| Biggest Band On The Planet 23.09.2016 20:24 |
Listening to Mr Bad Guy it sounds like Freddie didn't take his solo career that seriously. I wonder if Freddie ever had any plans to be a major solo artist. |
| musicland munich 24.09.2016 01:02 |
It was about money ;) Geffen for example wants to sign Freddie for his label, but he denied. He don't want to leave the band. |
| k-m 24.09.2016 04:43 |
That's very laconic. Can you elaborate? Did Geffen want to sign him for a few albums, for example?
I think he did want to establish himself as a major solo artist (at least in 1985; "Barcelona" was just about pursuing an ambition). "Mr Bad Gay" aimed at a contemporary, radio friendly sound, it contained a few potential hits, but the whole project just didn't take off. A bit earlier, he also seemed a bit bitter about the MJ collaboration. Just like Mack said one day - he didn't anticipate what a big task it would be to do everything on his own, without the other three, not to mention people like MJ who had five producers and ten songwriters per album and fifty songs to choose from.
So, I think it was on his mind a bit, but at the same time he was quite down to earth and just waited how things would work out. I don't think he'd ever want to burn any bridges with Queen, he wasn't daft ;-)
musicland munich wrote: It was about money ;) Geffen for example wants to sign Freddie for his label, but he denied. He don't want to leave the band. |
| cmsdrums 24.09.2016 04:44 |
If Mr Bad Guy had taken off then it's possible he would have left the band at that point. |
| master marathon runner 24.09.2016 05:30 |
......don't Think so. |
| Chief Mouse 24.09.2016 05:41 |
k-m wrote: not to mention people like MJ who had five producers and ten songwriters per album and fifty songs to choose from.That's a bit far fetched. Thriller had some guest writers but even then the duo responsible for its massive success were MJ and Quincy Jones. Same thing for Bad, except that MJ wrote 8/10 songs. |
| Sebastian 24.09.2016 07:36 |
Technically, 'Thriller' had six writers (that's 600% the amount of writers 'Mr Bad Guy' had), took the team eight solid months of work (as opposed to doing it in between band commitments), featured Michael bringing his A-game (as opposed to songs that didn't make it to the band's worst album) and Michael was in one of his best moments, as opposed to Fred who was in one of his lowest points. This is merely a hypothesis, but had Fred's solo album taken place a decade earlier, it could've been wonderful, with more pieces like 'Love of My Life', 'My Melancholy Blues', 'You Take My Breath Away' and 'Jealousy', emphasis on piano and harmonies, maybe some big-name guests (Elton John, Phil Collins, Chris Squire, instead of Stefan Wissnet, Curt Cress and a bunch of machines) and a more Freddie-at-his-best creative approach. Maybe an orchestra conducted by Paul Buckmaster or even George Martin, rather than Rainer Pietsch. We'll never know... |
| Chief Mouse 24.09.2016 08:07 |
^ agree. |
| Benn Kempster 24.09.2016 08:16 |
At best, Freddie hoped that it would lay down a gauntlet to the rest of the band in order to challenge them. Realistically, Paul Prenter believed that Freddie would generate massive amounts of money as a solo artist and when that global success happened, Freddie would take him on as his manager and Prenter would profit financially and sexually. |
| musicland munich 24.09.2016 10:32 |
k-m wrote: That's very laconic. Can you elaborate? Did Geffen want to sign him for a few albums, for example?The story is from one of the "books"...can't remember wich one...Peter Hince,Peter Freestone etc.musicland munich wrote: It was about money ;) Geffen for example wants to sign Freddie for his label, but he denied. He don't want to leave the band. Maybe someone else is willing to contribute the whole thing.I just can remember the basic frame - not much more. Sorry. |
| mooghead 24.09.2016 12:06 |
Had Freddie's album gone stratospheric I think Queen would have become an afterthought for him. |
| Sebastian 24.09.2016 12:22 |
mooghead wrote: Had Freddie's album gone stratospheric I think Queen would have become an afterthought for him.Which is precisely what happened to the Jacksons after MJ made it big. It's already remarkable that he still recorded two albums with them, one after 'Off the Wall' and one after 'Thriller.' He certainly was quite a hard-working man. |
| mooghead 24.09.2016 13:46 |
Family loyalty though..... after Thriller even the rest of the Jacksons wouldn't have been able to complain that MJ went it alone... |
| Sebastian 24.09.2016 15:42 |
It was rather clear throughout the tour that both the audience and MJ himself were far more interested in his own solo material. |
| Gregsynth 24.09.2016 16:22 |
