Red_Special227 13.11.2004 10:51 |
Did anyone besides me notice the dramatic voice change Freddie went though from the 70's into the 80's? He stopped singing smooth and started the rock voice, It doesn't sound bad, but you can tell it's kind of a fakish voice because in like TSMGO when he hits the very very high notes and in all the other songs where he hits the high D's and C's etc. He goes back to his smooth voice to hit them. Just wondering why he did that, it's not very good for the voice. Is it because he wanted to change with their image a little? like when they lost the long hair? just wondering. |
gabriel79 13.11.2004 11:00 |
what the fuck is tmg etc? |
gabriel79 13.11.2004 11:00 |
tsmgo what song is? |
MetzgerR 13.11.2004 11:03 |
I'm assuming that's 'The Show Must Go On'. Ja ne. |
jericho05 13.11.2004 11:55 |
I think common belief is that Freddie's smoking contributed to his vocal decline. Yet another reason to choose 70's Queen over 80's. The voice was much better in the 70's though he could still hit the notes in the studio if he really tried ... especially on the last couple of LPs. |
Josuè 13.11.2004 13:33 |
Yes, we all noticed that, I think. |
Giacco 73 13.11.2004 15:27 |
Having said that I love Freddie voice in every era... It was his precise choice. I had a quote of Freddie which says:"I was also pleased with my voice.I like it husky.It's all the smoking.That's why I smoke-to get that husky voice." Age,smoking,cocaine,partylife and a tecnique based on pure instinct skills led his voice to sound like it sounded in the 80's but..I really love it!Am I the only one!? It was a dramatic change of image compared to the 70's but I love it way better. I'm not into that much of the glam 70's look and I always loved his voice in every era but when I think of Freddie it come immediatly to mind his strong,powerful and huskier voice of the mid 80's along with his mustache! I always felt one thing.In the 70's he sang with a beautiful and youthful voice,no doubt about it but he sang "slower" if you get my drift and talked very frequently between songs,which is fine for me.But during the 80's his vocal delivery seems to me like "speeded up",more faster,powerful,energetic and masculine like the change of look with jeans,T-shirt and Adidas shoes which I love way better than the 70's one.Maybe I'm in a minority... |
Brianmay1975 14.11.2004 04:58 |
I like Fred's voice throughout the 80s, but the 70s' voice is my fav. Giacco 73 is right, it seems that he abandonned the feminine looks of the 70s together with his feminine singing style. In the 80s he had a strong appealing masculine look... and a stong masculine voice too. But I dunno why, I like better 70s Queen. |
deleted user 14.11.2004 22:59 |
Freddie started smoking and having sex with men. He wore the high clone look. (Vest, jeans, short cropped hair, booger broom) Just look at the Village People, dammit. |
Borhap80 15.11.2004 06:47 |
Freddie's voice was much better from the eighties and onwards. He learned new singing techniques. During the seventies he used mostly a function called curbing, and sometimes neutral. From the eighties he incorporated the two last techniques called overdrive and belting. Examples : the refrain - "The show must go on" - is sung in the belting technique, thereby the squecking sound. The high D's are sung in curbing technique, often referred to as headvoice. His curbing was quite extrordinary. He was a voicegenius in many ways. His voice was more gentler and thiner in the seventies, and got more powerful and huskier in the eighties -> 90's.. And no, it's not dangerous for him to sing that way you referred to. He is only singing in curbing with an effect called distortion. A thing he often used to do... "Gimme the prize" - is mostly sung in curbing with distortion/growling and overdrive... If its done correct -> No harm. |
NOTWMEDDLE 16.11.2004 02:31 |
Freddie's 1970s voice and look was way better than the 1980s. He looked better without the goofy moustache he sported in the 1980s. Freddie was a great singer regardless however. |
AndresGuazzelli 20.11.2004 00:37 |
Hey Thomas. I'm not very into your terms about vocal production. Curbing? Distortion? Not the familiar vocal technique terms. Belting is carrying your chest voice above your passagio... and Fred is not belting at 'the show must go on' He sang everything above Middle F headvoiced. The only song I remember now with Freddie belting above Middle E is the 'If God is Willing' part in Barcelona, where he belts a chestvoiced F3. I don't want to start talking now about vocal technique, cause I could spend hours and hours, but maybe we can get together and talk bout this :D |
Borhap80 20.11.2004 05:40 |
Hi Andres! I´ve read your site and I think it´s very good. I´m not very good at this but I´ve learnt a lot in the last years from my private voice teacher. The terms belting, curbing, overdrive and neutral are included in a voice book by a Danish woman called Cathrine Sadolin. It features quite new knowledge about the voice and its physics. But I have to go now... I´ll send you a mail and try to explain... :) |
