careful what you ask for.......
FLASH GORDONReleased: December 8, 1980 UK (EMI), January 21, 1981 USA (Elektra)
Charts: UK #10, USA #23
Austria
#1, West Germany #2, Netherlands #7, Canada #10, Norway #25, Australia #29, Sweden #29
Certifications:
Platinum in Poland, Gold in the UK
Singles:
Flash Theme b/w Football Fight
Released: December 6 UK, January 17th USA
Charts: UK #15, USA #42
Belgium #2, Scotland #15, West Germany #17, Austria #42
Certifications: Silver in UK
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_Gordon_(soundtrack)
(unlike the album version, this has movie dialogue added)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfmrHTdXgK4 amazingly, it has
28 Million viewshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoYLivX8A4M&t=2203s disregard the crapola rap Flash theme after ‘The Hero’
or in segments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r346rRTFvR4&list=PLeLqSlokcbKNd0MGftDNdtscNhA-9vK6r John Deacon - bass guitar, synthesizer, guitar
Brian May - guitars, vocals, piano, organ, synthesizer
Freddie Mercury - vocals, synthesizer
Roger Taylor - drums, vocals, timpani
Howard Blake - orchestral arrangements
Recorded February–March; October–November 1980
Producer: Brian May and Mack
SIDE ONE
Flash's Theme (May) 3:31
In the Space Capsule (The Love Theme) (Taylor) 2:43
Ming's Theme (In the Court of Ming the Merciless) (Mercury) 2:41
The Ring (Hypnotic Seduction of Dale) (Mercury) 0:57
Football Fight (Mercury) 1:28
In the Death Cell (Love Theme Reprise) (Taylor) 2:25
Execution of Flash (Deacon) 1:06
The Kiss (Aura Resurrects Flash) (Mercury, Howard Blake) 1:45
SIDE TWO
Arboria (Planet of the Tree Men) (Deacon) 1:42
Escape from the Swamp (Taylor) 1:43
Flash to the Rescue (May) 2:44
Vultan's Theme (Attack of the Hawk Men) (Mercury) 1:13
Battle Theme (May) 2:18
The Wedding March (Wagner, arr. May) 0:56
Marriage of Dale and Ming (And Flash Approaching) (May, Taylor) 2:04
Crash Dive on Mingo City (May) 1:00
Flash's Theme Reprise (Victory Celebrations) (May) 1:24
The Hero (May, Blake) 3:31
Disc 2: Bonus EP (2011 Universal reissue)
Flash (Single Version) / The Hero (October 1980... Revisited) / The Kiss (Early Version, March 1980) / Football Fight (Early version, no synths! – February 1980) / Flash (Live at the Montreal Forum, November 1981) / The Hero (Live at the Montreal Forum, November 1981) May
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A disc MINUS the movie dialogue would have been a real bonus! The two demos are quite nice, as they are piano driven.
‘Football Fight’ demo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ripsKwMekDo‘The Kiss’ demo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JVJiNpaESI One omission was the original version of ‘The Hero’ that plays during the movie credits (mentioned in the movie post)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wdYGgZa8NgA bit more of a raw version, and quite good
What to say about this one? Recorded between sessions of ‘The Game’ and finished after their North American tour, the soundtrack does show that the band has fully embraced synthesizers. As is, it would have made a nice EP. Take the first two tracks, ‘Football Fight’, ‘The Kiss’, and then ‘Vultan’s Theme’ onwards. I DID play ‘The Wedding March’ at the beginning of my two wedding receptions. Hey, I'm a sucker for Brian's 'orchestral' guitar sound, and he nails this!
I did expect ‘more’ in the way of music, experimentation, maybe even some piano. More orchestra would have also been nice.
Perhaps the best thing would have been to have just released a single, using the LP version of ‘Flash’ and either the studio or movie version of ‘The Hero’ as the B-side, and been done with it. Or added different instrumentals in after the movie ..... without the damn dialogue!
(though we get reference number one regarding the question: 'who wants to live forever? in 'Attack of the Hawk Men')
Finally, the band were performing in London at Wembley Arena the night that the album was released. No doubt they were in good spirits ... until they read the news the next morning. A shorter concert took place on the 9th, though a version of 'Imagine' would be sadly added to the set list.