talon
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Post by talon on Mar 8, 2015 1:23:54 GMT -5
Sweet Lady, Seaside Rendezvous, and The Prophet's Song are all non-covered tracks at this point leading us to Love Of My Life
Talon Entry
The band rearranged the song 2 years after it was written and started playing it during 1977 and it was performed all the way through 1986. Brian has also played it on all of his solo tours as well through QPR and QAL. There has been quite a few covers One notable mention is Gavin Degraw. I love Gavin and he slips like 30 seconds into his sets on occasion but not enough to qualify him here. Jeff Scott Soto also did a quickie during his gig, letting the audience sing most of it. Morten Harket - the signer of A-Ha. Surprsingly pretty spot on. The Scorpions - Friends of the band and even though they didn't perform, they still were at the Freddie Tribute (and were on stage during the WATC singalong). It's a nice job even with the accent  But nowhere near the emotion. Elaine Paige - Noted West End/Broadway star was friends with the band and actually recorded a full Queen Tribute album herself. Very nice but unsurprisingly too Broadway for me. Valensia - Another note perfect type cover for Valensia. Good solid work. Almost too closely covered though. Mark Slaughter - From a Queen Tribute album. I've never been a huge fan of Mark's voice. It's not bad here but not great either. Marc Martel & Queen Extravaganza - Again a spot on, beautiful cover by Marc. He really is great at singing Queen if I'm honest.
Gary Cherone and Extreme w/Brian May - I could have gone with the live version from the Freddie Tribute or from Rock in Rio 1992 but I chose to go with the studio version since it features Brian on electric guitar. There is also a new little bridge vocal towards the end that is unique to this version. Overall I like this one best because Gary rocks first off and secondly because it is just different enough to be unique yet close enough to still be in the same ballpark. Verdict: Gary Cherone
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talon
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Post by talon on Mar 8, 2015 23:55:19 GMT -5
Good Company was never covered and heck only performed by Brian on a handful of dates with Kerry Ellis so we move on.
Ladies and gentleman...Bohemian Rhapsody
Played live by the band from 1975-1986 and then again throughout QPR and QAL obviously. And of course there have been many covers over the years. In this case though I will eliminate the covers since this IS a Queen + thread...I'll limit it to those who have performed it WITH Queen over the years!
BUT a quick list of covers anyways:
Bad News, The Braids, Butch Walker, California Guitar Trio, Constantine Maroulis & WWRY Cast, Bruce Dickinson & Montserrat Caballe, Dream Theater (Partial), Flaming Lips, Fuzzbox, G4, Grey Delisle, Rolf Harris, Magic Affair, Elaine Paige, Phish, Rockapella, Savatage, Suede, Weird Al Yankovic, Queen Extravaganza, Jeff Scott Soto, amongst others...
I am also not going to count the COUNTLESS times that Brian and/or Roger joined a random company of WWRY to close the show.
WITH Queen?
Elton John/Axl Rose
Tony Vincent/We Will Rock You Cast
African Choir/Chris Thompson/Treana Morris, etc.
2009 X-Factor UK Finalists
Paul Rodgers
Adam Lambert
Ok I'm going to tackle them all here...and in an interesting moment it is the FIRST of the Adam Lambert vs Paul Rodgers discussion...but I'll get back to that. I'm going to take 2 out of the running. First the X-Factor finalists. It was not a great rendition - a bit cheap and none are anything to write home about. Secondly the African Choir and mix of Backing vocalists. It was an interesting attempt being in South Africa, but it wasn't the complete song and so can't really win this little contest. Next another one I'll tick off the list is Tony Vincent and WWRY cast. It's only on the list because it wasn't at a WWRY show but a real Queen appearance in a festival or whatever. It was a decent job by the WWRY cast and I highly enjoy Tony Vincent's voice but it was still more of a promotion for WWRY than a performance.
SO we're down to 3. Or are we. As much of the ballyhoo of it being the first Adam vs Paul song it's not really fair to Paul. With Adam, Freddie sings the second verse on tape and the ending. WIth Paul, Paul only comes in for the hard rock section so doesn't really get a chance to sing the song so it's not a fair contest therefore I'll eliminate Paul but I don't count it against him.
SO we're down to Adam vs the combination of Elton/Axl. Adam has the benefit of having sung it a ton. Elton/Axl have the benefit of being probably the biggest time it was ever performed by someone not named Freddie. An emotional night was the Freddie Tribute concert and this really was the culmination. Freddie's best known track, being sung by one of his best friends. And then also it was said after Axl came out for the headbanging section and the close was Elton and Axl duetting...that it really highlighted how special Freddie was. There it was Freddie at his glitziest...and then Freddie at his most dangerous - yet it took both of them to really show.
Adam now is far closer to Elton than Axl - far more glitz than danger which has always been my one...well spot where Adam falls short in tackling the Queen catalogue - the lack of a darker side.
With that being said, Adam's take on the song on pure vocal, nonemotional level easily beats out Elton/Axl.
So...at the end of the day...
