‘People will take it or leave it’: Queen’s Roger Taylor on replacing Freddi

Roger Taylor defends the choice of Adam Lambert to front Queen after being asked, in a newly published talk with Classic Rock magazine, if he is “selling the band short by having a guy from American Idol as your singer.”

Taylor and Brian May will appear with Lambert at the iHeart music festival, to be held at the MGM Grand on September 20-21, 2013 in Las Vegas. He’s been filling in, over a series of appearances, since 2009 for Freddie Mercury — the legendary Queen singer who passed in 1991 after a bout with AIDS.

Posed the question about Lambert, Taylor fires back: “Whatever you do, people will take it or leave it. That’s always the case.”

Taylor has also completed a rare solo effort, his initial effort away from Queen since 1998's Electric Fire.

Called Fun on Earth, it’s due in October, and will reportedly include a redo of “Say It’s Not True,” the debut single from the late-2000s collaboration with Lambert’s immediate successor in Queen, Paul Rodgers. This new take on the track, composed by Taylor and released in 2007 as a benefit for an AIDS foundation spearheaded by Nelson Mandela, will feature Jeff Beck on guitar.

Taylor says the project title, Fun on Earth, has special meaning.

“My first solo effort (in 1981) was called Fun in Space,” Taylor tells Classic Rock. “I’ve called this one Fun on Earth. I’ve come down to earth a bit, but there’s still a bit of fun in there — some smiley tracks.”

http://somethingelsereviews.com/2013/08/20/people-will-take-it-or-leave-it-queens-roger-taylor-on-replacing-freddie-mercury-with-adam-lambert/

I loved the fact that in that inteview, when referring to why they reduced the number of people in the Extravaganza, he said it was because he didn't want it to be close to 'musical theatre as he hates all that over singing' - this is whilst working with Adam Lambert!!!

Here, here cmsdrums!! There is a perceivable difference between Queen's richly textured vocal harmonies and counter melodies to the overt mutilation of melodic lines that young Mr Lambert is so obviously guilty of. The contradiction in Roger's thinking and justification are indeed perplexing! How too does it make the two ex-singers of Queen Extravaganza now feel? Redundant, under-valued and out of a job!

Personally I feel he is right to not care overly what (some) think, if I were in his situation I wouldn't care either, you either take it or leave it, he has nothing to prove and can do what he likes with Queen. At the end of the day they can play with who they like and call it whatever they like, they own it...

I saw QE twice and Jeff Scott Sotto was, by far, the best singer in the Extravaganza. Come on, he is a pro. One of the best! He was the only person onstage with a real rock feel.

No ofense intended to the others, they are very good, but certainly not rockers.

Moreover, Jeff clearly loved what he was doing. I felt like he was "one of us" onstage.

Cheers,

Ogre-

[QUOTE] [b]Arnaldo "Ogre-" Silveira wrote:[/b]

I felt like he was "one of us" onstage.

[/QUOTE]

A QZoner? :p

^ surely he would've been better singing than posting on a forum. After all, people paid good money to see him :p

As good as JSS is *now* (I will admit the Edmonton show changed my views towards his singing technique, which definitely has improved and loosened up sometime recently), on the other hand Marc Martel was more able to maintain a clean voice even by the tour's end, cos JSS sure sounded rough as heck in the first half of the show, and when we discussed this at the post-show meet & greet, he acknowledged it and admitted he also had vocal problems in Calgary the show before. I think that shows he still has some work to do in the vocal consistency department since he still puts a lot of effort into his power technique.

[QUOTE] [b]Thistleboy1980 wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]Arnaldo "Ogre-" Silveira wrote:[/b]

I felt like he was "one of us" onstage.

[/QUOTE]

A QZoner? :p

[/QUOTE]

No, a Gremlin! :))

I mean, yes, a queenzoner or any other kind of freaky fan like "us". :)

Hates all that over singing but is fully behind the WWRY musical........how contradictory.

I'll think I'll leave it then Roger!!!

Well Roger when you say people will take it or leave it
regarding Adam Lambert, then i will leave it, because
The brilliance of Freddie compared to a washed up reality star does not add up, and yes Rog your selling yourself short with Brian.
No wonder John left the band when he did.
I will NEVER buy anything will Lambert in it, because i am highly offended that he thinks he can further his career just because he is on stage with Brian and Rog singing Freds songs, which he cant do.
Personally i think Bri and Rog have got a bit too desperate taking anyone on as lead singer.
No respect for Freddie in my opinion.

What ever it takes to keep Queen & Freddie Mercury in our conscious minds. We all know that Adam Lambert is gay . Please don't make a big thing of it. You are a good fit.

[QUOTE] [b]whitequeen2 wrote:[/b]

What ever it takes to keep Queen & Freddie Mercury in our conscious minds. We all know that Adam Lambert is gay . Please don't make a big thing of it. You are a good fit.[/QUOTE]

I'm sorry, but having AL as a "replacement" does not keep Freddie's memory alive - instead, it's seen as pissing over his legacy and making Queen a joke. It's putting people off - especially as it's a touch of hypocrisy. If you delve back a bit in time, Roger himself was slagging off shows like the X-Factor and American Idol.....and now look :(

RE not making a big thing of Lambert being gay.....WELL SAID!!!

He's still not a good fit, though.....

Both Roger and Brian have made clear their dislike of talent shows. However they have never criticized the contestants on these shows. What they have both said in the past is that they don't like the way some judges and producers on some of these shows treat the people on stage.

Queen are a band that will always have a problem finding a singer that can cope convincingly with the wide ranging vocals that their work needs. Their would seem to be plenty of singers who can cope with one or two Queen songs, but very few who could share a stage for two hours with them and perform a cross section of their work.

I know a lot of people on here will say that Marc Martel should be their front man. Well in the Extavaganza show he doesn't sing everything and also BM and RT don't want to share the stage with a Freddie sound alike. A Freddie sound alike would be just that, not the real thing. Second rate. In Adam Lambert they have someone they get on with and is willing to try different things. Something that can not be said of Paul Rodgers. Also the shows I saw last year were better than any of the PR fronted shows I've seen.

The guy can sing, if he couldn't they wouldn't have asked him back.