| kdj2hot 15.05.2006 15:05 |
What's better: Freddie Playing the guitar or Brian singing? |
| Just You and Me 15.05.2006 15:18 |
Wow, this is a very interesting question. One to which I'm not sure if I have an answer. One which requires much thought. Basically I just wanted to say that you get 8/10 "interesting and well thought out" points. |
| deleted user 15.05.2006 15:25 |
Well Freddie kept saying he couldn't play the guitar and Brian said he's not a singer but thats obviously not true. |
| zaiga 15.05.2006 15:38 |
Well, the only song we know where Freddie plays the guitar is Crazy Little Thing. It's 6 chords or so, and he plays them well, but it's nothing special. He might be able to play better than that, but we'll never know. Now Brian isn't a brilliant singer, but I do rank his singing a bit higher than Freddie's guitar playing. |
| it was electric7 15.05.2006 15:42 |
I really love Brian's voice, I think its very soothing, I can see him singing a lullaby, not like his voice is boring and can put you to sleep or anything! But I'll say Brian's Singing... |
| its_a_hard_life 26994 15.05.2006 15:43 |
Brian's singing ofcourse. You trying to say he wasn't good at that? Ha...He made two great solo albums and his voice is just wonderful, I tell you! |
| magicalfreddiemercury 15.05.2006 15:50 |
Freddie's guitar playing. The only thing I have to base that on is my opinion of Brian's singing. Sorry y'all, I just don't like his voice. |
| Just You and Me 15.05.2006 15:57 |
I suppose i can say that we do see lots of pictures from freddie in the 70's with a guitar in his lap. that has to say he knew the guitar better than he let on...right? |
| mayniac316 15.05.2006 15:57 |
it was electric7 wrote: I really love Brian's voice, I think its very soothing, I can see him singing a lullaby, not like his voice is boring and can put you to sleep or anything! But I'll say Brian's Singing...I think his voice is really soothihg too. When I have trouble sleeping (which is just about every night) I listen to "Just One Life" and instantly become very relaxed and fall asleep :) Too bad I couldn't have him sit next to me on my bed and sing me a lullaby while he gently strokes my hair *sighs* And then a kiss on the forehead would be nice too! I don't know how well Freddie could play guitar. I would assume since there isn't much of his guitar playing on record that Brian's singing is better. |
| Munchsack 15.05.2006 16:04 |
Gotta be Brian's singing. There's not a lot of Freddie's guitar playing, but plenty examples of Brian singing. Freddie was never good enough to tour and play lead guitar, so effectively, that should answer your question. Good question, though. |
| Carol! the Musical 15.05.2006 16:21 |
it was electric7 wrote: I really love Brian's voice, I think its very soothing, I can see him singing a lullaby, not like his voice is boring and can put you to sleep or anything! But I'll say Brian's Singing...I agree with everything you said in that one post. :-D |
| FriedChicken 15.05.2006 16:23 |
Brians singing, duh! |
| deleted user 15.05.2006 17:16 |
Brian's singing, I love his voice. |
| deleted user 15.05.2006 18:07 |
Brian's singing..lil angel ;) |
| RETROLOVE 15.05.2006 18:32 |
Mmmmmm, this is a good question, but I would have to say Brian's singing... I loooooooove his voice on '39' and Only the good die young...beautiful voice!!! |
| Katastrophe Mercury 15.05.2006 18:35 |
yeah, i say brian's singing. i love his voice as much as freddie's. ^_^ |
| saltnvinegar 15.05.2006 19:53 |
Actually I misread this question to be "which is better, Freddie's singing or Brian's guitar playing?"...I guess that debate is for another thread! I think that when the song suits his style/range Brian sings well though I sometimes feel he sounds a little reedy and strained on certain tracks. As for Freddie, a few concert clips and the studio version of CLTCL aren't enough to make a judgement on his guitar abilities. I know he used to worship Hendrix so he no doubt tried to copy him when he was younger but thankfully he discovered his vocal abilities instead and shared them with the world. |
| Scott_Mercury 15.05.2006 21:04 |