I felt really bad for Michael during the Victory Tour (if that's the tour being referenced). From the stories I've read - he was the only one who had his head on his shoulders! |
| AlbaNo1 25.09.2016 12:37 |
Freddie in Queen compared to Michael Jackson in Jackson5? Astonishing. |
| Vocal harmony 26.09.2016 03:56 |
Mr Bad guy was certainly the first step in Freddie's planned departure from the band He went for the biggest deal he could find, rather than stay at EMI In an interview, in one of the documentaris, from the Mr Bad Guy period Freddie actually says something along the lines of its time to change and move on "and by that I mean leave". It always amazed me how few people picked up on the this. Obviously the album failed in relation to the amount CBS put into it. Freddie as a solo artist really didn't function as well as Freddie the singer in Queen or Freddie in collaboration with Montserrat. Because of the lack of any equals in the studio, there was no one to say, hang on a minute wouldn't it be better if. . . . and therefore much of Bad Guy sounds like over produced demo songs for the next Queen project. |
| mike hunt 26.09.2016 09:10 |
He wanted a solo album, nothings wrong with that. Roger had a couple by that point. No one knows what would have happened if it was successful. The songs were good, A Kind Magic would have been much better if the best of those songs were on it. The problem with Bad Guy was lack of production, focus. Terrible choice of musicians backing him up. Limited time making the album, remember, the album was recorded between Queen records and tours. He should have hired top musicians like phil collins on drums, ect, ect. The Difference with Barcelona was he was working with top notch writers and of course a brilliant singer, but he also had more time too work on it. |
| mike hunt 26.09.2016 09:13 |
mike hunt wrote: He wanted a solo album, nothings wrong with that. Roger had a couple by that point. No one knows what would have happened if it was successful. The songs were good, A Kind Magic would have been much better if the best of those songs were on it. The problem with Bad Guy was lack of production, focus. Terrible choice of musicians backing him up. Limited time making the album, remember, the album was recorded between Queen records and tours. He should have hired top musicians like phil collins on drums, ect, ect. The Difference with Barcelona was that he was working with top notch writers and of course a brilliant singer, but he also had more time too work on it. |
| mike hunt 26.09.2016 09:16 |
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| mooghead 27.09.2016 01:18 |
It should just have had more real instruments on it. The songs sound like they were programmed rather than composed. By the time the record was released it was already out of date. |
| Biggest Band On The Planet 27.09.2016 17:30 |
I think the Mr Bad Guy album had potential but it needed more work. The remixed versions of the songs on the Freddie Mercury Album sound vastly superior than the Mr Bad Guy versions. |
| TomP63 28.09.2016 02:47 |
The remixed versions of the songs on the Freddie Mercury Album sound vastly superior than the Mr Bad Guy versions. No they did not were all superior, a few maybe, that I'll will give you. But all? No, not in a long shot. Tom |
| AlbaNo1 28.09.2016 09:20 |
The living on my own cheesy rave remix on the FM Album was an absolute disgrace. The single remix that made it to number one was OK though. |
| Martin Packer 29.09.2016 04:03 |
I rather like the original 12" version of Living On My Own. Video fun tinged with sadness, of course. |
| Costa86 29.09.2016 09:35 |
^ Yes, an almost poignant video. So much fun turned into horrific misery. |
| mike hunt 29.09.2016 14:50 |
The video was awsome, if your talking about living on my own. How can people having fun be considered bad? With the state of the world today I watch that video and smile. |
| mike hunt 29.09.2016 14:52 |
But costa, I know what your saying. |
| Martin Packer 30.09.2016 03:13 |
It's not what they were doing in the video; It's the fact that many of them are dead. :-( The people I recognise that are still alive are: Brian and Chrissie May, Mary Austin (I think she was there), David Wigg. |
| Vocal harmony 30.09.2016 08:54 |
TomP63 wrote: The remixed versions of the songs on the Freddie Mercury Album sound vastly superior than the Mr Bad Guy versions. No they did not were all superior, a few maybe, that I'll will give you. But all? No, not in a long shot. TomWhich goes back to what I said about the album sounding like over produced demos rather than a finely crafted album. It also shows up the simple fact that Freddie on his own without the other three was certainly not the musician that RT and BM where and the cracks in his ability showed without the input of others around him. I know the argument has been put forward that the album was rushed, but I don't believe that because so many interviews go on about the attention to detail that they all put into their work. I don't think Freddie would release something he thought was lacking in any way. He was either working at the best of his ability, but falling short or he had the attitude of take the money and run. I'm sure he was expecting to achieve huge sales as were CBS |
