I Was Wrong About "Queen +"

Some, the few that have probably bothered reading them, may know I've been a vocal critic of Brian & Roger over the way they've used the Queen brand for the past 17 years. Yes anybody has the right to opinions but I believe I was wrong. I repent!! :cool:
Something another fan posted on the official Queen message board- their take on the whole Queen + business, coupled with my recent viewing of the countless interviews Brian & Roger have done after Freddie died and how they talked about him has transformed my whole outlook on the past 17 years and Brian & Roger as people. They really loved their friend and business partner. I have suddenly gained new respect for Roger the way he stuck up for Freddie, got indignant at times and actually got choked up talking about how he was "literally 300 feet from Freddie's house" when Peter Freestone called him and told him not to come because Freddie was gone. It's easy to forget the humanity of Brian & Roger because most of us never met them and never will (or even desire to).
They really only got half a career when you compare them to the bloody Stones & Who! And they are equals if not superior. No, they're superior. Period. Brian was particularly shaken up by Freddie's death. And Soxtalon is also right when he said Brian & Roger have the right to use the name "Queen" and their intentions were no doubt good by adding that "+". They were between a rock and a hard place after Freddie died. They carried on the best they could. John chose to retire but Roger and Brian weren't ready. The Post-Freddie needn't endlessly be compared to Queen 1973-1991. I may have personally found most of the projects since 1995 uninteresting, sometimes daft, but they really got cut short as a band in their prime of life! It can't be easy living in the shadow of their years with Freddie.
I hereby renounce my criticism of them using "Queen +" and applaud them for keeping active and overcoming the odds. Yes, I wish and am puzzled as to why more real Queen music hasn't been released and the whole Queen Extravaganza thing makes me cringe but they haven't taken the good stuff away from me :lol: And there's more to come (Nov 6th for example) but please OH PLEASE do not perform or record with Marc Martel. That would be unforgivable. (Nothing against Martel, super talented, a brother in Christ, and so on but sounds too much like Freddie for comfort. Resist the temptation. Keep your dignity and respect for old Freddie).
Going with an Adam Lambert or Paul Rodgers is the better route. Sure, you'll get bitches and moans but you won't become Journey. An official band transforming into a second rate replica by hiring a sound-a-like lead singer.
So to paraphrase Stephen Colbert when he "roasted" Chevy Chase in 2002. "Keep one thing in mind Brian & Roger as you look upon what Journey has become and in your darkest hour take comfort in something Journey so famously said: "We're Journey...and you're not". And if that doesn't cheer you up then nothing will!"

Nice post YAFF. Just on your point about Marc Martel, I sort of wonder what people really want.

To have Queen sound as close to the years when Freddie was in it or move on and just do solo stuff or do new albums with others like The Cosmos Rocks, which have a completely different sound.

Personally I don't like having the Queen moniker on an album like TCR because it doesn't sound like Queen much at all. Better to say its its by somebody else so people don't have the expectation of a Queen album. I also think doing that would breathe new life into the project. No good for sales though I guess.

Interesting! I, too, respect the Queen+ projects, and even though I rarely like the sound they produce, I totally support Brian and Roger going and continuing to tour. They do sometimes have some moments of brilliance, like whenever Roger stepped up and became the frontman in the AL shows for AKoM and TAtDoOL.

However, I also very much like QE, mainly because they really rocked my world when I went and saw them, and also support what they do with Marc Martel. I'm not sure if MM is a Freddie impersonator or not, but he seems to respect the material and do a lot of justice to it, so it seems pretty good to me.

Overall, this is kind of refreshing. I used to think you were kind of insufferable, with your adamance against Queen+ and anything that you seemed to think even remotely disrespected the great name of Freddie Mercury. I enjoyed reading this post.

Sounded really great 'til the Marc Martel bit. If they did a final big tour with him it would sell big time. A few disgruntled fans would bitch, but then go to the show.
The truth is that in a few years Bri and Rog will retire and people will miss the Queen + thing and will havew to find something else to bitch about

Nice to know many people think like me about Marc Martel.
I wont say he sucks, because he doesnt suck, but I would feel very sad if Queen+ becomes Journey or Yes (with David Benoit)... Of course, Yes is a very different story but the feeling would be very much the same!

