To the complete Mr.Bad Guy Album - according to Roger, Freddie did it because his american label offers him a bunch of money.[/QUOTE]
I think it was on " The great Pretender" documentary that it was stated by a producer ( perhaps it was David Richards) that by the time Freddie he presented to him the final mix of Mr Bad Guy, he seemed already out of it.
The producer said that in point Freddie was like " ok,enough with this let me put a record of a great opera diva".
On other occasions he seemed excited about Mr. Bad Guy. Like "i made the orchestra play every note they had never played in their life" or the famous " so ask me about my solo album- oh its great".
So perhaps he started with great enthusiasm but lost it in the process(...too much freedom can be a backlash creativly) , and ALSO becouse he may already been flirting with the idea of a real original and unique project- his collaboration with Caballe- or at least with a project of that calliber rather than "another bunch of songs" album wich Mr. Bad Guy was.
[/QUOTE] It's hard to figure out what was going on in his head with Mr. Bad Guy...He could have hired top notch players with the money he had...Cozy powell on drums, jeff beck on guitar, ect, ect...The guy deserved a solo album, Roger had a few already...why not Freddie?
Vocal harmony · Member since
The simple fact is that when left to his own devices FM's song writing and performance across the spectrum of a whole album didn't live up to expectations.
Columbia were obviously expecting Mr Bad Guy to out sell what Queen were doing. And I'm sure Freddie thought so too.
Jim Beach is even on film saying that after Mr Bad Guy FM came back to band with his tail between his legs. Reading between the lines, as it was, could the Jim Beach coment be taken as FM was taking the initial steps to a split from the band, which he didn't go through with because of the way the album stiffed.
Mike G · Member since
It really had nothing to do with Freddie couldn't make great music on his own, Even in Queen his music isn't what it was in the 70's...A kind of /magic wasn't the greatest album in the world either...He only wrote one really good song on that album.....The bottom line is every writer goes through dry spells...ups and downs...Barcelona was one of the best albums he ever done IMO, I know other people who feel the same way...Not every album is gonna be on that level. Once he got the prince/Jackson/duran duran influence out of his system the results were there...And course when he stopped the partying...He didn't have a long enough solo career to Judge how he would have done..Remember, Bad Guy was recorded between Queen records and tours...Barcelona he had more time, and had Mike moran to push him....I think Freddie did get a bit lazy in the 80's....In the 70's he didn't need a push to record complex music...Saying all that, I don't think he ever would have become the hit machine he was in the first ten years of Queen career...Once you lose that, it's hard to get it back....
musicland munich · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]Stelios wrote:[/b]
@The Real Wizard
"a) the rest of the band were pretty miffed that Mercury got a bigger advance for Mr Bad Guy than they got for The Works"
You mean Columbia gave Freddie a bigger budget to work on than EMI gave to Queen for The Works?[/QUOTE]
According to this rumour by Mr. Fest - I guess we are talking about a lot of cash...well "if" that is true.
Apocalipsis_Darko · Member since
Mack said Freddie began with full or energy, but the temptations in Munich....disturbed the right direction of the album.
Rudolph Schenker was asked by Freddie to play as guest musician.
Pingfah · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]Stelios wrote:[/b]
@The Real Wizard
"a) the rest of the band were pretty miffed that Mercury got a bigger advance for Mr Bad Guy than they got for The Works"
You mean Columbia gave Freddie a bigger budget to work on than EMI gave to Queen for The Works?[/QUOTE]
Indeed, yes.
[/QUOTE]
If I recall correctly it was the biggest advance they had ever given to a solo artist.
Sebastian · Member since
The bottom line is, they were all quite supportive of Freddie's one and only solo album, as they were of his duet album. Likewise, Freddie wrote to the Fan Club in 1981 that he really liked Roger's début record, and it was he who persuaded Brian to release 'Driven by You', which also implies he thought highly of it.
All four band members did a lot of cameos on their bandmates off-Queen projects, and there used to be a lot of crosspollination (e.g., some sessions for 'The Miracle', 'Back to the Light' and 'Barcelona' overlapped, as did 'Innuendo', 'Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know', 'Macbeth' and, again, 'Back to the Light').
cmsdrums · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]
The bottom line is, they were all quite supportive of Freddie's one and only solo album, as they were of his duet album. Likewise, Freddie wrote to the Fan Club in 1981 that he really liked Roger's début record, and it was he who persuaded Brian to release 'Driven by You', which also implies he thought highly of it..[/QUOTE]
My reading of the Driven By You release was not necessarily that Freddie liked it (though he may well have done), but that Brian was going to delay it due to Freddie's illness and imminent death, but Freddie insisted that he carry on as that shouldn't interfere with the already planned release.
Stelios · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]cmsdrums wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]
The bottom line is, they were all quite supportive of Freddie's one and only solo album, as they were of his duet album. Likewise, Freddie wrote to the Fan Club in 1981 that he really liked Roger's début record, and it was he who persuaded Brian to release 'Driven by You', which also implies he thought highly of it..[/QUOTE]
My reading of the Driven By You release was not necessarily that Freddie liked it (though he may well have done), but that Brian was going to delay it due to Freddie's illness and imminent death, but Freddie insisted that he carry on as that shouldn't interfere with the already planned release.[/QUOTE]
I remember reading a quote implying that Freddie said to Brian that this would be great timing as Driven By You would have an advance due to attention from his death. But even for Freddie's standards i think this is stretching things a bit too much.
Darren_1977 · Member since
It seems strange to me that Ford wanted Brian to record a song for them and not the band.
Sebastian · Member since
What I read (and there could be a kind of broken telephone or whatever, I'm aware of that) is that Brian at some point asked Freddie to sing it but he (Freddie) said it was absolutely fine with Brian's voice. Then Brian told him he was apprehensive about releasing it when there was so much press about Freddie's health and Fred replied he (Brian) wouldn't be able to get better advertising than that.
The fact DBY was released the day after Freddie died was a coincidence: for it to have been released, they most likely planned it ca 6 weeks in advance (at least) and, of course, by then, they didn't know the exact date when Fred was gonna die... they knew it could be any moment, but not necessarily the exact one.
Stelios · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]
The fact DBY was released the day after Freddie died was a coincidence.[/QUOTE]
Oh, i didn't knew that! However according to wikipedia
"It was released on 6 November 1991, just 18 days before the death of May's bandmate Freddie Mercury."
Sebastian · Member since
Could anyone clarify this? Wiki's not always reliable, but maybe the web or mag where I read it isn't reliable either....
cmsdrums · Member since
I recall it being released on the 25th November 1991, and the fact that 6 November 91 wasn't a Monday (the traditional day of the week for UK releases at that time) makes me think that Wiki is incorrect.
cmsdrums · Member since
On a related point to teh band's view on Freddie's material, does anyone have any knowledge of Mike Moran's view on the new edition of Barcelona? I'm intrigued as to why Stuart Morley, and not Moran, reworked it. Perhaps Moran was asked and didn't want to do it, but I'd like to know if there is any extensive reporting of his opinion on it being done in principal and also his thoughts on the (variable) results.
