Q+AL - a musician's perspective

I don't like Adams voice. Paul Rodgers, IMHO, was a better choice.
I liked the fact that on the Q+PR tours they played Paul Rodgers' work too.

There were a lot of things I didnt like on the QPR tours (especially the 2008 one) but in general I prefer Paul Rodgers so much more than Adam Lambert.

I would love to see Brian and Roger solo a la Page and Plant. But not with Q+AL.

I don't like the AL's voice I think is not suited to rock

[QUOTE] [b]people on streets wrote:[/b]I would love to see Brian and Roger solo a la Page and Plant. But not with Q+AL. [/QUOTE]
'cept that Page & Plant included a recognised lead singer

An evil painted world-wide unknown teenage-celebrity and Queen easily doesn`t fit. Thats all that has to be said.

Geez Bob, it's absolutely fine if you like it, but why is it not OK if I don't like this? Same as with the Rolling Stones - some people find it great and admirable, I find it awkward. There are people who like it, and people who don't.

To a significant extent, all the supposed extreme negativity about AL is quite simply the result of certain individuals relentlessly shoving AL down the throats of anyone who visits the forum. I personally started out ignoring the whole Q+AL thing, but I got so sick and tired of being confronted with a certain small group of people who kept forcing it into unrelated discussions that I am voicing my displeasure at the whole thing.

You think it's great that they're touring while they still can. That's something you're entitled to, and I hope you enjoy it. I think it's regrettable that they're doing this rather than spending more time on wonderful projects like Rainbow '74. That is my view and I can be as vocal about that as anyone can be about enjoying Q+AL. I simply value concerts and tours far less than I value recordings. I don't see Queen as a band of the present but as a band of the past, and I like to see Queen's history reconstructed through audiovisual recordings, print material, etc. That doesn't make me wrong, or narrow-minded or anything, it just makes me different from you. You of all people should understand that that's perfectly ok.

I find it frankly insulting that you imply that anyone who isn't happy about all this touring stuff is unhappy, bitter or whatnot. I would have expected more nuance from you.

[QUOTE] [b]Mr. Bed Guy wrote:[/b]

An evil painted world-wide unknown teenage-celebrity and Queen easily doesn`t fit. Thats all that has to be said. [/QUOTE]

World-wide unknown? Adam's hardly an unknown....the season of American Idol he was on was the top broadcast prime time show that year....his first 2 albums debuted at #3 and #1.........

And isn't "world-wide unknown teenage-celebrity" a total contradiction?


Personally I would been just fine with Brian+Roger as Queen, a tour and album.....but apparently they just dont wanna do that.........I've grown to quite like Adam's singing..........and I'll be enjoying it tomorrow from the main floor!

[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]
Brian May is 68 next week. .[/QUOTE]


Actually he'll be 67!

[QUOTE]

Yet another bizarre post. Where did yo get the idea I was "boycotting" the shows? I live in the UK. Presumably I am also boycotting the superbowl, the world series etc by not attending events 1000s of miles away? As for my "problem" -- lol! Pot and kettle springs to mind. I have said nothing controversial here. Maybe that's why TRW chose cheap shots rather than respond sensibly. Or maybe his massive ego has got the better of him again. Business as usual on QZ. [b]   [/b]

[b]inu-liger wrote: [/b] [QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]
Leave it to the inherent bitterness of Holly to turn something positive into yet another Bri and Rog trashing session. When's the last time a single post here inspired a dozen people to join just to say "cool, that was refreshing" ? Has it ever happened in the 15 years this place has existed ?? [/QUOTE]

Never! The fact your post has inspired both long time Queen fans (making up the majority of the 'lurkers' here) and newer fans (Queen or AL) to come out in such a huge drove has definitely made this THE Queenzone topic of 2014, and probably will go down as one of the top 10 slam dunk topics ever.

Holly's problem is that he lacks the capability to look at himself from an outsider's perspective (no offense Holly!) so he wouldn't understand in the meantime why many here view him in such a critical fashion, and he probably won't realize it until it's past way too late.
Holly, all I will say is that you literally have absolutely no idea what you are missing by boycotting the shows. And you will regret it someday.

