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Were Queen better when they proudly boasted No Synths??

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Personally I love all Queen music (except you don't fool me) but there may be a case that there musicianship was far greater when everything was acheived using REAL instruments.
listen to the breeze, whisper to me please, don't send me to the path of nevermore.......
IMHO yes, absolutely true... Nothing is like listening to a complete orchestratiion made up of just guitars, bass, piano and drums without all those tricky synths... Anyway, it is to be said that a band, for keeping on being successful, has to be constantly up-to-date and so here the "modern" instruments turn out to be absolutely necessary...

Albyboy
And the light, turn then off my friend... And the ghosts... Well just let them in... Cause in the dark it's easier to see...
I like the No Synths era better, mostly because my favorite albums are from then, but also because the music just seems more real. But they just needed to keep up with the times, and synths were popular.
Resistance is futile. You are now an orb.
I like the albums of the period before the synths the most, but de albums of the 70's are quite different from the 80's albums, I like both, but I like the albums without synths more (exept The Miracle and Innuendo)
I think the millionaire waltz is the most Queen gay song.
I don't like '80s Queen much, so I obviously prefer their non-synth work.

Not that I have any real 'issues' with the usage of synths in general, I just don't feel they augmented Queen's music in any real way.
Previously known as 'Poodle Permed'.
Into La Ment wrote:
I don't like '80s Queen much, so I obviously prefer their non-synth work.

Not that I have any real 'issues' with the usage of synths in general, I just don't feel they augmented Queen's music in any real way.


...Something tells me you are a Cure fan too, aren't you?
Absolutely love Bob (as an artist, it's clear :)), but I can hardly find a British band I don't like...

Albyboy
And the light, turn then off my friend... And the ghosts... Well just let them in... Cause in the dark it's easier to see...
I think they got a bit lazy after The Game, just listen to the stories about The Millionaire Waltz, and Bohemian Rhapsody, the stories where the guys spend weeks and weeks in the studio's for just overdubbing vocal and guitar parts.

There are so many songs in the later era which would've sounded great without those awful synths. I Want it All for example, and even Innuendo would've been great without those damn keyboards.

So sad it ends....
"On the first day Pim & Niek created a heavenly occupation. Pim & Niek blessed it and named it 'Loosch'." (Genesis 1:1)
btw, somehow I do love the synth. But not when it's used to make a popsong like Invicible Man. Or when it's used in hard rock songs, when they easily could've done without (or being replaced by guitar/vocal harmonies) Like I want it all, or Hammer to Fall.

In Hammer to Fall I have no idea why they put synths in it. It doesn't add anything at all.

I like synths when it adds something nice to the song, or sets a mood. like in Mother Love, or even The Show Must Go On
"On the first day Pim & Niek created a heavenly occupation. Pim & Niek blessed it and named it 'Loosch'." (Genesis 1:1)
In general, I enjoy 60s and 70s music the most. So in my opinion, Queen definetely was at their peak in the 70s. Their 80s material was still (mostly) great. In fact, I didn't like ANY 80s music before I discovered Queen.
Kay Adams Corleone- The ultimate desperate housewife
albyboy wrote:

...Something tells me you are a Cure fan too, aren't you?
Absolutely love Bob (as an artist, it's clear :)), but I can hardly find a British band I don't like...


Hahaha... what impressive powers of deduction :oD Indeed, I'm just a bit of a Cure nerd, to say the least.

And, if I were ever to bother with a band list, the majority of the names on the list would be British.
Previously known as 'Poodle Permed'.
No synths of course ... but not just because of no synths. From the Game onward Queen decided to have coherent straightforward singles oriented albums. I believe Freddie had a quote concerning this. Of course, Queen were still very good in the Synth era, but several things were missing:

The three layer vocal harmonies virtually disappeared in the Synth era.

Freddie's piano generally appeared less, and was less prevalent.

Brian's "Patented" layered guitar sound appeared less frequently.

Brian's acoustic songs appeared less frequently.

The use of different unusual string instruments (harp, ukulele, various Japanese instruments, electric piano, kazoo, banjo etc) disappeared in the Synth era.

Freddie no longer wrote unusual music with drastic tempo, mood and intensity changes (like MotBQ, BoRhap, tMW and BiRace).

Queen after the No Synth era, generally took fewer risks and were more of a singles oriented band.

Finally, I need to plug my old survey of 30 zoners - which strongly suggests in one of the graphs that the No Synth era was clearly better.
Socialism: There's one for you, nineteen for me Should five per cent appear too small Be thankful I don't take it all
FriedChicken wrote:
I Want it All for example, and even Innuendo would've been great without those damn keyboards.


Damn... Probably two of the best there, Fried. IMO I think Queen were one of the few bands that made good use of keyboards. Of course, a track like say, Coming Soon, is a different matter.

Peace,
Adam.
Very good points, B!
I have a question. In Get Down, Make Love what is the sound at the end? The sound which reminds me of Space Invaders for some reason.

Anyway I would dare say so. Most of their successful albums came from the 70's (that's not to say they didn't have any outstanding performances in the 80's) but I guess it's a matter of choice and taste.
...this kettle is boiling over... ...one dump...one turd...two tits...John Deacon... ...one prawn...one shrimp...one clam...one chicken!
Yes.

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