Songs That Didn't Work Out Live

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[b]Michael wrote: [/b]

Gotta agree with Action This Day - or any song from Hot Space, for that matter.

IMHO, the worst Queen song performed live would be any song requiring the vocals to really shine - like Somebody to Love, The Prophet's Song, Play the Game, or You Take My Breath Away - but, for some reason, they managed to pull off Fat Bottomed Girls.  Let's face it: Queen were an outstanding vocal act in the recording studio, but live, they were really lacking. I think it's partly Brian's problem, because he's just not that strong of a singer live.  And Mercury would use his lower register when the song called for his higher register - what's that all about?  As much as I love Queen and enjoyed their live shows, I always felt there was something major lacking in the live vocals.  But that's just my opinion.
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and you're opinion is lacking....No offense!....somebody to love?...play the game?...lord where do these people come from?, lol.

I'm talking about the backing vocals, and I think the person most responsible for this is Brian May.  I say this as a major Brian May fan.  In the studio, the man is one of the most creative guitarists ever - guitar harmonies, well-thought-out, melodic solos that compliment the song, driving rhythms - but live it is another story.

LMFAO! The reason why Freddie sang lower (usually) live, was because he had vocal nodules, and in alot of their 70s songs, they had dozens of multi-tracked vocal harmonies--impossible to pull off live.

a thread like this is obviously gonna get plenty of disagreements....I always looked at Queen live as a totally different experience than the studio albums....some people like me like that, and others wish they sounded more like the record.  I find that boring, that's what the albums are for...... I like the fact that the live versions are different than the studio.  I personally love freddie's live voice, it's more bariton.  Brian's live guitar work i always found ok....maybe not like some other live guitarists like jeff beck, but still good.

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[b]Michael wrote: [/b]

I'm talking about the backing vocals, and I think the person most responsible for this is Brian May.
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Wrong: Freddie and Roger contributed to that department more than Brian. Some things are subjective (e.g. who sings better), others aren't (e.g. who is the person most responsible for them). Take ANATO for instance:

DoTL: Most BV's are by Fred and Rog. Brian is there, but less.
LoaSA: All BV's by Fred.
IiLWMC: All BV's by Rog (some say most, not all, but still Brian's not the main one).
YMBF: Mostly Fred and Rog, especially on those high falsettos.
'39: Pretty much 1/3 each in terms of BV's (Rog dominating the high end of course).
SL: Fred sang more BV's than the others (as you can notice through DTS).
SR: All singing BV's by Fred, all woodwind by Fred, all brass by Rog. No Brian.
TPS: More Fred (DTS as source) than the others. Not much more, but more nonetheless.
LoML: All Fred.
GC: All Bri.
BRhap: Mostly Fred and Rog (multi-tracks prove that). Brian is there, but less.

So there you have it.

Freddie was the lead singer of Queen. LMFAO!

Yes Freddie was the lead singer, but the lead singer of a band isn't necessarily the one doing most backing vocals in the studio. In the case of Queen, it was.

I'll give you [i]Best Friend[/i], it often did sound rushed live as part of the medley. It would've been much better, imo, if they'd slowed it down and played it in full instead of saying, "Ok, let's play a verse of this so we can get back to breaking guitar strings."

[i]We Will Rock You[/i] sounded odd for most of the NOTW tour (the slow version, that is). I get that they didn't want to effectively play the same song three times, but playing just the first verse doesn't really give the audience time to get into it. Once they started playing the full slow version for the Jazz tour, it fit much more nicely.

[i]Friends Will Be Friends[/i] was a brilliant idea, but the execution of it didn't work out so well. The goal was cool, surprise the audience with one last little number between [i]Rock You[/i] and [i]Champions[/i], but the song is so similar to [i]Champions[/i] that it ended up sounding like the same song played twice in a row. I still think a rocker like [i]TYMD[/i], or, even better, a couple verses of the fast [i]Rock You[/i] would've been a much more entertaining number, and a bigger boon to the audience at the end of the show.

Honestly, most of the band's setlists were made based on the "safe" choices--the songs they knew they could either pull off live or BS so convincingly that the audience would be wowed anyway. That's why you'll be hard-pressed to find a long list of songs that didn't work out live.

I've always wanted to hear Nevermore live. The only live version I know is from a 1974 BBC broadcast.

Flash sounded amazing on the Montreal performance. I found the studio version to lack energy and the live version has a "kick" to it.

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[b]mike hunt wrote: [/b]

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[b]Michael wrote: [/b]



Gotta agree with Action This Day - or any song from Hot Space, for that matter.

IMHO, the worst Queen song performed live would be any song requiring the vocals to really shine - like Somebody to Love, The Prophet's Song, Play the Game, or You Take My Breath Away - but, for some reason, they managed to pull off Fat Bottomed Girls.  Let's face it: Queen were an outstanding vocal act in the recording studio, but live, they were really lacking. I think it's partly Brian's problem, because he's just not that strong of a singer live.  And Mercury would use his lower register when the song called for his higher register - what's that all about?  As much as I love Queen and enjoyed their live shows, I always felt there was something major lacking in the live vocals.  But that's just my opinion.

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and you're opinion is lacking....No offense!....somebody to love?...play the game?...lord where do these people come from?, lol.
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Agreed - STL and PTG are two of the most powerful and well delivered stand out live songs, alng with Save Me, Dragon Attack and Crazy Little Thing...looks like the stripped down recordings of The Game certainly lent themselves to the tracks being played live

I would always hit the SKIP button on Crazy Little Thing Called Love when it was played live.  I hate the 6 minute version jam, it's craptastic

1.    Another one bites the dust
2.     Who wants to live forever
3.     Under Pressure
4.    I want to break free
5.    Body language

For me Put out the Fire is substandard live as I feel Freddie's falure to hit the highs on the chorus are a short coming of the  possibilitis that aprticular song live. Japan 82 being my precedent. Maybe thats just my opinion but I feel a stronger chorus would've enhanced the song.

I'm in no way a freddie critic but just thought I would add my oppinions to the discussion.

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[b]Fastidious and Precise wrote: [/b]

I'm in no way a freddie critic
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You're welcome to be one.  The man, great as he was, wasn't perfect.