| mickyparise 21.08.2013 08:34 |
Roger Taylor defends the choice of Adam Lambert to front Queen after being asked, in a newly published talk with Classic Rock magazine, if he is “selling the band short by having a guy from American Idol as your singer.” Taylor and Brian May will appear with Lambert at the iHeart music festival, to be held at the MGM Grand on September 20-21, 2013 in Las Vegas. He’s been filling in, over a series of appearances, since 2009 for Freddie Mercury — the legendary Queen singer who passed in 1991 after a bout with AIDS. Posed the question about Lambert, Taylor fires back: “Whatever you do, people will take it or leave it. That’s always the case.” Taylor has also completed a rare solo effort, his initial effort away from Queen since 1998's Electric Fire. Called Fun on Earth, it’s due in October, and will reportedly include a redo of “Say It’s Not True,” the debut single from the late-2000s collaboration with Lambert’s immediate successor in Queen, Paul Rodgers. This new take on the track, composed by Taylor and released in 2007 as a benefit for an AIDS foundation spearheaded by Nelson Mandela, will feature Jeff Beck on guitar. Taylor says the project title, Fun on Earth, has special meaning. “My first solo effort (in 1981) was called Fun in Space,” Taylor tells Classic Rock. “I’ve called this one Fun on Earth. I’ve come down to earth a bit, but there’s still a bit of fun in there — some smiley tracks.” link |
| cmsdrums 22.08.2013 04:44 |
I loved the fact that in that inteview, when referring to why they reduced the number of people in the Extravaganza, he said it was because he didn't want it to be close to 'musical theatre as he hates all that over singing' - this is whilst working with Adam Lambert!!! |
| Cruella de Vil 22.08.2013 05:33 |
Here, here cmsdrums!! There is a perceivable difference between Queen's richly textured vocal harmonies and counter melodies to the overt mutilation of melodic lines that young Mr Lambert is so obviously guilty of. The contradiction in Roger's thinking and justification are indeed perplexing! How too does it make the two ex-singers of Queen Extravaganza now feel? Redundant, under-valued and out of a job! |
| Togg 22.08.2013 08:47 |
Personally I feel he is right to not care overly what (some) think, if I were in his situation I wouldn't care either, you either take it or leave it, he has nothing to prove and can do what he likes with Queen. At the end of the day they can play with who they like and call it whatever they like, they own it... |
| Arnaldo "Ogre-" Silveira 22.08.2013 08:59 |
I saw QE twice and Jeff Scott Sotto was, by far, the best singer in the Extravaganza. Come on, he is a pro. One of the best! He was the only person onstage with a real rock feel. No ofense intended to the others, they are very good, but certainly not rockers. Moreover, Jeff clearly loved what he was doing. I felt like he was "one of us" onstage. Cheers, Ogre- |
| Thistle 22.08.2013 18:10 |
Arnaldo "Ogre-" Silveira wrote: I felt like he was "one of us" onstage.A QZoner? :p |
| Thistle 22.08.2013 18:11 |
^ surely he would've been better singing than posting on a forum. After all, people paid good money to see him :p |
| inu-liger 22.08.2013 20:39 |
As good as JSS is *now* (I will admit the Edmonton show changed my views towards his singing technique, which definitely has improved and loosened up sometime recently), on the other hand Marc Martel was more able to maintain a clean voice even by the tour's end, cos JSS sure sounded rough as heck in the first half of the show, and when we discussed this at the post-show meet & greet, he acknowledged it and admitted he also had vocal problems in Calgary the show before. I think that shows he still has some work to do in the vocal consistency department since he still puts a lot of effort into his power technique. |
| Arnaldo "Ogre-" Silveira 22.08.2013 22:54 |
Thistleboy1980 wrote:No, a Gremlin! :))Arnaldo "Ogre-" Silveira wrote: I felt like he was "one of us" onstage.A QZoner? :p I mean, yes, a queenzoner or any other kind of freaky fan like "us". :) |
| dudeofqueen 23.08.2013 05:47 |
Hates all that over singing but is fully behind the WWRY musical........how contradictory. |
| AlanHalford 23.08.2013 15:36 |
I'll think I'll leave it then Roger!!! |
| gerry 24.08.2013 04:52 |
