We want Queen to go on forever, want Brian and Roger to go on forever. Touring and recording new stuff, releasing the unreleased materials. Of course at some point they have to stop. I feel that that moment has come. No more tours, no more solo albums. No more projects with other musicians. The boys are ready to retire. For some reason they have not made that public, but i think we can all feel it. I think it is too hard for them to say "it has been fun, thank you and goodbye."
Yes, they are still involved, but the creative power, that made them write and record all those great songs, is gone. The drive to go out there and play them for an audience, is gone.
After Freddie's death, some great stuff was released, and some projects failed. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. For me, the last highlights were the tours with Paul Rodgers. I really enjoyed those shows.
I hope they continue to release older stuff (still waiting for some decent '70s live material), but I don't think we can expect exciting new stuff. Those days seem to be over.
*shrug* I just don't give a shit. Maybe they're a spent force, who knows. I was pretty sure they were done long before they did that show in Kharkov. Man, when Brian threw down Bijou, I nearly got misty. I bet neither of them ever thought they'd see a crowd that big again, but they did!
They may be in a dry spell, but I won't write off their ability to come up with something (even if it's not groundbreaking) until they're both dead or something. Not defending some of the absurd crap they've come up with since the late 90's, but I'm just saying - anything's possible. In the meantime, listen to some music ... it's fun!
kohuept wrote: OK, fine, it impacts the legacy.
To help me any maybe some others answer your question, why are you so set on it being a NEGATIVE impact?
Just like the re-release of Bohemian Rhapsody in the early '90s created a resurgence of interest for that song, maybe this could create a renewed interest in the whole catalog.
Maybe working on this project will energize Roger to be more creative instead of sitting in a stuffy room listening to take after take of himself screwing up in order to compile the "precious" box sets - that may drive him nuts to the point where he wants to retire completely.
Point being, you never know how something will work out until it is in the past. You can't decide that this will have a negative impact on the legacy just because YOU don't like it.
As to whether they've been "swept along" simply trying to be popular (if I understand your point), I think now more than ever, they're exactly where they want to be - minus Freddie, of course.
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It's not really that I'm set on seeing a negative impact, it's that it's a bit of an uphill climb trying to get people to even acknowledge that there is a wider impact when all creative and business choices seem to slant towards the commercial and the comparatively superficial. People tend to deny any effect on the legacy at all and take gratuitous shots about the "precious" boxset. A well done anthology and some deep history and well chosen archival releases would be absolutely precious, don't you think? It's true that I would personally find much more value in a great rock documentary or rich archival releases than I would in one night out watching a tribute band, no matter how proficient. And I love live music just about as much as I love anything. The greats can make you forget entirely that you're little more than one half of a commercial entertainment transaction and leave you feeling moved and wrung out and carried away. Queen who were once so good at that now seem to go out of their way to flip up their skirts and show us their tacky little commerce panties. It's all so dull and transparent to me, from that "grassroots" Muppets video timed to promote Absolute Greatest to this current reality venture which to me is clearly some cynical marketing exec's idea of selling a tribute tour to a couple of countries with the attention span of gnats. I find it sad that a band so full of intelligent men allow their business partners to take the low road that relies an awful lot on gullibility and the exaggerated base instincts of reality shows. Does that mean those inclined can't get fun and enjoyment and good memories out of a Muppets video or a fun night out to see the tribute band? Of course not. But just don't pretend it doesn't cost a thing. It's QPL that makes it feel like a choice between one or the other when they make or intimate promises that are never kept, and then throw all the effort behind things that cater almost entirely to the new or casual fan.
As for a resurgence of interest in the catalogue I think (yet) another bump in the hits compilations is most likely. You're right that we don't know the future, but we do have as a culture 10 years of music reality shows behind us with remarkably little substantial to show for it, except that people appear to be even dumber, meaner and less able to discriminate quality from crap than a decade ago.
Zebonka12 wrote: At best, they'll find some good musicians and put on a good show.
What I'm always sad about is the negative side of competitions like this. You see guys like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5njJdvawkgo ...
