ONE VISION

Queen's 12'' single was sort of a predecessor for "A Kind Of Magic" album; the hit "One Vision" will be included on that album one year later, and it will also appear in the movie "The Iron Eagle". Interesting..."A Kind Of Magic" album is not a real soundtrack, and it's not very conceptual, but all the tracks were included in motion picture(s).

However, this release saw the light of the day in more than 20 countries in Europe and worldwide; there are few different versions (with slightly different covers, with red cover; "paper" and "cardboard" versions; and 6'' single version too). The single sleeve design is nothing special, just a monochrome negative from a band's picture, and background is an alternative take (positive) from the same session in 1985. However, it's much better than awful cover that appeared on albums sleeve in 1986. Background contains "One Vision" lyrics, basic credits, and that's it.

What about the music?

Not much. "One Vision" is a good rock song that reached #7 on UK chart in November 1985, but nothing more. It's not excellent songs, and it's certainly not prog rock. The interesting detail is one of rare occasions where band uses phaser effect on a guitar, and a heavy-synthesizer tapestry which started exactly here. Lyrics are mediocre. The B side, offers nothing new to the listener; it's a pity that single didn't include some less-known gem from 1984's predecessor "The Works", some previously unreleased song, or some new material. Instead of that, we have "Blurred Vision" which is a new material indeed, but it's a mother of all fillers, really. It's (as name suggests) the remix of "One Vision". Not even the alternative take. No. Just a boring remix, not good enough to be suitable for a discotheque. At first listen you are thinking of instrumental, but after almost 4 minutes of not-so-easy digestible re-patched parts and sequences of original songs, the chorus starts and repeats once. That's about it.

Band was very clever in following of trends, but this is a bit much to swallow. The purpose of multi-layered keyboard pads and sampled sounds became questionable, because it's not the artistic value of a song (even pop song) what matters, it's a tool for crowd-pleasing suitable remixes in a years to come. Welcome to middle eighties.