So I'm new here and I imagine this has been discussed umpteen times before - but is not Live At The Bowl one of the best live vocal performances? Can someone tell me is it over-dubbed or anything? It blows me away especially when compared to Rock In Rio...
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If I'm not mistaken, his voice cracked once during Fat Bottomed Girls and only that particular line was "fixed" in the studio, and the rest was done live. Despite all people say about the great audience participation, Freddie being flattered and all that blah blah blah, Freddie's performance on Rock In Rio was one of his worst performances ever, so don't let it deceive you. ;)
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Rock in Rio might have been his worst performance but it still surpasses other artists' performances.
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Hey, we're talking about Queen... Their worst isn't necessarily bad! :)
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Did you not read my whole comment? I said it still surpasses other artists' performances ;) I never actually said it was bad.
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Yes, I did. I was only confirming that I actually thought the same, and wasn't actually saying Queen were a subpar act on that festival! ;D
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Oh ok.
PauloPanucci · Member since
i liked his performance in Rio... what can i say,, i'm brazilian ;D
Yara · Member since
I got quite surprised by reading in the Wiki entry for Freddie that his voice, just like I have always argued against pretty much anyone here in the past, is classified as "lyric tenor" - the source they give is Jeffrey Allen, who's a voice-teacher and musician himself.
The first two natural questions:
1) Who cares about these distinctions?
2) Is it just to say that you were right?
A-1) Some people. A few. But some. :op
A-2) No. I'd have brought the issue back even if I had argued the other way around because the guy is not the last word on the subject, of course.
Final question: 3) "So why are you bringing it up again"?
I just thought it would make for a good update to the thread and pave the way for new discussions about it for those who enjoy it. I know some people are interested in it and I thought it'd be helpful to point it out and bring it here for discussion.
Just that.
Now you can curse me and throw me in the Styx and provide Cerberus with the most powerful weapons. :op
jamster1111 · Member since
In my opinion Freddie's voice was in its best condition in the first few years of the band (1973-1978). Around the period of the game or right after he began to not sing falsetto as much and rather than singing began to yell and strain his vocal chords. For example at wembley '86 whenever he wants to hit a high note he basically screams or yells to get to that note. He is still right on key but it sounds rather harsh. Around the innuendo sessions Freddie's voice began to get much better and recover. In my opinion innuendo is one of his best vocal albums. [/QUOTE]For concerts caught on video I would say live at the rainbow '74 his voice sounded the best. He never strained it at that concert and he even sang the falsetto on in the lap of the gods revisited but still managed to hit the high notes without yelling[/QUOTE]
jamster1111 · Member since
In my opinion Freddie's voice was in its best condition in the first few years of the band (1973-1978). Around the period of the game or right after he began to not sing falsetto as much and rather than singing began to yell and strain his vocal chords. For example at wembley '86 whenever he wants to hit a high note he basically screams or yells to get to that note. He is still right on key but it sounds rather harsh. Around the innuendo sessions Freddie's voice began to get much better and recover. In my opinion innuendo is one of his best vocal albums. [/QUOTE]For concerts caught on video I would say live at the rainbow '74 his voice sounded the best. He never strained it at that concert and he even sang the falsetto on in the lap of the gods revisited but still managed to hit the high notes without yelling[/QUOTE][/QUOTE][/QUOTE]
Gregsynth · Member since
I'd say from the Crazy Tour to the European Leg of the Hot Space tour was Freddie's vocal peak: He had great control, power, and he hit a large chunk of the high notes.
Gregsynth · Member since
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[b]koldweather123 wrote: [/b]
I'm not sure about the power thing to be honest, his earlier concerts don't seem to be powerful if you compare them to most of the 80s concerts. His voice did get stronger in that respect but as others have said he loses his delicate tone to his voice.
I really enjoy the Kopenhagen 1978 show (best Spread your wings till the crazy tour) The Crazy tour is probably Freddie's best overall and its amazing to watch Freddie getting ever more daring with those high notes during the Newcastle 4th show to the point where by Now I'm here he was going pretty much hitting every single high note. Most of the 1980 shows are amazing, the first leg of the South America tour is IMO the most under rated tour, he has some stunning shows there, the highlighting being the C5 Freddie hits in WATC. The 82 European tour is divided into 2 really, the first half wasn't too stunning but from about Frankfurt onwards his voice became stunning again. The 84 tour saw his voice become powerful but he suffered, possibly because of a rather tight tour list. The highlight of 1985 has to be the first two shows from the Japan leg where his voice seems to be very open, its like the high notes aren't any real effort and there is no strain, almost completely in contrast to the magic tour. Saying that the first 7 dates or so of the Magic tour are great, and indeed Stockholm and Leiden are up there with some of his best 80s shows.[/QUOTE]
You explained it perfectly, I think I know you from Youtube. lol
Gregsynth · Member since
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[b]Yara wrote: [/b]
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[b]Zebonka's Tiny Ding-a-ling wrote: [/b]
Hi, I tend to listen to the same eras when listening to bootlegs.... mostly '82, '84, mainly due to the tone and power of Freddie's voice. Last night I couldn't sleep so started listening to random '80s gigs and then working back.
I really under estimated the power in Freddie's voice during this period. It really did seem to hit a peak, with a mixture of power and confidence at trying the higher notes.
I think i was always swayed to 82, due to mainly those opening lines of STL and the power he put behind them... wonderful stuff. But now I'm not sure.
I'm no singer, but I love karaoke, and I find that at the age of 30, my voice is more powerful now than it was even a couple years back (but still ghastly mind you). Are there any singers out there that can explain if Freddie's voice just changed as he aged or was it much more technical?
Which era do folk here prefer?
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I like it all, up until the magic tour and his solo works, regardless of the shape of his voice and the notes he managed to reach. I liked the sound of his voice, quite addictive, he had a gorgeous timber, and I always appreciated the musical cleverness behind his singing - he was able to create, innovate on spot, live, and it was very rare for him to go out of tune, very rare.
Now, the shape of his voice never seemed that good to me live: he started off with a cracking, sometimes all too mannered and affected voice; then, his voice faded out for some time; about the end of 1979, his voice began to sound more powerful but at the expense of any delicacy and usually at the expense of the tempo of many songs. I think there's too much oversinging between 1980-1982. He reached an interesing balance in the gigs in the very end of 1979, but many songs sounded dull or too hasty.
But he sounded overall very good in the News of The World Tour, perhaps his best live performances come from there, in my opinion. So the answer would be: [b]News of The World Tour, [/b]especially the gigs in Kopenhagen, Holland or even at Earls Court, for that matter, or in Houston.
Came the Works and Magic Tours, his voice started to decline again and fade away, and then he ended up sounding really terrible, very strident and unpleasant, but then he was already quite ill.
I like it all, but not really because of the shape of his voice, but more because of his cleverness and his way of interpreting the songs live, sometimes re-creating them and adding in excitement what it lost in shape. I loved his choice of notes and his uncanny hability to stay in tune even during the most tortuous and difficult verses.
There are five songs in which I think the shape of his voice really made the [i]song happen[/i]: Action This Day, Staying Power, Another One Bites the Dust, Hammer to Fall and Dragon Attack. These songs were absolutely devoid of purpose or excitement if his voice was in bad shape, so, in this regard, yes, 1980-1982 would be a good period.
At the same time, he could be absolutely wasted and sing Somebody to Love, We Are The Champions, BoRhap, Tie Your Mother Down, Spread Your Wings and even It's a Hard Life just wonderfully.
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Freddie OVERSINGING?! LMFAO! You got him confused with Mariah Carey!
Dusta · Member since
I think Freddie definitely had some bad years, vocally, due to extensive touring and smoking. Being a former smoker myself, I can tell you that it is difficult to sing any sort of high note without a cracking voice...even a single line can push me into a coughing fit.[img=/images/smiley/msn/angry_smile.gif][/img] And as far as the touring: I was fortunate enough to see many of the Great Bands of that era live, and, I can tell you that touring took its toll on all of the singers of each band. With every band I saw, I found myself disappointed with the singing. That is why I always marvel at hearing, "Well, Freddie's voice cracked during...." from someone. I wonder if the folks being so critical of Freddie's every note have ever listened to an entire Who concert, live, or, seen Journey live, or Led Zep...touring took its toll on all of those singers to one degree or another. I recall seeing Heart live, and, being absolutel astounded at how poor the vocal performance was. Roger Daltrey could hardly be heard over his own band, and I could hardly believe the Led Zeppelin I heard live was the same band whose albums played on my turn tables. There are many more. I listed only a few examples to illustrate how hard it seems folks are on Freddie's vocals.
Truthfully, listening to many of Queen's live shows, now(something I was unable to do until recently, due to the arrival of Youtube!), I am really amazed Freddie made it through so many of his live performances without....well...failing to deliver, given his smoking and the touring..
I recently heard a live performance of In My Defence which was very intrigueing. It was on youtube, and, the audio is very poor, howevever, one can clearly hear Freddie sounding relaxed, vocally, and, very very strong. I wish the audio was better, because his performance sounded absolutely wonderful. I've no idea what sort of occasion it was that he performed that song live(in 1988?), but, clearly, his lack of touring went a long way toward restoring his beautiful voice. Holy Smokes. I only brought this up because it seems there are very few live recordings of Freddie during that time(that I am aware of) and I'd no idea that version of In My Defence even existed. Out of the loop? That's me.
maxpower · Member since
It was the live Time show with Cliff Richard sadly no decent evidence is in the public domain I believe Cliff's record people have it or maybe its Dave Clark, it was 14th April 1988 Dominican Theatre (if my memory still serves me correctly) where he did Born To Rock & Roll, In My Defence, It's In Every One Of Us, (with Cliff) & Time ... it's a shame its not out officially as Freddie never recorded Born To Rock & Roll on the soundtrack Cliff did it
4 x Vision · Member since
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[b]maxpower wrote: [/b]
It was the live Time show with Cliff Richard sadly no decent evidence is in the public domain I believe Cliff's record people have it or maybe its Dave Clark, it was 14th April 1988 Dominican Theatre (if my memory still serves me correctly) where he did Born To Rock & Roll, In My Defence, It's In Every One Of Us, (with Cliff) & Time ... it's a shame its not out officially as Freddie never recorded Born To Rock & Roll on the soundtrack Cliff did it[/QUOTE]
Off Topic :
Isn't there a fake In My Defence from this concert kicking around? And in contrast, is there a REAL version (and possible link)?
I have it on a bootleg I got many moons agao... Absolute Rarities (I think???... a lot of pish on it tbh).
john bodega · Member since
There is a proper In My Defence floating around somewhere, it's dropped in key somewhat but for the end of the song Freddie goes with some high melodies anyway. He really was in splendid voice for that gig. [/QUOTE] [/QUOTE]Off topic - judging by your old username, you must've had an axe to grind back when the thread got started. Hahaha![/QUOTE]
4 x Vision · Member since
Ha Ha... as the song says... "those days are all gone now"
Dusta · Member since
What a shame(for me) that there isn't a better quality recording. What I heard was on youtube, and, whomever was taping was seated in the audience, so, there was a great deal of audience din to contend with.
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[b]maxpower wrote: [/b]
It was the live Time show with Cliff Richard sadly no decent evidence is in the public domain I believe Cliff's record people have it or maybe its Dave Clark, it was 14th April 1988 Dominican Theatre (if my memory still serves me correctly) where he did Born To Rock & Roll, In My Defence, It's In Every One Of Us, (with Cliff) & Time ... it's a shame its not out officially as Freddie never recorded Born To Rock & Roll on the soundtrack Cliff did it[/QUOTE]