VERDICT
Adam Lambert
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Post by talon on Mar 12, 2015 0:53:53 GMT -5
Ok so no God Save The Queen but another big one... Tie Your Mother Down
Talon Entry
Played at every Queen concert since it debuted and all throughout QPR, QAL, Brian's solo tours, Kerry tours - this song honestly might be THE most played Queen song. Quite honestly Brian whores this song out to EVERYONE at some point. SO I think I'll leave the Brian-less (at least)covers like Lemmy (From Motorhead) teaming with Ted Nugent, L.A. Guns, Little Angels, Lynch Mob, Shinedown, Slash's Snakepit, Talisman, Warrant, Velvet Revolver, WASP and a bunch others out.... Gary Cherone (of Extreme) - Brian has guested with Extreme a few times now. Joe Elliot (of Def Leppard) - This one is from the Freddie Tribute and Brian did the first verse Axl Rose (of Guns N' Roses) 5ive - The boyband. Most Queen fans weren't a fan of this collaboration..... Foo Fighters #1 (Dave Grohl singing)
Foo Fighters #2 (Taylor Hawkins singing)
Kerry Ellis - Firstly from a WWRY afterparty and with both B&R and second a MUCH better quality vid of Brian and Kerry at their recent "acoustic" gigs. Amanda Harrison, Jacen Wooten, Katie Sheik, Olga Belya, Mazz Murray - Various WWRY afterpartys (Except Mazz which was her wedding - she being a WWRY cast member) - No vid - Haven't heard it so I can't judge Paul Rodgers
Justin Hawkins (of The Darkness) Adam Lambert
Whew! Quite a list! Ok let me just eliminate a few right off the bat - Joe Elliot (never been a super fan of his voice - I do like a lot of Def Lep's songs though), Axl Rose (not bad, just not top notch), 5ive (the less the said the better), Foo Fighters (Dave Grohl - I don't mind but if I'm going to pick a Foo, I like Taylor's rendition better), Kerry Ellis (Not a fan of her on rocking stuff either to be honest.. OK So that leaves us Gary Cherone - I've always loved the guy - one of my favorite singers so tough to eliminate. Personally he's one of the few guys I would love to see a Q+ gig with in an alternate universe. The Hawkins (no relation) - Taylor & Justin - Sheer exuberance wins a lot of points and I like their version but there are better on the list. Paul Rodgers - Top notch bluesy/rock singer. This song was much more up his alley than a lot of the Freddie fare. Adam - Not in his wheelhouse - I still think he struggles a bit on this one...he has improved - I will definitely give him that. So with that in mind - in my mind it would come down to Gary vs Paul. I want to give it to Gary...BUT if I'm honest Paul does it better...when he remembers the words that is Verdict: Paul Rodgers
And I decided here and now that it might be interesting to have a sub-list to keep track of. Paul vs Adam as the two most longterm Q+ vocalists. I think given how completely supportive I was of both eras, I'd be a good non-biased judge! At this point? Paul - 1 (Tie Your Mother Down) Adam - 1/2 (Bohemain Rhapsody (1/2)) (Note I gave Adam only 1/2 since although he won - Paul really only sang a couple of lines so it's not really fair to credit that as a full song for Paul. Yes Freddie sang on Adam's as well but Freddie sang more on Paul's.) |
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ruut1
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Post by ruut1 on Mar 12, 2015 3:03:07 GMT -5
Tie your mother down is one of my favorite queen live songs. Love that track. I thought that Adam's version is much better than Paul's, but Axl's version is my favorite
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talon
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Post by talon on Mar 12, 2015 3:48:58 GMT -5
^ Axl's version is decent but something about his voice has always grated on me a bit. I love a lot of GNR songs...and he's got a real rock voice but it never really did it for me. On this one Paul beats Adam as it sounds more natural in Paul's voice. Adam sounds a bit too...boyish for me but to each their own obviously  |
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Post by talon on Mar 12, 2015 23:09:32 GMT -5
You Take My Breath Away
Talon Entry
The band played it for about a year and half and then dropped it forever. No one has performed it with Queen probably because for all intents and purposes it is almost a solo Freddie track... It has been covered by two artists Elaine Paige
Valensia
Elaine still is too Broadway for me and while this number could work on stage as a ballad it works better the way Valensia did it...fairly straightforward. Verdict: Valensia
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Post by talon on Mar 13, 2015 23:52:35 GMT -5
First off I must note I went back and edited George Michael's performance of '39 into that entry.
