"I think I'm going to take back my "I completely apologize for saying Roger has never played outside of 3/4 or 4/4 before" comment for a moment. Could someone tell me even 1 Queen song outside of these time signatures? May I note that 2/2, 6/8, 9/8 and 12/8 all fall into this category as well, as they're all rather common time signatures. I just mentioned those first two initially as simple examples.
When someone talks about obscure time signatures, we're talking about things like 5/12, 7/8, and 15/16 time. That stuff isn't in Queen songs. So yes, although drum beats can be fast and rather difficult to keep up with, my point was that Roger has never played in an obscure time sig in his life, hence it furthering my argument of how he was disoriented during Toss The Feathers".
- 5/12? That's a new one to me. Anyway, Queen were primarily a pop/rock band, so to expect there to be songs in their output in time signatures such as 7/8, 9/4 or 15/16 is perhaps expecting a bit much, although I do not doubt for one minute that Queen could have recorded a song in 7 or 9 or 15.
There are certainly passages, or at least the odd few bars in Queen songs that momentarily go into time sigs such as 7/8. Hopefully PD might contribute to this thread, as he's the man with anomalies such as these at his fingertips, for example, his analysis of the meters used at the start of the guitar solo/instrumental break in Brighton Rock. That part certainly doesn't stay in simple 3/4 or 4/4.
And does the 5/4 section of Innuendo not count as an obsure time sig that Rog has played in in his life then?
The argument that Rog is disoriented in TTF due to the fact that he's never played in an obscure time sig in his life is a completely moot point anwyay;
the bloody song is entirely in 4/4 (or 8/8) throughout!
I haven't seen the video, only heard the performance, so as to whether or not Roger "looked" disoriented I cannot comment.
However, from listening to it the only minor mistakes I can spot are in the kicks around 2:17, which to my ears sound more like the guitarist's fault, and in the final breakdown at the end.
And I agree with Holly that there's a Bodhran present on the track.
The Real Wizard · Member since
"how many other bands write stuff as varied as Bo Rap, ABTD and Bring back Leroy Brown!"
I'm not denying the brilliance of these pieces of music! But brilliant as they are, the time signatures (where there is drumming) are still nothing complicated. The drumming part is what we are talking about, right?
"Look, I think you are now twisting your comment to suit your arguement, what I objected to was you saying he had never played outside 4/4 3/4 in his life, if you are now going to add every variation of that then that's fine but it is not what you said."
I'm not twisting anything. If you'll READ THE POST, I said, "I just mentioned those first two initially as simple examples." Read before you type. 3/8, 6/8, 9/8 and 12/8 are variatons of 3/4. There is absolutely no difference in the drum beat between these time signatures.
"Queen are a rock band, what time sigs do you expect them to play in"
Led Zeppelin were a rock band too. Tell me the time signature of The Ocean. Rush are a rock band. Tell me the time signature of Xanadu, 2112 Overture, The Trees (middle), Limelight, Tom Sawyer (middle), Distant Early Warning, Time Stand Still (middle), and Big Money. Those are just a few off the top of my head. Those are pathways that Queen never went down, but that's fine! They created brilliant music without such time signatures! But the point I was making, again, there were never strange time signatures there to make the drumming overly difficult for Roger Taylor. What makes/made Roger Taylor a great drummer was how tight he was with John Deacon and Brian May. Their songs remained in common time signatures, but he coloured them up so very much. Could you imagine You're My Best Friend without all the off-beat cymbals and snares? It'd be much less interesting!
"I know when my band play a song the first couple of times we are pretty ropy to start with"
Uhmm, your band isn't Queen, and your band isn't playing for 2 billion people at your gig tomorrow night. Absolutely no comparison.
"So that being said, I reckon he did pretty bloody well don't you..."
The Queen segments, yes. But I will never support his performance of TtF. If I was going to be playing for 2 billion people, I'd make sure I knew my songs inside out.
"And does the 5/4 section of Innuendo not count as an obsure time sig that Rog has played in in his life then?
The time signature may be 5/4, but he still plays his drumbeat like a 2/2 or 4/4. The snare is on every beat. That barely counts. Don't get me wrong... Innuendo is one of my favourite songs of all time. But, if you showed that drumbeat to a Dream Theater, Genesis, or Rush fan, and you called that an irregular drum beat, they'd laugh at you until the cows come home.
"- 5/12?"
Sorry, I meant 5/8 (or 5/16). :) 5/12 simply doesn't make sense!
"There are certainly passages, or at least the odd few bars in Queen songs that momentarily go into time sigs such as 7/8"
A couple seconds doesn't count. I'm talking about keep up a beat in something like Rush's The Trees or Tom Sawyer. I couldn't see Rog playing those in his lifetime, unless he practiced very, very hard. It's not in his blood to play this kind of stuff, but I'm not criticizing him for it. My only criticism is that he played in TtF, where he didn't belong.
"the bloody song is entirely in 4/4 (or 8/8) throughout!"
I'm talking about the dozens of odd-beat cymbals which make it just as difficult to play as an odd-beat time signature. You have to see the video to see what I'm talking about. Roger was always good with the odd-beat cymbals and snares in the studio (like I mentioned above), but he usually didn't replicate them live. Listen to live performances of You're My Best Friend. All of those little things on the record aren't there. He just plays a simple 4/4 throughout. The difference between YMBF and TtF is that in TtF, those little tidbits need to be there. Imagine how it would hav
