4. One Vision (Roger's initial idea, lyrics said to be Roger and Freddie togther)
No, that can't be right. If anything, One Vision's initial concept was Brian's. He was fuckin' around on guitar, then Roger chimed in with drums, and it went from there. Roger and Freddie probably did the lyrics, but for initial idea, that goes to Brian.
you've watched the magic years too much...;-) I believe one vision was an idea of rodge...
In the 80's Queen seemed more concerned with singles than albums, hence Roger having a crack at writing pop songs. I don't think its fair to say his tracks on the 70's albums were filler... far from it I think.
1) One Vision, without a doubt originally came from Roger. Roger had the idea of how the beat would go, and about 2/3 of the lyrics complete.
Freddie changed all the lyrics around.
While Roger was saying "One man, One goal, One true religion"..... Freddie was playing the beginning riff....(you know which Brian plays on piano) ....the riff that starts at D5 then C#/D5 ....on the piano.
The next scene we see is Roger telling an interviewer that he had the lyrics done, but they changed them.....the interview says "who did"....Roger says that damn "Freddie".
2) It should be noted that FREDDIE usually was the organizer in making all of John and most of Roger's songs come to life.....many times Freddie would change the music and lyrics.....but since the original idea came from John or Roger....the liner nots writing credit would go to them.
I have JOHN either in printed word, or on footage saying that Freddie took over the following songs of his.....Another One Bites The Dust, Spread Your Wings, and I want to Break Free.
When John introduced the bass riff of Another One bites.....Brian wasn't impressed, and Roger hated it.....it was Freddie that reorganized the song in such a way to where the other got interested....and Freddie has said "John had the original idea and bass....I just finished it for him".
Of Roger's songs...... A Kind Of Magic & Radio Ga Ga are two songs that I have Roger, in an interview saying....."Those started off as mine, then that bloody Freddie took over, especially on "Magic", which I could hardly recognize when I can back from vacation."
Innuendo was another one, which really was a collaboration.....Brian knew he wanted that middle guitar section (Spanish sounding) in some track on the album......Roger had the title.....Freddie wrote most of the lyrics w/ideas from Roger, and John had nothing to do with that track (according to Brian).
Your judging that by the little piece of footage we see, not what actually happened. We only see 25-25 mins of days and days of songwriting. Brian came up with the riff and prob the keyboard riff too.
Under Pressure can't be mostly Rog. The bass riff is from John and Bowie and Freddie wouldve wrote most of the lyrics.
ok, ok, uncle! Breakthru is a good song. I just don't get his "religion tends to f*ck people up" quote and the lyrics "I get religion quick, 'cos you're looking divine." Maybe that's one of Freddie-poo's rewrites, or maybe I'm thinking too hard. Pack another bong, Roger?
I tend to like the harder material, and Breakthru just seems a little pop to me. Now, Man on Fire or Nazis or Nation of Haircuts-- that's my cup of peppermint tea, although Radio GaGa and These Are the Days are simply brilliant. Actually I wore out two copies of the cassette single for RGG on my walkman in sr high. Modern Times RnR and Sheer Heart Attack and Fight From the Inside--even Rock It. The original version of A Kind of Magic got soul. Nice crunchy guitar solos on the album version. A Dozen Red Roses! (yes, picked up a dozen 4 my darling today because ADRR was my workout song this am). I've also heard that Freddie was THE major force behind Innuendo, as a tribute/reference to Zeppelin's Kashmir. Top of the World Ma, she makes my kiss curl curl. I like the idea behind Invisible Man, luvvv the bassline. Action This Day! I got a feelin' that just won't quit, Roger's prolific output in the 80s is undeniable. Heaven For Everyone (MIH version) is an amazing track too-- not actually a reference to organized religion I guess-- and I'm really hoping Roger is the one who wrote the guitar riff for Love Lies Bleeding, the only tune I listen to over and over from the first Cross album. Machines, One Vision, You Don't Fool Me...ahh goodness...I feel...a Roger mix cd coming on...must...cue...Drowse...
For those of us living through it, the release of Radio Gaga was crucial.
After 1982's disappointments and being invisible during 1983, it Radio Gaga had flopped it could have been the end of Queen.
When we saw they were releasing a Roger song as a single, well, that was a surprise.
Anyhow - it charted at no 4 and we were all relieved! 1984 went on to be a great Queen year.
It is amazing and I guess a bit lucky, that just as Freddie's songwriting talent was declining, Roger's seemed to mature.
As for One Vision, Freddie made Roger re-do the lyrics because the meter didn't work! He also seemed to produce the guitar work - Mack had disappeared from the Magic Years video by this stage...
Well, One Vision was one of the few songs that was truly written by Queen, the entire band. It has many of the hallmarks of each member. I think to try to credit it to just one of them slights the others' contributions.
Now, as for Under Pressure, according to Sebastian's website, the song itself was mainly Freddie Mercury and David Bowie's. Deacon and Bowie formulated the bassline, and Brian May helped with the guitar and such. But it was mainly Mercury and Bowie. Roger Taylor went into the mixing room with Mercury and Bowie, because he was a good friend of Bowie's, and could serve as a mediator between two of the biggest egos in rock. So, while he was one of the producers, he had little to do with the actual song itself.
As for his 70's contributions, I didn't consider them album filler, many times they provided one of the highlights. Tenement Funster, I'm In Love With My Car, Sheer Heart Attack (wow, awesome track there) Liar, etc...these songs helped to round out the impressive albums the group produced.
I think Cross`s got a song called Liar as well, which is completely different to Queen`s Liar, which btw isn`t 100% Fred either: he did the lyrics, the main riff, the chord progressions of the "main" sections and organised the structure, but they all contributed in the connectors and the arrangement.
100% Freddie meant 100% credited to Freddie.
Don't cotradict yourself now....earlier when you were using your Paul McCartney "Yesterday" you said even though George Martin arranged things...its still Paul's song.
From what you say on Queen's liar, it sounds as though Freddie did everything but play the others instruments for them.
I'd say "Liar" qualifies as pretty much Freddie's if what you say is true.
I guess no one wants to say how many solo l.p.s Roger has done and how many the Cross did? Did you all not read my post asking this? I dought that I am the only one wondering...
I don`t think Fred had a declination. He wrote great songs in his last years: Innuendo, Was It All Worth It, The Miracle...
Ia always considered the above songs as average Queen songs. I can think of at least 20 Freddie songs from the Game and prior that I prefer over anything Freddie wrote for Queen after The Game:
The Macca thing is a little different o Liar. All of the orchestral parts were dictated by the chords Paul had written. Otoh, in Liar, there`s a good chance that the others did put new chord progressions (e.g. the one behind the bass solo). Still the song is Fred`s of course: he did put some little spacers in A Kind Of Magic but the song is still Roger`s because Roger wrote the main sections (verses, chorus...). In the case of Yesterday Martin didn`t write any new section, he "just" arranged the existing ones. In the case of some others, there can be indeed some new parts (musical or lyrical) by somebody else, simply not enough for a co-credit (e.g. George Harrison did some riffs in Drive My Car, put the rhythm twists in We Can Work It Out and wrote part of the lyrics in Eleanor Rigby and Come Together).
I guess no one wants to say how many solo l.p.s Roger has done and how many the Cross did? Did you all not read my post asking this? I dought that I am the only one wondering...
Fun In Space
Strange Frontier
Happiness?
Electric Fire
