Queen guitarist Brian May says he was too big for AC/DC, literally. May would have looked like a giant alongside the tiny Young brothers.
Brian May would have loved to be in AC/DC but thinks he was the wrong ‘size and shape’ for the band.
The Queen guitarist admires the Australian rockers and joked he might have joined them if his own group hadn’t existed. The 64-year-old musician would have relished the challenge of being in a band he describes as ‘opposite’ to Queen, originally helmed by the late Freddie Mercury.
‘I’d have probably liked to be in AC/DC. But I’m the wrong sort of size and shape unfortunately,’ he told UK newspaper The Independent.
‘Because it’s different from Queen. Queen were very eclectic ‘ that’s the word isn’t it? ‘ and we just trampled over every boundary that there was but AC/DC are in a sense the opposite ‘ they know their style and it’s incredibly pure and I have a great respect for that. And every single note they play is AC/DC completely.’
Brian has worked alongside an eclectic mix of musicians from Eddie Van Halen to boy band 5ive. He has been criticised for some of his collaborations but likes to pursue ventures that push him as an artist no matter what people think.
“If I feel excited by it I don’t really care what anybody else thinks,’ he said.
‘And in fact I kind of enjoy that feeling of discomfort. I recently played on a Dappy [UK singer] record and I told a few people and they go, ‘What the hell are you doing that for!? That’s not music! How could you possibly consider it?’ And again, I said, ‘No, listen again, you’ll find the guy’s actually a great lyrical power and he’s a great singer and the record is brilliantly produced, so what exactly is your problem?’ And everybody came back when they heard it and said, ‘B***dy hell, that is great and it’s a great combination.’ And it’s a daring idea for both of us and I love it ‘ I love breaking the boundaries.”
by Music-News.com link
I love AC/DC too, but some of Bri's collaboration are nothing short of embarassing. Adam Lambert, 5ive, Dappy and Robbie Williams being the worst. There have been some good too like Foos, EVH, Darkness, Lepps, Paul Rodgers, Billy Squier. Ironically, many Queen fans are AC/DC fans because when full out rockin both bands have that fist in the air vibe, unfortunately Queen in the 80's and since have tried to please their original hard rockin fans and stay hip by experimenting with too much pop crap.
I've just listened to C-Lebrity from the Live in Ukrain DVD. It's so difficult to listen to that song, which I think is very ppor, without thinking of Mr Lambert. Try it yourselves, you'll see what I mean. I hope they get Lambert to sing it. Also when Paul Rodgers toured with them, he did his own songs too. Will Lambert have the balls to ask them if he can do his own 'hits', like, erm, nah, not got a clue...Does anyone know any of his songs?
Brian May is too big for this world, He has lost the plot big time, unfortunately, I think he's taking Roger there too. What a legacy, what a shame.
horse feathers wrote:
Also when Paul Rodgers toured with them, he did his own songs too. Will Lambert have the balls to ask them if he can do his own 'hits', like, erm, nah, not got a clue...
Actually, it wasnt Paul's idea to do his own songs. He originally wanted to shows to be all Queen songs. Brian and Roger decided he should do some of his songs as well.
As for C-lebrity on the live DVD, that was shocking enough but worse still was the origianl broadcast which had some awful backing singing harmonies....
I can understand why a guitarist would have liked to be on a pure hard rock back like ac/dc. To be a member of a well defind pure rock unit and just let it all out.
But in terms of musicality i think ac/dc come nowhere close to Queen.And Brian is more of a musician than a rocker or guitarist.
So i think he would have loved it at first but at some point he would eventually got bored.
accept your point
but when Bri is allowed to let rip he's not that much more subtle than angus young
tie your mother down
put out the fire
headlong
white man
dead on time
...and many more, very much head-down rocking out tunes
Brian has expressed these thoughts about AC/DC before. If I recall correctly it was partly in the context of the purity of the sound and the vision as it is in these comments, but it was also about the tensions inherent in always pulling in different directions. You can see how that would be wearing, even when you can credit it for some of the most brilliant work. It would be hard to sing or play songs you don't like as well, which happened from time to time.
I am an AC/DC fan but I'm also a great Queen fan so I'd have loved watching brian, alonside them, so it could have been great, but eventhough I bealive artisticly Queen is further better than them, then yes in both senses, Brian could have been too much for them. There's no doubt!
To be fair to Brian May, hes is a lanky 6"2, all the accadacca boys are no taller than 5"8, Angus is like 5"2. Would love to see some kind of the collaboration. The Darkness and Def Leppard both seem to fuse the Queen and AC/DC sounds together.
i think his hair was "too big" for ac/dc...he'd have been better off joining an 80s-hair band like bon jovi or europe...he'd have looked less conspicuous