What's new
By:

Happy 65th Birthday to Freddie Mercury, and may he RIP

KatieMCR

KatieMCR

Well-Known Member
Today the great Freddie Mercury would have been 65. To celebrate his birthday, Google created a special doodle. The doodle can be seen around the world today, and here in the US tomorrow. Below is a video of the awesome doodle. Freddie was easily one of the greatest singers of our time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX2BQM0D01M&hd=1
 
I'm lukewarm on Queen, but Freddie was undeniably one of the greatest showmen rock n' roll ever produced.
 
i'm surprised I didn't create this thread... as many of you know, Queen is by far my favorite band. I hallow Freddie as a god, and I think that most people don't understand that overall Queen was much more than "gay AIDS dude and stadium hits" mantra... They're a staple of rock, up there with Led Zeppelin, and their influence is immense. Kurt Cobain envied Freddie and even mentioned him in his suicide note, and Queen was where Lady Gaga got her namesake and is her primary influence. The album Queen released right before Freddie died in 1991, was one of the band's greatest... and I think had he lived on, Queen would still be packing the house today with new material, much like U2.

Although Queen is increasingly scrutinized even until today, I give anyone the challenge of listening to the first four albums, and dare them to try and deny that immense sound.

/nostalgia
 
Freddie was easily one of the best showman in the history of music, but one of the best singers of our time? Not even close. For my money, Alice Cooper is the greatest showman of all time. Plain and simple, he inveted what the rock show is today. However, he should never be considered as a "great" singer. There is a difference.

As for putting Queen up there with Led Zepplin, obviously they're influence is probably just as far reaching but they're two totally different styles. IMO that makes them pretty hard to compare. Zepplin's influence is certainly more rooted in todays hard rock/metal which is probably why I would take them over Queen any day of the week. Queens influence tends to lend itself more to the pop-rock style which just doesn't do it for me.

However, I will say that Metallica's cover of "Stone Cold Crazy" is a great jam. I wonder what Freddie thought of that version......
 
jazzman12 said:
Freddie was easily one of the best showman in the history of music, but one of the best singers of our time? Not even close. For my money, Alice Cooper is the greatest showman of all time. Plain and simple, he inveted what the rock show is today. However, he should never be considered as a "great" singer. There is a difference.

As for putting Queen up there with Led Zepplin, obviously they're influence is probably just as far reaching but they're two totally different styles. IMO that makes them pretty hard to compare. Zepplin's influence is certainly more rooted in todays hard rock/metal which is probably why I would take them over Queen any day of the week. Queens influence tends to lend itself more to the pop-rock style which just doesn't do it for me.

However, I will say that Metallica's cover of "Stone Cold Crazy" is a great jam. I wonder what Freddie thought of that version......
Click to expand...

Not a great singer? Seems there are quite a few people who would disagree with that statement.

he continues to be voted one of the greatest singers in the history of popular music. In 2005, a poll organised by Blender and MTV2 saw Mercury voted the greatest male singer of all time.[9] In 2008, Rolling Stone editors ranked him number 18 on their list of the 100 greatest singers of all time.[6] In 2009, a Classic Rock poll saw him voted the greatest rock singer of all time.[10] Allmusic has characterised Mercury as "one of rock's greatest all-time entertainers", who possessed "one of the greatest voices in all of music".[11]

Link
Click to expand...
 
I agree with jazzman12 (cool username by the way, I like how it has Stockton's number at the end), he had a mediocre voice. Watch American Idol if you want a good singer. They need to be able to have that crisp and pop sound. Muffles the eardrums. :) :)

- Craig
 
KatieMCR said:
Not a great singer? Seems there are quite a few people who would disagree with that statement.
Click to expand...

This may shock you, but I don't form my opinions based off the fact that "quite a few people" will disagree with me. In the examples that you listed, I believe that all of those lists factored in Freddie's entire persona as a front man. Again, if you're talking the entire package, you have to put Freddie up there. If you're talking about pure singing talent, he's simply not what I would consider great. It's not as if I'm knocking him either. I actually tend to enjoy the frontman who has a decent voice, yet puts on one hell of a show over the guy with a perfect voice who just stands there and sings all night.
 
Freddie was both a great singer and a great showman, but would Queen still be packing the arenas and stadiums today? Maybe in Europe, but they weren't packing them in America in the 80's, so I doubt they would be doing it now. It took "Wayne's World" and Freddie's death for Queen to become relevant in America again.
 
Freddie was a good singer, but a better showman. Comparing him to Alice Cooper is, IMO, apples and oranges. He was not as theatrical as Alice Cooper, yet he always threw himself completely into his performance. Alice was in the show, Freddie was the show.
 
FWIW, Alice AND Queen were terrible.

I never saw Alice live, so I'll reserve judgment on that, but his voice/music is just this side of a feline-*****. Queen has always been horribly overrated.
 
Last edited:
TroutBum said:
FWIW, Alice AND Queen were terrible.

I never saw Alice live, so I'll reserve judgment on that, but his voice/music is just this side of a feline-*****. Queen has always been horribly overrated.
Click to expand...

Trout, Alice's old stuff like "18", "Under My Wheels", and "Billion Dollar Babies" are great rock tunes IMO but obviously not for everybody. To me, he made really good music in the 70's. Anyting after that is pretty bad. However, I did go see him live at the E Center about 10 years ago and it was a really cool show. Alice was chopped up into pieces on stage until there was nothing left but a bloody stump of a torso. Then they placed all of his body parts in some type of frankensteinish machine, a fake bolt of lightning hit it, and Alice comes running out of it all put back togther. I was a little campy, but I'm suprised at how well he pulled it off.

To me, that's a bit cooler of an experience than seeing Freddie Mecury wear a few outrageous outfits while singing rock-opera.
 
We will rock you?
Bohemian Rhapsody?
Killer Queen?
Fat-bottomed girls?
Under Pressure?

Which gimmicky song? Be specific.
 
LogGrad98 said:
We will rock you?
Bohemian Rhapsody?
Killer Queen?
Fat-bottomed girls?
Under Pressure?

Which gimmicky song? Be specific.
Click to expand...

Take it easy on him. He was born at least 25 years after those songs were originally released.

And in my opinion Another One Bites the Dust and We Are The Champions arent really gimmically by nature, they just have been played to death
 
catratcho said:
Seriously? The way he was talking, I never would have pictured that. Where did he go?
Click to expand...
I know, right. He wrote me an email on Tuesday that even said he had different views than the LDS church. I'm not sure where he went but it's out of the country.
 
Archie Moses said:
I know, right. He wrote me an email on Tuesday that even said he had different views than the LDS church. I'm not sure where he went but it's out of the country.
Click to expand...

Sounds like he's thinking of coming out. "Different views." Freddie Mercury. A state of mind that could perhaps best be described as confusion.

Congrats Katie. You win.
 
Last edited:
Alice Cooper couldn't hold Karl Malone's jock.

Freddie definately could, and he'd do it with a smile.

Therefore, Freddie>Cooper.:cool:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page
Back
Top