Beware Who Owns the Story

^Basically. The movie depicted Mercury as the one who broke the band up, because he went to make a solo album with the influence of the evil man Prenter. Then he hits the rock bottom (while his bandmates are happy with their wives and kids), Mr Bad Guy flops, he understands that without Queen he's nothing and begs the band to take him back. They reunite and slay the Live Aid stage.

In real life, they all were tired of each other by that point. John went to Bali without telling anybody, for God's sake! Constant touring and recording for the last 10 years, alcohol abuse and drug problems, marital problems, the press abuse and backlash... Mr Bad Guy was a small part of all this mess, and even Freddie quickly lost his interest in it. Maybe at first he thought about going away from Queen, but it didn't last that long and didn't break the band up, because they were on a worldwide tour supporting a succesful abum.

I can’t be arsed looking for quotes, but I’m pretty sure Freddie said in a number of interviews that his solo album was just something he had wanted to do for some time and that he had no intention of leaving Queen.

Of course he got a much bigger advance than the rest (he was the last to release a solo album) as he was the star if the band, so for the other to be pissed is just sour grapes. Seriously, if anyone believes the rest of the band would have thrown him out of the band is just smoking dope, they wouldn’t have lasted 5 minutes without him. Want the evidence....go look at The Cosmos Rocks. Can you imagine Queen at Live Aid without Freddie lol.

Even the movie clearly says it was a good offer for him to the solo album and not something he looked for in particular...

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

[QUOTE] [b]mariah carey wrote:[/b]

the movie's band meeting scene was just made up for the dramatic purpose only[/QUOTE]
Once again - you were there?

[QUOTE]I just don't think that it accurately showed what actually happened behind the scenes, because they didn't break up, they weren't that mad that Freddie went to release his solo album (Roger himself has said it) and he wasn't even the first one to do it.[/QUOTE]
Circumstances were much different in 1981. Roger wasn't consciously trying to make an album as big as Thriller by writing 15 songs and using the best 11 without any outside input (about 500 songs were written for Thriller, by comparison). And Roger didn't receive a cash advance from a record label that was 4x the amount of Queen's previous album, causing extra strain on an already strained relationship.

Roger said they "weren't mad" the same way McCartney said Getting Better isn't about how Lennon used to beat his wife, insisting it was merely character portrayal in songwriting. It's called protecting the legacy and your friend in death. And if Roger said this before 1991, it's just good PR to keep your squabbling on the down low.

Mercury went out and hired a bunch of unknown session musicians to play like Queen. You'd better believe they were pissed at the time - Brian spoke about it years later on his blog (which, predictably, some fans thought was unfair because Mercury wasn't there to defend himself). The album flopped. Of course he returned to the band with his tail between his legs. He thought he didn't need them, and he was dead wrong.

Overall the film is a pretty honest recollection of how their relationship was splintering and what the causes were (by Hollywood standards, anyway). But indeed, it downplays how bad things were. There is only one casual reference to cocaine, and it's well known that cocaine can be an ego booster making one feel invincible. He wasn't showing up to mixing sessions to his own songs by 82, never mind 85. He was a completely different person from the one who created ANATO a decade earlier.

Mr Bad Guy was the lowest point of Queen's career up to that point, and after you know the facts, it takes a whole lot of mental gymnastics to believe otherwise.
[/QUOTE]

Good points, well made.

Some people who have seen the film have very narrow views on the subjects it covers and very often preconceived notions of what went on.

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


Mercury went out and hired a bunch of unknown session musicians to play like Queen. You'd better believe they were pissed at the time - Brian spoke about it years later on his blog (which, predictably, some fans thought was unfair because Mercury wasn't there to defend himself). The album flopped. Of course he returned to the band with his tail between his legs. He thought he didn't need them, and he was dead wrong. . . .

. . . . Mr Bad Guy was the lowest point of Queen's career up to that point, and after you know the facts, it takes a whole lot of mental gymnastics to believe otherwise.
[/QUOTE]

A lot of his decisions were the result of outside influences. But artistically the use of those musicians to sound like Queen to me showed a deep floor in Freddie's creative abilities. I remember wincing at the third rate Brian May style solos on that album.

I think Freddie's target was huge sales and he used the Queen blue print as the foundation for that, but at the end of the day it wasn't Queen.

