What If Mr Bad Guy Got Canned?

Yes but it couldn't have sold ten million copies. The synth sounds on the album were dated before it was released, there was no innovative production, and some of the songs were simply not that great.

Interesting Matt, that you hear Let's Turn It On as a Queen song because I really don't. Or were you being ironic? Perhaps it's a Hot Space song. I think the vocal on it is outstanding, but the song is rubbish.

Made In Heaven is a very Queen-styled song, and history tells us the band agreed. I was born to love you doesn't sound like it should be a Queen song, but when I hear the Queen version it sounds like it should never have been anything but a Queen song. Foolin' Around sounds like a Queen B-side, but also sounds like it was written for a film (in fact, it was used in a film after the fact wasn't it?), and Your Kind Of Lover sounds disconnected from what Queen were doing at that particular time.

Mr Bad Guy itself is a pretty awesome song, and I love the orchestral arrangement. In fact I wish that Freddie had gone down that road for the whole album, rather than producing an album of weak synth-pop.

I thought that there was a Queen version of Man Made Paradise kicking around, but I could be making that up or have misread something previously. I thought it was supposed to appear on the Works or something and didn't get finished.

My Love is Dangerous isn't my favourite song but I expect it could have been improved with a more careful production, There Must Be More To Life Than This sounds exactly like a classic Queen ballad, Living on My Own is actually a strong track but I think it was improved by the remixes of '93 even though I don't listen to dance music. Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow is absolutely Queen, but it's too, well, I don't know what the word is, but it sounds like something that should be played in a cheap cocktail bar with a warm Piña Colada and a cheap fountain in the garden or something.

Matt, I think you're right in saying that the songs on Bad Guy are not unique in style when compared to Freddie's Queen songs, but at the same time I think they don't fit what was going on with Queen in the same period.

The problem with the album is that it was kind of hurried (despite taking what, 4 years to make?) and slotted in between other projects. The songs seem like good ideas that were never properly finished, and the production and arrangements are frankly rank in places. I think Freddie should have teamed up with a strict producer who would force him into working properly, but he was too out of his head on coke during most of the time he was making the album. He should probably also have sought help from another songwriter too, and collaborated.

Mr Bad Guy sounds like the work of a very talented man who believed he was an untouchable genius, and for that reason thought he could do anything - or more accurately - thought that any record he released, regardless of the quality, would be loved and lauded by his adoring public.

I don't think that a Queen version of the album would really work, although if they got John Deacon on board to put some good bass in the songs, stripped down the guitars and cut some bits out of the songs, it would probably start to sound more like a Works/Magic type period album.

Can't agree more with you, miraclesteinway ! And yes, Foolin' Around was used in the movie Teachers (1984).

As to the Man Made Paradise track, it originated as a Queen track and as QueenVault.com states, the demo was played at the 16th International Fan Club Convention in Prestatyn. What is more, a bit of early version of this track can be heard in The Untold Story Documentary.

Talking about Foolin' Around, I much prefer the remixed version that's on "The Very Best Of Freddie Mercury Solo" CD. Seems to be this one - [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37yNtqWgi4I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37yNtqWgi4I[/url] .

[QUOTE] [b]matt z wrote:[/b]

^ the songs don't all suck. (*such in German)

[/QUOTE]

What ? We pronounce it different :)

Let`s turn it on ? As soon Fred would`ve started the Demo, John probably gives it a smile on his face... while Bri`s face wents more reddish than his Red Special....

To my ears Lets Turn It On has Brain May playing on it, just like Love Kills...

Let's make that Brian!

it possibly does!

You know, as a piece of concept cabaret, it might have worked. get rid of the synths, strip it back to piano, bass and drums, and it could have a nouveau Kurt Weill feel about it.

@Miraclesteinway, I find it always a pleasure to read your very thoughtful comments. But one thing I'd like to ask you, why on earth should Freddie team up with another writer for his solo album? It was afterall his solo album, furthermore, I believe that Freddie is a vey capable songwriter and producer. When the album was released I was very impressed with the result, I never had the feeling that the album was out dated or four years too late for it's release. Nowadays the Bad Guy album gives me still very pleasable moments. In mine humble opinion, I don't believe that it is Brian on let's Turn It On, I could be wrong though.....


