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
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!
You really think freddie sounded better on Innuendo than A Day At The Races? and A Night At The Opera?....you Obviously don't know as much as you think you do. I think ADATR and ANATO, News of the world are freddie's best overall vocal work along with the 80's Hot space/Mr. Bad Guy and Barcelona. Innuendo he was great, but he sounded strained compared to the other Albums I mentioned.
Gregsynth · Member since
Did you even read the whole thread? Or are you just making straw-man arguments for the hell of it?
I said OVERALL Innuendo was a better vocal album than ADATR or ANATO (subjective), he couldn't do any of that material in the mid 70s!
Again, you're only going by tone--I'm going by everything overall.
Gregsynth · Member since
And no, he doesn't sound strained on Innuendo. He does sound "thinner" but not strained.
You want to hear a "strained" album? Look at Jazz, The Works, Mr. Bad Guy, and Magic! Those albums have more noticeable vocal strain than Innuendo (though I love his "power" voice alot).
Don't attack other people for their opinions.
mike hunt · Member since
Not attacking no one........I bet the house freddie couldn't sing somebody to love or love of my life in 1991 either, so that argument doesn't work.
Gregsynth · Member since
Yes he could.
If he could sing Innuendo, All God's People, and The Show Must On (in ONE TAKE), in 1990-1991. I'm pretty sure he could sing STL and LOML (they aren't as vocally challenging).
You did make an ad hominem attack in the one post "You think he sounded the best on Innuendo--you obviously don't know as much as you think."
tcc · Member since
My half a cent's worth of opinion :-) :
Except for the first time he sang the lyric "I am a prisoner of love inside you", I thought some nice tones could be heard from Freddie in the songs "One Year of Love" and "Who Wants to Live Forever" in the Magic album. The second round of singing "I am a prisoner of love inside you" towards the end of the song "One Year of Love" was very well done.
Gregsynth · Member since
tcc wrote: My half a cent's worth of opinion :-) :
Except for the first time he sang the lyric "I am a prisoner of love inside you", I thought some nice tones could be heard from Freddie in the songs "One Year of Love" and "Who Wants to Live Forever" in the Magic album. The second round of singing "I am a prisoner of love inside you" towards the end of the song "One Year of Love" was very well done. ================
I agree that he had some nice tones on the AKOM album! I do see your point about the first "prisoner" line (it's over-sung a bit).
maxpower · Member since
I think Freddie sounded best vocally The Game through to Hot Space which oddly enough most people (me included) thinks he sounded his best live
mike hunt · Member since
maxpower wrote: I think Freddie sounded best vocally The Game through to Hot Space which oddly enough most people (me included) thinks he sounded his best live
I think The game is when it started becoming the Freddie mercury Show. The other's musically had it's moments during the 80's, but freddie's voice got stronger, while brian and roger were doing less and less interesting things on their respective Instruments. The 70's were much more equal.
Gregsynth · Member since
No matter how many times I've heard it, I just can't believe that Freddie sang AOBTD until his throat bled!
jamster1111 · Member since
Greg,
So you're telling me that his a kind of magic belting and powerful raspy tone is better and sounds better than his sweet higher voice where the songs actually had notes in the 3rd octave and it wasn't about singing in the early 5th octave. You're telling me a kind of magic is a better vocal album than the flamboyant glam rock singing and falsettos on Queen and the early albums? You must be crazy? Of course none of them are bad at all but that's like choosing to have a million dollars (which is still pretty good) or a billion dollars (which is even better). Of course you're gonna choose a billion dollars but anyone would be happy with both.
Also his tone from the early to mid/late 70's was more unique and harder to imitate. It is much easier to impersonate his belting a kind of magic vocals (take gary mullen for example) than impersonate how he sang those 70's song. I'm sorry but no one has ever come close to impersonating how he sang borhap or somebody to love but there have been a few who came close to singing songs like a kind of magic, who wants to live forever, and friends will be friends
Gregsynth · Member since
jamster1111 wrote: Greg,
So you're telling me that his a kind of magic belting and powerful raspy tone is better and sounds better than his sweet higher voice where the songs actually had notes in the 3rd octave and it wasn't about singing in the early 5th octave. You're telling me a kind of magic is a better vocal album than the flamboyant glam rock singing and falsettos on Queen and the early albums? You must be crazy? Of course none of them are bad at all but that's like choosing to have a million dollars (which is still pretty good) or a billion dollars (which is even better). Of course you're gonna choose a billion dollars but anyone would be happy with both.
