Innuendo (album) - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

The Orange County Register wrote "Innuendo" is a mixed bag, but it's precisely the weaker, least quirky songs that will ensure Queen gets radio airplay. Queen is a figurehead these days – its brand of progressive rock is hardly progressive any more – but it looks as if it will clamber back on the album-rock radio throne."

The Cincinnati Post stated "The boys are back with a lot less pomp this time. Freddie Mercury still has a taste for luridly melodramatic vocals, but rockers like "Headlong" and "Ride the Wild Wind" make up for it. For old fans, there are plenty of the group's trademark chorale vocals and headphone-mixed sounds, but Mercury's ballad, "These are the Days of Our Lives," actually sounds restrained."

The Advocate wrote "Lead vocalist Freddie Mercury still wails and camps things up. Guitarist Brian May remains a highly creative player. Bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor are around, too, providing additional vocals and keyboards. All that's missing are the songs. Sure, they toss in some of the choir-like harmonies which graced one of Queen's most memorable albums. Despite some stabs at full-tilt rockers, like "Headlong," the lyrics are vacuous and the melodies don't exactly keep you humming, either."

Rolling Stone stated "Innuendo is so lightweight you'll forget it as soon as it's over – which, with this band, should go without saying anyway – but there's nothing cynical about it. Unlike most fortyish rock relics, the boys in Queen are still too kooky and insincere to settle for any of that "well-earned wisdom of middle age" bunk. They just throw food at the wall, and if it sticks, fine. And if it doesn't stick, well, that's fine too."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote "Innuendo isn't likely to turn around Queen's decade-long downward spiral of popularity, but the album has a few semiprecious gems: Freddie Mercury singing a love song to his cat on Delilah, lead guitarist Brian May kicking in with unrestrained axing on the hard-hitting The Hitman and serving a brisk metal set on Headlong, drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Deacon jolting a spirit of abandon into Ride the Wild Wind. But the remaining tracks are disappointing, and generally Innuendo is yet another misfire in the group's slumping output."

VOX Magazine wrote "Lyrically and thematically, 'Innuendo' fails to live up to its title (that is, there was nothing here that struck me as particularly oblique or allusive). A few more hooks and harmonies as well wouldn't have gone amiss, 'cause seldom have such positive messages been delivered so drably."

The San Francisco Chronicle stated "Suffice it to say the latest Queen opus is lavish and lush, thick with pomp and guitar, heroic strutting cadences and, in general, exactly what one might expect from a ballyhooed return to form by Freddy Mercury and the boys. Whether anybody cares or not remains to be seen, but either way, "Innuendo" hardly represents the distinguished initial splash Hollywood Records obviously hoped to make."

People Weekly wrote "If this is cartoon rock and roll, at least it's good and brazenly cartoonish."

Allmusic wrote "Innuendo was a fitting way to end one of rock's most successful careers."