7.14.17 QAL St Paul, Minnesota
Jul 16, 2017 10:40:42 GMT -5
Post by talon on Jul 16, 2017 10:40:42 GMT -5
Perfectly said rihannsu. This is an Adam forum so of course most of us will take issue when they try to downgrade his status in the band today (as the current frontman) and his outstanding voice and showmanship. It is rather tiresome seeing the effort they put into it. But if Brian and Roger (they count more than any fan) and fans think Adam is doing an outstanding job and blowing them away it takes nothing from Freddie. Or it shouldn't. Maybe some of these reviewers (who are angry because the past is the past) should try comparing Adam to the frontmen out there performing today. Or even better, just rate his performance without comparing him to anyone. If they think Freddie at 70 would be a better fit than Adam understand that is not going to happen. And rock voices are not all the same anyway. So why would I think Adam, with his gorgeous voice and sex appeal, cannot sing rock cause some pissed off person, for their own reasons, say he can't?
Let me answer this one first..
Maybe some of these reviewers (who are angry because the past is the past)
Why do they have to be angry to have that opinion? It might be their honest opinion. Not everyone who has a negative view on Adam has an agenda....I won't even try to argue that there is a brand of Queen fan that absolutely WOULD disparage Adam for exactly the reasons you say....but I think those are far fewer than you would believe.
And rock voices are not all the same anyway. So why would I think Adam, with his gorgeous voice and sex appeal, cannot sing rock cause some pissed off person, for their own reasons, say he can't?
You shouldn't. If it works for you than it works for you. I will answer the rest of this as part of a response to rihannsu below...
]I'll tell you what pisses me off and it is NOT just about Adam as I've been annoyed by this for long before Adam came along. It is this insistence that a trained vocalist can't have a true "rock" voice. Or that a trained voice has no emotion. I'm sorry but just sounding like a gravel road doesn't supply the emotion or make you authentic. It's bullshit. There is a LOT of bullshit crap in the "rock" world but this celebration of lack of training is the most egregious.
Freddie had a great love of Opera and it was obvious that he incorporated that into his singing style. He learned a lot by listening and mimicking but it was still learning. Yet "rock" fans still try to act like training or learning is a bad thing and if you can't just magically be fantastic automatically you aren't "authentic"
At the same time in countless sports, discipline and training are revered. Sure someone might have a natural gift in a sport but no one suggests that they don't relentlessly train to hone and improve that gift. Adam had a natural gift for singing that luckily was recognized at an early age. He then has spent his lifetime honing and training that gift. Why should he or ANY singer be penalized for that.
At the same time in countless sports, discipline and training are revered. Sure someone might have a natural gift in a sport but no one suggests that they don't relentlessly train to hone and improve that gift. Adam had a natural gift for singing that luckily was recognized at an early age. He then has spent his lifetime honing and training that gift. Why should he or ANY singer be penalized for that.
You know in figure skating they used to show the school figures portion of the competition which I thought was a great way to show that technical skill is the foundation of great figure skating. Mastering your technique in whatever field you are in gives you greater foundation for creativity because you are not as limited.
Fans in general and this includes Adam fans, seem to have a need for their special snowflake to be seen as the absolute best at everything while in reality this is often not the case. I love Adam's songwriting but I don't need for him to be seen as the best songwriter out there. At the same time Adam is pretty much the best out there vocally and I would say he's pretty much at the top of the list as for as being an "entertainer". I love both Freddie and Adam. Long before Adam came along I used to think how much better Freddie could have been if he'd had the vocal training. I loved his collaboration with Montserrat and it made me think of what could have been. Having Adam sing Queen songs is like a fulfillment of that dream in a way because it shows how much the songs were made for a beautifully trained voice. Adam has a more well rounded and well trained voice than Freddie. Their tone is different and certainly some will prefer one over the other in that respect but that is not a better or worse judgement as it is more about subjective appeal. I have absolutely no problem saying that Freddie is a better composer and songwriter than Adam. I think Adam is as much a musician in the use of his vocal instrument as Freddie was as a guitarist or pianist. But at the end of the day Music doesn't have to be a competition. There is no reason that someone can't like both Queen and QAL. And there is no need to even say whether one is "better" than the other.
Well this is very interesting...but I would argue a few points....not to say you're wrong but how I view it differently. In some ways I feel you're contradicting yourself just a bit though with some of your statements.
After writing this I had this later on but I feel like i want to put this first now so I edited:
This is where you're figure skating metaphor comes in. It's like training in figure skating for all your life and reaching a pinnacle. Then you try you're hand at ice hockey. Same general skating skills, but a totally different way of using them. You may look pretty handling the stick down the ice, but can you check the guy into the boards when needbe? Maybe! But not as much as the Hockey PLayer. Vice versa, have the hockey player try the precision of figure skating or what not. Could probably do it without falling on his ass, but would not come CLOSE to the beauty of the precisely trained figure skater....
First off about a Trained Voice not being a Rock voice or without emotion. I totally agree about the emotion part...and even about the trained voice. BUT I would liken it to this. Let's have an orchestra pit from Broadway play Bohemian Rhapsody. Now let's have Queen play Bohemian Rhapsody. Two completely different takes. Both very well done. However Queen's is far more genuine as the world it's from. The orchestra pit is very valid and could offer an alternative take that is not at all bad. Just very different and maybe offputting to fans of the Queen version for example.
I think Adam *CAN* sing a rock song. It's not unlistenable. It's not bad. It just doesn't fit him as naturally as other genres do...AND you brought up the perfect counterpoint. Freddie singing opera. Freddie does the Barcelona album with Montserrat Caballe...Let me call on Cassie! She will tell you straight off that Freddie is FAR from genuine sounding in the opera field. I HIGHLY enjoy it, but have no problem saying Freddie's different take on opera would absolutely not fly with most opera fans. I can still enjoy it...it's still valid to enjoy and listen to...but it is not truly an opera-sounding voice.
Not a big deal. Freddie sounds far more genuine on the rock songs. Adam would probably sound FAR more genuine doing Opera (I've never heard him) because it is a far more trained atmosphere.
And as to your last...Minus the set list gaffe's recently...I highly enjoy QAL :D