Best Vocal Harmonies per Album

These would be my choices right now:

* Queen: The ending of 'Jesus.'
* Queen II: 'White Queen' (angelical choir on the first lift).
* Sheer Heart Attack: 'Lily of the Valley' (climax).
* A Night at the Opera: ''39' (interlude).
* A Day at the Races: 'Somebody to Love' (right before the solo).
* News of the World: 'All Dead, All Dead' (last chorus).
* Jazz: 'Don't Stop Me Now' ('explode', and just before the solo).
* The Game: 'Sail Away Sweet Sister' (middle-eight).
* Flash Gordon: 'The Hero' (near the end).
* Hot Space: 'Life Is Real' (climax).
* The Works: 'Keep Passing the Open Windows' (re-intro).
* A Kind of Magic: 'Princes of the Universe' (middle-eight).
* The Miracle: 'Breakthru'' (intro).
* Innuendo: 'Innuendo' ('to yourself').
* Made in Heaven: 'Let Me Live' (some of the wiped out bits).

Which would be yours?

I agree with 99.9% of that. FFS, I really need to let that line go - but seriously, I agree with that list :)

'cease, ooo ooo,.....peace, ooo ooo.....val-ley'.....
(always loved the 'course' and 'horse' part earlier as well, Wilbur)

A new topic. Well done. Narrowing to one per album side is fair, per album, not.

[QUOTE] [b]*goodco* wrote:[/b]

A new topic. Well done. Narrowing to one per album side is fair, per album, not.[/QUOTE]

Alright, let's do it that way then:

* Queen Side I: 'Doing All Right' just before the ending.
* Queen Side II: 'Jesus' ending.
* Queen II White Side: 'White Queen' first vocal crescendo.
* Queen II Black Side: 'Master-Stroke' during the guitar solo.
* Sheer Heart Attack I: 'Lily of the Valley' climax.
* Sheer Heart Attack II: 'Leroy Brown' before the banjolele solo.
* Opera I: ''39' interlude.
* Opera II: 'Bo Rhap' fanfare section.
* Races I: 'Long Away' right before the end.
* Races II: 'Somebody to Love' right before the solo.
* News I: 'All Dead, All Dead' last chorus.
* News II: 'Who Needs You' right before the first solo.
* Jazz I: 'Bicycle Race' right before the interlude.
* Jazz II: 'Don't Stop Me Now' before the guitar solo, and 'explode.'
* Game I: 'Need Your Loving Tonight' chorus.
* Game II: 'Sail Away Sweet Sister' middle-eight.
* Flash I: 'The Kiss', first iteration.
* Flash II: 'The Hero', near the end.
* Hot Space I: 'Body Language' break. Crap song, nice bit.
* Hot Space II: 'Life Is Real' climax... and 'Las Palabras' end of chorus II.
* The Works I: 'It's a Hard Life' end of the last chorus.
* The Works II: 'Keep Passing the Open Windows' re-intro.
* A Kind of Magic I: 'One Vision' before the middle-eight.
* A Kind of Magic II: 'Princes of the Universe' middle-eight.
* Miracle I: 'I Want It All' big chorus and near the end.
* Miracle II: 'Was It All Worth It' last chorus.
* Innuendo I: 'Innuendo' ('to yourself').
* Innuendo II: 'All God's People' ... all of it, really.
* Made in Heaven I: 'Let Me Live' (plagiarised bits).
* Made in Heaven II: 'Heaven for Everyone' middle-eight.