.. who honestly think that A) this is their big shot, and B) they're talented enough that they have a right to shout anyone down who criticises them (ie. Treasure Moment). It gives them just another freaking avenue to embarrass themselves. I mean, seriously - I hate this shit. I hate it on shows like Idol when they deliberately advance shitty contestants past the screening judges and up to the TV judges, just in order to humiliate them. Y'know - this stuff doesn't need to be seen. When you put out bad music (and boy do I know what I speak of) you should have the opportunity to rethink yourself and pull it the fuck out of the public consciousness. This kind of thing takes that ability away.
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I so hear you. I despise 98% of reality shows for precisely this reason, or reasons a lot like it. They're total distortions of just about everything, even for those who do have some talent or success. There are literally thousands of comments on that Marc Martel's STL version that are wildly over the top. He's the reincarnation of Freddie, if people close their eyes they hear Freddie himself, the contest is over, it's a miracle, he's alive, they found the cure for AIDS, yadda yadda yadda. Half the people who have arrived there from some linking site don't even know what they've arrived at and are just completely babbling. He's a talented singer, and not a perfect one I might add, but nobody who knows Fred's work in any depth is going to hear some spooky embodiment in Marc Martel, except when he's pulling some corny deliberate mimicry. Reality plots need a constant infusion of drama because people burn themselves out in lemming like extremes of derision and adulation. Watch if this Marc guy hasn't peaked too soon.
Sir GH wrote: This one is even better... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJxenAb3R-w
I feel sorry for Roger or whoever has to actually watch all of these. But they'll find their talent - it's out there.
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If you read the fine print they're only committing to one winner if necessary, and in theory I guess that could be some guy on cow bell or something. If they don't find their talent, they'll hire their own. Which is a wise safety net in terms of being able to guarantee a quality product, but on the other hand it underscores that this is a marketing/attention seeking venture as much as or more than a commitment to do what it takes to find and foster undiscovered musicians to play Queen music.
kohuept wrote:
As to whether they've been "swept along" simply trying to be popular (if I understand your point), I think now more than ever, they're exactly where they want to be - minus Freddie, of course.
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Missed this last bit in my last reply. What I meant to bring up for discussion was whether there are factors unique to Queen that have propelled this path which as a whole is quite different from the path of most other greats. Maybe they are in an orbit from which the universe will not allow them to be peeled because of fixed factors like the mass appeal of the timeless and varied music they made, or the ever present pull of an iconic dead frontman who died just as the internet and a revolution in communication and mass media were set to create glittering giants out of mortals. Maybe that long ago uncool factor and critical rejection meant they never did have the same opportunities for arty and weighty and respectable collaborations with people the world rightly or wrongly revered more. Maybe they just don't have great taste, and Fred really was the guy responsible for a lot of the refinement and regal grace where it was present. Maybe some fork in the road 5 or 10 or 15 years ago swallowed some things up for good. Those are examples of the things I mean, and whether they're where they want to be or not is not that relevant to the question because even if they weren't, cognitive dissonance would have likely taken care of that some time ago. Really what I'm trying to consider is whether some of us are being too hard on them because we're assigning them options they no longer really have, if they ever did.
I think Roger and Brian are now influenced by a new group of people who are possibly under their employ or on retainer basis, principally Rhys Thomas (whose name appears in a lot of the new releases). These people could have given them a lot of ideas on how to make their business bigger. They are enjoying themselves in the role of business entrepreneurs and are willing to try them out.
Many musicians are not just creative, they also turn out to be very good business people. Personally I know of a pianist who plays in the music lounges for fun but he makes a lot of money as a property agent. Another musician in our country founded a lyric theatre for music operas as a hobby but he runs a lucrative insurance business.
Back to Queen, Roger still has a lot of energy and drive and he also has a son in the music business. In the process of doing all this, he can also help his son to develop a career in the music industry.
From what I see of the David Richards fb thread, I think those who want to work with the band must not reveal the inner workings of the band. If they show that they cannot be trusted with the band's "secrets", they would be dropped out of the loop.
I've never seen a Queen tribute band, but they are already in existence, so they already have a built in audience of admirers, I guess. Anyway, I went to see a Beatles tribute band this past summer, and thousands of people were there. It was fun to hear the music being played live and being in the crowd of Beatles fans (I like having the experience of being in an audience of people, whether for a movie or another type of show, just to have that "togetherness" feeling). If Paul and Ringo had worked with this particular tribute band and given them direction, and worked on the show, then it would have added some extra magic to the experience, I'm sure.
I don't understand why they are limiting it to American musicians.
