| Krypto_98 28.09.2015 18:55 |
For me personally its the songs with lots of high notes such as The Show Must Go On, Don't Stop Me Now, and Spread Your Wings |
| The King Of Rhye 28.09.2015 19:07 |
I don't know if Freddie thought of as it the hardest one for him to sing, but I think I remember, on a bootleg or something, him saying after Now I'm Here: "that song's a motherfucker to sing!" lol |
| matt z 29.09.2015 00:12 |
For me (and this is deduced from PRACTICE) it's DEATH ON TWO LEGS. .... there are virtually zero breaths in the song. My breath may be short but to even attempt it on karaoke is suicide because there are no adequate support vocals for the call and response bit that happens on the recording. Aside from that. ... BREAKTHRU. ... It's another breather that actually climbs. Probably another case of multiple takes. Hell, even WWTLF is easier live than a lot of their songs (for me anyways) Made in heaven also comes to mind. It's difficult. I've also found that an audience is BORED by "heaven for everyone" at least until the end. It really depends on the audience knowing the song. Well, that's my contribution |
| stevelondon20 29.09.2015 01:02 |
Definitely DSMN and also Mother Love. |
| queenfanbg 29.09.2015 04:02 |
"Dont Try So Hard" i may add.It cant be sung live, i think. |
| Chief Mouse 29.09.2015 09:22 |
Hardest for Freddie or in general? I find most of them really hard. And I'm not talking only about the high notes here. Singing is so much more than just reaching for notes.
queenfanbg wrote: "Dont Try So Hard" i may add.It cant be sung live, i think.It could be if Freddie had chosen to do the choruses in falsetto. |
| oligneisti 29.09.2015 09:28 |
I always find Stone Cold Crazy challenging. But I'm no singer :) |
| brENsKi 29.09.2015 11:05 |
at it's correct speed/tempo and live...there is no contest The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke |
| hobbit in Rhye 29.09.2015 11:35 |
matt z wrote: For me (and this is deduced from PRACTICE) it's DEATH ON TWO LEGS. .... there are virtually zero breaths in the song. My breath may be short but to even attempt it on karaoke is suicide because there are no adequate support vocals for the call and response bit that happens on the recording.Use your aggressive feelings, Matt. Let the hate flow through you. |
| master marathon runner 29.09.2015 12:08 |
I don't really have much difficulty singing any Queen song, to be frank. I struggle a bit with the likes of Nessun Dorma though. |
| pittrek 29.09.2015 12:34 |
Try to sing Gimme The Prize without vomiting. |
| miraclesteinway 29.09.2015 13:55 |
Gimme The Prize is actually not higher than The Show Must Go On, but when I think about it, I'm mystified by both songs - firstly how the hell did he get that absolutely raw gravel tone in Gimme The Prize at such a high pitch, and secondly how did he get such a pure sound in The Show Must Go On at such a high pitch? I dunno, I think all Queen songs are hard, even the easy ones like Dear Friends and Crazy Little Thing. I used to do an acceptable 'bites the dust', about 18 years ago, now those days are gone. When I say acceptable I mean I sang every note at the original pitch, without going falsetto. Since I never recorded it I can't tell you if it sounded shite or not. It most probably did hahaha! |
| magneddu 29.09.2015 16:04 |
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| magneddu 29.09.2015 16:06 |
The Hero ..Gimme The prize |
| matt z 29.09.2015 16:34 |
That'd be a hell of a competition. Posting a karaoke version of Gimme the Prize here and having people submit their versions. I think that's ONE of the few things lost from that bs MySpace. Too bad it can't happen due to the official product part. The trouble with songs like DSMN and DOTL is the frenetic speed of the singing. There are no breaks. Gimme the Prize could be difficult on the throat like singing an AC/DC track from the Johnson era. To sing 'in pitch' MIH is rather difficult. |
| Pokemaniacjunk 29.09.2015 18:40 |
I would say March of the black queen |
| no_stairway 29.09.2015 19:28 |
One Year of Love, in my defence, don't stop me now. gimme the prize & princess of the universe also. almost the whole album "a kind of magic" is difficult for singing (except fwbf) |
