Stylistically, Innuendo has been regarded as a return to Queen's mid-1970s bombastic period of exaggerated music and lavish production.

The booklets and single covers from the album are inspired by illustrations by 19th century French artist Jean-Jacques Grandville.

Mercury's increasingly gaunt appearance at the ceremony sparked further speculation from the public about his health, which persisted throughout 1990.

[9][12] Mercury was persistently bothered by reporters at his London home, making it difficult for the band to record.

[13] The album was released in the US under a new label, the Disney-owned Hollywood Records, in an effort to garner greater exposure there.

"Innuendo" began as a jam session in Switzerland amongst Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon in spring 1989.

Freddie Mercury was upstairs and heard them playing the beat, and turned it into a song, creating the melody and starting off the lyrics.

From then on all four worked on polishing the track and Taylor took over the lyrics (which were written as a tribute to Led Zeppelin and their song "Kashmir").

Most of the lyrics like "banana tree" or "one needle", came from both him and his friend Peter Straker, who stayed up all night in Mercury's kitchen, devising ever more outlandish lines.

Whilst Queen fans were thoroughly amused by the band in the video, in the documentary, Champions of the World, Taylor confessed, from the band's perspective, the video was marred by Mercury's appearance having to be camouflaged by costume and make-up, as Taylor admitted Mercury looked "pretty ill, at that point.

He recorded it for his debut solo album, Back to the Light, which he was making at the same time, but after hearing Mercury sing it, decided it worked better as a Queen song.

It was said to be more along the lines of how May and Taylor originally wanted the track to sound, with a harder, guitar-driven rock edge.

Keyboards were programmed by all band members in the studio, and conga percussion was recorded by David Richards.

At a later date, colour footage of the band making the video was released, revealing just how ill Mercury was at the time.

The inspiration for the song itself is twofold, Brian May; “The vocal is a succinct and very precise little verse, a little gem, a "Bijou" - a jewel buried at the heart of the piece: hence the name of the song.” [23][24] “My Mum was given a budgie by a friend - it became a great companion for her after she lost my Dad.

..It was her little Bijou.” [23] In 2008, Queen + Paul Rodgers performed this song in their shows of the Rock the Cosmos Tour by May playing the verse live and then having Mercury's studio vocals play while a screen showed footage from the band's Wembley concert in 1986, with the visuals put in sync with the tape.

From then on May finished the lyrics, completed the vocal melody and wrote the bridge, inspired by Pachelbel's Canon.

Due to Mercury's critical health at the time of its production, a fresh appearance by the band in a video was not possible.

The track is a personal favourite of fellow British artist Elton John, who performed the song at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert with the remaining members of Queen, and Tony Iommi playing rhythm guitar.

[26] A different live version featuring Elton John on vocals later appeared on Queen's Greatest Hits III album.

This two-track promo single, completely remixed by Brian Malouf, uses slightly different lead vocal tracks by Mercury, louder and tighter harmony tracks, and reprogrammed synth drums, resulting in a much more punchy and "over the top" poppy version than included on the album.

After Mercury's death in November, the song re-entered the British charts and spent as many weeks in the top 75 as it had upon its original release.

In 1991, Chuck Eddy of Rolling Stone wrote that Innuendo was "the group's most playful top-to-bottom pile since The Game" and "there's no getting around the new album's craft", which he suggested meant the band were "finally satisfied with their lot in life", but he added that "Innuendo is so lightweight you'll forget it as soon as it's over — which, with this band, should go without saying anyway".

"[37] The Orange County Register wrote, "Queen dispenses with any stylistic variations or flirtations with dance music and offers its basic sound: lots of Mercury vocal leaps, fuzzed-out May guitar, choral overdubs and a sense of orchestral importance mixed with straightforward hard rock", concluding that it was a "mixed bag".

[2] The LA Times wrote, "Given the bombast and harsh assault of Queen's biggest hits, it's a shock to find that the heart of... Innuendo, is made of soft, sweet, sticky, sentimental goo", but added "the goo actually goes down well" and "Queen hasn't forgotten how to rock.

"[38] In a retrospective review, AllMusic wrote, "Innuendo was a fitting way to end one of rock's most successful careers".

[27] For Classic Rock in 2016, Malcolm Dome ranked it as Queen's ninth greatest album, writing that "Innuendo had a lot of intelligent humour and pathos about it."

He praised the title track's "brilliantly synthesised orchestrations" and added "perhaps most poignant of all is the low key yet mesmerising 'These Are The Days Of Our Lives', which ended with Mercury’s whispered paean 'I still love you', which was moving in its simplicity."

Dome concluded, "The album summed up how Queen could draw people close, yet still keep them at a convenient distance.