Martin Packer
@Owen24 I guess Freddie's illness and death has taught me something about the mourning process: That you get extra bursts of mourning every now and then. It's bittersweet now.
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Owen24
Yes it is bittersweet but having all that great footage and memories it made me feel like queen were as a four piece were around like yesturday, it's sad how time just goes so fast.
I was interested to know about the studio footage in the Headlong video, were they actually recording music during this time or just there for the music video, I have wondered about that.
I was interested to know about the studio footage in the Headlong video, were they actually recording music during this time or just there for the music video, I have wondered about that.
steindl
It´s a perfect docu I think, with true facts, not like DORO with "the last interview of Freddie" in "Champions of the world". They think we are stupid.
Owen24
Yea that last interview was quite missleading, it was even advertised in a tv magazine that it was his last ever interview in 1991, very misleading indeed.
The Real Wizard
Here's my two cents..
Positives:
1) Brilliantly put together. Even without the unseen footage, it's still the best documentary on Queen, simply because Brian and Roger poured their hearts out for the first time and told it like it really was.
2) The new footage from TOTP, the Champions and Hot Space sessions, and the alternate angles of the Houston '77 show. We can only imagine how much footage is in the vaults. It has been said there are hundreds of hours of concert and interview footage from that one tour alone.
3) The Hyde Park footage has held up really well too. Here's hoping for a DVD release. And I think the part of BoRhap they used was a generous hint to collectors that this may be the case. They may be well aware that the "So think you can stone me" line wasn't in the video feed mix, and this was their way of telling collectors that the audio is intact.
Negatives:
1) The Sao Paulo 81 footage has not kept well. And the audio wasn't great, either - tapes from the radio broadcasts sound better.
2) Revisionist history on making Made In Heaven. I always thought Roger and John started the work, and Brian came into the picture much later on. I realize they may not even be on speaking terms, but why was that necessary? One can only wonder how Deacon felt watching this part..
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But overall I am absolutely thrilled with this product. Most of the gripe here is unsubstantiated, in my opinon. In only two hours they can't cover absolutely everything. This was a QUEEN documentary, and The Cross and Barcelona were not Queen projects - they were side projects. They mentioned the fact that side projects existed, and that's plenty enough.
For those people saying Brian has ego issues, Strange Frontier was mentioned before Starfleet, even though Starfleet was chronologically earlier. And he certainly has every right to express himself about not getting the writing credit for the middle eight of Seven Seas Of Rhye. But I'm sure the others added things to his songs too, and they didn't get credit for it. It's just the way they ran their business until The Miracle.
Brian had actually discussed Don't Stop Me Now on his soapbox last year. He stated then that the song was influenced by the lifestyle Freddie was pursuing, and how he saw the dangers of it even then.
There wasn't too much emphasis on the arguments - it was a very major part of their history, and thus very necessary to be an integral part in what is likely going to be seen as the definitive Queen documentary. If anyone doesn't want to accept that, then that's their problem. The arguments came from the fact that they were all songwriters with different tastes and personalities. Without that, they simply wouldn't have been Queen.
I give the documentary a resounding A+. Definitely on par with the recent Rush documentary. I can't possibly imagine either band putting together a better documentary that tells their true story.
And - did anyone notice that they used bootleg artwork in the Sun City section?
Positives:
1) Brilliantly put together. Even without the unseen footage, it's still the best documentary on Queen, simply because Brian and Roger poured their hearts out for the first time and told it like it really was.
2) The new footage from TOTP, the Champions and Hot Space sessions, and the alternate angles of the Houston '77 show. We can only imagine how much footage is in the vaults. It has been said there are hundreds of hours of concert and interview footage from that one tour alone.
3) The Hyde Park footage has held up really well too. Here's hoping for a DVD release. And I think the part of BoRhap they used was a generous hint to collectors that this may be the case. They may be well aware that the "So think you can stone me" line wasn't in the video feed mix, and this was their way of telling collectors that the audio is intact.
Negatives:
1) The Sao Paulo 81 footage has not kept well. And the audio wasn't great, either - tapes from the radio broadcasts sound better.
2) Revisionist history on making Made In Heaven. I always thought Roger and John started the work, and Brian came into the picture much later on. I realize they may not even be on speaking terms, but why was that necessary? One can only wonder how Deacon felt watching this part..