[QUOTE]Of course some people don't like his voice. Art is all about taste. But if Lambert's voice sucks and that's the primary reason why people seem to not like this collaboration, then why are all the arenas full? Why aren't people leaving during the show? And they're not Glambert kids. They're mostly middle aged Queen fans. [/QUOTE]

THIS! ^
I can back this up 100% having been to see two of these shows in separate cities.
[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE] [b]thomasquinn 32989 wrote:[/b]

Geez Bob, it's absolutely fine if you like it, but why is it not OK if I don't like this? Same as with the Rolling Stones - some people find it great and admirable, I find it awkward. There are people who like it, and people who don't.

[/QUOTE]

Of course. I've made it pretty clear that I'm well aware that art is always subject to taste. The people I was aiming at were people who were making it much more personal than that, letting other prejudices get in the way of their judgement.

If people don't want to go to the shows or watch the videos, that's cool. But if they're coming from a place of moral superiority, then they're taking it to another level ... and that's why I felt the need to write what I wrote.

Ok, that's totally fair. I just hope the missionary work between the two sides can cease. Q+AL doesn't bother me, but the 'orthodox' and 'Lambertine' schools of Queen seeking to convert the heathens is getting to me a little...

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

In my general absence here as of late, I thought I'd offer a little something to the ongoing discussion about the current tour.

The negativity on this forum is not unexpected, but still incredibly disappointing to witness. A decade ago Queen fans were aching for any kind of collaboration between Brian and Roger, never mind full-scale tours where they are playing songs they haven't played in 30 years (or ever).

They aren't spring chickens anymore. Brian May is 68 next week. How many 68 year old musicians who understand the health issues and touring schedules of 68 year old musicians and have the balls to cut other 68 year old musicians to shreds over their choices to play their music live as they want to? That's right - none. The self-appointed experts are exclusively those who haven't got a clue about the strain on one's health it is to do one nighters (travel, hotels, soundchecks, tech meetings, physio, etc.) at any age, never mind age 68. I do. I've done it. It's grueling. Most people are completely ignorant of the challenges and hardships one has to put themselves through for months at a time so that you can be entertained for those two hours ONCE.

A few years back Brian May played on Lady Gaga's song You And I. He soon joined her on a big awards show to perform the song, and immediately tens of thousands of kids are asking, "Daddy, who's the old guitar player?" And suddenly they're on YouTube watching Bohemian Rhapsody, perhaps for the first time. Brian May knows exactly what he's doing. He knows his days are limited, and he wants the kids to know who Queen are. The kids know who Lady Gaga is, and they know who Adam Lambert is. They are vessels to the next generation.

Those who found Paul Rodgers unfit for Queen's throne said he was too masculine, too bluesy, too different from what Queen once were. Now they have a flamboyant frontman who wears six outfits like Cher, has an incredible vocal range, and has his own approach to theatricality that smoothly blends into what Queen were all about. Comparing Adam Lambert (or anyone) to the timeless, unadulterated, irreplaceable genius of Freddie Mercury is pointless - but there is no rationale in arguing that he doesn't fit the profile. He does, perfectly. Equally pointless is turning it into an either/or boolean type equation. This mentality is why people of one religion are able to smite those of another. At the risk of sounding pathetically mundane, can't we all just get along?

Sure, Lambert has messed up lyrics on a couple songs he has only sung a few times. So did Freddie Mercury, on songs he had sung dozens or hundreds of times. These guys are human, not machines. This really need not be explained to anyone who isn't fueled by confirmation bias in a time warp.

Osaka '76 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAlNy3t5eiQ#t=25
Stockholm '78 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNS35apx8xk#t=28
Buenos Aires '81 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZoHrbZNRIg#t=15
Birmingham '84 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR5ng7ZmG5I#t=30

Bottom line? Shit happens. Move on.

