talon
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Post by talon on Jun 3, 2014 7:36:15 GMT -5
IMO I think the only song Adam compares or dare I say is better then Freddie, is WWTLF. Adam is simply incredible with that song, he evokes the same emotion, and seems to understand the lyrics and the purpose Freddie was intending, without copying Freddie. Adam has always employed his own unique interpretation, he has managed to strike a balance of respecting the legacy of Freddie, but also bringing something new to the table. I don't neccesarily agree re GM, alot of reasons for that. Vocally I Think Adam has a stronger voice then GM, more adept in the low to high range, Adam can just go low to high so quickly, almost immediately. I think Adam lately has shown a more rock voice, then just theatrical. I also think Adam excells on some performances in London in 2012 on We Will Rock You, their was one performance that was just phemoninal almost Freddie lvl. I think its this one www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzmAf2muySkI would agree that Adam has done a LOT to make this his own. And that's tough for me to say as a Freddie fan first. I think he definitely compares in this song and part of that is the slightly different arrangement that Brian started using at the Freddie Tribute with Seal. It's a better arrangement than when Freddie was singing it and makes it a bit more dramatic. Adam's rock voice has gotten better, I will definitely admit that. The iheart showed more of a rock voice than 2012 that is for certain. He still lacks a bit in this area. He's still far more pop/musical theater which is less...dangerous sounding. That's not a slight. It's just a different style but it's where some rock fans don't buy it in a sense...just like you wouldn't buy someone like Axl Rose on broadway... This is one area (and it's subjective so no throwing things at me) where Freddie is better - in that despite being untrained he can shift from full on rock vocals and yet do a credible musical theater type vocal. I mean the fact that completely untrained he could record with an opera diva and at least hang around the ballpark is sensational...BUT in a way perhaps that is a better way to showcase my argument. I know from here that the classical fans in here have said that Freddie's opera vocals while good were not superb mostly due to being untrained and when next to a diva it shows....THAT'S kind of how rock fans feel about Adam. Again subjective. A bit late to the conversation but I'm going to be a voice in the wilderness and state that I really love Adam's interpretation of Somebody to Love. Is one of the songs from Kiev concert that I regularly rewatch. His vocals in it are just insane and watching Bri's face at times he is obviously kind of awestruck too. Is one of the reasons I was soooo bummed that they gave that song to Nate at iheartradio - they could have let him sing Fat bottomed girls buy himself and I'd have been perfectly happy LOL. Oh well to each his and her own. And I agree re Adam now has ownership of WWTLF - his version is one others probably will and should be judged on :-) I am also a voice in the wilderness in that I loved Nate's interpretation. No it wasn't technically great, but I thought his performance was VERY engaging and the thrill he had on his face was infectious...One of my favorite parts of the whole iheart gig was when Brian does his solo and Nate hangs back with his guitarist and has this look of awe/amazement/dream fulfillment on his face and almost forgets to come back in for his part! I think Adam has done the definitive version of 2 Queen songs - WWTLF and "Dragon Attack" which considering how big "Freddie's footprints" are is pretty amazing. Hmm Dragon Attack? I haven't considered that. He might if only because Queen rarely performed it. Agreed to a point. Always Freddie. Adam's the best one done live but I really have to give props to Paul Rodgers on this one...He handled this one QUITE well. No glory notes obviously but he really did do a good job on it. Truth. Therefore, I had few expectations for how Queen SHOULD sound. Queen + Adam Lambert became my "standard." With his exceptional vocal skills, I think he sounds great on just about every song. If I had to give an opinion on which were the weakest, I would have to admit that there is something about the chorus of WATC that he struggles with. The line "and we'll keep on fighting to the end" straddles his passaggio (the natural spot where his voice breaks registers), he sounds like he is having trouble belting some of those notes with strength, or that he is unsure whether to sing them with chest or head voice. I thought so too. That song, like Q3 said is deceptively hard. Because it's a singalong, it makes it sound like it would be easier but it's not. I think that's definitely part of it. [/quote][/quote][/font][/quote] Agreed. yet there is some kind of "common understanding" that Freddie is "a better singer". HE IS NOT. COMPLETELY subjective. I could easily say the same thing. "there is some kind of "common understanding" here that Adam is a "better singer" HE IS NOT. And you know what? That's a fact. To me. *shrug*. What it comes down to is how each person hears it. If a (completely made up number) million people think Freddie is a better singer than Adam well than he is. To them. The fact that it's a common understanding, just means that there are a lot of people thing that Freddie's better. BUT that doesn't change the fact that to YOU Adam is better. It makes you nuts....  JUST KIDDING! Honestly. I think they both kick ass so why compare? |
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Post by Q3 on Jun 3, 2014 7:50:43 GMT -5
