I've always believed that Freddie had planned the Mr Bad Guy album as a major step to becoming a solo artist and leaving the band.
IMO the fact the album didn't sell well forced Freddie to reconsider his options and return to the band.
Last night I was watching a bit of Days Of Our Lives on BBC TV and two snippets of interviews I hadn't notched before jumped out. The first was Roger Taylor who said in 85 they had a meeting to decide whether or not they were all still in the band. The other was with Freddie at the time of Bad Guy who said when you've been in a successful band it's nice to break away, he then looks at the camera and says by that I mean permanently!
From what was said it sounds like he had left the
band.
musicland munich · Member since
Nah, I don`t think so...if he was looking for opportunitys he would have sign with "Geffen"..they want him for "any" price .
The King Of Rhye · Member since
hmm.......perhaps...........didnt they pretty much say that Live Aid convinced them all to keep going as a band?
MercurialFreddie · Member since
Brian said in the Days Of Our Lives documentary that after finishing The Works album there was a feeling that maybe that was "it", that they achieve what they could and it was time to ebb away from the music scene.
Personally I think that from the psychological point of view, they needed a break from Queen, they were in the same band for 14 years and maybe working together, being together and playing together bored them, they needed a break. I base my assumption on the fact that every member of Queen has drifted into "solo projects" around that time.
tero! 48531 · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Vocal harmony wrote:[/b]
The other was with Freddie at the time of Bad Guy who said when you've been in a successful band it's nice to break away, he then looks at the camera and says by that I mean permanently!
From what was said it sounds like he had left the
band.
[/QUOTE]
Sure... He also said that he was going to be a strip artist, that Queen would be buying the hungarian parliament building if only there were enough rooms, and that he was in fact Kim Basinger.
Maybe you shouldn't take his every word literally.
miraclesteinway · Member since
I think that Mr Bad Guy took so long to record that actually it wasn't, at least initially, conceived as a break away from Queen. However, perhaps by the time it was released, it was. Who knows?
The sad fact of Mr Bad Guy, as a record, is that it isn't really that good. In its favour it has some AMAZING vocals on it (and some less than amazing vocals on it), and the title track Mr Bad Guy is actually, in my own opinion, a masterpiece. I'm so glad he used an orchestra on that. Freddie really suited that orchestral, almost filmic sound, and I think if there was more of that on the album, it would have been a better piece of work. The actual songs themselves weren't bad - Made In Heaven is excellent (although I personally feel he picked a key that was too high and doesn't work well for his voice on that number), and I was born to love you sounded far better with the Queen input of '95, so the song itself is good. My love is dangerous is a strange one for me, perhaps if he'd knocked it down a couple of keys, taken off the reverb and made it darker it could have been a good single. Love me like there's no tomorrow isn't that great, Let's turn it on sounds cliched to my ear (although his voice gymnastics are to be envied), and Man Made Paradise is, well, actually perhaps if that had the Mr Bad Guy orchestral treatment it would have actually been a great number.
I think Foolin' Around and Your Kind of Lover are strong tracks that could have been good singles, but the mix wasn't so great.
Hey, those are my personal views on the LP - I've actually enjoyed listening to the LP on many occasions as a snap shot of Freddie at that time, and some songs have grown on me. I have a soft spot for it even if it's not my favourite.
One thing I do like about the album is the way that Freddie seems to let rip in a way that wasn't quite happening on the Queen albums of the time - he really throws everything in to the album, experimenting with different styles, different ways of singing (the choir at the end of Paradise - is it Paradise that has that?), and he deserves to be applauded for the range of ideas on it, even if they didn't all come off.
To me it shows Freddie up as a great creative artist, with a load of wonderful ideas that perhaps nobody else could think of, but in some ways he was a bit haywire at that time, and having the other members of Queen was, perhaps, a better way for him to channel his creativity. I don't know. I'm just rambling now. I'll shut up.
MercurialFreddie · Member since
You forgot There Must Be More To Life Than This which is a great ballad and still by many is regarded as superior to the new mix. Back in the 1985, orchestra/strings would be a better choice than synths on a few Bad Guy tracks incl. TMBMTLTT.
Vocal harmony · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]tero! 48531 wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]Vocal harmony wrote:[/b]
The other was with Freddie at the time of Bad Guy who said when you've been in a successful band it's nice to break away, he then looks at the camera and says by that I mean permanently!
From what was said it sounds like he had left the
band.
[/QUOTE]
Sure... He also said that he was going to be a strip artist, that Queen would be buying the hungarian parliament building if only there were enough rooms
and that he was in fact Kim Basinger.
Maybe you shouldn't take his every word literally.[/QUOTE]
I think it was obvious when Freddie was joking or being flippant.
In the interview he came across as being serious. If your view is adopted then you would be in a position to believe anything he says, just in case. . .
miraclesteinway · Member since
It could be that Freddie wanted a solo album and wrote specifically for that, or it could be that the songs that ended up on Mr Bad Guy were ones that didn't fit in with Queen at the time. Or both, you know. It's well known that Queen were getting pretty tired of being Queen by 1985.
pittrek · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Vocal harmony wrote:[/b]
I've always believed that Freddie had planned the Mr Bad Guy album as a major step to becoming a solo artist and leaving the band.
IMO the fact the album didn't sell well forced Freddie to reconsider his options and return to the band.
Last night I was watching a bit of Days Of Our Lives on BBC TV and two snippets of interviews I hadn't notched before jumped out. The first was Roger Taylor who said in 85 they had a meeting to decide whether or not they were all still in the band. The other was with Freddie at the time of Bad Guy who said when you've been in a successful band it's nice to break away, he then looks at the camera and says by that I mean permanently!
From what was said it sounds like he had left the
band.
[/QUOTE]
I haven't seen the documentary since 2011 but didn't Roger say they had the meetings after the Hot Space tour and not in 1985? And I always thought Freddie was joking when he implied he would leave, at least that's the feeling I got from the interviews I've seen.
I've always believed that Freddie had planned the Mr Bad Guy album as a major step to becoming a solo artist and leaving the band.
IMO the fact the album didn't sell well forced Freddie to reconsider his options and return to the band.
Last night I was watching a bit of Days Of Our Lives on BBC TV and two snippets of interviews I hadn't notched before jumped out. The first was Roger Taylor who said in 85 they had a meeting to decide whether or not they were all still in the band. The other was with Freddie at the time of Bad Guy who said when you've been in a successful band it's nice to break away, he then looks at the camera and says by that I mean permanently!
From what was said it sounds like he had left the band. [/QUOTE]
And I always thought Freddie was joking when he implied he would leave, at least that's the feeling I got from the interviews I've seen.[/QUOTE]
Yes. In 1987 he also said "Now I'm going to opera, forget rock & roll."
winterspelt · Member since
Yeah, I always had the feeling that he wanted to leave the band. Jim Beach and Roger are clear about Freddie considering to leave the band.
Rick · Member since
Live Aid must have been the turning point then?
Vocal harmony · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Rick wrote:[/b]
Live Aid must have been the turning point then?[/QUOTE]
In the past Jim Beach and Bob Geldof have both said Freddie had to be talked into doing Live Aid.
I think it was a turning point, but had Mr Bad Guy sold well, maybe Queen at Live Aid wouldn't have happened.
Rick · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Vocal harmony wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]Rick wrote:[/b]
Live Aid must have been the turning point then?[/QUOTE]
In the past Jim Beach and Bob Geldof have both said Freddie had to be talked into doing Live Aid.
I think it was a turning point, but had Mr Bad Guy sold well, maybe Queen at Live Aid wouldn't have happened. [/QUOTE]
