I've seen this done elsewhere, and it's all just in people's own opinions....What do you think is Overrated/Underrated in the Queen universe?
Here's my brief selection, and they gotta be in similar fields (demos, live versions, solo albums, etc.)
Over-rated: I Guess We're Falling Out
Under-rated: Self Made Man
O: Brighton Rock solo (Wembley '86)
U: Last Horizon
O: I Want to Break Free video
U: It's a Hard Life video
O: Strange Frontier
U: Fun in Space
Overrated Album: A Night At The Opera
Underrated Album: A Day At The Races (And Jazz. Even fans tend to forget about it.)
Overrated Track: We Will Rock You
Underrated Track: I Want It All
Overrated John Deacon Track: Another One Bites The Dust
Underrated John Deacon Track: If You Can't Beat Them
Overrated Guitar Solo: Brighton Rock
Underrated Guitar Solo: Back Chat
There is no way Brighton Rock and A Night At The Opera are over-rated. Those are two of the most innovative pieces of music ever recorded. Just because they have gotten much attention doesn't subsequently mean their quality is diminished.
What's innovative about Brighton Rock? the canon? If so, no way! Listen to Frank Zappa and that was already used. Also in early Led Zeppelin records. Even Queen used it before: Son & Daughter (live), Keep Yourself Alive (live), so even if it was something Brian had invented (even though it's not), it wouldn't even be in Brighton Rock.
Anyway, here's my list (in most cases I'm one of those who fairly underrate or over-rate what I mention):
O: The solo of Brighton Rock
U: The bass-line, drum-part, vocal arrangement and rhythm guitar of Brighton Rock
O: Radio Ga Ga, I Want to Break Free & A Kind Of Magic
U: Action This Day, Back Chat & Machines
O: The three seconds of fast licks in Invisible Man
U: The guitar work of Don't Try So Hard
O: The bass solo of Liar
U: The bass of Don't Try Suicide's bridge
O: In The Lap Of The Gods ... Revisited
U: In The Lap Of The Gods
O: The bit-by-bit harp recording by Brian
U: The simple but effective guitar of Was It All Worth It
O: The "orchestra" of Millionaire Waltz
U: The orchestra of Was It All Worth It
O: The bass-line of Under Pressure
U: The drums of Under Pressure (simple but effective)
O: The piano intro of Seven Seas
U: The piano intro of In The Lap Of the Gods
O: The high D in Show Must Go On (imho!)
U: Roger's non-falsetto ridiculously high notes
I don't think anybody's saying overrated means bad. In my case, when I said A Night At The Opera is overrated, I meant that there are other albums that deserve attention, which most people tend to overlook. Maybe under and overexposed are a better choice of words.
Sebastian wrote: What's innovative about Brighton Rock? the canon? If so, no way! Listen to Frank Zappa and that was already used. Also in early Led Zeppelin records. Even Queen used it before: Son & Daughter (live), Keep Yourself Alive (live), so even if it was something Brian had invented (even though it's not), it wouldn't even be in Brighton Rock.
Brighton Rock is the first recorded rock song (of my recollection) that properly used a delay in such a way. Jimmy Page did not perfect it the way Brian May did. Page was a sloppy guitarist from day one. He's had many great moments in his career, but 90% of the time his playing was sloppy, even in the studio. Just compare You Shook Me and I Can't Quit You Baby to any early Queen song's guitar work. No comparison. The only reason why Brian May doesn't get the credit he deserves (in terms of being an influence) is because he was just so unique that anybody who would try to imitate him would be called a copy-cat... hence why there are so few players who would dare use his style.
O: The high D in Show Must Go On (imho!)
Okay, here's a challenge for you: Record a better version yourself, and then I will agree with you. Sing that peak of TSMGO with the same emotion as Freddie, and cleanly hit those notes and express those words in such a way that your pain will taint the words for millions of people to hear, relate to, and take with them for years to come.
Your file will be most welcome at the Stage Of Champions, and I will be the first to download it.
As far as I know, overrated doesn't mean "I can do it better". Over-rated doesn't mean "bad" either. Overrated just means it gets such a lot of attention, which (as I said) imho was more than what it deserved, compared to others.
The high D in Show is worth a praise, but it's not fair to overlook some other very high and very clean notes Fred (and Roger, even Brian) have hit through the records.
Very easy: some demos are under-rated, some are overrated. You realise which are u and which are o, then you go to a forum and post a message with that.
I only rated I Guess We're Falling Out as over-rated just because it always has entire threads talking about it, and seems to be the most discussed demo. Self Made Man, by comparison, rarely gets mentioned, and I found it to be the more interesting song of the two. But they are just unfinished demos, of course, so I don't place the utmost importance on them, although they are very very interesting...
Sebastian wrote: As far as I know, overrated doesn't mean "I can do it better". Over-rated doesn't mean "bad" either. Overrated just means it gets such a lot of attention, which (as I said) imho was more than what it deserved, compared to others.
The high D in Show is worth a praise, but it's not fair to overlook some other very high and very clean notes Fred (and Roger, even Brian) have hit through the records.
Okay, fair enough... although I think some of the things in your "O" column should be referred to as "adequately rated", rather than overrated.