The Fairy King 20.11.2004 06:59 |
His voice sucked during the The Works era! Just listen to every boot out there from that era..omg! i think it's their 84-85 is the weakest Queentour ever! |
Queenerer 30.07.2013 06:26 |
I love freddie voice in mid-70's and late 80's! |
Supersonic_Man89 30.07.2013 10:20 |
Epic bump, but okay. Freddie's voice is intriguing. For instance: 78-79 - Not so great range (end of 79) 80 - 82 - Great range 84-86 - Not so great range (with Live Aid being the exception) In the studio he pretty much nailed everything, I just find it interesting how he can hits the notes he could whilst recording 'Let's Turn It On', then a few months later struggle on tour. |
Hangman_96 30.07.2013 10:49 |
Another old topic gets bumped. |
malicedoom 30.07.2013 12:40 |
Thanks for the laugh on 'Epic bump'. That truly was. |
Robbe100 30.07.2013 14:40 |
I'm more a fan of the sweeter voice , the falsetto's etc.70's voice. But the 80's voice is a whole new story and I like that. It's good to change. He really had the voice of an angel |
Stelios 30.07.2013 15:03 |
I prefer the 80's voice becouse together with the image it provided a top athlete quality without sacrificing too much of the artistic sensibility. However the 90's Innuendo voice in a lot of ways combined the best aspects of his 70's and 80's voice. I remember reading a review saying that during Innuendo his voice was a sapphire of its "old shelf". A wonderfull metaphor i think! |
Heavenite 30.07.2013 17:25 |
I am no singing expert, but I would think that Freddie's singing skills increased as he went on. But overall,I think the best vocal instrument would have to have been when he was younger. When you're young you have the gift that hasn't been subject to the wear and tear that goes along with ageing and misuse. Your voice also deepens as a person gets older, which usually restricts range to some extent, That note at the end of "Hang On In There" that has obviously been altered presumably because of range limitations is a case in point. Nevertheless older voices do tend to have a rich timbre to them that younger voices don't have .And as I said, the range of skills that Freddie had towards the end was even more awesome I think, whatever terms you use to describe them.. |
Nitroboy 31.07.2013 09:59 |
Supersonic_Man89 wrote: Epic bump, but okay. Freddie's voice is intriguing. For instance: 78-79 - Not so great range (end of 79) 80 - 82 - Great range 84-86 - Not so great range (with Live Aid being the exception) In the studio he pretty much nailed everything, I just find it interesting how he can hits the notes he could whilst recording 'Let's Turn It On', then a few months later struggle on tour.90% of what you just wrote is bullshit. His studio vocals in the 80's feature most of his high notes. His live vocals were far more consistent, powerful and with a greater range than the overall 70's. If you actually took some time to listen to some shows from '84 to '86 (especially The Magic Tour), you'd discover he very oftens beltss A4s and B4s with ease. |
Gregsynth 31.07.2013 11:54 |
Well, his live range wasn't too hot on most Works Tour shows but most of the Magic Tour shows have him hitting some pretty good notes throughout the shows (plus his tone sounds better). Freddie was recording a lot between 1983-1985 (Solo album, The Works, guest appearances, etc) and I'm guessing that he wasn't giving himself enough time to rest his voice (which can partly explain why he was inconsistent with his voice on the Works Tour). |
Bad Seed 31.07.2013 14:44 |
Heavenite wrote: That note at the end of "Hang On In There" that has obviously been altered presumably because of range limitations is a case in point.Obviously been altered? Not to me. |
Gregsynth 31.07.2013 14:55 |
That note isn't altered. It's the same exact head voiced kind of note that Freddie hits throughout the Miracle and Innuendo. |
Supersonic_Man89 31.07.2013 19:12 |
[quote] 90% of what you just wrote is bullshit. His studio vocals in the 80's feature most of his high notes. His live vocals were far more consistent, powerful and with a greater range than the overall 70's. If you actually took some time to listen to some shows from '84 to '86 (especially The Magic Tour), you'd discover he very oftens beltss A4s and B4s with ease. [/quote] If you read what i wrote, i state that he could hit the notes whilst recording but just not live. He did this throughout his entire career, like most artists but i think the biggest difference was in the mid eighties. I didn't say his vocals were not more powerful or consistent. However, I would disagree with the range. Like I said I felt his range was fantastic from late 79 to 82, however it's clear that 84 to 86 Freddie struggled to hit the higher notes during live performances with the major exception being Live Aid. I've took the time to listen to numerous shows and performances from that era and I often wish I could hear his 1981 self sing Who Wants To Live Forever or It's A Hard Life. |
