That's what I wish for. After watching Saturday's concert, I just wish Roger and Brian would make an album on their own merits. Bring in 3-4 guest vocalists, but an album of new material on their own!
Watching AKOM from Saturday and I think, "damn it, please do an album NOW!"
I'm not going to bash AL, some songs work, some don't. But if anyone of any importance reads this, Roger+Brian...let's make THAT the new project!
P.S.: wouldn't hurt my feelings to include those MJ+Freddie tracks done last year too! :-)
Roger's drumming might've been tiring for him, but it's been a long time since I heard him sing so well. Get them both back into shape and there's an album to be made, I reckon. I can't believe it's 20 years and they still don't realise - they don't NEED a singer.
Ultra-seconding everything you said. That's what I've been waiting for since MIH. Just the two of them. Bring on a session bassist and that's it. Roger excelling his singing during AKOM and getting back to back with Brian during the guitar solo has been the moment I've enjoyed the most from them in the last 17 years !!
Yup - AKOM just seems to hit the spot for most of us here - it always (including the Cosmos Rocks tour) is the one track that shines with integrity and spontaneity, and joy.
They definitely should record new material together - either with a different vocalist on each track (like Slash's debut solo album) or even handling a few lead vocals themselves.
I don't think guest vocalists would be necessary at all.. Depends if Brian's voice continues going downhill or if that was just a bad night I guess. But both of them have years of lead vocal experience, so it wouldn't be too out there for them to sing lead vocals themselves. Plus, with their judgement of which youngsters they want to collaborate with, who knows who we'd end up with as a guest vocalist :P
The reason why I wanted to see Q+PR and Q+AL was, that I was hoping to hear the "Queen sound" again.
On Q+PR -tour the sound was there, at least a bit. The singer was not Freddie of course, but the band still sounded somehow like Queen.
With this new try-out the band was, alongside with the vocalist, quite a weak outfit.
The inclusion of Rufus is ok for the songs where Roger doesn't play drums, but when Roger is playing, he should just remain backstage. I really dont want to hear all this percussion stuff going on during a Queen songs.
The second thing was that the whole arrangement stuff seemed to be totally amateur and un-professional this time.
Many little things:
Brians semiclean sound before Crazy ( no acoustic), Brians guitar sound on I Want it All Verse...
Spike's keyboards were much better a couple of years ago...
and many of the backing vocals seemed to be totally out of tune...or was it only Adam Lambert?
So all in all. Even though Roger did sing a couple of songs well, the overall playing and the sound is not there anymore. Unfortunatly.
Just look how slow Dragon Attack and Another One Bites the Dust or We Will Rock You (fast) (sic!) are?!
I need to take a look at Queen Rock Montreal quickly to get over this ...
tomchristie22 wrote:
Depends if Brian's voice continues going downhill or if that was just a bad night I guess.
I actually don't think there was anything wrong with his singing at all, yes he was taking a few lower notes during Tie Your Mother Down, but hey Freddie was doing that 35 years ago! When I say that I'm not comparing his voice to Freddie's though obviously!
Compare his singing to Roger Waters at the Pink Floyd reunion in 2005, singing much easier songs too I might add!
Really? When I listen to the version of '39 he played, he almost sounds out of breath for the verses, and he sings the lower harmony in the chorus rather than the middle one. He just sounded a lot more strained overall in my opinion, compared to Q+PR in Sheffield for example. Maybe I'm just being over critical because Roger sounded so good..
And yes, the synth & piano was terrible. Don't know why Brian didn't do the 3 guitar switch in Crazy Little Thing, but the guitar sound suffered from it. I would've been happy even with just acoustic -> Red Special for the solo & outro jam section. Though I don't think I Want It All's first verse suffered from the lack of acoustic guitar. They need to get a proper piano there, and synth sounds which aren't so prominent, and cheesy. Someone described 'Final Live In Japan's' overbearing synth as sounding like something out of the teletubbies, it was a bit like that.
ploughman wrote:
Brians semiclean sound before Crazy ( no acoustic), Brians guitar sound on I Want it All Verse...
Brian have played without Jamie Moses, this means that he must play all the rhythm parts without the possibility to change the guitar for the solo parts...this means that he must play with the red special that is not an acoustic guitar.
with the red special the only way for brian to pass from clean sound to overdrive is decreasing the volume with the volume control on the guitar...
and I Want It All and Crazy Little Thing aren't the best songs to play with just one guitar...
I honestly think the slow tempos on Dragon Attack and Another One Bites The Dust were purposeful. I think that was partly Adam trying to put his spin on the songs - slow and "sexy". I could be wrong but that was my first thought when I heard it...I actually liked the approach on Dragon Attack. Not so much on Dust.
And I thought Brian was in fine enough voice...*shrug*
Brian's voice is usually shitty when playing live but he can certainly shine in the studio. I guess he peaked around Another World, didn't he? I don't think I've heard a Brian live show in a while (other than Brixton).