LongLostMercury wrote: yeah, i say brian's singing. i love his voice as much as freddie's. ^_^Brian can sing better than Freddie could play guitar...but thats not saying much. I could have anyone here playing guitar better then Freddie in a week from a technical standpoint. Remember....music theory, is music theory....theory wise, Freddie had the capabilty of kicking ass on any instrument, but he had little to no technical prowless on guitar...which tells me he must have very rarely picked it up. Meanwhile, liking Brian's voice as much as Freddie's?? Thats like comparing Budweiser beer to Dom Perion Champagne. |
| kdj2hot 15.05.2006 22:11 |
I thought of this question after hearing Brian sing In Lap of the Gods (revisited) link and with his version of Too much love will kill you. I can't understand how anyone could like his voice as much as Freddie but to each his own you know lol. Freddie did play on crazy little thing called love. He played with John and Roger on the backing track. Brian played over that with the telly but the guitar on the backing track is all Freddie and it's pretty perfect. Freddie said he knew 3 chords but Keith Richards claims to only know 3 chords too lol. |
| Sebastian 15.05.2006 23:38 |
Fred wasn't a bad guitarist but he still was quite basic. Brian's voice otoh is extraordinary. IMO. |
| Scott_Mercury 15.05.2006 23:57 |
Sebastian wrote: Fred wasn't a bad guitarist but he still was quite basic. Brian's voice otoh is extraordinary. IMO.Fred could have been excellent on whatever instrument he choosed, he just didn't spend much time on guitar. Meanwhile Sebastian, can you translate your Brian comment into English. |
| Knute 16.05.2006 00:12 |
Brian is a good singer. I mean I get chills when I listen to Leaving Home Ain't Easy. He may not be technically awesome, but his voice communicates on an emotional level and that is all you can ask of any singer. Look at Dylan. A lot of people people knock his singing, but I like his voice. It's totally unique and it gets the point across. I consider Brian's vocals unique as well. I think he does a great job on Teo Torriate from Super Live In Japan and the high notes of Under Pressure he does just fine! |
| Sebastian 16.05.2006 00:30 |
Brian's voice otoh is extraordinary = Brian's voice, on the other hand, is extraordinary |
| thenightcomedown 16.05.2006 01:55 |
Freddie was multitalented, so i have to say Freddies guitar playing is better, Brian is a genius at guitar but not at singing |
| deleted user 16.05.2006 12:27 |
Now this is an interesting question alright. I'd have to say Brian's singing. Obviously he doesn't have the wonderful voice that Freddie had, but he's got talent. What Freddie knew on the guitar was good but he couldn't play that much. So basically put a guitar in Brian's hands and a microphone in Freddie's and you've got two perfect people! |
| Sebastian 16.05.2006 12:39 |
I wish Brian had sung lead more often. I prefer his voice over Freddie's in some tracks like Is This The World, Love Of My Life (live) and I'd love to hear Brian singing Save Me. Hammer To Fall would sound great with each one (Roger, Freddie and Brian) taking a verse, and Show Must Go On too. |
| All I Hear Is Radio Gaga 16.05.2006 15:14 |
I'd have to say Brian's singing...hes got a great voice... I'm not saying Freddie sucks at the guitar...cause he doesn't but he played mostly basics.... Interesting question by the way... Cheers |
| magicalfreddiemercury 16.05.2006 15:20 |
I have to know... all of you who love Brian's voice... what about it do you find to be so good? Range? Power? Emotion? What? I ask because when I listen to him, I hear none of that. To my ear, (and this is just my opinion) it sounds strained and whiny. I'd truly love to know what it is about his voice you like. (If this is considered hijacking the thread, my apologies. I'm just baffled and hoped for an answer.) |
| deleted user 16.05.2006 16:39 |
I like how Brian's voice is gentle. It's probably the lack of range, power, and subtle emotion that does that for me. |
| Boy Thomas Raker 16.05.2006 23:00 |
Uh, Freddie played what, one song for Queen on guitar? It could be played by a person with three months of lessons under their belt. Brian sang '39, Long Away, LHAE, SASS to name but a few, all fantastic vocal performances, and if you didn't get a lump in your throat when he sang the line "I'm just the shadow of the man I used to be" on TMLWKY at the tribute concert, you're not a fan of music. Brian's a terrific singer, for HIS songs. He's got a fragile, honest voice that suits certain things, it just doesn't hold up in a rock song. BTW, Roger is Jimi Hendrix on guitar compared to Freddie. |
| Teo_torriate04 17.05.2006 04:46 |