I can’t judge technical aspects in a vocal harmony arrangement (whether the minor 3rd was given to just the right guy etc.). What I did was browse through the Queen discography (all the albums and songs) on Wikipedia and write down whenever a song title gave me a “yeah!” feeling. More often than not it was the "spine-tingling factor". It could be that the vocal harmonies come just at the right moment in the song. It could be that the actual chords are great, and the choir just sings those great chords. So it’s not necessarily that the vocal arrangement itself is brilliant. Or it COULD be the actual vocal arrangement and choice of vocalists etc, but I just don’t notice it. :)

Chordwise I could play most Queen songs offhand, but I have never studied their arrangements, so I may have missed some lovely vocal harmony moments here. But let’s see what jumped out of the album/song list for me:

Queen I: Son and Daughter (“I want you” – especially the G -> A movement on the word “you”)

Queen II: March Of the Black Queen (the “aaaaaaaah” after the introduction when the beat starts. The choir sings spine-tingling chords – if I remember correctly, it’s something like B -> F#m/B, Am/D -> D, Cm/F -> F, G)

Sheer Heart Attack: In The Lap Of The Gods (introduction – especially the “aaaah”/”ooooh”/”aaaaaah” bit)

Night At The Opera: ’39 (interlude)

Day At The Races: You Take My Breath Away (the “take my, take my” a cappella that fades in at the end and ends on, I think, a minor 7th chord. Spine-tingling.)

News Of The World: A boring choice – the We Are The Champions chorus

Jazz: Jealousy (“If only you could see...”. Just the right moment for the harmonies.)

The Game: Crazy Little Thing Called Love (the “handclap verse”: the “ah hum”s and especially the “oooooooh” after them and before “ready Freddie”)

Flash Gordon: Can’t recall too many vocal harmonies on this album, but the “a-ah” after the “Flash!” is spine-tingling. Simple but effective.

Hot Space: Action This Day (Roger’s harmonized vocals during the verses. This is something that ruined the live version for me – the major key vocals against the minor riff, which produces a chilling/creepy quality, was missing.)

The Works: Tear It Up (the “oh yeah”’s come just at the right time, and I also love the “ooooooooh” during the F, G chord movement. Works magnificently with those distorted guitars.)

Kind Of Magic: probably the Princes Of The Universe intro

The Miracle: Was It All Worth It (the “worh it” at 5:00 mark. A spine tingling detail. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEhYFnwTciQ)

Innuendo: Hitman (during the bridge after “now the fun begins” (“Hitmaaaaaaaan”). No, I’ll have to change this. It’s the second pre-chorus in I’m Going Slightly Mad. Those “ooooooooh” really add to the mad feeling. Almost reminds me of the In The Lap Of The Gods intro.

Made In Heaven: A Winter’s Tale (“And the dream of the child is the hope of the man”. A huge choir and after that comes Freddie’s solo voice - brilliant!)

With a title of "best" I don't know how that can be quantified, but I'll have a think and report back with my 'favourite' ones.....

Yes, mine is definitely a "favorite" and not a "best" list.

Yes, mine is definitely a "favorite" and not a "best" list.

The Works: definitely the final 'back to humans'. In fact, this might be the best bit of the entire album. Gives me goosebumps every time. A very underrated track.

Agree with most of those mentioned. There are a few honourable mentions though:

Queen:
My Fairy King has many interesting bits and details.
Queen II:
The arrangement just before the heavy bit of Father to Son, including the crescendo on the latest harmony.
The big ending in Nevermore.
ANATO:
The "Running for to come out of the rain" bit in The Prophet's Song might just be the most enormous they ever sounded.
Love Of My Life has beautiful backing vocals in it as well.
ADATR:
You Take My Breath Away takes the cake for me.
News Of The World:
It's Late. Big choirs coming in at just the right moments.

"Ooh ooh ooh oooh , killer, killer........she's a killer Que een " - still and always will be, my favorite spine tingler.

It's Late and Good Old Fashioned Lover-Boy have great harmonies. I don't think I'd be able to pin down my favorites from each album, though.

[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J34jybJAoc8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J34jybJAoc8[/url]

Brighton Rock. This was the first one that I thought of. The harmonies really shine here when the other instrumentation has been stripped off it. Freddie's double tracked falsetto is great as well.

/ \ .
Yeah, then straight into Killer Queen ! -very special.

The "Oh rock of ages" attempt to emulate a Welsh Male Voice Choir in Brighton Rock is a highpoint of SHA for me.