It's Naive Melody. Thanks for the explanation on the sequencing issues, I always wondered about that. The backup vox seem a little off at times as well.
That is a good point. Freddie Mercury wrote the following: "We Are the Champions", "Bohemian Rhapsody", and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", etc. Brian May wrote songs like "Fat Bottomed Girls" , "Who Wants to Live Forever", and "We Will Rock You", etc. John Deacon wrote "Another One Bites the Dust", "I Want to Break Free" as well as several other songs. Roger Taylor was the hardest one to find (looking at the Queen's Greatest Hits and Classic Queen) but came up with "A Kind of Magic", and "Radio Ga Ga". One other thing about the harmonies of Queen - with the exception of "Hello Earth" by Kate Bush off "The Hounds of Love" album and some stuff by Jim Steinman (mainly with Meat Loaf), I have never heard harmonies like the ones that Queen did - it is an absolute sonic ecstasy. The best one, without a doubt for me, is at the 1 minute mark of "Bicycle Race" where the band comes in and sings a neat little bridge type piece. All the while there is this great piano part and a searing Brian May riff. Fatty - it is stuff like that that makes me such a big music fan. I just absolutely love hearing how all the stuff "connect" (the vocals - both lead and background with the piano, guitar, etc.). I have a question (actually 2 questions) for TheFreak, No Worries, KellyDwyer, and other Queen fans: Who played piano and who played keyboards for the band? Was it Freddie or was it Brian or someone outside the core 4 of the band?
It says on allmusic.com, that Brian learned to play the piano, so I think he probably did and someone mentioned how all of them wrote songs it says Brian wrote: We Will Rock You, Fat Bottomed Girls, Now I'm Here, and Tie Your Mother Down
The only problem is that I have seen Freddie play the piano in videos (like for Bohemian Rhapsody), so I don't think your response really helps me. It may be that Freddie played piano some as did Brian and that Brian was the only one to play keyboards or he might have shared it with Freddie or they could have had some session dude. Thus the need to ask a diehard fan like a Freak or Kelly.
Freddie played the bulk of the piano, but as they got more into synths, Brian played a lot of synths and piano patches on synths. All four can play guitar, Taylor plays most of the rhythm guitar on his solo albums, and with another band called the Cross. Because most of Freddie's songs were written on the piano, and he wasn't an expert at writing out sheet music, he lead the demos and recordings with his own piano playing. Also, they were pretty involved when it came to writing the music. The songwriting designations only denote who wrote the lyrics, after a choice the band made while working on their first record. They were working on a song ("Liar," I believe) that included parts from older songs from May, Taylor, and Fred's previous bands. They decided that whoever wrote the lyrics (or bulk of the lyrics) had "effectively written the song." This changed with the last three albums, where they made an effort to get everyone a writing credit.
I second Jeff's emotion on "Now I'm Here." That rocks. I think Brian's guitar is really distinctive on all of their music, but to say that the riff on that song is meaty is to call Star Jones confident (or meaty, for that matter!). Saying this might have me hauled off to opinion jail, but Queen kind of reminds me of Abba in their production, gloss and at-first-glance lyrical cheeziness. Keep in mind that I think that Abba are incredibly underrated as pop craftsmen (on the level of Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney), so this is not some kind of huge insult to Queen. Queen had the lushness of ELO while rocking a whole lot more. Combine all of that with Freddie's transcendantly beautiful and powerful voice and you have the stuff that The Darkness can only dream of becoming.
Also remember the "no synths" gimmick/tagger they put on every album up until "The Game." May's guitar craziness allowed them to keep up with the prog-rock nerds of the day while still staying away from the Moogness of the era.
amen...I couldnt imagine living life without having music... it has been a big part of my life since I was 5 and I dont see any reason for that to stop now. I didnt make it past this post...so if someone has already recommended KIller Queen...then I second it.
Killer queen, this could be heaven, crazy little thing called love, bohemia rhapsody. my favroite songs of queen
A song than might have been over looked and is from an over looked album is Flash Gordon, it may be cheesie, but I like it.
I'll probably get flamed all to hell for posting this, but some kickass Smile (Brian May and Roger Taylor songs) are availible here: http://kellydwyer.blogspot.com/
Thanks for posting KD, I'll have to rush Headlong and check that out when I get home. Oop-ditty-ditty, oop-ditty-doo. What are your thoughts on "Innuendo"? Listened to it this morning.
I mentioned it on page 2 of this thread as being unmentioned (as well as Get Down, Make Love) -- droxford
Queen are touring the UK soon with Paul Rodgers (of Free/Bad Company) standing in as the frontman. I'm going to see one of the dates, which I'm looking forward to. As much as I love Rodgers and his voice I don't think anyone can replace Freddie Mercury though...
I love Queen. One of my favorite bands. Anyone ever notice how they echo Gilbert and Sullivan ? The little call- and-response, hush-then-noisy, is classic operetta. They have some very theatrical tunes - Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy, Don't Stop me Now, Now I'm Here, The Game. Perfect accompaniment for a Rudy Galindo number! I actually wouldn't mind seeing that . Queen was the best show I ever saw. Freddie was an amazing showman. He worked the crowd, played piano for a good deal of the show, ended throwing huge bouquets of roses (some with thorns!) into the crowd, one handful after another. The lights and pressentation were just stunning. At the time, I was more into snotty punk, too - so this was completely against the stripped-down DIY ethic I would see in those clubs. Really blew me away. Perfectly realized - great artists, great show.
Also worth mentioning is that Queen toured with a unoffical fifth member who played Freddie's piano/keyboard parts while Freddie ran around on stage.
FLASH GORDON! i got that soundrack right after i saw the movie in the theater when i was a kid. what an amazing band--and KILLER movie.
Man, I was reading some reviews of late Queen albums on AMG and the critics were giving albums like "The Works", "The Miracle", "A Kind of Magic", and "Innuendo" 3 and 5 stars (out of 9), but saying stupid stuff like "This album ranks as one of Queen's strongest in the '80s" (comment about "The Miracle" album that got 3 stars). So, if that is the case, AMG guy, then why in the f*ck did you give it 3 stars out of 9?? But I had heard that the critics always hated Queen - it confounds me why that was the case.