[QUOTE] [b]MisterCosmicc wrote:[/b]

Source [/QUOTE]

Thanks !

But that's far from dissing the album. He just says he didn't like that one track.

Oh he doesn’t like the album.

[QUOTE] [b]Holly2003 wrote:[/b]

Was this informant "in the room" when this happened or was he (or she) told a story by someone with a vested interest in that particular version of events, and who is now trying to turn it into 'fact' via a cash cow movie that uses Fred's epic songs to rake in that cash?[/QUOTE]
I met this person years before the film happened.

[QUOTE]failed solo artists Brian May & Roger Taylor[/QUOTE]
Roger perhaps, but certainly not Brian - Driven By You was a big hit, getting to #6 in the UK charts.

[QUOTE]a band that he had never left and which never actually broke up?[/QUOTE]
How do you know they never broke up?

There was an 8 month hiatus after the Hot Space tour. That's another one of those stories that nobody knows anything about and will probably never be published.

[QUOTE]Prenter was threatening the money. Prenter needed removed. But Queen was the money. And without Fred there was no Queen and no money.[/QUOTE]
I'll give you that. But there was genuine concern for Freddie in the mix as well. Hell, Brian had been worried about him since at least 1979.

[QUOTE] [b]mariah carey wrote:[/b]

^Basically. The movie depicted Mercury as the one who broke the band up, because he went to make a solo album with the influence of the evil man Prenter. Then he hits the rock bottom (while his bandmates are happy with their wives and kids), Mr Bad Guy flops, he understands that without Queen he's nothing and begs the band to take him back. They reunite and slay the Live Aid stage.

In real life, they all were tired of each other by that point. John went to Bali without telling anybody, for God's sake! Constant touring and recording for the last 10 years, alcohol abuse and drug problems, marital problems, the press abuse and backlash... Mr Bad Guy was a small part of all this mess, and even Freddie quickly lost his interest in it. Maybe at first he thought about going away from Queen, but it didn't last that long and didn't break the band up, because they were on a worldwide tour supporting a succesful abum.[/QUOTE]

Of course that's not exactly as it happened. It's a HOLLYWOOD BIOPIC, not a documentary. Even Brian May has said it's not a documentary and not to watch it like one.

But if you speak with people who were around and in the inner circle back then (some of whom actually post at this forum but nobody except those in the know realize), they will agree that the character of Paul in the film is pretty damn accurate.

[QUOTE] [b]Mark_Glasgow wrote:[/b]

I can’t be arsed looking for quotes, but I’m pretty sure Freddie said in a number of interviews that his solo album was just something he had wanted to do for some time and that he had no intention of leaving Queen.[/QUOTE]
That's just good PR. Prenter spent years trying to convince Mercury to leave the band, and they were all wise enough not to air their dirty laundry in the open.

[QUOTE]Seriously, if anyone believes the rest of the band would have thrown him out of the band is just smoking dope, they wouldn’t have lasted 5 minutes without him. Want the evidence....go look at The Cosmos Rocks.[/QUOTE]
Comparing 1985 (when they still had creative juice) to 2007 (when they didn't) doesn't really make sense.

In the 80s all three of them had enough money to live comfortably for the rest of their lives, and could've become session players or producers, or joined other bands and continued to write great songs for a while.

[QUOTE] [b]MisterCosmicc wrote:[/b]

Oh he doesn’t like the album. [/QUOTE]

Correct. But you were suggesting that Brian had explicitly said so prior to 1991, but until now there isn't a source to suggest that happened.

Interesting interview posted by Sheer Brass Neck not so long ago -

"Guitar For The Practicing Musician Magazine
March 1987
IN THE LISTENING ROOM
Musical Selections by John Stix

3. "Let's Turn It On" from Mr. Bad Guy, by Freddie Mercury
BRIAN: This is my least favorite from Freddie's album. It doesn't move
me, whereas a lot of Freddie's stuff does. "Made In Heaven" is one of
the best things he's ever done. I wish we had it on our album. This is
too shallow. The guitarist is trying to cop my sound, which is also why
I don't like it. I know the guitarist quite well. He's a good session
player and pretty innovative. I also know he's a big fan of mine, and
that when Freddie got him in there he said to play like me. I still
haven't figured out why Freddie wanted him to do that. When he played it
for me and said it sounded like me, I was supposed to be pleased. It's
well-played, but inside I thought, what are you trying to tell me I'm
disposable? I felt kind of hurt by it. "

.

