malicedoom
I love the fact there are so many different replies to this question. And it's easy to see (well, hear) why...
Thread
Posts in chronological order
Djdownsy
'In My Defense' for me. I mean, come on people, he achieved that in ONE TAKE!!
Thistle
I love the beginning of "Rock It" and also a lot of his vocals on the AKOM LP.....but have to agree, songs like "In My Defence" and "The Show Must Go On" are among his best. Let's not forget "Mother Love" either!
Fat Bottomed Queen
"Yeah".
Estranged
The Golden Boy.
TheAdmiester
[QUOTE] [b]Gregsynth wrote:[/b]
I think The Show Must Go On has to be Freddie's best studio vocal:
1. Done in one take
2. Features awesome high note control and sustain
3. Excellent head voice singing
4. He was dying while doing all this
The stuff from Barcelona (as well as the outtakes), is also highly acclaimed material.[/QUOTE]
I agree that TSMGO was a fantastic performance in every way, but was the final version really one take? There's a point in the second verse where it sounds like a clear cut between two different takes.
I suppose it's entirely possible (and still technically holding the truth) that he did multiple "one take takes" and they edited between the best bits, but it does sound like there's a cut.
I think The Show Must Go On has to be Freddie's best studio vocal:
1. Done in one take
2. Features awesome high note control and sustain
3. Excellent head voice singing
4. He was dying while doing all this
The stuff from Barcelona (as well as the outtakes), is also highly acclaimed material.[/QUOTE]
I agree that TSMGO was a fantastic performance in every way, but was the final version really one take? There's a point in the second verse where it sounds like a clear cut between two different takes.
I suppose it's entirely possible (and still technically holding the truth) that he did multiple "one take takes" and they edited between the best bits, but it does sound like there's a cut.
Sebastian
No, not one take. I think the confusion stems from a (mis?)quote where it was implied that had been the case for the middle-eight, and then it was assumed the rest of the song had also been one take and it became part of pop-cultural osmosis, just like the 14 times Kenny allegedly played Bo Rhap... you know, the song with 180 vocal overdubs which happened to have been the first music video and which was edited down from a much longer version and for which recording sessions began on the 24th of August... except that absolutely none of that was actually that way.
t3eh3e
How Can I Go On (Alternative Version)
The Show Must Go on as well...
The Show Must Go on as well...
miraclesteinway
The show must go on is an awesome vocal, so is Mother Love, so is Winter's Tale.
So is Killer Queen though - it's so beautifully seductive, and so effortless - these notes he just floats up to, and his use of falsetto, and the way he floats between that and his normal register without so much as flinching. You're My Best Friend is an equally beautiful vocal - those top Cs, even the notes over the break seem very smooth. A Night At The Opera when I think about it, has some of the most beautiful sounding Freddie vocals - not necessarily his most macho sounding, nor his most stadium-esque powerful, but this is him at his purest I think.
The Game is a stunning example too, everything about the album is pretty slick and his singing is wonderful. The opening to Rock It and the opening to Love is the Hero are quite similar in some ways and gives us a good comparison between the two time spots in his life.
For me though, the piece de resistance with Freddie's vocal, is In My Defence.
Really, though there are very few things that Freddie sings in the studio where is vocal is not good. I find it hard to pinpoint something. Yes, there are some bad songs, but the vocals are usually on point. I would say the only time I think he is vocally week in the studio is in Made In Heaven. The song doesn't show him at his best, and I think there's something funny about the key it's in, I think he could have dropped it a semitone down, or composed it in such a way as to have had fewer of the top A-flats which start to grate on me a little. I mean, I couldn't sing it - I'm comparing a good performance to great performances by the same singer here.