Tom

Sorry Miraclesteinway, you did not wrote that Freddie should teamed up with another writer, but with a strict producer, sorry I've jumped too early for a conclusion. In that case you're could be right.....


Tom

Hi Tom,

Well, I think in some cases it would have been good for Freddie to have worked with another song writer, or producer who also wrote songs. Most producers actually do some song writing, even though it's not their primary earner. What I mean is that for the album to have been a commercial success (which is what Freddie was wanting after all), some of the songs could have actually been more streamlined. OK, in terms of production the songs were stripped down, but in terms of composition, some of them wandered quite a bit.

As an album, it also sounds very one-sided because of that pervasive synth pad on it. There's a lot of excellent ideas on it, but it could have been executed better. It does sound like he was deliberately trying not to produce a Queen album, and pushed himself too far in a direction that he didn't have enough experience in for it to work properly. There were numerous producers at that time who could have helped Freddie get the sound that he wanted - or that would have worked better with these songs - or would have made a more commercial success. Freddie though wanted to stay within the realms of his comfort zone. He worked primarily with Mack, and he even demo'd some of the songs with Queen before stripping their parts off - if indeed all of the parts were stripped off.

When Freddie got to work on Barcelona, and the songs in 1987 that might have become his second solo album had he not done Barcelona (It's so you, etc), it seemed he'd learned his lesson and that's why he teamed up with Mike Moran for the Great Pretender onwards. Mike Moran is a very slick composer and musician, and has ears like few other people in the business. He's now a lecturer at the Royal College of Music in London - not because he needs the money, but because they want him there. Mike Moran isn't so much a creative genius - in fact he's probably what I would describe as creatively useful, or reliable - but he's a production genius and composition genius. Freddie was a creative genius, but he wasn't very good at reigning himself in which is where Bad Guy falls and Barcelona succeeds. I think Mike Moran allowed Freddie his excess and bombast, but gave it a shape and style that made it work.

The thing about Bad Guy that makes it worth listening to is the vocal performance. Freddie's ability to just let go produces some outstanding work on the album, even for its failings. Some of the songs do sound a bit too difficult for Freddie though - Made In Heaven, which is actually a good song, is just set in an awkward key and if you listen very closely, you can hear that his voice is tiring on some of the notes. They're not higher notes than he has sung on any other album, but they seem to be either on a break in his voice (G/A-flat) or the repetition of these notes tires out his folds a little during the recording sessions.

My Love is Dangerous could be reworked as a real rocker (Queen version).

While we're discussing Let's Turn It On, how come that the bass intro was later incorporated into the Miracle ?

^ sort of. But that's kinda like comparing David Bowie's HEROES with AKOM ... they're very similar.

The miracle bit doesn't ever find resolution. But it is curious seeing how they're from the same composer

Hi Miraclesteinway, again thank you, from your point of view I have never looked at the Bad Guy album. I was always under the impression that Freddie's intention was to make an album just the way he wanted it. No input from other people. Just Mack as he knew what Mack could do for Freddie and the album. That's why I found it so interesting that Brian did play on She Blow's Hot and Cold, but in the end the original version is without Brian. Maybe, just maybe if Freddie had choosen another producer like Mack, as Mack was already involved with Queen and Freddie, could it mean Mr. Bad Guy turned out to be a different album? The one thing I do regret, if you listen to some demo's , for instance LLTNT, with real instruments, I find a pity that Freddie has choose for the synths........


Tom

[QUOTE] [b]TomP63 wrote:[/b]

Maybe, just maybe if Freddie had choosen another producer like Mack, as Mack was already involved with Queen and Freddie, could it mean Mr. Bad Guy turned out to be a different album? The one thing I do regret, if you listen to some demo's , for instance LLTNT, with real instruments, I find a pity that Freddie has choose for the synths........[/QUOTE]

I might be mistaken here, but wasn't the whole point of the solo album to make it sound a bit different from the Queen albums?

What would have been the point in making another "Queen" album between Queen albums, from songs already rejected by Queen??