| YourValentine 01.10.2016 14:42 |
We will never know if Freddie really planned to leave Queen if the album had been a no1 success but apparently he was disillusioned very soon. Mack tells the story how Freddie underestimated the work load and how he did not enjoy the recording in Munich, so maybe it's true that Freddie only started the project because Roger and Brian already had solo projects and he felt he had to have one, as well. At least he said that in all interviews he did on Mr. Bad Guy. I always thought that the production of the album was very substandard and I always liked the Queen versions of Made In Heaven and Born To Love You better than the Bad Guy version. The songs are not bad, just the lack of good production shows and we know from Eddie Howell and Peter Straker that Freddie was able to deliver a good production, so maybe his heart was not in it. The mid 1980s were not the most creative time in his life, anyway as Sebastian already pointed out. Barcelona proved in the end that Freddie was able to create something unique and outstanding outside Queen. He had the motivation and a great co-writer and producer in Mike Moran. |
| mike hunt 01.10.2016 17:33 |
YourValentine wrote: We will never know if Freddie really planned to leave Queen if the album had been a no1 success but apparently he was disillusioned very soon. Mack tells the story how Freddie underestimated the work load and how he did not enjoy the recording in Munich, so maybe it's true that Freddie only started the project because Roger and Brian already had solo projects and he felt he had to have one, as well. At least he said that in all interviews he did on Mr. Bad Guy. I always thought that the production of the album was very substandard and I always liked the Queen versions of Made In Heaven and Born To Love You better than the Bad Guy version. The songs are not bad, just the lack of good production shows and we know from Eddie Howell and Peter Straker that Freddie was able to deliver a good production, so maybe his heart was not in it. The mid 1980s were not the most creative time in his life, anyway as Sebastian already pointed out. Barcelona proved in the end that Freddie was able to create something unique and outstanding outside Queen. He had the motivation and a great co-writer and producer in Mike Moran.Yea, Freddie had more than one project outside of Queen...MR. Bad Guy was a weak album, no debating that...But did some nice cover songs, The Great pretender is one of my favorites along with My Defense. Both had nice production and Excellent Vocals. Barcelona was in my opinion better than any 80's Queen album, aside from The Game... Of course that's a matter of opinion. He was back being the old creative Freddie.. The Miracle doesn't compare with Barcelona, that was a step back for Mercury.... |
| Martin Packer 02.10.2016 14:55 |
It's possible he was LEARNING how to be a solo artist with Mr Bad Guy. Something he'd mastered for TGP and Barcelona. |
| mike hunt 02.10.2016 15:35 |
Martin Packer wrote: It's possible he was LEARNING how to be a solo artist with Mr Bad Guy. Something he'd mastered for TGP and Barcelona.could be, but I personally think those projects turned out better for the simple fact he had more time to work on them. For Barcelona he was on down time from Queen, no tours, not working on a Queen album. He had talented writers working with him. Mike Moran kept pushing him. And not to be overlooked was the fact that Freddie wasn't partying every night anymore, it was all about his work again, like the opera and Races days. |
| YourValentine 03.10.2016 02:10 |
I agree, Mike Hunt. 1985 was perhaps the worst time to work on a solo album. Freddie seemed to be little motivated and his creativity was on an all time low. He had not written a hit for Hot Space and The Works and there was nothing new and unique in his writing. I don't want to speculate on personal and private stuff but overall it seemed not to be the happiest time with Queen being on the verge of splitting up. Everything was different with Barcelona: he was highly motivated by the chance to work with MC, there was a creative challenge, Mike Moran was a much bigger help than Mack who was not a composer and Queen was on leave but had recovered as a band after Live Aid and Magic tour. |