So is Killer Queen though - it's so beautifully seductive, and so effortless - these notes he just floats up to, and his use of falsetto, and the way he floats between that and his normal register without so much as flinching. You're My Best Friend is an equally beautiful vocal - those top Cs, even the notes over the break seem very smooth. A Night At The Opera when I think about it, has some of the most beautiful sounding Freddie vocals - not necessarily his most macho sounding, nor his most stadium-esque powerful, but this is him at his purest I think.
The Game is a stunning example too, everything about the album is pretty slick and his singing is wonderful. The opening to Rock It and the opening to Love is the Hero are quite similar in some ways and gives us a good comparison between the two time spots in his life.
For me though, the piece de resistance with Freddie's vocal, is In My Defence.
Really, though there are very few things that Freddie sings in the studio where is vocal is not good. I find it hard to pinpoint something. Yes, there are some bad songs, but the vocals are usually on point. I would say the only time I think he is vocally week in the studio is in Made In Heaven. The song doesn't show him at his best, and I think there's something funny about the key it's in, I think he could have dropped it a semitone down, or composed it in such a way as to have had fewer of the top A-flats which start to grate on me a little. I mean, I couldn't sing it - I'm comparing a good performance to great performances by the same singer here.
Gregsynth
[QUOTE]
[b]Sebastian wrote: [/b] No, not one take. I think the confusion stems from a (mis?)quote where it was implied that had been the case for the middle-eight, and then it was assumed the rest of the song had also been one take and it became part of pop-cultural osmosis, just like the 14 times Kenny allegedly played Bo Rhap... you know, the song with 180 vocal overdubs which happened to have been the first music video and which was edited down from a much longer version and for which recording sessions began on the 24th of August... except that absolutely none of that was actually that way.[/QUOTE]
Was this the quote?
https://books.google.com/books?id=c084CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT832&lpg=PT832&dq=the+show+must+go+on+one+take+middle+eight&source=bl&ots=A807dcH3oh&sig=Y52e-XOISjPH4pTIoP8yRBmRJfI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDoQ6AEwBGoVChMImM2P9vjxxwIVVheSCh0w8wjO#v=onepage&q=the%20show%20must%20go%20on%20one%20take%20middle%20eight&f=false
From the way it was written - it looks like a double meaning. Like just the middle eight was one take or the whole song.
[b]Sebastian wrote: [/b] No, not one take. I think the confusion stems from a (mis?)quote where it was implied that had been the case for the middle-eight, and then it was assumed the rest of the song had also been one take and it became part of pop-cultural osmosis, just like the 14 times Kenny allegedly played Bo Rhap... you know, the song with 180 vocal overdubs which happened to have been the first music video and which was edited down from a much longer version and for which recording sessions began on the 24th of August... except that absolutely none of that was actually that way.[/QUOTE]
Was this the quote?
https://books.google.com/books?id=c084CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT832&lpg=PT832&dq=the+show+must+go+on+one+take+middle+eight&source=bl&ots=A807dcH3oh&sig=Y52e-XOISjPH4pTIoP8yRBmRJfI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDoQ6AEwBGoVChMImM2P9vjxxwIVVheSCh0w8wjO#v=onepage&q=the%20show%20must%20go%20on%20one%20take%20middle%20eight&f=false
From the way it was written - it looks like a double meaning. Like just the middle eight was one take or the whole song.
Oscar J
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TM-cbQ3gXo
Somebody To Love might be his best vocal performance, all things considered. It has everything - lots of falsetto, and full voice singing ranging from airy to soaring and with that fantastic ring and resonance he had in his high notes in the mid/late 70's. And then the performance, the delivery itself is just so much more charismatic than anything he'd go on to do in the 80's.
Sure, he did some great singing in his last years as well, but theres often this nasal tone to his voice. Barcelona has some insane singing, but I just can't stand how strained some of his closed vowels sounded, especially the "oohs" as in "you".
Somebody To Love might be his best vocal performance, all things considered. It has everything - lots of falsetto, and full voice singing ranging from airy to soaring and with that fantastic ring and resonance he had in his high notes in the mid/late 70's. And then the performance, the delivery itself is just so much more charismatic than anything he'd go on to do in the 80's.
