Freddie's best studio vocal performances

Gregsynth wrote: 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?
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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).

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Well its quite well known that he was still smoking at this time, he is seen smoking in many pictures. Also its not just the high notes that sound odd, he sounds pitch shifted (to me) throughout whole songs. Im sure on the COTW documentary you can see a MIH track sheet where it shows the vocal being moved up a semi-tone.

Ya well whatever it was. I still think on A Day at the Races he had his best tone. He could sing with falsetto perfectly along with sing high notes with power and still sound clear and not yelling. Also, he had settled in and got used to his nodules by that point when on A Night at the Opera he was just getting used to them.

Bad Seed wrote: Gregsynth wrote: 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).

==============

Well its quite well known that he was still smoking at this time, he is seen smoking in many pictures. Also its not just the high notes that sound odd, he sounds pitch shifted (to me) throughout whole songs. Im sure on the COTW documentary you can see a MIH track sheet where it shows the vocal being moved up a semi-tone.
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I know he was still smoking during the Miracle era, but I haven't seen any photos of him smoking during 1990-1991. Freddie never pitch-shifted!

jamster1111 wrote: Ya well whatever it was. I still think on A Day at the Races he had his best tone. He could sing with falsetto perfectly along with sing high notes with power and still sound clear and not yelling. Also, he had settled in and got used to his nodules by that point when on A Night at the Opera he was just getting used to them.

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Well his tone was at its best during the 70s and his falsetto was at its best up until 1982, but he didn't have the power to his vocals (yet). Albums like The Game and Hot Space are extensions of that voice.

There are pictures of Freddie smoking in 91, he may have cut down but had certainly not kicked the habit.

Freddie may not have pitch shifted, but you can't say that for sure.

I seriously doubt he altered his vocal pitch--I mean he never did it before (in the context we're taking about)! Why would he do it then?

The vocal difference had to be from cutting back the cigarettes (he sounds much clearer).

Don't you think the vocal difference on Innuendo is from the fact that he was dying of AIDS. He was much thinner so his voice probably reflected on his body and therefore his voice sounded very thin but still very powerful. 

By the way, I don't know if I mentioned this yet but A Day at the Races has his best voice. Who the hell cares about power when you don't have a good tone. And he has all the power he needs. If you don't think he had power listen to Somebody to Love and get back to me on that. And still, power is a very small aspect. It's emotion and tone that counts, and course how stable he sounds.

But a 1982 Freddie is a much better singer than 1976 Freddie:

-Better Stability
-Better technique
-More power
-Better use of range
-Greater use of voice

You seem to only go by tone and/or emotion: He would've sang a 1982 studio version of STL better than the original version.

His tone was better in the 70's

Yeah, his tone was at its best during the 70s. But just because that was better--doesn't mean he was a better singer.

This is not about when he was the best singer and when his technique was the best. For that it would probably be somewhere in the mid to late 80's. This is about what album he sounds the best on.

> I seriously doubt he altered his vocal pitch--I mean he never did it before (in the context we're taking about)! Why would he do it then?

While I also seriously doubt he altered his vocal pitch, I completely disagree with the argument you use. He'd never died before 24.11.1991, why would he do it then? He'd never written a song called 'The Miracle' before late 80's, why would he do it then? (Or if he'd written it, he hadn't had it released by the band). He'd never played guitar on stage before November 1979, why would he do it then? He'd never played synths on a Queen album before early 1980, why would he do it then? He'd never played harpsichord on a Queen record before August 1973, why would he do it then?

jamster1111 wrote: Don't you think the vocal difference on Innuendo is from the fact that he was dying of AIDS. He was much thinner so his voice probably reflected on his body and therefore his voice sounded very thin but still very powerful. 

By the way, I don't know if I mentioned this yet but A Day at the Races has his best voice. Who the hell cares about power when you don't have a good tone. And he has all the power he needs. If you don't think he had power listen to Somebody to Love and get back to me on that. And still, power is a very small aspect. It's emotion and tone that counts, and course how stable he sounds.

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But Freddie never had a bad tone. It's all subjective, but tone isn't all what makes him a better singer. Yeah his tone was at it's best during the 70s, and he had more clarity and emotion, but that's it. Every other era (1980-onwards), has him singing better than his 70s stuff.

Sebastian wrote: > I seriously doubt he altered his vocal pitch--I mean he never did it before (in the context we're taking about)! Why would he do it then?

While I also seriously doubt he altered his vocal pitch, I completely disagree with the argument you use. He'd never died before 24.11.1991, why would he do it then? He'd never written a song called 'The Miracle' before late 80's, why would he do it then? (Or if he'd written it, he hadn't had it released by the band). He'd never played guitar on stage before November 1979, why would he do it then? He'd never played synths on a Queen album before early 1980, why would he do it then? He'd never played harpsichord on a Queen record before August 1973, why would he do it then?

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What does that have anything to do with it? My argument made total sense: Bad Seed said he used vocal correction during Innuendo to make him sound "higher." My argument was "why there, but not THEN?"

"jamster1111 wrote: This is not about when he was the best singer and when his technique was the best. For that it would probably be somewhere in the mid to late 80's. This is about what album he sounds the best on."

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The topic was "best studio vocal performances." You shifted it to "what he sounds best on," then I shifted it to "Freddie's best vocal albums."If we're going by THAT topic, then Hot Space is the album where he sounded the "best" on.