The 1984 Queen album containing “Radio Ga Ga” and “I Want to Break Free” is The Works. It was Queen’s eleventh studio album and was released in February 1984.
The album followed the more synth- and funk-oriented Hot Space and brought together electronic pop, hard rock, and stadium-sized anthems. “Radio Ga Ga,” written by drummer Roger Taylor, opens the record and became famous for its audience-clapping routine. “I Want to Break Free,” written by bassist John Deacon, became another major single and is especially remembered for its much-discussed video.
The Works was recorded between August 1983 and January 1984 at studios in Los Angeles and Munich. Its other tracks include “It’s a Hard Life,” “Hammer to Fall,” “Tear It Up,” and “Is This the World We Created...?” The album’s title came from Taylor’s phrase, “Let’s give them the works!”
Listeners sometimes confuse it with A Kind of Magic or Hot Space because those albums also produced well-known Queen singles. However, the pairing of “Radio Ga Ga” and “I Want to Break Free” identifies The Works uniquely.