Album
Hot Space
Hot Space is Queen's tenth studio album, released on 4 May 1982. It followed The Game and came ahead of The Works, and it finds the band turning decisively towards dance music. Disco, funk, R&B and new wave all feature, a move that grew out of the huge American success of "Another One Bites the Dust" in 1980. Fans who loved the band's traditional rock sound were less keen, and the timing, with disco already facing a backlash, did it no favours.
It is worth hearing as the band's boldest change of direction, and for its two best-known singles. "Under Pressure", their collaboration with David Bowie, reached number one in the UK, though it was recorded before the album and before the argument over the new sound began. "Body Language" peaked at number 11 in the US.
Hot Space: tracklist, credits and charts
11 tracks · 43:35Tracklist
- 1Staying PowerFreddie Mercury4:10
- 2DancerBrian May3:47
- 3Back ChatJohn Deacon4:33
- 4Body LanguageFreddie Mercury4:32
- 5Action This DayRoger Taylor3:32
- 6Put Out the FireBrian May3:18
- 7Life Is Real (song for Lennon)Freddie Mercury3:31
- 8Calling All GirlsRoger Taylor3:52
- 9Las palabras de amor (The Words of Love)Brian May4:29
- 10Cool CatJohn Deacon and Freddie Mercury3:48
- 11Under PressureBowie, Deacon, May, Mercury, Taylor4:03
- Produced by
- Mack, Arif Mardin, Queen, David Bowie, Brian May, Roger Taylor, Reinhold Mack
- Recorded at
- Mountain Studios, Musicland Studios, Mountain (Montreux, Switzerland), Musicland (Munich, West Germany)
- Recorded
- June 1981 – March 1982
- Engineered by
- Mack, David Richards
- Labels
- EMI, Elektra
- Length
- 43:35
Line-up
- John Deacon · electric guitar, drum machine, synthesizer, bass guitar, handclaps, finger snaps, guitar, keyboard
- Brian May · electric guitar, drum machine, bass synthesizer, background vocals, guitar, lead vocals, acoustic guitar, synthesizer, piano, keyboard, handclaps, finger snaps
- Freddie Mercury · drum machine, synthesizer, bass synthesizer, keyboard, background vocals, lead vocals, piano, handclaps, finger snaps
- Roger Taylor · electronic drum set, drums (drum set), tambourine, percussion, background vocals, synthesizer, electric guitar, lead vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, handclaps, finger snaps
- Mack · synthesizer · guest
- Dino Solera · saxophone · guest
- David Bowie · synthesizer, finger snaps, handclaps, lead vocals · guest
Singles
- “Under Pressure” · 27 October 1981
- “Body Language” · 19 April 1982
- “Las Palabras de Amor” · 1 June 1982
- “Calling All Girls” · 19 July 1982 (US)
- “Staying Power” · July 1982 (Japan)
- “Back Chat” · 9 August 1982
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1982 | 4 |
| US Billboard 200 · 1982 | 22 |
| Austrian Albums · 1982 | 1 |
| Dutch Albums · 1982 | 1 |
| Norwegian Albums · 1982 | 3 |
| Swedish Albums · 1982 | 4 |
| German Albums · 1982 | 5 |
| New Zealand Albums · 1982 | 5 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1982 | 6 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1982 | 6 |
All 15 charts
| Argentina (CAPIF) · 1982 | 7 |
| French Albums (SNEP) · 1982 | 7 |
| Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi) · 1982 | 9 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) · 1982 | 10 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1982 | 15 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Austria | Gold |
| Canada · 1982 | Gold |
| Japan · 1982 | Gold |
| New Zealand · 2025 | Platinum |
| Poland · 2009 | Platinum |
| South Africa · 1982 | Gold |
| United Kingdom | Gold |
| United States | Gold |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
79.5
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
27k
ListenBrainz listeners
205k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
1.2k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Also released on 4 May
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More from Queen
Full discography →
Queen
1973
Queen II
1974
Sheer Heart Attack
1974
A Night at the Opera
1975
A Day at the Races
1976
Queen’s First E.P.