Well Roger when you say people will take it or leave it regarding Adam Lambert, then i will leave it, because The brilliance of Freddie compared to a washed up reality star does not add up, and yes Rog your selling yourself short with Brian. No wonder John left the band when he did. I will NEVER buy anything will Lambert in it, because i am highly offended that he thinks he can further his career just because he is on stage with Brian and Rog singing Freds songs, which he cant do. Personally i think Bri and Rog have got a bit too desperate taking anyone on as lead singer. No respect for Freddie in my opinion. |
| whitequeen2 24.08.2013 12:51 |
What ever it takes to keep Queen & Freddie Mercury in our conscious minds. We all know that Adam Lambert is gay . Please don't make a big thing of it. You are a good fit. |
| Thistle 24.08.2013 17:04 |
whitequeen2 wrote: What ever it takes to keep Queen & Freddie Mercury in our conscious minds. We all know that Adam Lambert is gay . Please don't make a big thing of it. You are a good fit.I'm sorry, but having AL as a "replacement" does not keep Freddie's memory alive - instead, it's seen as pissing over his legacy and making Queen a joke. It's putting people off - especially as it's a touch of hypocrisy. If you delve back a bit in time, Roger himself was slagging off shows like the X-Factor and American Idol.....and now look :( RE not making a big thing of Lambert being gay.....WELL SAID!!! He's still not a good fit, though..... |
| Vocal harmony 24.08.2013 18:56 |
Both Roger and Brian have made clear their dislike of talent shows. However they have never criticized the contestants on these shows. What they have both said in the past is that they don't like the way some judges and producers on some of these shows treat the people on stage. Queen are a band that will always have a problem finding a singer that can cope convincingly with the wide ranging vocals that their work needs. Their would seem to be plenty of singers who can cope with one or two Queen songs, but very few who could share a stage for two hours with them and perform a cross section of their work. I know a lot of people on here will say that Marc Martel should be their front man. Well in the Extavaganza show he doesn't sing everything and also BM and RT don't want to share the stage with a Freddie sound alike. A Freddie sound alike would be just that, not the real thing. Second rate. In Adam Lambert they have someone they get on with and is willing to try different things. Something that can not be said of Paul Rodgers. Also the shows I saw last year were better than any of the PR fronted shows I've seen. The guy can sing, if he couldn't they wouldn't have asked him back. |
| Thistle 24.08.2013 20:04 |
^ I disagree wholeheartedly with all of the above statement, Vocal Harmony. If they dislike the shows, then surely this is also criticism of contestants? i.e if not for the contestant, there would be no contest and, ergo, no show. Plus, if they dislike these shows so much, why fecking appear on them? Hypocrisy!! Your words about PR are your opinion. You're welcome to that, but I personally think PR is, and always will be, a better choice than AL. Oh, and I can sing.....but I ain't getting a gig with Queen. Just because AL can too, doesn't mean he should get the job. |
| soxtalon 25.08.2013 02:57 |
Actually I disagree with you now. They have never criticized the contestant. They have always said the thing they hate about the shows was the public judging and humiliation factor. Brian specifically has said he liked being on AI (or one of them...) and like the idea of artists nurturing the young artists along. He hates how it is presented, how it is edited to show the negative factors, and how it is all about making someone famous. He has almost always gone out of his way to praise the contestants themselves. And is it a bit hypocritical to appear on them? Yes a little. But would you consider it hypocritical for a band in the 80s-90s who hated making videos to make a video? Because that happened all the time and why? Because at the time that was the way to market your brand, your music, your catalogue. So they may not like the show, but as it is the current way to market yourself, they are going to take advantage of it. Re the classic (now :P ) PR vs AL debate. I loved PR. I thought he was a very interesting fit. It was great hearing B&R doing some Free/Bad Company stuff and Paul put a very different spin on the Queen tracks. That being said, I love that AL singing means a far more open Queen catalogue to play with. I think they both have something to offer and while neither are near Freddie or even my first choice, I think it could be far worse. Of course my own preference is fro Brian and Roger to front themselves but that's another tale. |
