Queen Info Database
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Love Kills is a song by Freddie Mercury. It was written as a collaboration between Mercury and italian composer Giorgio Moroder for the 1984 restoration and edit of the 1927 silent film Metropolis, as part of the film's soundtrack. It was released as a single with Rotwang's Party (Robot Dance) on the B-side.

The song was a critical failure, being nominated for the Worst Musical Score at the 5th Raspberry Awards. Although it was panned by critics, the single was a massive commercial success for Mercury, reaching #10 on UK charts.

Love Kills was later reworked by Brian May and Roger Taylor for release on the band's 2014 compilation album Queen Forever. The new version, entitled Love Kills - The Ballad, stripped away the disco beats of the original recording in favor of the band's instrumentation.

History[]

Composition[]

Italian producer Giorgio Moroder, the owner of Musicland Studios in Munich, was recently working on a restoration and edit of the 1927 silent Sci-fi film Metropolis. Instead of using the original score for the film that had been composed by Gottfried Huppertz, Moroder developed a set of tracks featuring modern artists with a disco influence.

In January 1984, Mercury called Moroder and played an early version of Love Kills over the telephone. The producer, enthusiastic about what he'd heard of the song, began to develop the lyrics with Pete Bellote of Donna Summer songwriting fame. Unsatisfied with Moroder taking it upon himself to write the lyrics of his song, Mercury and Moroder met later that month at Musicland, creating the final lyrics for the song.

Roger Taylor laid out the programming for the track, Deacon provided a guitar rhythm, and May played guitar on the track. Although Mercury considered keeping Love Kills for use on the band's 1984 album The Works, Mercury was convinced by Moroder to use the track for the movie.

"The Ballad" Remaster[]

May and Taylor were in the midst of production for the band's 2014 compilation album Queen Forever when they chose to rework Love Kills. In a similar fashion to the reworked solo tracks on Made in Heaven, the disco beat and drum machines are stripped back and replaced with real drums and May's iconic guitarwork. The new instrumentation makes the 2014 version largely dominated by an acoustic guitar, which led to the band renaming the track "Love Kills - The Ballad" on the album.

Personnel[]

Freddie Mercury Version[]

  • Freddie Mercury – vocals, synthesizers
  • Reinhold Mack – synthesizers, programming
  • Giorgio Moroder – synthesizers, programming

"The Ballad" Remaster[]

  • Freddie Mercury – lead vocals
  • Brian May – guitars, keyboards, bass guitar
  • Roger Taylor – drums
  • John Deacon – additional guitars

Charts[]

Freddie Mercury Version[]

Chart (1984–2006) Peak

position

Australia (Kent Music Report) 56
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) 9
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) 17
Germany (Official German Charts) 25
Ireland (IRMA) 4
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) 32
Netherlands (Single Top 100) 24
Poland (Airplay Chart) 4
Spain (PROMUSICAE) 4
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) 27
UK Singles (OCC) 10
US Billboard Hot 100 69
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)

Released with "Rotwang's Party (Robot Dance)"

44

Sunshine People Remix 2006 Version[]

Chart (2006) Peak

position

Germany (Official German Charts) 83
Netherlands (Single Top 100) 49
Italy (FIMI) 8
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) 98

Gallery[]

Main article: Love Kills/Gallery

Trivia[]

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