| The Real Wizard 29.09.2015 23:26 |
It's Late has to be up there. |
| tcc 30.09.2015 03:35 |
After listening to the backing track of Tie Your Mother Down, I think this song can be one of the hardest Queen song to sing. The vocal parts have its own melody and you have to time it with the backing track which is the tune of the chorus line. |
| cmsdrums 30.09.2015 06:57 |
Don't Stop Me Now is tricky. 'I'm In Love with My Car' is also really hard to nail the phrasing and flow and feel in the verses, and then there's the high rasping full voice in the whole middle 'Told my girl I had to forget her....' section'. If that vocal had been someone such as Steven Tyler, Coverdale, Plant etc...singing it, it would be right up there being hailed as one of rock's greatest. |
| t3eh3e 30.09.2015 09:59 |
Although I believe I Want it All is not that hard to sing, I think that it is impossible to sing it any other way and sound great.Freddie sung that with a lot of power and he is the only one that can sing that song amazingly.Well any song sung by Freddie cannot be sung better than him ;) |
| miraclesteinway 30.09.2015 14:25 |
On the subject of Made In Heaven - I maintain that Freddie found that one hard too. |
| Fat Bottomed Queen 30.09.2015 15:37 |
t3eh3e wrote: Although I believe I Want it All is not that hard to sing, I think that it is impossible to sing it any other way and sound great.Freddie sung that with a lot of power and he is the only one that can sing that song amazingly.Well any song sung by Freddie cannot be sung better than him ;)You need a shitload of testosterone to sing that song and have it sound good. I vote for Spread Your Wings. Just listen to him struggle live. |
| Enchlore 30.09.2015 17:11 |
Oh boy do I like to talk about how I've almost blown my voice out trying to sing some Queen songs live. 'It's a Hard Life' is definitely up there as a real bitch of a song to sing if you try to do it like the studio version. Also, try to get the high falsetto parts in the beginning of Brighton Rock right without exhausting your vocal chords. But Bohemian Rhapsody's ballad section is the one that caused me the most trouble. Once I sang it in a place that didn't have a mic stand, so a friend had to hold up the microphone for me, but she was too short and I had to put my head down to sing. That made it even more of a nightmare. |
| matt z 01.10.2015 05:15 |
I gotta say Cocaine MUST be a hell of a drug .... I just did three takes of GIMME THE PRIZE. .. (always with a warm up song before) And to my infinite misery they all came out weird and flubbed because of bass vibrations. I isolated my field recorder and recorded another try. And surprise surprise. . THREE takes. . No vomit. I'll see about uploading it. (*there are two and a half takes in it) ... without the bad vibration distortion it doesn't sound absolutely horrible. It's just a field recorder without modification. I'll try in the morning when I've got a good connection and am far less drunk |
| Chief Mouse 01.10.2015 05:35 |
Upload it ^^ |
| matt z 01.10.2015 08:30 |
20 Mb limit + embarrassment. ... Lemme wait till I wake up |
| Stelios 02.10.2015 04:07 |
^^^Plz Upload it, Matt z |
| raucousmonster 02.10.2015 04:19 |
Singing these songs is one thing but singing them with a decent tone is another. I can bang out a bit of Tom Jones in karaoke with all the high notes and it sounds fine (well I haven't been bottle off at least...) But I've never been happy doing a Queen song because even though I can make most of the notes it just sounds crap without the power - and more importantly the personality - which Freddie could bring to a song. I did Save Me one night and it sounded good until I got to the chorus. |
| matt z 02.10.2015 23:48 |