| Vocal harmony 25.08.2013 05:55 |
Thisleboy your last line, , , oh I can sing. . . . sounds like your pissed off that you're not on stage with them. Soxtalon you put it better than I could. I do like Paul Rodgers, although my understanding is that he is not an easy person to work with, hence the split. I saw them in 2005 and again in 2009. I enjoyed the shows although if you took TCR's songs out of the 2009 set their was little difference from the earlier tour. I thought the Bad co and Free material sounded really good. The Adam Lambert shows to me felt a lot more Queen like, I don't know if it was the choice of singer, the fact they went a little deeper with the set list or the visual impact of the lighting rig that looked like a classic Queen lighting rig from the 70's. Maybe it was all three. But to me they hit the mark more so than they did with PR |
| brENsKi 25.08.2013 06:03 |
Vocal harmony wrote: Thisleboy your last line, , , oh I can sing. . . . sounds like your pissed off that you're not on stage with them.no it doesn't. it's a very clear statement of basic reasoning. let's word it another way: millions of people can drive a car - very well and very fast - but it doesn't make us ALL formula 1 drivers does it? AL - is a "good driver", but he'd be at the back of the grid at the start of every race |
| Thistle 25.08.2013 07:44 |
brENsKi wrote:Thank the lord for reasoning :)Vocal harmony wrote: Thisleboy your last line, , , oh I can sing. . . . sounds like your pissed off that you're not on stage with them.no it doesn't. it's a very clear statement of basic reasoning. let's word it another way: millions of people can drive a car - very well and very fast - but it doesn't make us ALL formula 1 drivers does it? AL - is a "good driver", but he'd be at the back of the grid at the start of every race |
| Vocal harmony 25.08.2013 08:49 |
Well if he's on the grid he is amongst the best in the world. . . . . . |
| Thistle 25.08.2013 10:34 |
^ why are folk so fecking awkward and pedantic on the board? You see the point, accept it gracefully :) |
| brENsKi 25.08.2013 10:51 |
Vocal harmony wrote: Well if he's on the grid he is amongst the best in the world. . . . . .well while you're insisting on operating with such a high level of pedancy - let's clear ONE thing up...i never said he was "on the grid" - did i? i said he'd be at the back of the grid - as in after the end of the grid.... truth be told - he'd probably be in the pit-lane cleaning flies off the other racers' visors |
| Thistle 25.08.2013 13:30 |
^ Ding Ding Ding!!! |
| etsudo 25.08.2013 14:14 |
To be honest, I see him more cleaning the dirt off the wings of those flies sitting on Formula 1 cars in the pit stops. He completely lacks identity, both vocally and style-wise. It is obvious that nobody can replace Freddie, but when trying to find a replacement, not only vocals should be considered, but also stage persona. Lambert has neither and may well be the result of an attempt to find someone popular at the moment, to make it a safe decision. Soulless decision too. |
| brENsKi 25.08.2013 15:34 |
i wouldn't want to be in your place ^^^ when the Flambert-herberts come a knocking with their torches and pitchforks |
| Sheer Brass Neck 26.08.2013 09:41 |
The decision is based on money, pure and simple. Adam Lambert is a nice singer recognizable to millions of Americans via his time on American Idol. A little charisma, IMHO soulless and can't sing rockier stuff. Freddie Nelson is unknown. He is a fantastic singer, great guitarist and rips it up live. If you see the link below, and listen to Wasted Time by Paul Gilbert and think that this guy wouldn't be a million times better than Adam Lambert then I don't know what to say. Plus check out Let it Be on YouTube to hear his live chops. link |
| etsudo 26.08.2013 13:02 |
brENski: I guess I'll just have to throw some black hair dye at them. That should give me time to flee to another country! Sheer Brass Neck: Gilbert definitely doesn't work with push overs, even after all these years he manages to record decent music. Nice sounding kid this Nelson and what's most important: the name is correct! Unless we can find some vocalist named Farrokh who sounds like Freddie. |
| AssDudeRule 30.08.2013 22:08 |
When I was young, and just getting started. |