Long Away, Millonaire Waltz and You And I are no-go so we'll move on to Somebody To Love
Talon Entry
Played live through 1982 in full, truncated for the 1984 and 1985 tours before being dropped for the 1986 tour. Played to high acclaim at the Freddie Tribute and played by Brian with Kerry Ellis before QAL brought it back to the Queeniverse. Ignoring the straight covers: Queen Extravaganza, Jeff Scott Soto, Geoff Tate, Brittany Murphy, Anne Hathaway, Frank Turner, and Garth Brooks. EDITED IN: I FORGOT FUN!Catherine Porter - w/Brian on guitar. Catherine is a singer who also did backing vocals for Brian's solo tours as well as some Queen gigs as well as on the Made In Heaven album/ George Michael
Hannah Jane Fox - From the WWRY cast, she did perform it with Brian and Roger on occasion. Kerry Ellis - Both electric and accoustic (with Brian on some vocals as well) Marc Martel - On American Idol, Queen actually did one performance WITH Queen Extravaganza. Adam Lambert
Nate Ruess
Ok this is a very difficult one for me. So many good choices. I can cut some off the top. Catherine's version is unique which in interesting but ultimately interesting doesn't mean better. Hannah Jane works for the musical, but I prefer others. Kerry again is alright but it's not quite in her wheelhouse. SO it's George vs Marc vs Adam vs. Nate. Out of these four I really liked Nate's version (I know many here didn't especially since it meant Adam wasn't singing it. I thought Nate showed great respect and had a lot of fun (no pun intended) and showed a lot of energy. One of my fav moments was watching him sit back by his guitarist and just watch Brian do his solo and just with this big huge "I can't believe I'm getting to do this" grin to the point where he almost forgets to come back in. BUT at the end of the day while better than those I have eliminated already - it's still a notch less than the other 3. George Michael's is considered the definitive non-Freddie performance of the song. It was the performance that for the next 10 years or so stoked rumors that Queen would tour with George. And from some people behind the scenes it was considered It was decided against for a few reasons - many of which revolved around it being too soon. But it doesn't take away from the fact that it was an extremely powerful moment in the Tribute Concert that won him many fans from the Queen side. Marc - Well it was also Marc's signature song - the one that won him the job, the YT sensation and even a spot on Ellen! His take is uncanny and sounds much like Freddie so it certainly is hard to dislike! Of course it was also the debut of the new up-tempo ending that QAL adapted during their tours. Adam - Honestly during 2012 I would have crossed Adam off the list with Catherine, Hannah, and Kerry. I was highly disappointed in his take especially because I had such high hopes for it. But then something happened in 2014-2015 and Adam got much MUCH better at the track. I'm not sure what it was but I suddenly liked his performance a ton more. I really really can't decide here. All three are worthy choices and all three have some sentimental value so for the first time...and hopefully the last time during this journey - I'm chickening out... Verdict: George, Marc, and Adam
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Post by talon on Mar 15, 2015 22:41:19 GMT -5
EDITED IN fun to the SomeboDY To Love Thread. This goes to show I'm getting a bit advanced in my age as I keep forgetting performances
Next? White Man has never been covered or sung with anyone so we move on to Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy. Never performed with Queen by anyone I don't think...and I only know of one cover so it's a by default..BUT it is a good very faithful cover! jason Mraz
I really enjoy Jason. He grew on me quite a bit. At first I didn't know what to make of the guy, but he's the genuine article and this is a nice nice version. Verdict (by default): Jason Mraz
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talon
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Post by talon on Mar 19, 2015 23:11:23 GMT -5
Drowse is a no-go so we move on to Teo Toriatte (Let Us Cling Together)
The band basically played this whenever they went to Japan. Brian continued on his tours and then QPR and QAL both also continued the tradition. However with QPR Paul did help out on vocals. He sang the bridge and ending section (quite nicely too!) but I can't find a working YT clip of it.
BUT that makes it easy...
VERDICT:
Paul Rodgers
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talon
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Post by talon on Mar 20, 2015 23:02:47 GMT -5
This one might be a little long.... We Will Rock You Played ever since it was written - one of Queen's signature songs... I will not count all of the countless non-Queen covers....such as: Paul Diano, Styx, Def Leppard, Faith No More, Macy Gray, Paul Shortino, NKOTB, Nickelback, Linda Rondstadt, Snoop Dogg, Valensia, Warrant, Robbie Williams, Robin Zander, et. al. A ton. 5ive
John Farnham
Pink/Britney Spears/Beyonce
Axl Rose
Anastasia
Paul Rodgers
Tom Jones
Adam Lambert
Kerry Ellis
Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance)
Dappy
Ok. 5ive is a joke - although I did like the staging in the video above taken from The Brit Awards with Brian and Roger's surprise appearance...the first time they appeared as Queen since their last performance with John Deacon and Elton John about 3 years previously...BUT forget 5ive. Axl is another one I don't like - although I do like him more on the fast version of the tune.... Kerry simply doesn't belong singing WWRY. Take all the hesitations I'd ever had about Adam singing real rock numbers and multiply by about 100 for Kerry. Same for Tom Jones and Dappy Gerard Way was decent enough but not enough to win. Pink was great to be honest and I'd like to have heard her take on the whole song instead of one verse and then Britney and Beyonce not having a clue. That leaves John Farnham, Paul Rodgers, and Adam Lambert. One reason I would lean towards Farnham actually has little to do with singing honestly - it's my favorite arrangement of the track! BUT that's not enough so it comes down to Paul vs. Adam. I like Paul singing rockers better....although his Queen will rock you was a litlte..strange SO I think I will give Adam this one...it's a pretty straight forward performance as Adam goes and it works. Verdict: Adam
AND in the little sub-contest - Paul 1 - Adam 1
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But nowhere near the emotion.