Let me start by saying I am not a fan of the STL Queen + .fun performance but just one point that seems to have been forgotten. Their inclusion in that set helped QAL. The concert had been going on for 5+ hours when Queen + Adam Lambert took the stage. For the Clear Channel PDs and Music Directors who were all around me, they had been drinking and at events for over 8 hours. They were tired. Many were going to leave and skip Queen (and a lot of people left after Katy Perry). The guys around me stayed to see .fun. Not Queen, not Adam, but .fun. Once QAL took the stage -- the idea of leaving seemed ridiculous, but seriously to a 30 year old PD at a CHR station (the KISS-format guys all around me) .fun was the relevant act. ** Although Nate's singing was not the best, he did a good just getting people to sing along. ** Finally, I always "loved" this little bit in The Guardian.... "This may not be good news for Adam Lambert. In recent years, the American Idol runner-up has become Queen's favourite Freddie Mercury stand-in, and iHeartRadio's official bill lists the artists as "Queen + Adam Lambert". "[He has a] stupendous voice," May wrote on Tuesday. But Fun are fellow co-headliners at tonight's gig, and Ruess's star may be nudging Lambert aside." Link: www.theguardian.com/music/2013/sep/20/fun-nate-ruess-queen-las-vegasETA: When singers/performers get to Freddie's and Adam's level, we are not dealing with better -- we are dealing with a matter of taste. What was The Guardian's comment after QAL performed at iHeart and Adam left that Ruess guy, and everyone else performing that night, in his dust?! I do not believe The Guardian reviewed the concert. But Nate Ruess without his recent vocal problems would have been excellent* with Queen and that article would not have seemed so strange. Nate Ruess is and was dealing with vocal issues last September. There were many reports about it, here is one: www.altpress.com/news/entry/fun.s_nate_ruess_opens_up_about_vocal_rest_following_festival_cancellationI keep reading comments about Nate Ruess and .fun that completely ignore how big .fun are. (They had 3 sequential multi-platinum global hits.) Queen + Adam Lambert were great that night but for many, many people who were there .fun + Queen was part of the reason the set was so good. * No, Nate would not have been as good as Adam. |
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Post by Q3 on Jun 3, 2014 8:31:32 GMT -5
I think Adam has done the definitive version of 2 Queen songs - WWTLF and "Dragon Attack" which considering how big "Freddie's footprints" are is pretty amazing. Hmm Dragon Attack? I haven't considered that. He might if only because Queen rarely performed it. "Dragon Attack" - Queen performed it regularly from 1980 - 1985. The Game, Japan 1981, Gluttons For Punishment, WWRY, Hot Space, Works 1984 and Works 1985 Tours. Also performed by Q+PR. Just no one really noticed it. Here is Freddie's DA from Montreal.... youtu.be/GnJqZkY67JI** I did not find any good video of Paul Rodger's version of DA but from the scraps that are out there, I actually put his version ahead of Freddie's, too. youtu.be/gtZNpcziy6AETA: BTW the wiki page on The Works is wrong. It says DA was performed from 1980-1982. But it was performed through 1985. |
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talon
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Post by talon on Jun 3, 2014 9:08:31 GMT -5
Hmm Dragon Attack? I haven't considered that. He might if only because Queen rarely performed it. "Dragon Attack" - Queen performed it regularly from 1980 - 1985. The Game, Japan 1981, Gluttons For Punishment, WWRY, Hot Space, Works 1984 and Works 1985 Tours. Also performed by Q+PR. Just no one really noticed it. Here is Freddie's DA from Montreal.... youtu.be/GnJqZkY67JI** I did not find any good video of Paul Rodger's version of DA but from the scraps that are out there, I actually put his version ahead of Freddie's, too. youtu.be/gtZNpcziy6AETA: BTW the wiki page on The Works is wrong. It says DA was performed from 1980-1982. But it was performed through 1985. You are right. I hadn't had coffee yet. I was confusing DA from the set with Put Out The Fire. Dragon Attack was performed with Now I'm here throughout that time. A few times (notably in Japan) Put Out The Fire was added to the medley of sort and shortened DA). But you are right....it was performed for a bit during that time period. Live yes, I would rank Adam's up there - more because again a different arrangement...with Adam, Brian and Roger slowed down the tempo and it became more...slinky which fit Adam well. Paul bluesed it up a bit and worked for him, while Freddie was more rock and roll. So it's hard for me to compare them. I did enjoy the slinkiness of Adams, but I also loved the faster more frantic Freddie version as well... |
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Post by Q3 on Jun 3, 2014 10:40:12 GMT -5
Adam is the one who rearranged "Dragon Attack" and made it funky-slinky (I like that genre name.) My expectation is that we another (new) Adamized song for this tour. I hope so. Like DA I think it might be on a less known track vs. one of the big hits. I will be disappointed and shocked if DA does not reappear.
>> I would love to hear something like the Adam "Fantasy Springs" WLL rearrangement done to one of really heavy Queen songs. With Brian on guitar, it could be legendary.
>> Adam is not the only one who had sung with Queen and brought their own interpretation -- George Michael did it, Dave Grohl did it, etc. And, of course, Paul Rodgers did blues interpretations of many of the Queen songs in the Q+PR concerts.
I always felt it was a bit of a filler song in the Queen concerts the way they used it to set up NIH. And I doubt many people listening to DA when Freddie did it had much idea what it was about. Both the PR blues version and the funky Adam version convey a bit more of the songs meaning for me. I do not get the hereon smoke filled room from Freddie's interpretation.
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talon
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Post by talon on Jun 3, 2014 12:45:26 GMT -5
Fair enough Q3! Valid point. I never saw anything that said it was Adam's rearrangement...was there an article I missed or is that your educated guess? Just curious!
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JUST KIDDING! 
