features 13 seven-inch discs, each one pressed on a different color vinyl.
The collection spans from Mercury’s 1973 debut solo single, a cover of The Beach Boys‘ “I Can Hear Music” issued under the moniker Larry Lurex, through a posthumous, U.K.-chart-topping 1993 remix of his 1985 tune, “Living on My Own.”
Mercury’s solo releases found the famed singer exploring various genres, including pop-rock, disco, electronic-dance music and opera. While his singles weren’t successful in the U.S., many of them were big hits in the U.K. and other European countries. Among the noteworthy solo tunes featured on Messenger of the Gods are “Love Kills,” a 1984 collaboration with Italian dance producer Giorgio Moroder created for a restored version of the silent film Metropolis; Freddie’s cover of The Platters‘ 1955 doo-wop hit “The Great Pretender”; and “Barcelona,” his memorable duet with Spanish opera singer Montserrat Caballé.
The box set comes packaged with a booklet featuring a variety of photos, including some previously unpublished, while each disc is housed in a separate sleeve with cover art replicated from the original releases. The compilation also will be available as a two-CD set and a digital download.
Freddie Mercury: Messenger of the Gods — The Singles will be released on September 2, three days before Mercury would celebrated his 70th birthday. Freddie died of AIDS in November 1991 at the age of 45.
Here’s the full track list of the vinyl box set:
Disc 1 — Blue
“I Can Hear Music”/”Goin’ Back” — Larry Lurex (1973)
Disc 2 — Orange
“Love Kills”/”Rotwang’s Party (Robot Dance)” (1984)
Disc 3 — Yellow
“I Was Born to Love You”/”Stop All the Fighting” (1985)
Disc 4 — Red
“Made in Heaven” [Single Remix]/”She Blows Hot and Cold” (1985)
Disc 5 — White
“Living on My Own” [Single Edit]/”My Love Is Dangerous” (1985)
Disc 6 — Red
“Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow”/”Let’s Turn It On” (1985)
Disc 7 — Cyan
“Time”/”Time” [Instrumental] (1986)
Disc 8 — Orange
“The Great Pretender”/”Exercises in Free Love” [Freddie’s Vocal] (1987)
Disc 9 — Clear
“Barcelona” [Single Version] /”Exercises in Free Love” [Montserrat’s Vocal] (1987)
Disc 10 — Gold
“The Golden Boy” [Single Edit] /”The Fallen Priest” [B-Side Edit] (1988)
Disc 11 — Green
“How Can I Go On” [Single Version] /”Overture Piccante” (1989)
Disc 12 — Neon Pink
“In My Defence”/”Love Kills” [Wolf Euro Mix] (1992)
Disc 13 — Yellow
“Living on My Own” [No More Brothers Radio Mix] /”Living on My Own” [Julian Raymond Album Mix] (1993)
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