1977
News of the World
1977
Jazz
1978
Live Killers
1979
The Game
1980
Flash Gordon
1980
Greatest Hits
1981
The Works
1984
A Kind of Magic
1986
Live Magic
1986
Hungarian Rhapsody: Live in Budapest
1987
The Miracle
1989
At the Beeb
1989
Innuendo
1991
Greatest Hits II
1991
Box of Tricks
1992
Classic Queen
1992
The 12″ Collection
1992
Live at Wembley ’86
1992
Five Live
1993
The Greatest 3
1995
Made in Heaven
1995
Queen Rocks
1997
The Crown Jewels: A 25th Anniversary Celebration
1998
Greatest Hits III
1999
Highlander
2000
Greatest Hits I, II & III: The Platinum Collection
2000
We Will Rock You
2002
Jewels
2004
We Are the Champions: Final Live in Japan
2004
Queen on Fire: Live at the Bowl
2004
Stone Cold Classics
2006
The A–Z of Queen, Volume 1
2007
Rock Montreal
2007
The Singles Collection, Volume 1
2008
The Singles Collection, Volume 2
2009
Absolute Greatest
2009
The Singles Collection, Volume 3
2010
The Singles Collection, Volume 4
2010
Deep Cuts, Volume 1 (1973–1976)
2011
Deep Cuts, Volume 2 (1977–1982)
2011
Deep Cuts, Volume 3 (1984–1995)
2011
Icon
2013
Live at the Rainbow ’74
2014
Queen Forever
2014
A Night at the Odeon
2015
Bohemian Rhapsody: The Original Soundtrack
2018
Riffs
2025
Pop
2025
Anthems
2025
Ballads
2025
The best of 1982
All of 1982 →
More on EMI
The label →
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Iron Maiden · 1982
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Queen · 1975
Piece of Mind
Iron Maiden · 1983
Powerslave
Iron Maiden · 1984
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden · 1992
Somewhere in Time
Iron Maiden · 1986
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Iron Maiden · 1988
The Works
Queen · 1984
A Kind of Magic
Queen · 1986
13
Black Sabbath · 2013
Queen II
Queen · 1974
Dance of Death
Iron Maiden · 2003
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 1982-05-04; musicbrainz + wikidata 1982-05-21 (17 days apart, likely another territory)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 21 May 1982 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 4 May 1982 | |
| Wikidata | 21 May 1982 | |
| US release | 25 May 1982 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 21 May 1982 | earliest UK or European date |
33 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | CA | Hollywood Records | 00050087245542 | remaster |
| — | NL | EMI | 077774621526 | other |
| — | CA | Hollywood Records | 00050087522018 | other |
| 1982 | XE | EMI | other | |
| 1982 | GB | EMI | other | |
| 1982 | JP | Elektra | other | |
| 21 May 1982 | GB | EMI | original | |
| 25 May 1982 | US | Elektra | other | |
| 1986 | NL | EMI | 077774621526 | other |
| 1986 | US | EMI | 077774621526 | other |
| 1986 | DE | EMI | 077774621526 | other |
| 1 December 1986 | GB | EMI | 077774621526 | other |
| 22 April 1987 | JP | EMI | 4988006612235 | other |
| 5 March 1991 | US | Hollywood Records | 720616103826 | other |
| 1994 | XE | Parlophone | 077778949725 | other |
| 1994 | XE | Parlophone | 077778949725 | other |
| 7 February 1994 | GB | Parlophone | 077778949725 | other |
| 24 October 2001 | JP | Universal Music | 4988006796720 | other |
| 25 February 2004 | JP | EMI | 4988006818194 | other |
| 25 May 2008 | ES | EMI | 8423793300218 | other |
| 2011 | — | EMI | 00602527717579 | other |
| 2011 | XW | EMI | 00602527717586 | remaster |
| 22 June 2011 | JP | Island | 4988005667946 | remaster |
| 22 June 2011 | JP | Island | 4988005667946 | remaster |
| 27 June 2011 | XE | Island | 602527717579 | other |
| 27 June 2011 | XE | Island | 602527717586 | remaster |
| 13 September 2011 | US | Hollywood Records | 050087245542 | remaster |
| 28 March 2012 | JP | Universal International | 4988005699954 | remaster |
| 2014 | GB | EMI | 00602547025630 | deluxe |
| 2014 | CA | Hollywood Records | 00050087318413 | other |
| 25 September 2015 | GB | Virgin EMI Records | 602547202772 | remaster |
| 20 February 2019 | JP | Island | 4988031321843 | other |
| — | — | Hollywood Records | 720616103826 | other |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · cropped: cropped from 1501x1500 to 1500x1500
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 1501×1500 | cropped: cropped from 1501x1500 to 1500x1500 |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |