Soundtrack · No. 1
Flash Gordon Songwriting Credits by Queen
Produced by Brian May, Reinhold Mack
Queen wrote 17 of 18 documented tracks
Authorship Breakdown 17 / 18 documented
Scored across the 18 tracks with documented writers, by whether Queen carries a lyricist or composer credit.
Share of the 18 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.
By the Numbers
Flash Gordon is Queen's only film soundtrack, a mostly instrumental score where the individual-credit model still holds: Roger Taylor wrote "In the Space Capsule," Freddie Mercury "Ming's Theme," and Brian May the most cues including "Flash's Theme." May drove the project and shares two tracks with the film's additional composer Howard Blake. Even outside the band's usual song format, the score is self-composed by its four members rather than handed to an outside arranger.
Queen's ninth studio album, released December 8, 1980, and the soundtrack to the film Flash Gordon directed by Mike Hodges. Produced by Brian May and Reinhold Mack, the album is primarily orchestral and instrumental, with dialogue samples from the film woven throughout. It is Queen's only soundtrack album and their only album on which Mercury, May, Taylor, and Deacon share production credit less directly, May and Mack are credited as sole producers. Brian May wrote the most tracks, contributing 'Flash's Theme' (the main title), 'Flash to the Rescue,' and several instrumentals. Howard Blake co-wrote two tracks with May ('The Kiss' and 'The Hero') in his capacity as additional film composer. The Wedding March is an arrangement of Richard Wagner's 'Bridal Chorus' from Lohengrin. As a soundtrack, the album's authorship reflects the score-writing context rather than the band's typical four-way creative process.