I just replied to Yara about this: I believe it was the very long second USA tour after the release of SHA and after Brian had recovered from the ulcer and hepatitis. As I said he had problems and went to see a doctor on the tour in America but didn't like the look of him so didn't go ahead with risky surgery (which might have permanently damaged his voice)...
Bands always overdub live concerts when they release it to the mass public. Queen do it a lot. Anything from Queen Rock Montreal to the recent Live in Ukraine. It's usually little stuff here and there, but the early stuff was heavily overdubbed. Especially the vocal harmonies.
Fred's voice was rarely overdubbed, if it was overdubbed at all. But little things like guitar mess ups and harmony mess ups are almost always overdubbed.
Pilot in Play aka (Artemis Moon Band) wrote:
Fred's voice was rarely overdubbed, if it was overdubbed at all. But little things like guitar mess ups and harmony mess ups are almost always overdubbed.
That's accurate. The only times they fixed any of Freddie's vocals were on Live at the Bowl (Fat Bottom Girls note error) and Wembley (Freddie re-did some of the high notes in the studio).
Pilot in Play aka (Artemis Moon Band) wrote:
Fred's voice was rarely overdubbed, if it was overdubbed at all. But little things like guitar mess ups and harmony mess ups are almost always overdubbed.
That's accurate. The only times they fixed any of Freddie's vocals were on Live at the Bowl (Fat Bottom Girls note error) and Wembley (Freddie re-did some of the high notes in the studio).
Not really? I don't think I'd be far wrong if I said 50% of the main vocal from the Rainbow show was overdubbed.
The main vocal on NIH from Rock Montreal is heavily overdubbed. Possibly from the first 'Just a new man', definitely from the first 'made me live again' is overdubbed until the vocal improvisation.
Listen with an open mind and take off any rose tinted specs, you will hear it clearly! You may also notice that the vocal audio doesn't quite seem in synch with Freddies mouth.
On GVH1 DVD the original Now I'm Here from the Rainbow concert can be seen/heard. As far as I know no overdubbs at all, original harmonies (which sound pretty decent to me). Brian's guitar intro is brilliant, love the sound.
Bad Seed wrote:
The main vocal on NIH from Rock Montreal is heavily overdubbed. Possibly from the first 'Just a new man', definitely from the first 'made me live again' is overdubbed until the vocal improvisation.
Listen with an open mind and take off any rose tinted specs, you will hear it clearly! You may also notice that the vocal audio doesn't quite seem in synch with Freddies mouth.
Right, the audio doesn't match the visual. But who says the audio didn't just come from the other night in Montreal?
Bad Seed wrote:
The main vocal on NIH from Rock Montreal is heavily overdubbed. Possibly from the first 'Just a new man', definitely from the first 'made me live again' is overdubbed until the vocal improvisation.
Listen with an open mind and take off any rose tinted specs, you will hear it clearly! You may also notice that the vocal audio doesn't quite seem in synch with Freddies mouth.
Right, the audio doesn't match the visual. But who says the audio didn't just come from the other night in Montreal?
Your right, it could, but I disagree. Firstly the tone and colour of the vocal completely changes, and the vocal suddenly seems to be alot more 'dry' and seems to almost sit on top of the rest of the audio.
Secondly I have never ever heard Freddie sing it with so much aggression and power, no matter what shape his voice was in. I've always thought that Freddie made a bit of a meal with NIH, but only when he was in good voice! The late 79, 80, 81 and 82 versions were quite poor vocally. Maybe he thought the same and re done it?
I also think that the two verses of Jailhouse Rock and the rock section from BoRap were studio overdubs
On the original We Will Rock You Montreal video you can clearly hear two Freds singing on WATC. I'm assuming one is the original (barely audible, but there) and one is the overdubbed vocal. I'm also convinced that Under Pressure is totally studio vocals. An audience recording of any of these shows would reveal all.
Roger Taylor described Freddie's nodules recently as having been "very subversive". He might also have had "that sinking feeling", but e can't really remember, he said.