I wonder if we're talking about 2 separate things, the movie and real life, both connected of course. Unless you're trying to blow my mind, which is ... appreciated :)

[b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]
I met this person years before the film happened.

^The point I was making is that someone told you this version of events and unless they were in the room when it happened then it's still at best 2nd hand info. If s/he was told by someone who has an interest in this version of events being the one that is remembered then it's tainted info. And now there's a movie saying the same thing, with the cooperation of Queen productions, Brian etc. As I said, I have no doubt Prenter was a source of conflict but that in itself should make us all careful to accept any particular version of events, especially one as unlikely as portrayed in the film. Different factions tell different stories, usually claiming the one that makes them look best.

[b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]
Driven By You was a big hit, getting to #6 in the UK charts.

^Yep, but I was talking about events in 1985 (as portrayed in the movie) -- Brian's solo career at that time consisted mainly of Starfleet project, which was panned by critics, even rock and blues fans. Without Fred, with both Smile and even in an all-star lineup with EVH, the Brian May solo brand couldn't shift records. Therefore, there's no way IMO he would issue an ultimatum as daft as portrayed in the film. Queen was the best and most successful vehicle for their music.

[b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]How do you know they never broke up? There was an 8 month hiatus after the Hot Space tour. That's another one of those stories that nobody knows anything about and will probably never be published.

^Speculation is fun, I'll concede that. But ... as well as being a band, Queen was a legal entity and if they had officially disbanded there would be a record of it probably in Companies House. In the absence of that record, I guess we have to take them at their word that they were on a break. In promoting The Works Roger said if it bombed as badly as Hot Space there wasn't any point in Queen continuing, so no doubt they were talking about that possibility.[b]*[/b] But of course The Works was massive all over the world except the USA. It gave them a huge boost and was one of the reasons they were so successful at Live Aid -- they had massive exposure since the previous year. I remember that period very well: I went nearly 2 years without reading hardly anything about Queen in the press, the music mags, or hearing them on the radio. Then Queen did some massive promotion of The Works with lots of interviews. BBC Radio One began playing Radio Ga Ga on regular rotation. Combined with the fact that fans like me bought the 7 and 12 inch versions, it charted immediately .. and thus began the reignition of their career. You really had to live through that few years in the UK of Hot Space through to The Works. After HS, Queen were seen as old news: HS was a laughable attempt to stay relevant. Everyone bought the Greatest Hits LP instead. Wearing a Queen t-shirt was really 'uncool'. Then The Works dropped, and suddenly Queen was everywhere again. Having experienced that, I find it hard to believe they were in any real danger of disbanding in 1985.

[b]*[/b] After I wrote this I looked up an old newspaper article I have in a scrapbook. There's an interview with Brian in which he says : "Last November [presumably 1982] in Japan we decided not to see each other for a while. After 10 years with the same people you wonder if you can play with anyone else. So we erased all the bookings for 5 months after which we had meetings to see whether we could start again. Working with other musicians made me decide I couldn't survive in the outside world without Queen."

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

[QUOTE] [b]mariah carey wrote:[/b]

the "Mercury wants to go back to the band" scene, which didn't happen like this in real life, because they never broke up.[/QUOTE]

You weren't there, so how can you know for sure? Not everything that happened behind closed doors was written in a book or spoken about in an interview before 2018.

Yes, they didn't break up per se. But in 1985 they were a touring act purely on a professional basis, travelling in separate limos to and from the gig

They were internally a mess by that point largely because of Mercury's ego and drug issues which are well documented.

In reality, it was after Live Aid that the rest of the band held an intervention with Mercury, forcing him to choose between them and Prenter. You'd have to cultivate relationships with people who were around at the time if you want to learn more, but that's basically what went down.
[/QUOTE]

"Yes, they didn't break up per se. But in 1985 they were a touring act purely on a professional basis, travelling in separate limos to and from the gig. "......

They travelled in seperate limos since 1978. I saw them arrive and have a pic of 4 limos lined uo at the back of Empire Pool Wembley '78 (all black except for Roger's which was a sort of caramel colour)