Also his tone from the early to mid/late 70's was more unique and harder to imitate. It is much easier to impersonate his belting a kind of magic vocals (take gary mullen for example) than impersonate how he sang those 70's song. I'm sorry but no one has ever come close to impersonating how he sang borhap or somebody to love but there have been a few who came close to singing songs like a kind of magic, who wants to live forever, and friends will be friends ===============
I never said he "sounded better" during A Kind Of Magic, I said he was a better "singer" during that timeframe. No, I'm not crazy. Again, you are talking about TONAL preference. I'm talking TECHNICAL stats. Lets look at ADATR vs Magic on a breakdown:
Not everybody prefers the 70s voice over the 80s voice. So your money analogy made no sense.
jamster1111 · Member since
Who the hell fucking cares about breathing and that shit. I don't care whether he actually was a terrible singer during a day at the races and all those recorded tracks were just luck that he sounded good. The point is that he sounded AMAZING on that album. If you say he had no breathe support take a listen to millionaire waltz and get back to me on that. I don't think he could have sang that middle part (before the rock section) in the 80's. Maybe he could have but it wouldn't have sounded anywhere as beautiful and melodical. Also, just listen to the rock section in that song and his voice is also powerful enough to sustain those notes and really make you feel like he wants you to "come back to him". And after this whole post, I ONLY mentioned Millionaire Waltz. Somebody to love is on a whole nother planet. Oh and also on white man you can really feel like his anger in his voice because that is what the song is about. He could have never achieved this in the 80's (especially past 82) nor could he have sang light numbers like my fairy king and killer queen in the 80's. Also, you can take two solid Rock songs for each era. For example if you take It's Late and Hammer To Fall, those are two similar hard rocks songs, but although he sang with more "power" on Hammer to Fall, It's Late was sang with a significant amount of power as well as well as pure emotion and rhythm. Obviously he could have hit some of those C#5's during the 80's with a lot more ease but he sang them just fine in the 70's and provided enough power that was perfect for the song. Indeed he sang songs like One Year of Love and Who Wants to Live Forever beautifully on A Kind of Magic but they just lack that quality that he had during the 70's.
And once again, the argument is about which album he sounded better on. NOT when he was a better more powerful singer.
Gregsynth · Member since
Again, you're pulling straw man arguments again Mr. Jamster! :D...
I have never once said Freddie was a bad singer during the 70s (or ADATR). And I never said he had no breath support on Races. I said his breath support was better on Magic, because he's singing lines in the higher range (5th octave) in his chest voice with ONE BREATH. I have never heard him do that on Races. I ALWAYS said his TONE was better during the 70s. You're acting like I'm pro-Magic and using that to discredit Races (which is I believe your favorite album: so there's bias on your end). I love Freddie's vocals on Magic, but it's definitely not my favorite "Queen" album by a long shot. Most of my favorite albums are from the 70s (Opera is my #1 album).
There's PLENTY of anger on Magic: Ever heard Gimme the Prize? One Vision? Princes Of The Universe? Freddie wanted to prove to everyone that Queen was BACK on the map (Live Aid rejuvenated them). So he sang with balls and power on every song (which I will agree doesn't work on a few numbers--like One Year Of Love).
No, Freddie couldn't sing Killer Queen or the early stuff (on an emotional level) in the 80s, but then again he couldn't sing anything post 1977 during the pre 1977 era (not enough range, power, grit, etc). So that argument is void (on both ends).
And the last sentence made no sense: The topic was "best studio performances" (a subjective, wide-variety topic), but you then shifted it to "what he sounded best on" (with tone being the #1 factor), I then shifted it to a topic that could go in more directions ("Best vocal albums)."
Last sentence: If I was using power as my main point on my arguments--why would I put Innuendo and Opera in my list? :D
You can't win Jamster!
tcc · Member since
Okay guys. I listened to the NOTW and AKOM albums. From the last song My Melancholy Blues in NOTW to the first song One Vision in AKOM, I could hear the degradation in Freddie''s voice. He really sounded very rough in One Vision but in the songs thereafter it was not as rough.
So, voice-wise, I agree the 70's voice is better. In terms of which album he sounded best, now I am a mixed up kid :-)
