Hi all! I was hoping that a few of you could think of a few Queen songs that you can really delve into the music of, not really lyrics, but the music, instrumentation, etc. Maybe also something that your typical 15-16 year old could get into? I hardly expect miracles with that one, don't worry, but if any of you can thing of something I would really appreciate it! Thank you!
Ah I first got your question wrong! :)
so you want to drown in the theories of Queen arrangement and instrumentalisation!? Good!
I would recommend to take a close listen to the "Big Band" on Good Company for example.
Or the arrangement of March of the Black Queen, of course.
Bring back that Leroy Brown has lots of little things in the background, give it an ear - especially the backing track!
A nice one is to count how many Brian May guitars are played on Who needs you or the Millionaire Waltz.
and so on...
Yeah, it's a thing for school. Basically, I need to play a song for the class and lead them through analyzing it. And I really don't want an "Oh, it's not cRap, it's not Country, it's obviously bad, because God forbid it's from the 70's/80's!" reaction!
Thanks Juls, anyone else?
Love Of My Life wrote: Yeah, it's a thing for school. Basically, I need to play a song for the class and lead them through analyzing it. And I really don't want an "Oh, it's not cRap, it's not Country, it's obviously bad, because God forbid it's from the 70's/80's!" reaction!
Thanks Juls, anyone else?
LOL...that is so true about the reaction u just said! Anyway, regarding your question...
I think March of the Black Queen is a very good choice, as are the others Juls mentioned. I'd like to suggest:
Innuendo - has that multi-style sound but very different than Bo Rhap and MOTBQ
I also thought of Breakthrough and Radio Ga Ga. These 2 in particular because I like how they combine the synthesizer with real instruments. Breakthrough, for example, uses a synth bass almost exclusively, and I think Radio has a drum machine through most of it.
I hope that helps! Good luck with the project!
Oh...one more thing. Are you looking exclusively for Queen songs? When I read your question I immediately thought of Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys. Just a suggestion.
Good Vibrations - now that is a piece of art ! Wonderful vocals, this song is a masterpiece !
As for a Queen song I would also suggest "Doing Alright" with the very interesting mixture of almost "folkish" verses, the Hippie-esque guitar-bridge in the middle and the heavy part, that just like in Innuendo picks up the acoustic hook-line and turns it into a metal-riff. Very well structured.
MIght be useful to use a number of examples (and not all by the same band perhaps) to illustrate differences in style etc.
Would be difficult to do it with one song I would have thought.
Or maybe just get Sebastian to come and teach it!
Regor wrote: Good Vibrations - now that is a piece of art ! Wonderful vocals, this song is a masterpiece !
As for a Queen song I would also suggest "Doing Alright" with the very interesting mixture of almost "folkish" verses, the Hippie-esque guitar-bridge in the middle and the heavy part, that just like in Innuendo picks up the acoustic hook-line and turns it into a metal-riff. Very well structured.
OO...speaking of "folkish"... I also just thought of '39! Musically I don't know how complicated it is. But I really like how they harmonize (reminded me of the Beach Boys, actually) in the song.
Does it have to be very long?
You could try Nevermore, it´s really short, but it has a lot of deep ideas to it...
Or Made in Heaven (from the Made in Heaven album, of course :)), you have excellent musical arrangements and a lot of philosophy to discuss about life, death, going on after failures, being a winner in a shitty world, etc.
Regor wrote: Good Vibrations - now that is a piece of art ! Wonderful vocals, this song is a masterpiece !
As for a Queen song I would also suggest "Doing Alright" with the very interesting mixture of almost "folkish" verses, the Hippie-esque guitar-bridge in the middle and the heavy part, that just like in Innuendo picks up the acoustic hook-line and turns it into a metal-riff. Very well structured.
OO...speaking of "folkish"... I also just thought of '39! Musically I don't know how complicated it is. But I really like how they harmonize (reminded me of the Beach Boys, actually) in the song.
Good Vibrations ... hmm. Didn't think of that. But "Who Needs You" ought to go across well (lots of guitar overdub) and "Leroy" is cool. But people would be like, "God, what IS that? Weird OLD music! AAAAAH! THE 70S! God, get it AWAY!!!" --
Let's put it this way: kids are really stupid these days.