QueenZone discussion #1462888
2014 article
| The Real Wizard 04.01.2017 00:45 |
Not sure if anyone ever posted this on here, but this is quite possibly the best article ever written on Queen. link And yes, it was in Rolling Stone. Deal with it. This is music journalism at its absolute finest. |
| Riku M 04.01.2017 12:18 |
Very impressive, thank you for posting it! |
| DepeX 04.01.2017 12:24 |
Nice find, thank you! |
| MercuryArts 04.01.2017 14:29 |
Agreed! I read this when it was released 2 1/2 years ago. Just read it again. Who knew Rolling Stone had it in them. I still say, if one builds their record collection based solely on the albums RS reviewed favorable, said person would have the worst record collection ever! |
| The Real Wizard 04.01.2017 20:45 |
Hundreds of their top 500 albums are excellent - but of course they've missed a lot of ground. That said, in recent years they've really changed their tone overall. Progressive rock now exists to them - they're suddenly running articles on Yes, Dream Theater, and even a cover story on Rush a couple years back. Top 50 progressive rock albums? Not a chance even ten years ago. They even revised their top 100 guitarists poll to be far more realistic (even if still far too rock-centric), and you can barely find the original online if you even look hard. Every magazine/website/whatever plays to their audience, and RS is no different. But they've been taking steps to broaden. And this Queen article is a huge one. |
| master marathon runner 05.01.2017 03:15 |
Sounds like snippets lifted from already well known Info. With a few anomalies to boot.. Don't recall sid vicious using the term platinum during the famous exchange. Apparently he was of limited intelligence and probably couldn't make the nod to mercury and platinum. I may be wrong. Just a thought. |
| Martin Packer 05.01.2017 04:01 |
Interesting suggestion that Freddie only told the band AFTER The Miracle was completed. 1) I've not heard that before. 2) I wonder if the 1989 Mike Read interview was before the rest of the band knew. |
| Rami 05.01.2017 04:33 |
Great article. Thank you very much! |
| Vocal harmony 05.01.2017 09:30 |
It's a good article, but maybe a little under researched in places. Quoting lines from a BM song (Save Me) in the context of Freddie singing about and questioning his life. And after quoting him as saying I don't write "message" songs. |
| The Real Wizard 05.01.2017 10:13 |
Vocal harmony wrote: It's a good article, but maybe a little under researched in places. Quoting lines from a BM song (Save Me) in the context of Freddie singing about and questioning his life. And after quoting him as saying I don't write "message" songs.Right - but the context was already made clear, that the other band members wrote songs to channel Mercury's emotions. We need to remember that this is a music journalist writing, not a Queen fan. So sure, one or two little facts may not be up to snuff. This is a music journalist who has probably researched thousands of artists. The research is very thorough, and the writing style is excellent - a great combination of detail, organization, and emotional connection. We'd be very hard pressed to find many music journalists who aren't Queen fans coming up with a piece like this. |
| The Real Wizard 05.01.2017 10:14 |
Martin Packer wrote: Interesting suggestion that Freddie only told the band AFTER The Miracle was completed. 1) I've not heard that before. 2) I wonder if the 1989 Mike Read interview was before the rest of the band knew.It's so hard to know the truth. The band found out somewhere in the 1988-89 period, and we'll probably never know exactly when. Although there was a point where we almost became convinced it was part way through the Miracle sessions. |
| musicland munich 05.01.2017 11:51 |
Thanks for sharing that Link :) All in all one of the better articles summed up for the "average" fan.( I don't mean that disrespectful ) The RS obviously started to get in touch with the reality. And what should they do else ? They have to face the fact that their 80/90's Buddys had become completely irrelevant. Anyone listening to REM these Days ? U2 ? Rubbed off and lame ! Todays music scene just sucks ! Well most of it for sure... |
| antiden 05.01.2017 12:45 |
The Real Wizard wrote: The band found out somewhere in the 1988-89 period, and we'll probably never know exactly when. Although there was a point where we almost became convinced it was part way through the Miracle sessions.Freddie told the band about his illness in May 1989 during "an emotional dinner" in Montreux. At least, this is what's been recently written in the article about Freddie & Peter Straker. Another big surprise in this article (at least to me) was Straker's heartfelt story about how Freddie dismissed Peter from his life one year prior to the death... |
| Martin Packer 06.01.2017 03:17 |
So May 1989 - of true - is indeed after Miracle sessions but before some video filming. Possibly Breakthru. And it matters because that obviously colours their work on Miracle - when they suspected but didn't know - and possibly the Mike Read interview. I'm NOT interested in ghoulishness but I AM interested in Freddies (not) wellbeing. More validly perhaps, I'm interested in the context in which the music (and stuff such as videos and interviews) was made. |
| Vocal harmony 06.01.2017 09:07 |
The Real Wizard wrote:Well said Sir, you are of course right on all counts.Vocal harmony wrote: It's a good article, but maybe a little under researched in places. Quoting lines from a BM song (Save Me) in the context of Freddie singing about and questioning his life. And after quoting him as saying I don't write "message" songs.Right - but the context was already made clear, that the other band members wrote songs to channel Mercury's emotions. We need to remember that this is a music journalist writing, not a Queen fan. So sure, one or two little facts may not be up to snuff. This is a music journalist who has probably researched thousands of artists. The research is very thorough, and the writing style is excellent - a great combination of detail, organization, and emotional connection. We'd be very hard pressed to find many music journalists who aren't Queen fans coming up with a piece like this. |
| The Real Wizard 06.01.2017 17:48 |
antiden wrote:Can you please post this article? It passed me by.The Real Wizard wrote: The band found out somewhere in the 1988-89 period, and we'll probably never know exactly when. Although there was a point where we almost became convinced it was part way through the Miracle sessions.Freddie told the band about his illness in May 1989 during "an emotional dinner" in Montreux. At least, this is what's been recently written in the article about Freddie & Peter Straker. Another big surprise in this article (at least to me) was Straker's heartfelt story about how Freddie dismissed Peter from his life one year prior to the death... |
| antiden 07.01.2017 05:33 |
Here it is: link |
| musicland munich 07.01.2017 14:10 |
^ From that article Rumours about Mercury’s health had been circulating for a few years and, although he had told Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon that he had AIDS at an emotional dinner in Montreux in May 1989, Mercury had demanded it remained a secret. “We knew he was terribly ill; it was really only a confirmation of what we’d guessed,” said drummer Taylor. |
| The Real Wizard 07.01.2017 15:44 |
^ so the source is a tabloid? I'm not sure we can take that as a gospel. Although the article was written by the same two guys who wrote that new book focused on Mercury's last years. Nice new photos, too! |