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But overall I am absolutely thrilled with this product. Most of the gripe here is unsubstantiated, in my opinon. In only two hours they can't cover absolutely everything. This was a QUEEN documentary, and The Cross and Barcelona were not Queen projects - they were side projects. They mentioned the fact that side projects existed, and that's plenty enough.
For those people saying Brian has ego issues, Strange Frontier was mentioned before Starfleet, even though Starfleet was chronologically earlier. And he certainly has every right to express himself about not getting the writing credit for the middle eight of Seven Seas Of Rhye. But I'm sure the others added things to his songs too, and they didn't get credit for it. It's just the way they ran their business until The Miracle.
Brian had actually discussed Don't Stop Me Now on his soapbox last year. He stated then that the song was influenced by the lifestyle Freddie was pursuing, and how he saw the dangers of it even then.
There wasn't too much emphasis on the arguments - it was a very major part of their history, and thus very necessary to be an integral part in what is likely going to be seen as the definitive Queen documentary. If anyone doesn't want to accept that, then that's their problem. The arguments came from the fact that they were all songwriters with different tastes and personalities. Without that, they simply wouldn't have been Queen.
I give the documentary a resounding A+. Definitely on par with the recent Rush documentary. I can't possibly imagine either band putting together a better documentary that tells their true story.
And - did anyone notice that they used bootleg artwork in the Sun City section?
john bodega
"Revisionist history on making Made In Heaven. I always thought Roger and John started the work, and Brian came into the picture much later on"
Not really. Roger and John got started without him and were taking it in a direction that Brian wasn't happy with, so they restarted it once he had the time to join in. Don't blame Roger or Brian because Deacy is too lazy to say his bit on camera....
Not really. Roger and John got started without him and were taking it in a direction that Brian wasn't happy with, so they restarted it once he had the time to join in. Don't blame Roger or Brian because Deacy is too lazy to say his bit on camera....
The Real Wizard
Fair play. But he did make it sound like Deacon was barely involved, which wasn't the case.
Rick
Zebonka12 wrote: "Revisionist history on making Made In Heaven. I always thought Roger and John started the work, and Brian came into the picture much later on"
Not really. Roger and John got started without him and were taking it in a direction that Brian wasn't happy with, so they restarted it once he had the time to join in. Don't blame Roger or Brian because Deacy is too lazy to say his bit on camera....
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I wouldn't define that as laziness, to be honest.
There was a lot of "I" talk from Brian, which bugged me a bit. "I came up with the epitaph" especially... I wish he would have used different wording in some cases...
Not really. Roger and John got started without him and were taking it in a direction that Brian wasn't happy with, so they restarted it once he had the time to join in. Don't blame Roger or Brian because Deacy is too lazy to say his bit on camera....
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I wouldn't define that as laziness, to be honest.
There was a lot of "I" talk from Brian, which bugged me a bit. "I came up with the epitaph" especially... I wish he would have used different wording in some cases...
OneTrackMind
I agree with the 'I' talk from Brian. But he's always had a huge ego I suppose, not gonna change now. Great guitarist, but there's just something about the bloke..
Apart from that I thought it was a great documentary. One little gripe I had was them putting in comments about Deacon in Part 1, like : "Here was Brian May, wonderful guitarist, a great drummer in Roger Taylor, and then that bloke who played the Bass".
Now that's fine if you're going to counterbalance it by pointing out what a fantastic player and songwriter he actually is, but that wasn't even touched upon until late in the second part. Thought he got a raw deal in general but I suppose that's gonna happen when you don't partake in the documentary yourself.
Apart from that I thought it was a great documentary. One little gripe I had was them putting in comments about Deacon in Part 1, like : "Here was Brian May, wonderful guitarist, a great drummer in Roger Taylor, and then that bloke who played the Bass".
Now that's fine if you're going to counterbalance it by pointing out what a fantastic player and songwriter he actually is, but that wasn't even touched upon until late in the second part. Thought he got a raw deal in general but I suppose that's gonna happen when you don't partake in the documentary yourself.
Matheusms
I would love to hear from Roger's (and Deacy's, as well) mouth what kind of direction they were leading the MIH project before Brian appeared.
I have mixed feelings about this album, think that it would be better if they opted for a more raw, straightforward production, less reverb and, specially, better sounding drums.