Someone please forward this post to Brian and Roger, quickly. They have Yaff's approval about everything Queen+ except Marc Martel. Thanks for clearing all this up, Yaff. Wish we could have had your approval before. I'm sure Brian and Roger will sleep better now. And I'm sure Marc Martel is hurt that you don't approve of him.

How can any of you compare Queen to Journey in any way? Makes me mad!!! Ok, not mad because I don't get mad but seriously... EVEN if they took on Marc Martel I would never compare to the Journey deal. I know, this thread isn't about Marc Martel it's about YAFF having some change of heart. Ok, fine. I still get miffed with Brian.

"OH PLEASE do not perform or record with Marc Martel ... sounds too much like Freddie for comfort"

Ridiculous. The band is dead. No legacy is being tarnished beyond what it has been already from ~2002 to now. It wouldn't kill them to casually gig with the guy. It certainly couldn't do any damage to their reputation if you consider that they played a few horrible shows with Lambert, and it's a month down the track and no one even remembers that it took place.

If you would seriously object to a good night of music being performed by people who are well able to do it, then you have some issues that need correcting. All of this crap about him being too good for the job - honestly, it's hot piss in a bucket on a summer day.

Not at all! I love what Queen have been doing over the past couple of decades...ESPECIALLY "The Cosmos Rocks"! I DEFINITELY think that Marc Martell should join the group! All of the members should be replaces at some point with new young people as well!!! Owww!

I sometimes ask myself if I was wrong about Q+ but no I wasn't. Simply because I never cared for Q+. I was never interested. It wasn't like I gave it a try and hated it. It just never mattered to me.

Much like Queen solo stuff. I couldn't give a rats arse.

This doesn't make me better or worse than other Queen fans. Just makes me sometimes wonder why people would waste their hard earned cash on any of it.

Each to their own...

[QUOTE] [b]Zebonka12 wrote:[/b]
"OH PLEASE do not perform or record with Marc Martel ... sounds too much like Freddie for comfort"
Ridiculous. The band is dead. No legacy is being tarnished beyond what it has been already from ~2002 to now. It wouldn't kill them to casually gig with the guy. It certainly couldn't do any damage to their reputation if you consider that they played a few horrible shows with Lambert, and it's a month down the track and no one even remembers that it took place.
If you would seriously object to a good night of music being performed by people who are well able to do it, then you have some issues that need correcting. All of this crap about him being too good for the job - honestly, it's hot piss in a bucket on a summer day.[/QUOTE]


THANK YOU Z!

well, i will like that brian and roger makes the queen + with marc, but don't do it on the studio, onl in the shows!!

I think they should tour with a new line-up and release a live compilation from different shows (perhaps in venues of different sizes) on audio and film and then after a short break do a little more live stuff before they hit the studio. I would LOVE it if they do new songs, cover songs, and re-recordings across the spectrum of the Queen catelog. But the new studio l.p. really should just be of new songs. I also think that Queen should work with all sorts of people. (Both in the studio and on tour.) This all worked great for "A Concert For Life" and ever since so I am sure it will work in the future.

Queen is dead?
I may be wrong, but, how can a band "being dead" and still playing for hundred of thousands of people (In the Q+PR and Q+AL gigs) keep having lots of tributes by other bands, having a huge amount of re-releases, tribute bands and media exposure, etc etc, at the same time?
I believed a dead band was a band that had great success and now nobody remembers, like The Outlaws.

"Queen is dead?"

Most assuredly. But I think there's a bit of a mixup in your thinking with regards to what that means. Queen, the band - four guys making music - that's been dead for a very long time. The music, the vague sort of entity that we call Queen - you can argue about that having some sort of life of its own (and I would actually agree with that).

But as far as it being anything new or vital - hell no. Dead since the 90's - you can pick whatever particular date suits you, whether it was Freddie dying or the last album coming out. Everything since then has either been a tribute of varying quality, or a lame compromise.

(Note that I'm not being a prick when I say 'varying quality' - I truly do appreciate some of the stuff that Brian and Roger have pulled out of the hat on occasion. There have been some good decisions. But they're rare).