FREDDIE MERCURY: THE GREAT ENIGMA
In November 1991, days before he died, Freddie Mercury met his manager to discuss how best to reveal to the world that he had Aids. Once they had agreed the wording of an announcement, the 45-year-old singer began to wonder how he would be remembered. "You can do what you want with my music," he said, "but don't make me boring."
SMOKE ON THE WATER
The place where this story happened was in Montreux, Vevey district, Vaud canton, Switzerland. At the foot of the Swiss Alps, it perches with its toes dangling in Lake Geneva. The city boasts several internationally-recognized festivals throughout the year, as well as a the Montreux Casino - rebuilt in 1975. The story of why it had to be rebuilt is the story told by this song.
CLASSICAL ROCK
Art rock, eclectic branch of rock music that emerged in the late 1960s and flourished in the early to mid-1970s. The term is sometimes used synonymously with progressive rock, but the latter is best used to describe “intellectual” album-oriented rock by such British bands as Genesis, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, and Yes.