Stelios wrote: ^^^Plz Upload it, Matt zWell, I've never really tried transferring these things, It was a huge file and led in with a Michael Jackson bit (warm up song differing completely:::a standard I've adopted) "she's out of my life"... I was gonna upload that at the beginning to have a laugh at the people who talk shit about Michael. Anyways, uncompressed, unaltered, in crappy mp3. its from an Olympus LS-14. I'd recorded some bits of QP+AL last year but it was a depressing time and I deemed the recording inferior to uploads. this has given me the notion of uploading it anyways for the completists here, maybe there will be something different on the recording that wasn't noticed elsewhere. That'll come soon. This is take THREE of the song, the second being the best, but it's horribly distorted due to my placement of the recorder. Its not great, but hey, at least I managed to avoid the pitfall of sounding like Rob Halford (it happens sometimes when pushing the volume) hope it doesn't offend (the audio quality I mean, I still gotta learn how to use the settings on this properly) |
| Biggus Dickus 03.10.2015 00:10 |
matt z wrote:Not bad at all. It sounded like you almost overshot some of those 'gimme the prizes'. :DStelios wrote: ^^^Plz Upload it, Matt zWell, I've never really tried transferring these things, It was a huge file and led in with a Michael Jackson bit (warm up song differing completely:::a standard I've adopted) "she's out of my life"... I was gonna upload that at the beginning to have a laugh at the people who talk shit about Michael. Anyways, uncompressed, unaltered, in crappy mp3. its from an Olympus LS-14. I'd recorded some bits of QP+AL last year but it was a depressing time and I deemed the recording inferior to uploads. this has given me the notion of uploading it anyways for the completists here, maybe there will be something different on the recording that wasn't noticed elsewhere. That'll come soon. This is take THREE of the song, the second being the best, but it's horribly distorted due to my placement of the recorder. Its not great, but hey, at least I managed to avoid the pitfall of sounding like Rob Halford (it happens sometimes when pushing the volume) hope it doesn't offend (the audio quality I mean, I still gotta learn how to use the settings on this properly) |
| matt z 03.10.2015 00:58 |
yeah, and I got the opening line wrong. To this day I'm still confused about most sources. Most say "Here I am.." but it sounds like some crazy yowl. I still love the "guitar bagpipes" in the middle of the song, It''s a shame Brian doesn't revisit that as part of his solo bit like on the Another World Tour |
| Chief Mouse 03.10.2015 01:59 |
Hey, good stuff man :) I wish I could do the raspy voice. |
| matt z 03.10.2015 02:32 |
I'm not a vocal coach, but personally, I think too many people make the mistake of thinking that you've gotta FORCE it out for raspiness. Instead its more about aggravating the vocal cords in a controlled manner. Forcing it out wiil just injure the throat and constrict the muscles. Just like high notes aren't sung by reaching higher but by alternating the method of lung vs nose breath. I'm sure it's got something to do with narrowing the path of the air or using nose and throat in different combinations. thanks biggus and mouse but then again, it's just imitation haha. Hands down, the hardest rock singer to even attempt is Ronnie James Dio. That little dude was just insanely good. |
| Stelios 03.10.2015 05:37 |
Nice one matt z . Wish i could reach those high notes. I may sounded like a mad man to neigbours but wouldn't care. Thanx for sharing it !! |
| matt z 03.10.2015 06:58 |
Stelios wrote: Nice one matt z . Wish i could reach those high notes. I may sounded like a mad man to neigbours but wouldn't care. Thanx for sharing it !!Well. I have the privilege of making noise running karaoke at a tavern. Having grown up on the 50's and 60's music of K-ERTH radio I had an inclination to do this thing after my last band complained I wasn't singing (*I still don't really know how to sing nor do I have my OWN voice) There was a karaoke thread in the PERSONAL section of this site. There have been some interesting shares. This one is just a field recorder. Can't doctor it up beyond just the reverb. I digress. But the point to be made is I'd worked in a live studio environment for at least 10 years. Never sang except in the car. One faulty mess after another. If you can learn the characteristics of micing and mixing you can find that the Mic is your friend. It's ALWAYS BEEN to any era of singers. only folks that did Bare bones stuff were from really Motown and Tennessee. That's all natural talent. Even Sinatra had his own personal reverb chambers at capitol. If you like singing, do the karaoke shtick. It's fun. May remove some fears too. Me. .. I think I just have a lot of anger. Niagara mmwahaha.I really wish it were a better performance. Live and learn. |
