Freddie Mercury an overrated member of Queen

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[b]Funky Horsie wrote: [/b]

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[b]Zebonka12 wrote: [/b]



I dunno.  They got further without Freddie than Freddie got without them.  In their case, he was the missing link - in Freddie's case, the other guys were the counterbalance.  

Without Freddie they'd have been a well orchestrated but mostly average rock band, with a few innovative guitar sounds.  




There is no guarantee that Freddie would've gotten anywhere on his own.  The first two or three albums are what made those guys as writers and players.  Who is to say what would've become of Freddie without that experience?  




It's pretty likely that Freddie contributed more to the mission statement of the band than any other member did, but musically (and this is all about the music in my opinion) none of them would've ever been on Top of the Pops without each other.  




The proof is in what happened when they were left to their own devices.  Brian and Roger made some interesting solo music (actually I love Resurrection, but that's another topic).  Q+PR were decidedly average.  


And Freddie??  Do I even need to mention "Let's Turn it On"??   Sussudio part 2 on line one, folks ....




I'd rather have a full Queen than Freddie!

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But, you see, Let's Turn it On was an average song of the mid 80's, when everybody was doing that kind of shit. Poor arrangements, few keyboards, drum machines... I mean, it fits perfectly its moment.


But, you see... let's just see what Freddie did on the first albums:

My Fairy King. Much much much much more than the other three could do, combined. The bass lines and the drum parts could have been played by any other session musician, not hard at all. The guitar arrangement is great but it's not that important... I mean, you take out the guitar lines and you still have the song.

Liar is guitar oriented but it's mostly rhythm... I mean, except the solo which we don't know if it's Brian's or Freddie's... anyone could play the chords (except Jimmy Page, of course), which where OBVIOUSLY written by Freddie. You take out the solo... you still have the song. The solo is just a bridge between one section and another.

Great King Rat has great guitar lines, it would SO not be the same without Brian.

The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke. Freddie could have done without the rest. No doubts.

Killer Queen, We are the Champions, Bohemian Rhapsody, Somebody to Love... the guitar has MOMENTS in the songs, but it's not that important.


And those were the songs that really made it for Queen.

Where would Brian May be without Freddie's songs? Nowhere.
Where would Freddie be without Brian's solos? Probably not in the same place but fuck, he had 95% of the idea already worked out, that's much more than enough.[/QUOTE] [/QUOTE]
Oh, boy. I am a huge Freddie FanGirl, however, I must take exception to this. For me, some of the songs you listed as examples for the guitar not being that important: We Are The Champions, Bo Rhap, Liar, Killer Queen...etc...For me, the guitar bits were KEY to the overall sound. That guitar solo on Killer Queen?...can't imagine the song without it. And, Bo Rhap? Holy Smokes...Brian's guitar work in that song is so powerfully moving...so emotive and atmospheric. I don't really know that anyone else could have played that in such a way. And, Freddie's guitar bits are known for being very difficult to play, as much of them are written on piano(Most especially Bo Rhap). Could anyone else have translated the precise sound Freddie was going for into that glorious sound we are now so familiar with in Bo Rhap? I just can't imagine.

I could never say that Freddie is overrated. Living here in the states, I would say that Freddie has been decidedly UNDERRATED. Growing up, listening to folks talk about what a great SHOWMAN Freddie was, with no mention as to his musicianship, and, often hearing him spoken of as just the singer for Queen, I can tell you that I honestly didn't realize how key Freddie was to the Queen sound until much later. That being said, Brian's guitar work is so completely a part of the Queen sound I grew up with...as distinctive, in its way, as Freddie's voice(setting aside Freddie's other contributions to the  overall musicality of the band's sound), I really can't imagine Queen being Queen without it.

Sorry for the long, somewhat incoherent rant...insomnia...for days. Too tired to proof, but, wanted to chime in as this bit struck me enough that I felt compelled to comment. Interesting, though very familar, thread. And, I got the new Queen book today, which I am quite pleased with. [img=/images/smiley/msn/embaressed_smile.gif][/img]

I don't know how it can be so hard to understand that Queen is what it was, and to have changed the components (regardless of their individual significance) would have created a different act.
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[/QUOTE]I also don't know how people that were in the band, or privy to the creative process, can know less about it than someone who sticks their fingers in their ears and insists that one man = the whole band, period.[/QUOTE]
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[/QUOTE]I'd happily concede that Freddie was 'most important', if indeed someone wanted to make such a ridiculous statement about something that cannot be objectively measured by anyone here ...   his importance does not take away from that of the other members.  [/QUOTE]
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[/QUOTE]Other players could've played what Brian, Roger and John played, but it's Brian, Roger and John who put their own accents on that stuff (or in the case of the Bo Rhap solo, Brian wrote it himself and presented it to Freddie).  A musician puts their own feel on a piece when they play it; even the conservatorium types that I've known in the past couple of years, who dedicate themselves to looooooong rehearsal periods ...  they have their own way of doing shit.  Ritchie Blackmore could've come into the studio to play Bohemian Rhapsody, but it would've been different.  Even if Freddie had told him the chords and the feel he wanted.[/QUOTE]
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[/QUOTE]We weren't there; we can't say that Freddie didn't hear what Roger was doing in the opera section and then thought up something else that could go there.  And that's just one song.  They were together 20 years - that is literally a lifetime for some of the members here - and yet there exist people who claim that they can breakdown the everyday operation of that band for the whole time, on every album, and every track, and say that it's all down to one guy?[/QUOTE]
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[/QUOTE]Bullshit.  They were all important.  That's what a band is...[/QUOTE]

Famous last words from John Deacon :  Queen sound is Freddie's voice and Brian 's guitar. 

(I heard this in one interview over Youtube.)

These words are always said about famous collaborations:  It was a good thing that they found each other (meaning the collaborators).

Ok, John Deacon is JUST AS IMPORTANT as Freddie.


:rolls eyes:

Queen were a lamp: Fred was the bulb, John the switch, Brian the base and Roger the shell.

Queen were a giraffe.  It was Freddie's idea to have such a long neck but without the spots 'n' the rest of the body it just wouldn't work.

Queen were a walrus: Roger was the flippers, Freddie the tusks and whiskers, Brian the skeleton and John the fat.

Mack's the arse, and Spike's the shite coming out of it.

Queen was a male reproductive system. Freddie was the cock, John was the scrotum, Roger the pubic hair and Brian the testicles.

Paul Rodgers would be, of course, the smegma.

Queen were the Independent State of Papua New Guinea: Fred was half the island of New Guinea (the other half belongs to his all-time hero and favourite singer Adam Lambert), Rog was Bougainville (due to his French first wife), Brian was New Ireland (since half of his blood comes from the [i]old[/i] Island of Saints), John was Niu Briten since he uses to wank off watching pictures of Otto von Bismarck (stripping - removing everything but the 'tache).

What's that about a certain road being paved with good intentions...

That's it: Queen were The Simpsons - Brian's Marge of course, and Fred's both Bart and Homer (dominating both early and late periods). Roger's Lisa and John can't talk yet.

Brian is Mr Burns and Roger is Smithers.

Fred's Apu and John's Moe.

Freddie is Disco Stu and John's Professor Skinner
Brian is Otto the school-bus driver and Roger is Barney.

John looks more like Disco Stu with the [i]Ga Ga[/i] hair. Who's Hans Moleman?