Was It All Worth It -- Queen's last great song?

Yep - that's exactly the line! What a voice!

Yup - the B is pretty much in the chest voice, and the C# is head voice by raising the larynx position.

You know what, for a man who was largely self taught he really did know his techniques and how to use them. Most rock singers don't have half of his ability and haven't got a clue about voice placement. I think if he were still alive, he'd do a fair bit of vocal coaching work in exclusive arrangements with up and coming younger singers, and established artists who require a boost.

[QUOTE] [b]Gregsynth wrote:[/b]


Gimme The Prize is a good example of Freddie singing with and without distortion in spots. On that line "I am the one the only one - I am the God of kingdom come" he starts off with some distortion on the B4s - then when he raises the notes to C#5, there's that cleaner tone (without distortion) on the first few words.

[/QUOTE]

Exactly. When he moved up the 5th octave, the tone started to clear up again.

Always thought Innuendo was a great song as was The Show Must Go On. Maybe a bit less so but in their own way were These Are The Days of Our Lives, Bijou and I'm Going Slightly Mad.

Was It All Worth It, while great song, doesn't touch me as much as their 70s stuff.
It's epic, but it has a "mature" 80s tone to it. Not like I'm against their 80s, but it's doesn't have the freshness, the groundbreaking feeling, and even particularly, the delicious piano track of Queen's early songs.
They couldn't recreate that, no matter how they try.
I guess that's the beauty of youth.

I wish I could love Was It All Worth It. I like it, but it doesn't move me. I think it's down to the fact that I find the lead vocal's melody fairly uninspiring, and more importantly, where vocal harmonies do appear, they sound so hollow and uncharacteristic of Queen. It's all three of them singing them, as far as I can tell, it's just the way they were treated in mixing etc which makes them underwhelming. Granted, that's probably a problem with The Miracle on the whole, but it detracts greatly from what's considered a standout song, I feel.

[QUOTE] [b]Holly2003 wrote:[/b]

pittrek wrote: Last great song ? Have you ever heard about a masterpiece song called "Innuendo" ?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I don't rate Innuendo that highly. It is certainly interesting and different, but not great. The main guitar riff is a simple 3-chord flamenco riff, for example, and not on a par with Bo Rap, MotBQ etc. Of course, simple doesn't always equal lesser quality, and it's mostly a matter of opinion. If you think innuendo is great, good for you. It's certainly ambitious, but the bridge in the middle sounds a litle too much like figure skating music for my tastes :)[/QUOTE]

"the bridge in the middle sounds a litle too much like figure skating music"

What the hell?!? The bridge is amazing, some of the finest seconds of music Freddie ever conceived and put on tape. The song is pretty good overall and it has this apocalyptic feel, which was so different. A big hit in many countries. Having said that, the "Innuendo" album contains many more truly great songs - "Slightly Mad", "Don't Try So Hard", "Bijou" and "The Show" are divine in my opinion. "All God's People", "Days of Our Lives" come close and there are some really solid and enjoyable rockers too. "Headlong" and "Delilah" are probably the only weaker tracks, but I think they blend well with the rest of the album, adding a bit of lightness to it. A much better album than "The Miracle" in my opinion, although I do enjoy the latter too, as it is difficult not to enjoy it. It's a very rejuvenated record, bursting with good energy. Freddie sounds great and there are some very good, catchy tunes on it. Quite amazing, I think, when you think of the circumstances. Finally, let's not forget about "Made in Heaven", which contained gems like "A Winter's Tale", "Mother Love", "You Don't Fool Me" as well as fantastic versions of "Heaven for Everyone", "Made In Heaven", "Born to Love You" and "Too Much Love Will Kill You". In fact, when I look at this list now, I think their output from Freddie's diagnosis onwards was really amazing and brought so many classic tracks as well as a few deep cuts, hidden on the albums. 1987 - 1991 - a very prolific era for Freddie and Queen. "Was it All Worth It" was pretty good as well and it had this fantastic, meaty riff by Brian, but no, they came up with at least a few more great songs after it.

Interestingly, I think much of the criticism of the Miracle production is also true of Innuendo and that really prevents me from getting so attached to it. That said, I know the main difference - TheMiracle was a summer album and Innuendo was a winter album so somehow reminds me of coldness. I wonder if anyone else gets that who bought them on first release.

[QUOTE] [b]dysan wrote:[/b]

Interestingly, I think much of the criticism of the Miracle production is also true of Innuendo and that really prevents me from getting so attached to it. That said, I know the main difference - TheMiracle was a summer album and Innuendo was a winter album so somehow reminds me of coldness. I wonder if anyone else gets that who bought them on first release.[/QUOTE]

I get that, but it doesn't really affect my enjoyment of music. It's just something that is there in the back of my mind, but a tune stays a tune, doesn't matter which month or year it was released. Unless one was going through something really traumatic at the time, of course. Music can really bring back bad memories then.

I do wonder what you mean in the first sentence though. Could you elaborate?

It's just that I listened to The Miracle a lot in the summer, and Innuendo a lot in the winter and I associate those days and that feeling with both.

The Miracle production is more in your face that the Innuendo production and seems to benefit rather than making Innuendo sound a bit half hearted. To be honest, I switched off Queen after The Miracle so in honesty didn't give Innuendo my full attention. I didn't like the look of the band by 1991 and I guess found them a bit passé.

I've confused the issue haven't I? :)

Lo, yes I think you have confused it a little bit :-) Anyway, I agree with what you're saying about production. "The Miracle" has a very clear, lucid sound and you can hear a lot of the individual elements, whereas "Innuendo" always sounds a bit "quiet" to me. I need to turn the volume up and I don't think it should be like that. Still, I value the "Innuendo" songs more, but obviously it's a personal choice and I don't expect anyone to agree. I do wonder now what you mean with the look of the band? ;-) Is it the fact they were all filthy rich by then, Freddie liked his shirts and John started getting grey hair? ;-)

I don't think anyone looked their best in 1991!

And I do like many songs off Innuendo. Just for me The Miracle is shorter and somehow better for it.

[QUOTE] [b]dysan wrote:[/b]

I don't think anyone looked their best in 1991![/QUOTE]

I thought Brian looked terrific in '91. Just look at the "Innuendo" booklet. What a contrast to poor, ailing Freddie...