| matt z 03.10.2015 07:22 |
Stelios wrote: Nice one matt z . Wish i could reach those high notes. I may sounded like a mad man to neigbours but wouldn't care. Thanx for sharing it !!Funny. I thought the same doing it three times. Once was in front of the few attending the next two times were when I realized it sounded bad. On the third try I was self conscious (though slightly inebriated) and said f## it. There's a restaurant next door and a laundromat on the other side. I figure if I can scare people I can leave my job at 4am and be comfortable knowing that people heard me sing how I'm the God of kingdom come. I've always felt that was their most subversive and powerful lyric. I wonder how Freddie felt about singing it. It's all gristle and blasphemous. Surely someone born FROM an entity couldn't be the master of said entity. .....am I correct? A whole philosophical discussion may occur... It's so many steps removed from Bohemian Rhapsody and MUSTAPHA |
| Chief Mouse 03.10.2015 08:24 |
Well, this felt pretty hard to do. But Gimme The Prize is so much harder. For me at least. |
| Biggus Dickus 03.10.2015 10:07 |
Chief Mouse wrote: Well, this felt pretty hard to do. But Gimme The Prize is so much harder. For me at least.It's cool how many competent singers we've got here. |
| Krypto_98 03.10.2015 11:26 |
Enchlore wrote: But Bohemian Rhapsody's ballad section is the one that caused me the most trouble. I've actually found Bohemian Rhapsody's ballad pretty easy to sing(In full voice)In the original Falsetto is another story thats sounds like a cat dying . Its the rock section that causes me the most trouble mainly because I'm always off key there and I can't ever hit that C5. The D5 from The Show Must Go On is easier to hit than that. Even the E5s from Hang on in There and Another On Bites The Dust are easier than that C5 |
| Enchlore 03.10.2015 16:49 |
Yeah, it's the opposite for me. I can do the rock section just fine but the falsettos in the ballad cause me so much trouble. |
| k-m 03.10.2015 17:35 |
Technicalities aside, I never heard anyone sing "The Show..." as good as Freddie did. It always ends up sounding slower, without the original flow. Freddie's performance sounds light and resilient, no-one after him managed to pull it off. |
| Zamidoo 05.10.2015 08:26 |
The studio 'Another one bites the dust' would be impossible to replicate, I think. Even Freddie baulked at it live. |
| Oscar J 05.10.2015 10:00 |
Yeah. Though Lambert can hit the notes, he severely lacks the weight and power to make them count. |
| cmsdrums 05.10.2015 12:19 |
Zamidoo wrote: The studio 'Another one bites the dust' would be impossible to replicate, I think. Even Freddie baulked at it live.It was pitch shifted in the studio, so even Freddie didn't sing it in the key that we hear! |
| Oscar J 05.10.2015 12:57 |
^ But only like half a semitone, right? |
| Gregsynth 05.10.2015 13:10 |
Dust was recorded in E minor - just sped up to where it's just under a half-semitone sharp. |
| Krypto_98 05.10.2015 17:37 |
Zamidoo wrote: The studio 'Another one bites the dust' would be impossible to replicate, I think. Even Freddie baulked at it live. I've tried singing that but almost always failed at "Out of the doorway the bullets rip". |
| Zamidoo 05.10.2015 20:52 |
I love 'Another one bites the dust' as much as anyone, but it is the sound of a man shredding his vocal cords. |
| Oscar J 06.10.2015 02:44 |
Yes it is. Listen to Brian commenting it in DOOL documentary. |
| matt z 06.10.2015 17:06 |
Gregsynth wrote: Dust was recorded in E minor - just sped up to where it's just under a half-semitone sharp.Anybody ever pitch shifted it back? I used to have audio editors (sound forge and the like) to reverse and normalize and edit swipe curse words (*I worked at a record store before they all closed and made some playable edited versions of some good hip hop cuts back in the day) It never dawned on me to restore the original speed. |
| musicland munich 06.10.2015 23:51 |