Music is an experience of emotion. It is the soundtrack of our lives. Songs bring people back to their youth. Changing any one variable can translate to being an attack on one's memory or not being faithful to their past. Just take a deep breath and know that nobody's trying to trivialize that. But let's call a spade a spade. These feelings of having realized that 30 years have passed and that your dreams didn't come true and that you're 50-something and missed the boat are then externalized onto the music of your youth, that time of hopes and dreams - when we were kids when we were young and things seemed so perfect, you know - and the creators of said music are typecast into the listener's past and are almost not allowed to live in the present. Ask Journey fans who can't hear Steve Perry sing Don't Stop Believin' with his old mates anymore, or Yes fans who can't hear Jon Anderson do And You And I or Roundabout. Some people would prefer to see Brian and Roger call it a day because Freddie Mercury died. Fortunately they don't care about your opinion. Even if they did, they wouldn't have time for it. They have packed arenas to play to.

When one has run out of arguments (such as "all they play is the hits - boring!" now that they're doing a few obscure tunes), the last resort is to complain that the tempos of the tunes are too slow. These guys are in their 60s. Do you not realize that a 60-something year old body doesn't work like a 20-something year old body works? Some people can just never be pleased. I have news for you - the tempos of many of the tunes were once getting much too fast. Let Me Entertain You started to sound like a bear trapped in a cave high on angel dust. Oh, the silliness of youth. They've grown up now. Perspective sucks, doesn't it?

It's easy to throw stones from your glass house, and so much harder to cast your ego or preconceptions aside and simply be happy that these guys who formed a band you supposedly love are touring again. Do you think they're playing Now I'm Here, Stone Cold Crazy and Love Kills for the man on the street? No, you numbskulls. They're playing it for YOU - you know, the thousands of people who read forums like this and have been waiting 30 years for Queen to tour the US and play the old songs again. They're saying thanks for waiting for the circumstances to present themselves and for the right moment to arrive. And that moment is now. And you're all too stuck in the past and your own anger to notice. Instead of trying on a different coloured shirt, you're on setlist.fm changing every song of every show to "Queen cover," as if to imply that your definition of Queen is more valid than the people who formed the band. To quote the great Roger Taylor - I pity you. You suck.

So I echo the sentiments of those who say the naysayers tend to be unhappy people who want to drag happy and successful people down to the basement of life where they currently reside rather than seek their own happiness. I fear that many people will be kicking themselves one day for choosing to miss out on what may be the final tour of the remaining members of Queen. I don't expect to change anyone's mind, but stranger things have happened.

Contrary to what's happening in the real world where there are a ton of positive reviews of the tour (including from Rolling Stone, a magazine that has notoriously panned Queen as if it were a sport), there seems to be a need to provide something to complement the overwhelming "waaahhh, waaaahhhh, I'm a binary thinking closed minded idiot and can't perform a resurrection, therefore Lambert sucks and Bri and Rog should retire and/or die" attitude that tends to pervade places like this in times like this. So let the mudslinging, reflection, glee, and/or despair begin.[/QUOTE]



where the fuck do people get time to write passages like these. do people on this site actually have a life? i really wonder not being smart just being serious.

[QUOTE] [b]thomasquinn 32989 wrote:[/b]

Ok, that's totally fair. I just hope the missionary work between the two sides can cease. Q+AL doesn't bother me, but the 'orthodox' and 'Lambertine' schools of Queen seeking to convert the heathens is getting to me a little...[/QUOTE]

Yeah, agreed.

Maybe I should write an open letter to the Glamberts just to even out the playing field, but methinks that wouldn't garner the overall positive response this one did .. ;)

[QUOTE] [b]una999 wrote:[/b]

where the fuck do people get time to write passages like these. do people on this site actually have a life? i really wonder not being smart just being serious. [/QUOTE]

Bach used to churn out one choral piece per week for the church. You've be surprised at what people with a life, passion and drive can pack into their day. For starters, I skip the videos of cats falling down stairs and don't watch reality TV.

It took me a couple weeks to write the article. A few minutes here, a few minutes there.

I very much appreciate QAL's effort to bring back the core sound and feel of Queen, but too many issues with the tour. Before listing them I would like to see the CD or DVD of the concert. So far there have been negative reviews from a few significant sources. But still too early for me to pronounce the project IMO shitty. I can say at this point Lambert's voice can really suck at times from the clips that I have seen and his Killer Queen antics don't sell me at all.

I can vouch for The Real Wizard... This man has a hell of a good life and one that I admire! giggity...