Jun 192 min read

Queen Quiz - Breakthru

Cover Artwork for Queen's Single Play Breakthru

Breakthru is a Queen single from their thirteenth studio album The Miracle, written by Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor, but credited to Queen. It was released on the 19th of June, 1989.

Breakthru also featured on Queen's second Greatest Hits compilation album.

The promotional video was filmed over two days on the preserved Nene Valley Railway close to Peterborough, Cambridgeshire in England. The locomotive (a Great Western Railway 2884 class No. 3822) and an open platform were rented by Queen from the Didcot Railway Centre in Oxfordshire and repainted for the video. The group named the train "The Miracle Express" (after the album), and this name was reflected in large red letters on the sides of the locomotive.

Promotional picture for 'Breakthru' featuring the members of Queen with "The Miracle Express"

The idea of using a train in the video was suggested by Taylor and was inspired by the rhythm of the rapid part of the song. The fast part commences with the scene of the train breaking through a polystyrene wall painted as a brick wall; the wall was constructed in a tunnel, under an arch of a stone bridge. During the video, May, Deacon and Taylor play their instruments while Mercury sings with his famous bottomless microphone stand while moving around the open platform.

Reports suggest that the train was travelling at a speed between 30 to 60mph, so the band were wise to insure themselves for two million pounds against any bodily damage.

At the time of filming, the completed project cost was £300,000