matt z wrote:It's still more fun to listen to "AOBTD" backwards imo :)Gregsynth wrote: Dust was recorded in E minor - just sped up to where it's just under a half-semitone sharp.Anybody ever pitch shifted it back? I used to have audio editors (sound forge and the like) to reverse and normalize and edit swipe curse words (*I worked at a record store before they all closed and made some playable edited versions of some good hip hop cuts back in the day) It never dawned on me to restore the original speed. |
| Chief Mouse 07.10.2015 00:04 |
I think C_Matt did, as part of his Revision (The Game bonus disc). |
| matt z 09.10.2015 07:27 |
Now. ... by breath and key and dynamic changes it's clear. ... the hardest Queen song to sing is PRINCES OF THE UNIVERSE. .. That's even excepting that Brian and Roger would sing the "woo whoo who who people talk about you. .. etc" stuff. It jumps around so much as to be just as disjointed as it's own arrangement Clearly the reason they could never perform it live. The "heeeeerrreee (heere ee are!) chorusing parts are difficult enough for two CHOIRS.... I could hardly imagine a band of three singers to pull it off without some incredible digital real time manipulation |
| ptr 11.10.2015 12:52 |
My guess: Gimme The Prize, Scandal and in terms of live conditions? We Are The Champions - at the end of nearly 2hourr show.... :) |
| Enchlore 12.10.2015 16:37 |
Live contidions are an interesting factor to consider. Notice how in Live Aid, both Bohemian Rhapsody and Radio Ga Ga are played in the beginning of the show instead of at the end. Freddie easily nails both songs, while in regular shows where they would be farther back he sometimes had difficulties singing them. |
| HighWideandHandsome 12.10.2015 19:39 |
No one mentioned "I Want to Break Free"? I think there's a reason he let the audience sing the first few lines on the Magic Tour. While we're on the subject, I'm pretty sure John Deacon wrote the most consistently challenging songs vocally for Freddie. Note that we've discussed "Spread Your Wings" and "Another One Bites the Dust" as well... |
| BETA215 12.10.2015 21:40 |
matt z wrote:Gregsynth wrote: Dust was recorded in E minor - just sped up to where it's just under a half-semitone sharp.Anybody ever pitch shifted it back? I used to have audio editors (sound forge and the like) to reverse and normalize and edit swipe curse words (*I worked at a record store before they all closed and made some playable edited versions of some good hip hop cuts back in the day) It never dawned on me to restore the original speed. Here you have a comparison: left channel is Matt's take of the real speed and pitch of the recording, and left is the 2011 remaster. |
| Sebastian 13.10.2015 00:26 |
HighWideandHandsome wrote: No one mentioned "I Want to Break Free"? I think there's a reason he let the audience sing the first few lines on the Magic Tour. While we're on the subject, I'm pretty sure John Deacon wrote the most consistently challenging songs vocally for Freddie. Note that we've discussed "Spread Your Wings" and "Another One Bites the Dust" as well...I wonder if the fact he wasn't a singer had anything to do with that. Non-drummers often arrange tricky and counterintuitive drum parts, and non-guitarists often write complex guitar bits (it happens in classical music as well: the composer of the famous 'Aranjuez Concerto' wasn't a guitar player himself, but he was quite good on piano and also had enough creativity and musicianship). |
| Oscar J 13.10.2015 14:25 |
Spread Your Wings was probably not all that hard for Freddie, especially compared to It's Late on the same album. In fact, I'd say most of Deacons songs fit Freddie quite well, and Freddie himself did state that he loved to sing Deacon's songs. Break Free is sort of high in places, I'm pretty sure Brian May wrote the most consistently challenging songs to sing. Think Freddie mentions that in an interview or something as well, and Brian stated that as well when talking about Let Me In Your Heart Again. Examples of high placed Brian songs: Sweet Lady The Prophet's Song It's Late Feelings Feelings (you can tell Freddies voice is starting to break in the end of the song) Dead On Time Put Out The Fire Machines Who Wants To Live Forever Gimme The Prize Scandal Bijou The Show Must Go On |