Not for Queen and AL fans

A national music columnist wrote this last week about groups that should rethink their current plans. Ouch.

"They were the champions. Too bad most of Queen's surviving members didn't have the sense to retire undefeated.

Instead, as you may have read, guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor are preparing to hit the road again with singer Adam Lambert stepping into the late Freddie Mercury's pointe shoes.

And if that isn't horrifying enough, they're also launching their hand-picked Queen Extravaganza tribute band, whose tour kicks off in late May.

There is a word for this sort of stuff. And that word is: Wrong. So very, very wrong. Is there anyone aside from the musicians and their accountants who truly believes the best way to honour Queen and Mercury's legacy is to trot out a legion of ersatz Freddies? Honestly, they'd be better off with a hologram -- which, ironically, is the one thing Taylor has definitively ruled out."

I guess this didn't make it to Brian's e-mail with the tons of people who emailed approving the AL and QE plans :)

I wonder if this will do anything...

Nope, just posted it as it represents a pretty healthy group of people who think it's an embarrassment, and sometimes people here never look beyond these pages for what non QZ'ers think.

[QUOTE] [b]Sheer Brass Neck wrote:[/b]
Nope, just posted it as it represents a pretty healthy group of people who think it's an embarrassment, and sometimes people here never look beyond these pages for what non QZ'ers think.[/QUOTE]

and you never seek out the positive things said about the shows from non moanzoners.

That piece was syndicated across multiple publications, but the comments in the one that ran in The Sun were the most amusing.  Can always count on those Glamberts to come out and bleed often hilarious outrage for their guy. http://www.torontosun.com/2012/05/04/reunited-and-it-feels-so-wrong?noimage=true It's the kind of column though that can seem superficial and snotty.  Does anybody really want them to have retired?  I just puzzle over the choices and the almost complete dearth of attention to their non hit material, to their most dedicated and broadly appreciative fans.  Sometimes I wonder if Fred's death sealed this path in some ways. The way he is absent, and the way he is present.

[QUOTE]A national music columnist wrote this...[/QUOTE]

Well, there's your first problem.

I've just got one question; how exactly is Queen+Adam Lambert an insult to Freddie Mercury's memory? How do we know that he is unhappy with how things turned out? How is John Deacon any better as a voice for Freddie than Brian or Roger?

I don't even know myself. Maybe Brian and Roger are ruining his name, maybe they aren't. It's food for thought.

[QUOTE] [b]Michael Allred wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]Sheer Brass Neck wrote:[/b]
Nope, just posted it as it represents a pretty healthy group of people who think it's an embarrassment, and sometimes people here never look beyond these pages for what non QZ'ers think.[/QUOTE]


and you never seek out the positive things said about the shows from non moanzoners.[/QUOTE]

Nope, that's Brian May, someonewholovesadam and your job.

If I post a legitimate question as a thread, will you respond to it honestly Michael?

[QUOTE]

[b]GratefulFan wrote:[/b] It's the kind of column though that can seem superficial and snotty.  Does anybody really want them to have retired?  I just puzzle over the choices and the almost complete dearth of attention to their non hit material, to their most dedicated and broadly appreciative fans.  Sometimes I wonder if Fred's death sealed this path in some ways. The way he is absent, and the way he is present. [/QUOTE]
That columnist is an idiot. He got quite a bit of flak and criticism on Twitter over this article not just from Queen and Adam Lambert fans, but Tool fans as well. His choice of picture to represent himself in the articles doesn't certainly do him any favours, it only makes him look five times more grumpy than Dr. May on a bad day!

I suspect those going to Hammersmith will have a great time. It's a fantastic venue for rock concerts and just seeing Brian and Roger there would be great, regardless of who is singing. As for Lambert, I don't appreciate his voice or style of singing at all. However, I suspect he will find it easier to operate as a front man at Hammersmith rather than at the cancelled outdoor festival. It will be interetsing to hear how he handles the big outdoor shows before Hammersmith. Also, those who go will enjoy Hammersmith because concerts are always better when you attend them than when you listen to them afterwards. I saw The Cult at Wembley a long time ago and it was great. But when I finally got a bootleg of the show a few years ago it was underwhelming. So I suspect Queen + Lambert will get rave concert reviews (and maybe deservedly so) but if they release a live show (or decide to do some studio work) I suspect the outcome will be less than impressive.

Either way, my main reaction/ emotion is bleuugh! How can anyone over the age of 16 get excited by this? Okay, seeing Brian & Rog is great but imagine who they might be playing with instead. Jimmy Page? Foo Fighters? There's so many interesting collaborations (as opposed to collab-abortions like Queen+ Five) they might do but choose not to. My interest level in "Queen" (I'd rather call it Queen- than Queen+) is about 3% at the minute. And falling!

Brian and Roger are old men who apparently need money and value attention over dignity. They are destroying themselves in the process, and I refuse to waste any more time on their idiotic schemes. It seems I was wrong about Brian all along - he was never a decent guy, just very very sad.

I think it is the continuous effort to do something and to keep having a project to work on that makes people like Brian and Roger young and able to go on living with a sense of purpose in life.  They are so full of energy that they just cannot retire. 

So, whether we agree with what they choose to do or not, let us feel happy that our favourite band members still have the drive to do what they like best, that is, to play music.

Whatever.

I'm going to see them on June 1st. I'm really looking forward to it.

That columnist can go sodomize himself with an axe.

[QUOTE]Brian and Roger are old men who apparently need money and value attention over dignity.
They are destroying themselves in the process...[/QUOTE]

Ok, really? 

I fail to see the point of non-artists beliefs that THEY know what the surviving members of Queen should be doing.  I think they have sold a few more records than you and the lot combined.  What gives anyone the thought that THEY know what is wrong and right for a former celebrity to be doing with their lives.

I would think you would have to have some sort of common reference, which you don't.

That's the whole point of being an artist, isn't it?  Having the creative freedom to try something new?  Who cares if you call on former resources to get your stuff out there?  If you don't like it, shut up and just don't buy it.  Who are you, anyway?

There is a common reference in what other artists have done with their careers at comparable stages. I think people are certainly competent to note that some choices seem to leave more lost than gained.