It was recorded in the middle of the nineties, the "80's sounds" weren't the big deal anymore, sounds a little disappointing to me that they maintained some of these carachteristics for this project.
I know it's not gonna happen but i wonder how cool it will be if they release a "stripped down" version, like that new Lennon's Double Fantasy edition.
I have mixed feelings about this album, think that it would be better if they opted for a more raw, straightforward production, less reverb and, specially, better sounding drums.
It was recorded in the middle of the nineties, the "80's sounds" weren't the big deal anymore, sounds a little disappointing to me that they maintained some of these carachteristics for this project.
I know it's not gonna happen but i wonder how cool it will be if they release a "stripped down" version, like that new Lennon's Double Fantasy edition.
john bodega
"But he did make it sound like Deacon was barely involved, which wasn't the case."
No - he talked about his own contribution to the album, which was ample. Brian could have also spent time in this documentary talking about what Deacon did, but then Deacon should've done that himself, but decided not to. I wouldn't care much for watching Brian and Roger having to sit there going "oh and Deacy did this". For that matter, Dave Richards probably did as much work (if not more) on Made in Heaven as Deacon did, but at least he bothered to show up at interview time.
"I agree with the 'I' talk from Brian. But he's always had a huge ego I suppose, not gonna change now."
He says 'I' because it was him who was on the bloody album! People don't stop to think that maybe he really was the guy who penned the epitaph for the statue, for instance - things like that. If he wrote it, then what the bloody hell is he supposed to do - just say someone else wrote it? I don't understand this at all. People can take something as personal as an epitaph on a statue of a dead friend and claim it's an indicator of a malignant ego at work - you people truly are fucking warped sometimes.
No - he talked about his own contribution to the album, which was ample. Brian could have also spent time in this documentary talking about what Deacon did, but then Deacon should've done that himself, but decided not to. I wouldn't care much for watching Brian and Roger having to sit there going "oh and Deacy did this". For that matter, Dave Richards probably did as much work (if not more) on Made in Heaven as Deacon did, but at least he bothered to show up at interview time.
"I agree with the 'I' talk from Brian. But he's always had a huge ego I suppose, not gonna change now."
He says 'I' because it was him who was on the bloody album! People don't stop to think that maybe he really was the guy who penned the epitaph for the statue, for instance - things like that. If he wrote it, then what the bloody hell is he supposed to do - just say someone else wrote it? I don't understand this at all. People can take something as personal as an epitaph on a statue of a dead friend and claim it's an indicator of a malignant ego at work - you people truly are fucking warped sometimes.
OneTrackMind
Zebonka12 wrote:
"I agree with the 'I' talk from Brian. But he's always had a huge ego I suppose, not gonna change now."
He says 'I' because it was him who was on the bloody album! People don't stop to think that maybe he really was the guy who penned the epitaph for the statue, for instance - things like that. If he wrote it, then what the bloody hell is he supposed to do - just say someone else wrote it? I don't understand this at all. People can take something as personal as an epitaph on a statue of a dead friend and claim it's an indicator of a malignant ego at work - you people truly are fucking warped sometimes.
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I was referring to the entire documentary in general, not just that little bit about the epitaph. He just comes across as egotistical to me, but he was in one of the biggest rock bands in the World, maybe he has a right to be. There's little things, like that little smirk when he said how Mr.Bad Guy 'failed economically' for Freddie which I found a little off-putting. I know all 4 members harboured a jealousy and rivalry as song writers etc, but to be still holding onto that 25 years after Freddie did the album is a bit much. However, judging by your avatar I don't think you're going to agree with me, so I'll just say I'm sure Brian is a lovely man in person and move on.
"I agree with the 'I' talk from Brian. But he's always had a huge ego I suppose, not gonna change now."
He says 'I' because it was him who was on the bloody album! People don't stop to think that maybe he really was the guy who penned the epitaph for the statue, for instance - things like that. If he wrote it, then what the bloody hell is he supposed to do - just say someone else wrote it? I don't understand this at all. People can take something as personal as an epitaph on a statue of a dead friend and claim it's an indicator of a malignant ego at work - you people truly are fucking warped sometimes.