Let's face it. Freddie wouldn't get into a serious band solely on the strength of his guitar playing, and Brian wouldn't get into one purely on the strength of his vocal prowess. So perhaps the question should be: 'Which is least worst......' However, as Brian is on record as saying 'freddie doesn't play guitar much, which is a shame really, because he's very good' (that's not the exact quote, but it's along those lines), and because Brian won't restrict himself to songs he can sing comfortably within his (limited) range, (lets be honest, when he starts screeching it's embarrasing). In the context of the question as it's presented to us, I'll go for Mr Mercury. |
| Sebastian 17.05.2006 06:39 |
> Uh, Freddie played what, one song for Queen on guitar? It could be played by a person with three months of lessons under their belt The fact he (probably) didn't record more guitar parts (at least important ones) doesn't mean that Crazy Little Thing was the hardest thing he could do. Reportedly he could play Ogre Battle very quickly, which still doesn't make him as good as the other three Queennies, but he was much more than CLTCL. |
| ImVerySlightlyMad 17.05.2006 07:30 |
Brian's singing, no argument. |
| its_a_hard_life 26994 17.05.2006 07:34 |
BHM 0271 wrote: Uh, Freddie played what, one song for Queen on guitar? It could be played by a person with three months of lessons under their belt. Brian sang '39, Long Away, LHAE, SASS to name but a few, all fantastic vocal performances, and if you didn't get a lump in your throat when he sang the line "I'm just the shadow of the man I used to be" on TMLWKY at the tribute concert, you're not a fan of music. Brian's a terrific singer, for HIS songs. He's got a fragile, honest voice that suits certain things, it just doesn't hold up in a rock song. BTW, Roger is Jimi Hendrix on guitar compared to Freddie.I have to say I agree with you on that. |
| mayniac316 17.05.2006 07:46 |
I'd love to hear Brian sing "Las Palabras." I'd pay him to do it :) |
| deleted user 17.05.2006 08:04 |
brian may ofcourse, freddie didnt know much on the guitar. brian has an amazing voice. much better then freddies guitar playing |
| magicalfreddiemercury 17.05.2006 08:25 |
BHM 0271 wrote: ...and if you didn't get a lump in your throat when he sang the line "I'm just the shadow of the man I used to be" on TMLWKY at the tribute concert, you're not a fan of music.Not a fan of music? Um... okay. So, are you saying Brian's voice is good because he brought people to tears with the sentimental lyrics he sang at an extremely emotional moment? Cause if you are, I'm thinking that's hardly a talking point. If you like his voice, that's cool. But, IMO, though his performance of TMLWKY was emotional, it was not good. Think about it - if anyone else but Brian May had performed that song, what would you have thought of those vocals? |
| Boy Thomas Raker 17.05.2006 10:15 |
Well, if the question is answered as posed, we have one example of Freddie playing guitar on a Queen record. He's strumming an acoustic. I, and probably 100 other members on this board could play that song like Freddie did. On the other hand, Brian sang complex 3 part harmonies in '39, hits plenty of high notes in Long Away, has clarity and strength of voice, keeps it in tune, and emotes wonderfully. Whether people like or dislike Brian's voice is unimportant. Based on the evidence found on Queen's albums, there's only one answer. The reason I stated what I did about not being a fan of music, magicalfreddiemercury, is that Brian's singing of that song (both on record and at the tribute) shows how powerful his singing voice can be. It's honest, and that makes for great singing. Can he hit notes like Mariah Carey or Celine Dion? No, but IMHO, he conveys more honesty and hurt in that one line than many artists catalogues, and that makes him a great singer...IMHO :D |
| quicksilver mercury 17.05.2006 20:36 |
Freddie was a genious who wrote the guitar for Innuendo, Liar, Stone Cold Crazy and more. He taught that songs to Brian May. He made jokes of his guitar on Crazzy Little Thing Call Love but if he has to teach Brian to play he is better. You are crazy to think Brian singing better. Freddie is God in Queen and Brian is not. |
| Sebastian 17.05.2006 22:42 |
To compose and to play/sing is very different. Just because John Deacon wrote beautiful melodies should we consider him a good singer? or Brian's a good cellist because of what he arranged in 'Too Much Love'? |