Freddie's voice change

Did anyone besides me notice the dramatic voice change Freddie went though from the 70's into the 80's? He stopped singing smooth and started the rock voice, It doesn't sound bad, but you can tell it's kind of a fakish voice because in like TSMGO when he hits the very very high notes and in all the other songs where he hits the high D's and C's etc. He goes back to his smooth voice to hit them. Just wondering why he did that, it's not very good for the voice. Is it because he wanted to change with their image a little? like when they lost the long hair? just wondering.

what the fuck is tmg etc?

tsmgo what song is?

I'm assuming that's 'The Show Must Go On'.

Ja ne.

I think common belief is that Freddie's smoking contributed to his vocal decline. Yet another reason to choose 70's Queen over 80's. The voice was much better in the 70's though he could still hit the notes in the studio if he really tried ... especially on the last couple of LPs.

Yes, we all noticed that, I think.

Having said that I love Freddie voice in every era...
It was his precise choice.
I had a quote of Freddie which says:"I was also pleased with my voice.I like it husky.It's all the smoking.That's why I smoke-to get that husky voice."
Age,smoking,cocaine,partylife and a tecnique based on pure instinct skills led his voice to sound like it sounded in the 80's but..I really love it!Am I the only one!?
It was a dramatic change of image compared to the 70's but I love it way better.
I'm not into that much of the glam 70's look and I always loved his voice in every era but when I think of Freddie it come immediatly to mind his strong,powerful and huskier voice of the mid 80's along with his mustache!
I always felt one thing.In the 70's he sang with a beautiful and youthful voice,no doubt about it but he sang "slower" if you get my drift and talked very frequently between songs,which is fine for me.But during the 80's his vocal delivery seems to me like "speeded up",more faster,powerful,energetic and masculine like the change of look with jeans,T-shirt and Adidas shoes which I love way better than the 70's one.Maybe I'm in a minority...

I like Fred's voice throughout the 80s, but the 70s' voice is my fav. Giacco 73 is right, it seems that he abandonned the feminine looks of the 70s together with his feminine singing style. In the 80s he had a strong appealing masculine look... and a stong masculine voice too. But I dunno why, I like better 70s Queen.

Freddie started smoking and having sex with men.
He wore the high clone look.
(Vest, jeans, short cropped hair, booger broom)
Just look at the Village People, dammit.

Freddie's voice was much better from the eighties and onwards. He learned new singing techniques. During the seventies he used mostly a function called curbing, and sometimes neutral. From the eighties he incorporated the two last techniques called overdrive and belting.

Examples :

the refrain - "The show must go on" - is sung in the belting technique, thereby the squecking sound. The high D's are sung in curbing technique, often referred to as headvoice. His curbing was quite extrordinary.

He was a voicegenius in many ways. His voice was more gentler and thiner in the seventies, and got more powerful and huskier in the eighties -> 90's..

And no, it's not dangerous for him to sing that way you referred to. He is only singing in curbing with an effect called distortion. A thing he often used to do...

"Gimme the prize" - is mostly sung in curbing with distortion/growling and overdrive... If its done correct -> No harm.

Freddie's 1970s voice and look was way better than the 1980s. He looked better without the goofy moustache he sported in the 1980s. Freddie was a great singer regardless however.

Hey Thomas.

I'm not very into your terms about vocal production. Curbing? Distortion? Not the familiar vocal technique terms.

Belting is carrying your chest voice above your passagio... and Fred is not belting at 'the show must go on'
He sang everything above Middle F headvoiced.
The only song I remember now with Freddie belting above Middle E is the 'If God is Willing' part in Barcelona, where he belts a chestvoiced F3.

I don't want to start talking now about vocal technique, cause I could spend hours and hours, but maybe we can get together and talk bout this :D

Hi Andres!

I´ve read your site and I think it´s very good. I´m not very good at this but I´ve learnt a lot in the last years from my private voice teacher. The terms belting, curbing, overdrive and neutral are included in a voice book by a Danish woman called Cathrine Sadolin. It features quite new knowledge about the voice and its physics.

But I have to go now... I´ll send you a mail and try to explain... :)

His voice sucked during the The Works era!
Just listen to every boot out there from that era..omg! i think it's their 84-85 is the weakest Queentour ever!

I love freddie voice in  mid-70's and late 80's!