Produced by: Roger Taylor, David Richards, and Mack
Recorded at: Musicland Studios and Mountain Studios
UK EMI LP: 25 June 1984 RTA 1 / UK Chart #30
USA Capitol LP: 3 July 1984 SJ-12357 / Did Not Chart

Side One 1. Strange Frontier (Taylor) 4:16 2. Beautiful Dreams (Taylor) 4:23 3. Man On Fire (Taylor) 4:05 4. Racing In The Street (Springsteen) 4:28 5. Masters Of War (Dylan) 3:51

Side Two 1. Killing Time (Taylor) 4:58 2. Abandonfire (Taylor/Richards) 4:12 3. Young Love (Taylor) 3:22 4. It's An Illusion (Taylor/Parfitt) 4:03 5. I Cry For You (Love, Hope And Confusion) (Taylor/Richards) 4:16

Related Songs
Two Sharp Pencils (Get Bad) (Taylor), Keep On Running (Edwards), I Want To Take You Higher (Taylor)

UK Singles
- Man On Fire c/w Killing Time 7" / UK Chart #66
- Man On Fire (Extneded Version) c/w Killing Time 12"
- Strange Frontier c/w I Cry For You (Love, Hope And Confusion) (Single Remix) 7" / UK Chart #98
- Strange Frontier (Extended Mix) c/w I Cry For You (Love, Hope And Confusion) (Extended Mix) / Two Sharp Pencils (Get Bad) 12"

US Singles
- Man On Fire c/w Killing Time 7" / Did Not Chart

Roger Taylor's second studio album, Strange Frontier was released a mere four months after Queen's hit album The Works. The album was recorded at Mountain and Musicland Studios with David Richards, Mack, and Roger Taylor producing. Strange Frontier was not as successful as its predecessor but did manage to reach #30 on the UK chart. The album was released from Capitol, Queen's new record company, in the US, but did not chart.

The first single, Man On Fire, preceeded the album by three weeks and was available on 7" and 12" vinyl, the latter of the two featured an extended mix. Even though it was supported by a music video, the single only reached #66 on the UK chart. In America, Man On Fire was available on 7" through Capitol but failed to make a dent on the Billboard chart.

The title track followed as the second single at the end of July on 7" and 12" vinyl. The 12" featured an extended mix of both Strange Frontier and I Cry For You in addition to an exclusive B-side, Two Sharp Pencils (Get Bad). A music video in the style of the James Dean movie Rebel Without A Cause did not help move the single past #98 in the UK chart.

Although most instrumentation was handled by Taylor and producer David Richards, a few guest appear on the album. Rick Parfitt of Status Quo fame co-wrote and played guitar on I Cry For You. John Deacon played bass on the the track and remixed the single and extended versions with David Richards. Freddie Mercury is uncredited with backing vocals on Killing Time.

Strange Frontier (Album Version) 4:16
Appears on: Strange Frontier, Track 1

Strange Frontier (Extended Mix) 8:36
Appears on: UK Strange Frontier 12" vinyl, The Lot
One of my personal favorite Extended Versions of all the Queen and related releases. Lots of extra drums (and synth) from Roger, most notably at the beginning with over a minute and a half added. A very nice extended remix and highly recommended.

Strange Frontier (Video Version) 4:51
Appears on: The Lot
The audio of the video version is the same as the album version, just with added underwater sounds at the beginning. The opening and end of the video features divers, which necessitated the extra sound effects.

Man On Fire (Album Version) 4:05
Appears on: Strange Frontier, Track 3

Man On Fire (Extended Version) 6:08
Appears on: UK Man On Fire 12" vinyl, The Lot
Another really good extended release from this album. This version adds over two minutes of extra material, mostly at the very long instrumental opening.

Man On Fire (Live At Truro Townhall Dec. 2, 1994) 5:09
Appears on: The Lot
The DVD that comes with The Lot boxset features a few nice live performances from Roger Taylor. Included is this performance of Man On Fire from Roger's hometown of Truro.

I Cry For You (Love, Hope And Confusion) (Album Version) 4:16
Appears on: Strange Frontier, Track 10

I Cry For You (Love, Hope And Confusion) (Single Remix) 4:10
Appears on: UK Strange Frontier 7" vinyl, The Lot
A nice single remix by fellow Queen member John Deacon (with some added bass playing) and Mack. At first the track starts off the same, but noticably changes with some different synth sounds, heavy bass (not surprising), and without the vocal intro.

I Cry For You (Love, Hope And Confusion) (Extended Mix) 6:27
Appears on: UK Strange Frontier 12" vinyl, The Lot
Remixed by John Deacon and Queen producer Mack. The final extended version from the Strange Frontier sessions is just as good as the previous two. This features a new intro with some great stereo vocal and sound effects. Highly recommended just because the added parts add so much to the richness of the track. Many consider this to be the best version of the song.

I Cry For You (Love, Hope And Confusion) (1996 Remaster Error) 4:22
Appears on: UK Strange Frontier CD Remaster (1996)
Strange Frontier finally made its digital appearance with a 1996 CD remastered by Tony Cousins and Joshua J. Macrae. The CD sounded decent enough, but there was one remaster error on I Cry For You. The song itself is identical to the original version, but in a mastering error, after the song fades out there is a few seconds of silence before several seconds of the beginning of Racing In The Street can be heard. It cuts off abruptly, and is rather quiet, so you may not even notice it.

Two Sharp Pencils (Get Bad) 3:26
Appears on: UK Strange Frontier 12" vinyl, The Lot
A very 80s sounding B-side only track with lots of synth throughout. Roger's vocals have been electronically altered so much that it doesn't sound like him (sounds more like a deep voiced early Rap artist). A very funky and odd track.

Two Sharp Pencils (Get Bad) (Anna Wall & Corbi Remix) 6:36
Appears on: UK Two Sharp Pencils (Get Bad) 12" vinyl, UK Two Sharp Pencils (Get Bad) digital EP

Two Sharp Pencils (Get Bad) (Anna Wall & Corbi Remix Radio Edit) 3:12
Appears on: UK Two Sharp Pencils (Get Bad) digital EP

Two Sharp Pencils (Get Bad) (Anna Wall & Corbi Remix Instrumental) 6:36
Appears on: UK Two Sharp Pencils (Get Bad) digital EP

Two Sharp Pencils (Get Bad) (Jamie 3:26 Punk Funk Version) 6:49
Appears on: UK Two Sharp Pencils (Get Bad) 12" vinyl, UK Two Sharp Pencils (Get Bad) digital EP

Keep On Running 2:58
Appears on: Unreleased
This Spencer Davis Group cover was supposed to be on the final album, but was left on the cutting room floor. This stays fairly close to the original and sounds pretty good. Adding this to the album would have made it too heavy on covers; this would have made a nice B-side though.

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I Want To Take You Higher