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I was referring to the entire documentary in general, not just that little bit about the epitaph. He just comes across as egotistical to me, but he was in one of the biggest rock bands in the World, maybe he has a right to be. There's little things, like that little smirk when he said how Mr.Bad Guy 'failed economically' for Freddie which I found a little off-putting. I know all 4 members harboured a jealousy and rivalry as song writers etc, but to be still holding onto that 25 years after Freddie did the album is a bit much. However, judging by your avatar I don't think you're going to agree with me, so I'll just say I'm sure Brian is a lovely man in person and move on.
john bodega
"There's little things, like that little smirk when he said how Mr.Bad Guy 'failed economically' for Freddie which I found a little off-putting"
He probably smirked because he knows how it feels to have a fizzer! One of the lecturers at my college was the guy who drove Brian to-and-from a gig in my city, and barely anyone showed up - for which he had no answers. Brian, as well as Freddie, and Roger, and John, know how it feels to put something out there that isn't the raging success that they thought it could be. I think, when someone has been in an industry for 40 years, they have earned the right to chuckle at misfortune. Who is to say that Freddie wouldn't have had a similar attitude, after the fact? Freddie had the wisdom to accept failures as well as successes. I just don't see how Brian's testimony would be any more acceptable if he'd done it without smirking. If he'd done that, then people would criticise him for even bringing it up. "Why did he call Freddie's album a failure! How dare he!".
And as for my avatar - a picture of Brian May straining to get a shit out of his arse is hardly suggestive of my being a huge fan of his personality. I think he's an unmatched guitarist, but yeah - he can be a dipshit. But in this documentary? Fuck no - he was being human, and affording his dead friend a lot more respect than he himself is being shown in the pages of this ('tarded) thread. People really do clutch at straws sometimes. Bringing that epitaph into it is the last straw; it's almost like he wrote "Freddie < Brian" on the statue or something.
He probably smirked because he knows how it feels to have a fizzer! One of the lecturers at my college was the guy who drove Brian to-and-from a gig in my city, and barely anyone showed up - for which he had no answers. Brian, as well as Freddie, and Roger, and John, know how it feels to put something out there that isn't the raging success that they thought it could be. I think, when someone has been in an industry for 40 years, they have earned the right to chuckle at misfortune. Who is to say that Freddie wouldn't have had a similar attitude, after the fact? Freddie had the wisdom to accept failures as well as successes. I just don't see how Brian's testimony would be any more acceptable if he'd done it without smirking. If he'd done that, then people would criticise him for even bringing it up. "Why did he call Freddie's album a failure! How dare he!".
And as for my avatar - a picture of Brian May straining to get a shit out of his arse is hardly suggestive of my being a huge fan of his personality. I think he's an unmatched guitarist, but yeah - he can be a dipshit. But in this documentary? Fuck no - he was being human, and affording his dead friend a lot more respect than he himself is being shown in the pages of this ('tarded) thread. People really do clutch at straws sometimes. Bringing that epitaph into it is the last straw; it's almost like he wrote "Freddie < Brian" on the statue or something.
john bodega
"There was a lot of "I" talk from Brian, which bugged me a bit. "I came up with the epitaph" especially... I wish he would have used different wording in some cases... "
You're quite right. He should've said that Roger read it on a Cornflakes packet once and thought it'd look good on a plaque.
You're quite right. He should've said that Roger read it on a Cornflakes packet once and thought it'd look good on a plaque.
emrabt
I got a totally different impression and thought that every member was treated with equal respect; it was also one of the few times Brian May HASN'T come across as an egotistical maniac to me.
Brian and Roger use “we” a lot meaning the band, ie, John and Freddie too.
“Brian and I thought the time was right to work on it”, We (Brian JOHN and I,) went back into the studio.
The only thing that could come across as slightly confusing was down to editing, they put the bit with Brian saying "And we don't have john either" After mother love but right before the made in heaven part ended, where it should have been after the made in heaven part and before the PR tour to make things clearer, as he was talking about the tour at the time.
Brian and Roger use “we” a lot meaning the band, ie, John and Freddie too.
“Brian and I thought the time was right to work on it”, We (Brian JOHN and I,) went back into the studio.
The only thing that could come across as slightly confusing was down to editing, they put the bit with Brian saying "And we don't have john either" After mother love but right before the made in heaven part ended, where it should have been after the made in heaven part and before the PR tour to make things clearer, as he was talking about the tour at the time.