Barcelona 2012- "The version Mercury would have wanted to make at the time"

Barcelona 2012- "The version Mercury would have wanted to make at the time" - what a load of crap in my opinion! Freddie made it how he wanted it! I have not read anything, to the effect of Freddie wanting a full orchestra, has anyone else? Freddie was a perfectionist, if he wanted a full orchestra he would have done it... How come Mike Moran is silent on this matter?

Freddie was a perfectionist > True

But did the record company want to invest a large project after his first solo LP???

I hope the 'new' Barcelona album will be good

I have to agree, but surely for a project so close to Freddie's heart (ie, working with HIS idol), surely he could have stumped up the cash for an orchestra if he'd wanted to?

I think Mike is silent because he appears to have had no involvement with the project at all and i'd like to know why.
I'd also like to know why there's no remaster of the original (and proper) version....

Fred wanted synths as that way he could always keep control and make last-minute adjustments.

Iwantitnow, you missed out the more ludicrous quote
'Barcelona - The album it should have been'. FFS.
If Freddie and Mike Moran would have wanted an orchestra, they would have hired one, Sebastian and Brian's Wig are correct too.
How about just remastering it, like everyone wants. Or beefing it up, getting Rufus or Roger on drums and then Brian on loads of guitars? Remember when he used to do his wonderful guitar orchestras?
They pissed about and messed up the Made In Heaven album, but redoing this album in that way would surely be what the real Queen fans want to hear?
How about - 'Barcelona - The album we can hopefully appeal to opera fans and make more money with, album'?
Freddie wasn't an opera singer, FFS, or am I just being daft again?

I don't think Montseratt Cabbelle was a rock singer either.I think its a very daring marriage of the two.I'm really looking forward to this!!!

Freddie made it the way he wanted it. That's for sure. Having said that, I hope it turns out to be worth a listen or two. After all, Freddie did say to do with his output as they wished, provided they don't make him boring. We shall see shortly I guess.

Made In Heaven was fine, and posthumously making it into a Queen album was the original vision for it. This wasn't the case at all with Barcelona, and I think it's good without Brian or Roger's input. And Brian's never stopped doing his guitar orchestration.

Tom, Made in Heaven was shite. Both Cross versions of Heaven For Everyone are far superior to the Queen version. And Brian should never have released TMLWKY, if they already had Freddie singing the whole song, that was selfish, IMO.
Can I ask how old you are, Tom? I am 47, BTW.

Brian...selfish?! ya think??? nooooooo...lol

Haha, Miss R.

Everything that you presented in your post was entirely based on opinion, except for the guitar orchestration thing, which he did continue to do. I don't actually know when he last did, but he definitely kept using them well into the late 90s/early 2000's. I might've been wrong there; I'd have to listen to his stuff with Kerry Ellis and whatnot to be able to say for sure.

That argument aside, everything presented in the post was completely subjective. I personally enjoy Made In Heaven, you personally don't. However I don't know if the fact that there are better versions of some of the tracks (which I agree with, particularly My Life Has Been Saved) is a solid argument that it's actually a bad album. As for Barcelona, I was defending the point that the backing track should be left unaltered, as originally intended. You seem to have conflicting arguments - you say that they should leave the synths as they were, then go on to say that Brian & Roger should screw with it like you believe they did for Made In Heaven.

Anyway, this is stupid - I take responsibility for unnecessarily putting forth my fairly one sided opinion. And I'd really rather not say my age, but I'm less than half yours, so I don't have any first hand experience with Queen matters pre-21st century.

I've no objection to this new version of the album, it's the lack of a remastered original that gets my goat.

At the end of the day, it's very easy to put words on a dead man's mouth.

So Tom, you don't know anything about my favourite band, do you? Being born after their career was over. I don't care what Brian May has done since 1991, so the orchestration thing with him is irrelevant.
You picked the argument with someone who has been with Queen since I first heard SSOR, in 1973. And someone who saw Queen live 6 times.
All my postings on this and the Spike thread are my opinions, no one can change them. But you did try to pick holes in them. How very wrong you are about Extreme too.
IMO, Queen ended for me after Under Pressure was released in 1981, apart from the occasional good track here and there. I think it did for many other people too. So please in future don't offer me your opinions or react to mine, cos your opinions are worthless, cos you haven't got a clue what it was like, when they were, IMO, the greatest 'recording' band ever, in the 1970's. But they are not the greatest 'live' band, ever.
Now get back in your basket.