Barcelona re-release - What the @#8! did they do????

Zebonka wrote:

"Whatever the missteps, these were bereaved guys, and I've never gotten the sense that they acted improperly with that album."

Good for you. I did.

"What they've done post '97, of course, is another story. Haha."

So you're debating my point about MIH but dismissing 15 years of releases because of your opinion? Interesting.

You don't -have- a point about Made in Heaven. Looking at an elegiac piece of music and complaining about it being morbid is like complaining about all of the dairy in an ice cream cone. The issue here is that you think it shouldn't have been made at all - good for you, but that isn't a reflection on the album (or its makers) at all. It's squarely a reflection on you, and it's your loss.

I'm going to channel Sebastian here :)

"You don't -have- a point about Made in Heaven."

I do. I think the album is manipulative. That's my point. You don't think so. So I guess based on your logic you don't have a point either so why are we debating this?

"Looking at an elegiac piece of music and complaining about it being morbid is like complaining about all of the dairy in an ice cream cone."

Excellent point, and not being sarcastic. If we can accept that elegiac can be defined as verse composed in memory of the dead, let's look at MIH song by song. IABD? Written in 1980, not about death or dying, could be about a beautiful day. In the context of the album, it's an unfinished first song. Why wasn't it finished? Freddie too ill to complete it a la Mother Love? Or it sets a tone of a man coming to terms with death and dying. Your interpretation, my interpretation, whatever. That's how I see it. Next is MIH? Written in 1986, not about death or dying. LML? Written early 80s, not about death or dying.

ML? Written around the time of Freddie's death or early that year, so an honest look at what he was facing. Apart from the scmaltzy end. MLHBS? Written by John Deacon, years before that, so not Freddie's thoughts. They stripped the life out of the B-side version, as it had energy and was optimistic, not so on this plodding rework. I think I have a point ;) which of course you will disagree with :)

"The issue here is that you think it shouldn't have been made at all - good for you, but that isn't a reflection on the album (or its makers) at all. It's squarely a reflection on you, and it's your loss."

I thought Innuendo was perfect as a goodbye album. In North America we didn't know what his status was until the picture of him leaving the doctor came out in August. To me, that was a poignant, honest album, and there's more emotion in Bijou than the entire MIH album. That's just me though.

[QUOTE] [b]Sheer Brass Neck wrote:[/b]
I'm going to channel Sebastian here :)
"You don't -have- a point about Made in Heaven."
I do. I think the album is manipulative. That's my point. You don't think so. So I guess based on your logic you don't have a point either so why are we debating this?
"Looking at an elegiac piece of music and complaining about it being morbid is like complaining about all of the dairy in an ice cream cone."
Excellent point, and not being sarcastic. If we can accept that elegiac can be defined as verse composed in memory of the dead, let's look at MIH song by song. IABD? Written in 1980, not about death or dying, could be about a beautiful day. In the context of the album, it's an unfinished first song. Why wasn't it finished? Freddie too ill to complete it a la Mother Love? Or it sets a tone of a man coming to terms with death and dying. Your interpretation, my interpretation, whatever. That's how I see it. Next is MIH? Written in 1986, not about death or dying. LML? Written early 80s, not about death or dying.
ML? Written around the time of Freddie's death or early that year, so an honest look at what he was facing. Apart from the scmaltzy end. MLHBS? Written by John Deacon, years before that, so not Freddie's thoughts. They stripped the life out of the B-side version, as it had energy and was optimistic, not so on this plodding rework. I think I have a point ;) which of course you will disagree with :)
"The issue here is that you think it shouldn't have been made at all - good for you, but that isn't a reflection on the album (or its makers) at all. It's squarely a reflection on you, and it's your loss."
I thought Innuendo was perfect as a goodbye album. In North America we didn't know what his status was until the picture of him leaving the doctor came out in August. To me, that was a poignant, honest album, and there's more emotion in Bijou than the entire MIH album. That's just me though. [/QUOTE]

I have to agree. I find MIH mawkish and cloying, which is why I hardly listen to it. Any memorial song that has the word "heaven" in it is always going to be embarrassing: Queen produced a whole album like that. AC/DC's Back in Black is a good template for a tribute to a dead band member. It has attitude and humour. As Brian May is the one mostly resposible for MIH, you might think he would know this.

^^^ have to agree with the above
rock music tributes should not be about fawning, slushy ballads and oversentiment....rock the fuck out...that's what Freddie woulda wanted...

think the only track that actually does that on MIH is "it's a beautiful day [reprise]"

"Any memorial song that has the word "heaven" in it is always going to be embarrassing"

I remember a journalist writing that MIH was called MIH because they could not call it "Made In A Computer"

[QUOTE] [b]YourValentine wrote:[/b]
"Any memorial song that has the word "heaven" in it is always going to be embarrassing"
I remember a journalist writing that MIH was called MIH because they could not call it "Made In A Computer"[/QUOTE]

Ha!

