What would be the best and worst versions of It's A Hard Life (live)

[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]

Even though Mercury doesn't hit the high notes at the beginning and end of the song, my favourite version is Osaka 5-15-85.

It just seems to mean something to him on that night, and he pours his heart out during that second verse.[/QUOTE]

Last show of the tour (and Japan in general)! He was probably emotional about that.

Milan is pretty decent as well.

I'd post a link to the best one they ever did, but since Freddie wasn't at the show it probably wouldn't be appreciated.

[QUOTE] [b]Zebonka12 wrote:[/b]

I'd post a link to the best one they ever did, but since Freddie wasn't at the show it probably wouldn't be appreciated.[/QUOTE]

I'm guessing it's the Prince's Trust 2011 version (with Tom Chaplin). I love that version.

[QUOTE] [b]Gregsynth wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]Zebonka12 wrote:[/b]

I'd post a link to the best one they ever did, but since Freddie wasn't at the show it probably wouldn't be appreciated.[/QUOTE]

I'm guessing it's the Prince's Trust 2011 version (with Tom Chaplin). I love that version.

[/QUOTE]It's surely not the best version.
Great as it is, I'd take any version with Freddie over it ... simply because Freddie's voice is so beautiful when singing that song (even when he's not hitting the higher notes). Tokyo 05-11-85 for example is truly amazing aswell, showcasing why FM is such a great singer/performer (one of the very very best). There's more to singing live than just reproducing the record. Unexpected things happening is what makes listening to unofficial recordings such a great hobby...
I'm actually very happy to be a Freddie fan instead of someone who always reproduced his songs note for note on stage (that'd be sooo boring!). Freddie had to adjust the songs to his level of confidence and what was available in terms of range (the nodules problem). While during that he was also entertaining the audience, really making contact. That must be SO hard (to combine both...).

That's a very stale attitude.

[QUOTE] [b]Zebonka12 wrote:[/b]

That's a very stale attitude.[/QUOTE]

^ hyperbole alert.

I think it's justifiable to have used the word 'stale', here. The musicianship and adoration of the source material on display at the Prince's Trust gig shouldn't be so summarily swept under the rug just because 'well no one's ever going to do it like Freddie'.

There couldn't be a bigger stating-of-the-obvious, if you ask me. Of course it's not the same as Freddie. He's dead. On a world with 7 billion pricks who all have something to say, I can't imagine anything more tiresome than complaining when one doesn't sound like the other. Tom Chaplin did an outstanding show, and I don't take any great pleasure in saying this, but on that particular song he was doing a more competent job than Freddie.

I'm speaking mainly in musical terms though. I get it - we can go on, and on, and on, and on about 'well Freddie's voice wasn't so great at this gig' or 'well it's Freddie's song so it means more coming from him' or whatever bollocks - I'm not interested in that. Someone asked what the best version was - the Prince's Trust one is definitely up there, and it gets points for being a post-1991 show that didn't actually suck the Devil's 'Nads like most of the rest.

I make no apologies for not wanting to swallow the same crap that's been posted for the past 20+ years concerning any attempt to perform a Queen song. "Great as it is, I'll take Freddie any day" - I perfectly understand the very human impulse to be couched in denial by employing the use of old recordings to conjure up memories of a talented soul that we all adored (!) but it's not terribly realistic and is counterproductive when it comes to keeping music alive. Part of that is (obviously) live music. Music needs to be performed, otherwise it's nothing.

I love It's A Hard Life and I love Freddie's performances of it (even the ones where his voice is shot to shit), but we shouldn't kid ourselves that someone can't come along and go one better - not as an attempt to piss on Freddie's memory, but to pay tribute to it. These artists get penalised for not being Freddie; if anything, the guy should get a couple of bonus points for *not* being Freddie.

Great post.

Indeed - immunity to criticism is something a lot of hardcore fans of any artist live by. That said, I don't think there's anything like that in this thread.

Just wait until that Treasure Moment troll sees this. He'll call you an infidel for saying something that goes against his "Freddie is the god of music" mantra.

About my very stale attitude :-)

I knew at the time of my post that this reaction would come and I don't have any problem with that (I have concert recording of many many artists, not only Queen but even some Keane ;-). And yet, I stand by my position. I'll explain why.
My post is obviously - I will not deny this - evidence of the fact that I'm a Queen and Freddie fan (the reason why I'm on this forum :-).
But, imo there is an important piece of my text which Zebonka missed: "simply Because Freddie's voice is so beautiful when singing that song"
Indeed, I was talking about a specific song: it's a hard life. I've heard others brag about that particular Tom Chaplin version and I gave it a listen (and watch) but it just didn't work for me... While his singing is obviously great he just didn't give the body to the vocal which I adore when Freddie is singing it. I prefer (most of) the live versions with no to very little falsetto over the studioversion so you can imagine that nailing the studio vocal lines is of no importance to me.
That's my opinion and it's a legitimate one. Actually, I prefer Play the game live over Play the game studio while maybe Play the game studio has "better" singing than play the game live. i just prefer the full voice singing ... Which is an opinion, nothing more nothing less.
But I'm not the kind of fan that can not admit that George Michael sang STL closer to the record during the FM tribute than Freddie during live shows. So, I understand - from a musical point of view - people saying they prefer George Michael on FM's live versions.

Sorry, double post.

Both the "very stale attitude" and the longer post above from Zebonka start off from a couple of prejudices and assumptions. Being a frequent visitor of this forum I understand where this is coming from but it is not applicable here:-) I know there are quite a few people on here which can say no wrong about Freddie. You will never hear me claim Freddie was always the perfect singer. He wasn't. There's lots - from a technical point of view - to be said about FM's singing. But, for me it's obvious that I'm not a fan of the musician with the most technical ability but I'm a fan of the artist which music and performance touches me the most.
In my case it's Freddie and I should not apologise for that either...
It's fully possible to prefer Freddie's versions of Freddie's (or Queen's work) and at the same time adore Tom Chaplin for what he does with his own band. I think Zebonka goes a bit too far by saying that I penalise Chaplin (which is a great singer!) by preferring Freddie's singing over his.

And I go to tribute bands and adore any musician playing Queen songs so don't worry about that:-) Queen's music will not die because of me. And I'm collecting/buying music (lots of jazz lately) all the time so other artists should not complain either.

"Just wait until that Treasure Moment troll sees this. He'll call you an infidel for saying something that goes against his "Freddie is the god of music" mantra"

I think I can live with the consequences of his opinions (ie. none). Haha.

"I think Zebonka goes a bit too far by saying that I penalise Chaplin (which is a great singer!) by preferring Freddie's singing over his"

I dunno - it just seems curious to single out a song like this, which honestly wasn't Freddie's ace-in-the-hole when it came to live numbers. Mind you, there's a few I don't enjoy as much from this live era, "I Want To Break Free" being another one. I don't think it was a song whose live treatments ever did it any enormous favours, back in the day.

It's no biggie to prefer one version over another, but I think to paint the Chaplin version with the same brush of 'technical ability isn't as important as x or y', when Chaplin's performance wasn't just a case of him hitting notes accurately. There's a vibe in that thing which is painfully absent in so many Q+Whoever shows, at least on his part - he seems to genuinely be out there for love of the material. Compare that to Adam Lambert treating my favourite band like a hanky, and maybe one might understand why I'm ranking it so highly. Haha.

Leiden '84 is very good!! A bit the same as Rio.