Sure, he did some great singing in his last years as well, but theres often this nasal tone to his voice. Barcelona has some insane singing, but I just can't stand how strained some of his closed vowels sounded, especially the "oohs" as in "you".
Gregsynth
[QUOTE]
[b]Oscar J wrote: [/b] Barcelona has some insane singing, but I just can't stand how strained some of his closed vowels sounded, especially the "oohs" as in "you".[/QUOTE]
That's definitely done on purpose - he uses stylistic distortion throughout his career (It's Late has it as well) for effect. If you want non-distorted short vowels - Hot Space has tons of them (like that long D5 on Staying Power).
[b]Oscar J wrote: [/b] Barcelona has some insane singing, but I just can't stand how strained some of his closed vowels sounded, especially the "oohs" as in "you".[/QUOTE]
That's definitely done on purpose - he uses stylistic distortion throughout his career (It's Late has it as well) for effect. If you want non-distorted short vowels - Hot Space has tons of them (like that long D5 on Staying Power).
Chief Mouse
[QUOTE]
[b]Gregsynth wrote: [/b] [QUOTE]
[b]Oscar J wrote: [/b] Barcelona has some insane singing, but I just can't stand how strained some of his closed vowels sounded, especially the "oohs" as in "you".[/QUOTE]
That's definitely done on purpose - he uses stylistic distortion throughout his career (It's Late has it as well) for effect. If you want non-distorted short vowels - Hot Space has tons of them (like that long D5 on Staying Power).[/QUOTE]
I also think so. And to be honest, I like it.
[b]Gregsynth wrote: [/b] [QUOTE]
[b]Oscar J wrote: [/b] Barcelona has some insane singing, but I just can't stand how strained some of his closed vowels sounded, especially the "oohs" as in "you".[/QUOTE]
That's definitely done on purpose - he uses stylistic distortion throughout his career (It's Late has it as well) for effect. If you want non-distorted short vowels - Hot Space has tons of them (like that long D5 on Staying Power).[/QUOTE]
I also think so. And to be honest, I like it.
Gregsynth
[QUOTE]
[b]Chief Mouse wrote: [/b] [QUOTE]
[b]Gregsynth wrote: [/b] [QUOTE]
[b]Oscar J wrote: [/b] Barcelona has some insane singing, but I just can't stand how strained some of his closed vowels sounded, especially the "oohs" as in "you".[/QUOTE]
That's definitely done on purpose - he uses stylistic distortion throughout his career (It's Late has it as well) for effect. If you want non-distorted short vowels - Hot Space has tons of them (like that long D5 on Staying Power).[/QUOTE]
I also think so. And to be honest, I like it.[/QUOTE]
I like it as well - although I can understand if some people aren't a fan of that style.
[b]Chief Mouse wrote: [/b] [QUOTE]
[b]Gregsynth wrote: [/b] [QUOTE]
[b]Oscar J wrote: [/b] Barcelona has some insane singing, but I just can't stand how strained some of his closed vowels sounded, especially the "oohs" as in "you".[/QUOTE]
That's definitely done on purpose - he uses stylistic distortion throughout his career (It's Late has it as well) for effect. If you want non-distorted short vowels - Hot Space has tons of them (like that long D5 on Staying Power).[/QUOTE]
I also think so. And to be honest, I like it.[/QUOTE]
I like it as well - although I can understand if some people aren't a fan of that style.
Oscar J
Yup, Hot Space has really good ones! But can you find any examples from 1985 - 1989? I think his voice in Hot Space still sounded quite youthful compared to Barcelona.
It's not that I don't like distorsion. It's that slightly nasal sounding strain I can't dig. He sounds like an old man with a sore throat.
It's not that I don't like distorsion. It's that slightly nasal sounding strain I can't dig. He sounds like an old man with a sore throat.