Queen - Just How Good Were They?

[fatboy69]

Watching the Queen gig from Budapest. Awesome stuff IMO. Saw them many times over the years, including being in the audience at Wembley for Live Aid...

Was that 17 minutes of Freddie holding court possibly the greatest 17 minutes of live music ever for sheer 'I'm in control of you' entertainment?

Makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up whenever i watch that segment of Live Aid.

Always thought of them being possibly the greatest band ever but I know some people some people don't agree.

For me, Freddie was head & shoulders above the rest for his voice, his song writing, his stage presence.

Sadly they don't make them like Freddie anymore.

[TheHeretic]

Early queen, very, very good. Later queen, not so much.

ETA, Live Aid is the best live performance for, as you described it, hairs on the back of your neck. I have all their stuff, but they lost it from Hot Space.

[Crackie]

TheHeretic said:

Early Queen, very, very good. Later Queen, not so much.

Radio GaGa was great at Live Aid; it was a near perfect stadium singalong track for owning the audience and they weren't on too early in the day however Imho Bowie singing Heroes and U2's performance of Bad were even better that day.

[chilistrucker]

i'd love to have seen them live.
great band, and he was 1 of the greatest front men ever.

[droopsnoot]

I think I'd like to have seen them live, but that's based on the stuff I've seen (like the Budapest concert and all the others that have been on), and of course you don't get anywhere near that view or sound quality when you're actually there - it's more the atmosphere. So given the audience size later on I think I'm probably better off with the DVDs.

Ironically (according to various sources) they were in a very poor position career-wise when they were picked to do Live Aid and it was a real boost to their career, albeit at what turned out to be a bad time. And I agree, it was an incredible performance, not least getting the entire audience to do the Radio Ga-Ga clap at the same time.

[TheHeretic]

On the verge of splitting up. Freddie was going a bit 'odd' in Munich, I think it was.

[Ferg]

Pre-The Game, a decent rock band.
However, I've always felt Freddie was much too scripted as a front man. It was always the same every time. I rate Phil Lynott as better. Having said that, I saw them at New London Theatre in '77 and they were fantastic.

[Markh]

I never got them, the odd gem, but on the whole overrated I think

[RichB]

Queen - Just How Good Were They? Very good indeed, not my favourites but I have to say as entertainers they were first rate.

[tali1]

Radio friendly and enjoyable rock for the masses. Bo Rhap tiresomely overplayed and overrated, whereas ignored Hammer To Fall- now that is a proper rock gold 100%

[Justin Cyder]

I'm not especially a fan, but I know quality when I see it.


The thing about Queen is you had a unique coalescence of musicians - the sum really was greater than the parts. They all wrote, they all sung & they were all masters of their instruments. Most bands aren't like that. The few bands I can think of that did keep up that level of collective contribution don't include the Beatles or the Stones, although they come close. Radiohead do, the Beach boys did & The Stone Roses come close too - certainly in the musical if not the vocal end of things.

That is what made Queen great imo, plus a fantastic creative streak, which is the witches brew, producing one ear worm after another. Although it's fair to say there is a lot of dust among the diamonds with Queen.

[Ozzie Osmond]

It may be jurassic park but do you wanna rock?
Tie Your Mother Down

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCW9-slshCU

This presumably from an era when people were still pottering about in Morris Marinas and VW Beetles!!

[TheHeretic]

Superb. They were a lot heavier than they were later, when they went a bit more soft rock, on the whole. LOVED Queen and Queen II. Epic, fantasy albums. Ogre Battle, Great King Rat, White Queen... Superb.

One of their good albums is the live 'At the Beeb' album.

http://youtu.be/CfJaDgvrqpQ

As I said earlier, their early stuff is truly epic.

[Justin Cyder]

John Deacon does look like an accountant with wind though. He's the least rock & roll looking bass player since Bill Wyman.

[TheHeretic]

Justin Cyder said:

John Deacon does look like an accountant with wind though. He's the least rock & roll looking bass player since Bill Wyman.

He is 'anonymous' for a reason, as he was a latter addition, and he didn't want to detract from the other 3 ego's. Seemingly a very good bass player mind.

[Justin Cyder]

He's a very good musician let alone bass player. Just poking a bit of fun Heretic.

Actually, on the subject of John Deacon, he left & I've never heard a bad word from anyone in Queen said about him. The impression I get from them is one of enormous mutual respect. That's another thing that isn't all that common in bands.

[Ferg]

TheHeretic said:

Superb. They were a lot heavier than they were later, when they went a bit more soft rock, on the whole. LOVED Queen and Queen II. Epic, fantasy albums. Ogre Battle, Great King Rat, White Queen... Superb.

One of their good albums is the live 'At the Beeb' album.

http://youtu.be/CfJaDgvrqpQ

As I said earlier, their early stuff is truly epic.

Utterly..

[Zad]

Crackie said:

TheHeretic said:

Early Queen, very, very good. Later Queen, not so much.

Radio GaGa was great at Live Aid; it was a near perfect stadium singalong track for owning the audience and they weren't on too early in the day however Imho Bowie singing Heroes and U2's performance of Bad were even better that day.

Nah. I remember when watching the Queen Live Aid set (sadly on TV not in person) thinking that I was watching the best live gig ever. I was, and am, a huge Bowie fan, and I loved the Simple Minds set too, but Queen on the day were just head and shoulders above the rest for me.

Nice bit of a coincidence in this posting. David Bowie dedicated the Live Aid performance of Heroes to his son. Moon, written and directed by Duncan Jones (aka Zowie Bowie) has just finished on BBC2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGOx0ZpMrrU

[Art0ir]

Ozzie Osmond said:

It may be jurassic park but do you wanna rock?
Tie Your Mother Down

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCW9-slshCU

This presumably from an era when people were still pottering about in Morris Marinas and VW Beetles!!

Great song.

[Asterix]

Justin Cyder said:

I'm not especially a fan, but I know quality when I see it. The Stone Roses come close too - certainly in the musical if not the vocal end of things.

I'm a huge Roses fan but Ian Brown was always a disaster live vocally (as you've said) and Mani has always been open about his lack of talent and he had to practice like buggery to get his tracks down, especially on Resurrection.