Flash Gordon - Original Music Soundtrack

Flash Gordon is the ninth studio album, and first soundtrack album by British rock band Queen, and is one of the two film soundtracks they produced, along with Highlander. It is the album to the science fiction film Flash Gordon, and features lyrics on only two tracks. "Flash's Theme" was the only single to be released from the album, under the title "Flash". The album reached #10 on the UK charts and #23 in the US.

The album was reissued worldwide on 27 June 2011 (excluding the US and Canada, where it was released on 27 September 2011) as part of the band's 40th anniversary.[5] [6]  The reissue adds an EP of related tracks.



Contents
[hide]  *1 Background  ==Background[ edit] == There are two versions of the opening track. The album version ("Flash's Theme") is the start to the film, with part of the dialogue from the first scene. The single version ("Flash") features parts of the dialogue taken from various parts of the film. This version was also included on the Greatest Hitscompilation from 1981. The single reached #1 in Austria. The track is noted for its pounding, repetitive bassline and the camp humour of the snippets of dialogue from the film that it contains.
 * 2 In popular culture
 * 3 Track listing
 * 4 Personnel
 * 5 Charts and certifications
 * 5.1 Chart performance
 * 5.2 Sales and certifications
 * 6 References
 * 7 External links

All but two of the tracks on the album ("Flash's Theme" and "The Hero") are instrumentals, although most feature dialogue sampled from the film. The album makes extensive use of synthesisers, which Queen had employed for the first time on their previous album, The Game, although to a much lesser extent.

Side A of the album, except for the opening track and Freddie Mercury's "Football Fight" (also chosen as a B-side for the "Flash" single), contains mostly synthesiser, vocal, guitar and drum soundscapes (accompanied by the movie dialogues), written and performed by Mercury, Roger Taylor andJohn Deacon. Side B, while starting with similar compositions by Deacon and Taylor, develops for the most part around the full-band rockier themes, mainly "Flash's Theme" and "Battle Theme", composed and arranged by Brian May. The last track, "The Hero", while an individual song, reprises both motifs. Different takes of the song were used for the end credits in the film and for the album finale.

The album contains mostly the score performed by Queen, and only two short, uncredited fragments of Howard Blake's orchestral score (appearing in "The Kiss" and "The Hero").

All tracks are recorded from October through November 1980 expect two tracks ("Football Fight" and "The Kiss") which were recorded in February through March 1980 during some time as The Game sessions. ==In popular culture[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:inherit;">"Flash's Theme", "Football Fight", "Battle Theme" and "The Hero" are played in the 2012 comedy film Ted, which uses the Flash Gordon film as a key subplot. "Flash's Theme" was also used in the film Blades of Glory, during one of Will Ferrell and Jon Heder's skating performances. ==Track listing<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ==Personnel<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ==Charts and certifications<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ==
 * Freddie Mercury: lead and backing vocals, synthesiser, piano, keyboards
 * Brian May: lead guitar, backing vocals, synthesiser, piano on "Flash's Theme" and "The Hero", co-lead vocals on "Flash's Theme", guitar orchestration on "The Wedding March"<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.9090909957886px;">[7]
 * Roger Taylor: drums, timpani, backing vocals, synthesiser
 * John Deacon: bass guitar, rhythm guitar, synthesiser
 * Additional personnel
 * Additional orchestral arrangements by Howard Blake