[QUOTE] [b]YourValentine wrote:[/b]
"Any memorial song that has the word "heaven" in it is always going to be embarrassing"
I remember a journalist writing that MIH was called MIH because they could not call it "Made In A Computer"[/QUOTE]

It SHOULD have been called "A Winters Tale".
The connotations are obvious enough: this is the last Queen album and since people refer to lifespans as seasons, this album was made in the winter of Queen's life....

Funny how people make fun of that album being called "Made in Heaven" when that's not a title made up by QP or Brian after Freddie's dead , but the title for a Freddie mercury song, so its very appropriate...

Funny that fans take Queen too seriously, when the band was known for being all their career very relaxed about that.

I Guess it's appropriate channeling Freddie this time when he said "fuck everyone", cause he made his songs for himself with no hidden meaning in his lyrics, and just meant to be disposable and never boring....

Freddie will be laughing about all of you

And lets not forget that MIH had good sales, and made a whole new bunch of people into Queen.
In fact most of the people i know fell in love with Queen with that album, and i feel that freddie trademark was still there, even until No one but you.

if was afterwards that Brian and Roger, tried to do Queen+ songs in the style of a lame hard rock band... when John Deacon wasn't there

Rock it out?! That's what Freddie would have wanted?!

Did you not see the interviews about going back into the studio to make this album? How weird would that have been to work on an album, hearing Freddie's vocals but him not there. I think nothing but love went into MIH and I think it's the perfect ending to the Queen catalog. I hardly doubt "rocking out" was their agenda. Hell, they didn't have to do the album, but did the best they could with what they were given.

Boy, we need to create a new thread for this!!!

"I think the album is manipulative"

That's getting knee-deep in the discussion of what is art supposed to do - express an emotion, or make you feel one? I think your feeling here is that Brian and Roger are going out of their way to make you feel something. I've always figured that the album was more an attempt to use what they had to paint a certain picture about what they felt. I have the same discomfort with some of the more 'hatchet job' parts of the album that a lot of people have, but again ... it just strikes me as daft to say that the album is intentionally manipulative because it's a very bold guess as to the motivations of the people who made it. Then again, as a musician I lean more towards the idea of music being a form of expression. Making music as a bereaved person is an act that's rather steeped in catharsis and really do think there's every possibility that the album is more about Brian and Roger (and John) putting out their feelings, using what was available, as opposed to them trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes. They had to know those of us that were sharper-eared than the others would know that the songs weren't all done in 90-91 anyway.

"there's more emotion in Bijou than the entire MIH album"

As a basic statement, I'd agree with that, but then what kind of emotion are we talking about? The emotions of the people making it, or the emotion that it makes us feel? I'm very sure that a lot of emotion went into the making of Made in Heaven, so it'd be churlish to call any of it 'emotionless' by comparison. Obviously it doesn't have the same effect on everyone. For my part, the only tracks I've ever really had strong fondness for on Made in Heaven were the ones actually done while Freddie was on borrowed time. That's just me though.

"AC/DC's Back in Black is a good template for a tribute to a dead band member. It has attitude and humour"

I agree with that. Although the band quickly passed its use-by date after that. Their replacement singer isn't much use, and the songs have never been as funny as when Bon was around.

Over the years this album started to lean more to the[b] Operatic[/b] side rather than  the [b]Rock [/b]side.
I think this reworked version makes it a true Operatic album with Rock influences rather than the other way around.

Anyone listening to classical music knows [i]dynamics are a very important part of orchestrated music[/i].
This version of the album captures this concept quite brilliantly. 
Not being seduced by the re-re-re-re-mastering trend of the loudness war![/i]

Had a very soothing and fun time listening to it.

Another thing that's very important in classical music is *not to mess with the basic arrangement unless there's a pretty damn good reason for doing so*. When re-arranging a score for a different group (in this case, re-arranging synths for an orchestra), the key is to keep it as close to the original as possible. If you don't, you're not arranging - you're creating a new piece of music.

I feel the arranger for this release should have been more modest. From what I've heard so far, this album goes waaaaay beyond the original score. I hope someday, someone will do this right.

[QUOTE] [b]thomasquinn 32989 wrote:[/b]
Another thing that's very important in classical music is *not to mess with the basic arrangement unless there's a pretty damn good reason for doing so*. When re-arranging a score for a different group (in this case, re-arranging synths for an orchestra), the key is to keep it as close to the original as possible. If you don't, you're not arranging - you're creating a new piece of music.
I feel the arranger for this release should have been more modest. From what I've heard so far, this album goes waaaaay beyond the original score. I hope someday, someone will do this right.[/QUOTE]

I have to admit I was initially disappointed with the "Special Edition" but somehow I'm now really appreciating it. Maybe I'm just trying to psychologically stifle buyer's remorse LOL