Freddie's best studio vocal performances

Which albums did Freddie sound the best on?

1. A Day at the Races
2. Barcelona
3. News of the World
4. Queen
5. Innuendo
6. Hot Space
7. The Game
8. The Miracle
9. Sheer Heart Attack
10. A Night at the Opera

I chose a day at the races first because that album had the perfect amount of power and clarity and I feel each song couldn't have been sung with any more passion than they already were. That album basically shows how great Freddie was and how unique of a tone he had in a nutshell.

Don't laugh at me but I think Freddie showed off his voice best in the A Kind of Magic album.  He sounded very matured and strong with a sizzle in the voice.  The type of songs in the album allowed him to show off his range, for example in Who Wants to Live For Ever.

Here's my top 5 Freddie vocal albums:

1. Innuendo
2. Barcelona
3. A Kind Of Magic
4. A Night At The Opera
5. Mr. Bad Guy

Explanations:

1. Innuendo: Freddie's voice was a balance between the raw 80s Freddie, and the delicate 70s Freddie. The clarity and sweetness of his voice returned, and his head voice improved greatly. Some of Freddie's best vocal performances come from this album (Innuendo, Don't Try So Hard, I Can't Live With You, and The Show Must Go On). Also, Freddie's emotional level in his vocals were wonderful (These Are The Days Of Our Lives for example). Freddie also demonstrated a nice lower register performance on I'm Going Slightly Mad, and Ride The Wild Wind.

2. Barcelona: This grossly underrated gem has been cited as some of Freddie's best vocal work (and songwriting work). This is the last album where Freddie could still sing full-throttle in that powerful chest voice (before AIDS starting weakening that register--forcing him to sing more in "head voice"). Songs like Barcelona and How Can I Go On, feature some of Freddie's best ever phrasing. Ensueno showed everyone, that Freddie could sing "baritone," and The Fallen Priest has some wonderful lines as well.

3. A Kind Of Magic: If you want raw, masculine, and high-powered vocals from Freddie--then this is the vocal album for you! Every song on this album, features Freddie at his most powerful. Although the clarity and sweetness of the 70s (and somewhat of the early 80s), has been lost, Freddie makes up for it, with some of his BEST chest register singing ever! Almost every song features Freddie belting notes like C5-D5, and Freddie uses his powerful middle register as a foundation for this album. Songs like Gimme The Prize, and Princes Of The Universe have Freddie at his raw chesty best!

4. A Night At The Opera: This album is known more for the songs, and harmonies (rather than vocal performances alone), but Freddie has some wonderful moments on this album. Death On Two Legs has some awesome phrasing, and his tone is excellent throughout the album (especially on songs like Love Of My Life, The Prophet's Song, and Bohemian Rhapsody). Although it's fair to say that his voice didn't have quite the power it would later possess, Freddie's "sweetness" and "tone" is much better than his 80s version, and fans of his 70s voice, generally prefer this album over the 80s ones.

5. Mr. Bad Guy: Although it is divided in opinions (some like it, some hate it), the one thing most people agree on, is that Freddie sounded awesome throughout! This album (along with A Kind Of Magic), features Freddie at his most powerful! Freddie's tone is rather raw on this record, but for fans who like power over sweetness, this album will not disappoint! Songs like Lets Turn It On feature Freddie singing in a powerful chesty tone in the 4th and 5th octaves (topping at Eb5), and demonstrates some brilliant vocal harmonies. Other performances worth noting are: I Was Born To Love You, Man Made Paradise (awesome phrasing), and Love Me Like It's No Tomorrow (some of Freddie's best ever chest singing)!

There's my two cents!

On A Kind Of Magic he sounds too powerful and not like himself and the Freddie that we know from the 70's. It seems as though on that album he's more obsessed with squeezing on high notes than he is singing the song with a sweet tone. He sounds too much like a rock singer on The Works and A Kind of Magic, which he wasn't a rock singer. He was more of an everything singer

Maybe he sounded too much like a rock singer, because he IS a rock singer.

Freddie was not a rock singer. He was an everything singer. Plus, from about 84-86 it seems as though he tries to sing like something he's not and tries to imitate other rock singers. His most recognized voice was pre 1984 and mostly from the mid 70's where he was at his best.

Freddie never sounded like anyone else--even during that mid-80s era, it was still Freddie's voice--just raspier.

And Freddie IS a rock singer, he's just tried so many styles/genres/variations, that he's not a "normal" rock singer.

My three cents worth:

I like his voice whatever the period.  However his 70's voice is thin compared with the rich 80's voice and I agree with him for smoking to make the voice huskier - it has more sizzle.

Plus he was a much better singer in the 80s!

Freddie's voice sounded great on EVERY Queen Album.  Hard to see which one is best because his singing was never really the same in every release.

Gregsynth wrote: Here's my top 5 Freddie vocal albums:

1. Innuendo
2. Barcelona
3. A Kind Of Magic
4. A Night At The Opera
5. Mr. Bad Guy
Think I would agree with this, although would probably also stick NOTW in. I think this is the album where Freddie truly 'found' his voice.

Although Innuendo features some of his very best performances, I do often wonder about the authenticity of the vocals. On most of the tracks he just sounds as if his vocal has been notched up a semi or two?

1 - Innuendo
2 - Barcelona
3 - Made In Heaven
4 - A Kind Of Magic
5 - Queen II

Bad Seed wrote: Gregsynth wrote: Here's my top 5 Freddie vocal albums:

1. Innuendo
2. Barcelona
3. A Kind Of Magic
4. A Night At The Opera
5. Mr. Bad Guy
Think I would agree with this, although would probably also stick NOTW in. I think this is the album where Freddie truly 'found' his voice.

Although Innuendo features some of his very best performances, I do often wonder about the authenticity of the vocals. On most of the tracks he just sounds as if his vocal has been notched up a semi or two?
===========

The reason why Freddie sounds so different compared to other releases, was because of a combination of two things: He dropped his cigarette habit, and he lost chest power (due to AIDS), so he sang mostly in "head voice" for his highest notes (which sound higher and thinner than usual).

i like this topic.......i like his voice on every album.  The first 2 or 3 albums you could hear his voice was still in Developement, a bit thin but still great.   It was A Night At The opera  where it all came together vocally I think,  it's when he went from a very good singer to one of the best rock and roll singer's ever.......  "love of my life"  "the Prophet song" and Bo Rhap are Examples.   The top albums vocally i think are........

A Night At The opera-  at his best IMO
Barcelona- maybe his best
Hot space-    He could do anything with his voice at this point.
News of the world-  it's late,  My melancholy blues, spread your wings 
A Day At The Races-  his singing is almost equal with A Night At The Opera on this one
Mr. Bad Guy-  Musically not a great album, but like Hot space, vocally great..
Inuuendo- some of his best performnces
Jazz-  lots of Great moments on this one
Queen2- My favorite queen album, but still Developing his voice at this point 
The Game
A kind of Magic- 
SHA-  One of the best queen albums of all time,  but still developing his voice at this point
Queen-  voice sounds young here,   sounds good, but if we're talking power he's not close to later albums
The miracle-  Sounds a bit strained compared to earlier albums
the works

I dunno; disliking one of his vocal styles is sort of like pointing at a rainbow and thinking it needs less yellow.  I find all of his phases pretty interesting.  Even in the 80's when he would tend to oversing things horribly ("How Can I Go On" in some of the really high bits) it's like this - it was his artistic decision to go with those vocal lines.  It's a part of his personality.  I prefer to just appreciate him for what he was, as opposed to thinking "that's great" or "that sucks".