Brian May.

UPDATE JULY 2014: Queen + Adam Lambert will be playing a concert at Auckland’s Vector Arena on Wednesday September 3rd. Tickets go on sale 9am, Thursday July 24.

On last night’s episode of The Two we played a clip of a six minute long Queen number one hit which has several different stanzas and styles and isn’t called Bohemian Rhapsody.

To mark Queen guitarist (and PHD holder in astrophysics) Brian May’s 66th birthday, I wanted to remind people just how phenomenal a song Innuendo (from the 1991 album of the same name) was. While we didn’t play the whole song, the audience did get to hear the mid-section flamenco solo (as played by Steve Howe from Yes) which then gets echoed by May on electric guitar.

Simply put, Innuendo is incredible. It’s also a reminder that just as plenty of great songs don’t make it to number one, there are plenty of great number ones which also mysteriously fall through the cracks. When was the last time (other than last night) you heard Innuendo on the radio?

Click here for analysis of the unusual and highly complex time signatures used in the song, as well as for thoughts on the lyrics allmusic.com described as being about “mankind’s inability to live harmoniously.” So for one of the most mild-mannered guitar Gods ever, here is one of the finest overlooked UK number one hits ever: