For the people who say "oh, Freddie's vocals were at their worst on the Magic tour," have a GOOD listen!
mike hunt · Member since
Great performance, but I also love the wembley version.
The Real Wizard · Member since
I loved the Wembley version too, but I was pretty disappointed after finding out it was overdubbed.
Leiden was the real thing, and as close to the album version he'd ever get.
on my way up · Member since
[QUOTE]
[b]Sir GH wrote: [/b]
I loved the Wembley version too, but I was pretty disappointed after finding out it was overdubbed.
Leiden was the real thing, and as close to the album version he'd ever get.
[/QUOTE]
Do you have the source that is mentioned on your site as the third source (mono)?
Would like to compare it to the version I have. I have always liked this show. So fresh and exciting!
on my way up · Member since
[QUOTE]
[b]Sir GH wrote: [/b]
I loved the Wembley version too, but I was pretty disappointed after finding out it was overdubbed.
Leiden was the real thing, and as close to the album version he'd ever get.
[/QUOTE]
Do you have the source that is mentioned on your site as the third source (mono)?
Would like to compare it to the version I have. I have always liked this show. So fresh and exciting!
on my way up · Member since
[QUOTE]
[b]Sir GH wrote: [/b]
I loved the Wembley version too, but I was pretty disappointed after finding out it was overdubbed.
Leiden was the real thing, and as close to the album version he'd ever get.
[/QUOTE]
Do you have the source that is mentioned on your site as the third source (mono)?
Would like to compare it to the version I have. I have always liked this show. So fresh and exciting!
Sebastian · Member since
[QUOTE]For the people who say "oh, Freddie's vocals were at their worst on the Magic tour," have a GOOD listen![/QUOTE]
But they were. If you've got 10+ blokes, all of whom are 6' 4" tall or more, and one who is 6' 2", the latter is the shortest of them all, even if he's not a dwarf. Same case here: good vocals, but all of the other tours were better.
Gregsynth · Member since
I disagree: Freddie was in worse shape (vocally) on the Works tour, and I think the Jazz/Killer was the worse overall in terms of his vocals.
mike hunt · Member since
[QUOTE]
[b]Gregsynth wrote: [/b]
I disagree: Freddie was in worse shape (vocally) on the Works tour, and I think the Jazz/Killer was the worse overall in terms of his vocals.[/QUOTE]
I was gonna mention the same thing, I agree. I like his vocals on the magic tour much better than the jazz/killers tour. his voice was much stronger IMO. I havn't heard enough of the works to comment on that tour, but the Jazz gigs his voice sounded so weak compared to magic and the earlier shows from 1974 to 1977 which I love. Of course the early 80's was the best of them all.
Gregsynth · Member since
The Real Wizard · Member since
[QUOTE]
[b]mike hunt wrote: [/b]
the Jazz gigs his voice sounded so weak compared to magic and the earlier shows
[/QUOTE]
Early in the Jazz tour he sounded strong. Check out the New York shows... there's a great-sounding recording of the second night.
the garden shows, always wanted to hear those. Thanks!
Serry... · Member since
'I Want To Break Free' is Freddie's lower point in the Works/Magic live shows era.
john bodega · Member since
Soaring, Freddie!
Yara · Member since
[QUOTE]
[b]Serry... wrote: [/b]
'I Want To Break Free' is Freddie's lower point in the Works/Magic live shows era.
[/QUOTE]
Yes, you're so absolutely right. It always struck me as kind of weird. At a first glance, it's not a song one would have much trouble singing, but, oh, dear, he did! He ran terribly out of breath and, at times, awfully out of tune!
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Sebastian: I totally agree. If you allow me, I'd even add that one could point out some highlights from the Magic Tour, but it's fair to say that, overall, he didn't sound as well as he used to, even though, as you argued, he's still quite good even when he was not at his peak.
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Gregsynth:
Wow. I thoroughly enjoy your posts, but I beg to differ here: he could pull out some good performances here and there, but overall he's not anyway near the level of excellence he attained from 1977, with the arguable exception of the Jazz Tour, to 1982. The performances were not as nearly as consistent and he'd be wasted away for the tour quite soon - I think "It's a Hard Life" from the Works Tour is a good evidence for his endurance: he'd be able to sing the song nicely at the beginning of the tour, but as the tour progressed, the song started to sound more and more meager due to his poor condition. On this website (queenlive.ca), Bob (SirGH) does some nice comments on that, and he makes interesting remarks on the way IAHL was performed: usually very well at the very beginning at the tour, and then gradually worse.
Now, let's take a look at the Game Tour: the final concerts are simply amazing, and I'm not just talking about the three magnificent concerts at Wembley, and my favourite is the last one, from 12-10-1980. It's Freddie at his most daring, on a par with his performance in Oakland earlier that year. Ok, Oakland still rules. : )))
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I do appreciate Freddie's range, but he was so much more than that.
I absolutely love this bit of Play The Game (from 2:08 - 2:15) from Montreal, 1981.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATcKY5C4Zto
He replicates the basic structure of the melody from the studio version, which requires some deft singing because one has to modulate the notes very carefully and be sure that the notes at the beginning and the tail-end of the verses are the same, or very close harmonically speaking, to those sung in the studio, where Freddie resorted to falsetto.
So, what's the trick here?
Wow, breaking a smooth, seamless falsetto line into a multi-layered, stunning and gorgeous vibrato, going up and down the scale while managing to keep the timber sounding just every bit as delicate and dramatic!!!
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I'd would trade all my range for *this* kind of talent! Come on, doing such a vibrato over a guitar-powered, rock-ballad, adding a kind of epic drama to it which is usually absent from songs like these, that's a feat!
So, there's always a lot to look forward to when it comes to Freddie. His vocal range may have been great indeed, but the way he dealt with it was the most impressive feature of his live singing, no doubt.
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I enjoy Roger and Brian's vocals too, especially Roger's - I wished they had done more stuff along the lines of "action this day", taking up some songs as a duet, each one given certain lines to delve into alone: I guess we'd have a much better live version of "If You Can't Beat Them...", for instance, had they done that. : )))
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Cheers. Great post.
P.S: Don't you guys thing this AKOM is a too yelled and a taddy bit out of tune? I much prefer the one from Budapest!