Gregsynth 31.07.2013 20:22 |
Depends on the gig or tour during the mid 80s: The Works tour has a few gigs here and there where Fred sings well and hits his notes but he wasn't consistent (partying being a big problem). The Magic Tour has him singing well on most shows and many performances do match his prime live era (like the performances I just embedded). |
Nitroboy 01.08.2013 03:20 |
Supersonic_Man89 wrote:If you read what I wrote, I stated that he could and certainly did hit a lot of high notes live - throughout his career.90% of what you just wrote is bullshit. His studio vocals in the 80's feature most of his high notes. His live vocals were far more consistent, powerful and with a greater range than the overall 70's. If you actually took some time to listen to some shows from '84 to '86 (especially The Magic Tour), you'd discover he very oftens beltss A4s and B4s with ease.If you read what i wrote, i state that he could hit the notes whilst recording but just not live. He did this throughout his entire career, like most artists but i think the biggest difference was in the mid eighties. I didn't say his vocals were not more powerful or consistent. However, I would disagree with the range. Like I said I felt his range was fantastic from late 79 to 82, however it's clear that 84 to 86 Freddie struggled to hit the higher notes during live performances with the major exception being Live Aid. I've took the time to listen to numerous shows and performances from that era and I often wish I could hear his 1981 self sing Who Wants To Live Forever or It's A Hard Life. |
Supersonic_Man89 01.08.2013 03:52 |
Those are some good performances, I'd heard the AKOM before but not the others. (I usually avoid gigs like Lieden which are poor quality/can't hear the band over the crowd) Okay, maybe i'm basing my overall opinions of the years on the 5/6 performances i have heard from each tour. However, i'd still say on the whole that the majority of Works/Magic tour, Freddie has to change the way he songs a lot of the songs to be able to perform them. Which is something he's always done, but i think he does it more on these tours. Sometimes it's not bad, and it's quite nice to hear the songs in different keys, as it makes it a bit different (the ending of 'Is This The World We Created?' for example). |
Nitroboy 01.08.2013 12:48 |
It's not something that he has always done. 99% of the songs performed live were done in their original key. |
DLCVinnuendo 01.08.2013 13:20 |
my favorite is the 77-79 era, a very powerful voice |
Supersonic_Man89 02.08.2013 04:34 |
Okay, maybe i'm getting my musical terms mixed up here. However, for instance the way Freddie sings some of lines in Killer Queen, compared to the record. How would somebody describe that? Singing the song in lower notes? |
Gregsynth 02.08.2013 12:59 |
Supersonic_Man89 wrote: Okay, maybe i'm getting my musical terms mixed up here. However, for instance the way Freddie sings some of lines in Killer Queen, compared to the record. How would somebody describe that? Singing the song in lower notes?It's got a few different terms but common ones are "alternative melody," and "reharmonization." |
people on streets 02.08.2013 17:09 |
Giacco 73 wrote: Having said that I love Freddie voice in every era... It was his precise choice. I had a quote of Freddie which says:"I was also pleased with my voice.I like it husky.It's all the smoking.That's why I smoke-to get that husky voice." Age,smoking,cocaine,partylife and a tecnique based on pure instinct skills led his voice to sound like it sounded in the 80's but..I really love it!Am I the only one!? It was a dramatic change of image compared to the 70's but I love it way better. I'm not into that much of the glam 70's look and I always loved his voice in every era but when I think of Freddie it come immediatly to mind his strong,powerful and huskier voice of the mid 80's along with his mustache! I always felt one thing.In the 70's he sang with a beautiful and youthful voice,no doubt about it but he sang "slower" if you get my drift and talked very frequently between songs,which is fine for me.But during the 80's his vocal delivery seems to me like "speeded up",more faster,powerful,energetic and masculine like the change of look with jeans,T-shirt and Adidas shoes which I love way better than the 70's one.Maybe I'm in a minority...I agree completely. 80-86 is my favourite live period of the band. 82 tour is the best in my opinion. |
people on streets 02.08.2013 17:10 |
people on streets wrote:double postGiacco 73 wrote: Having said that I love Freddie voice in every era... It was his precise choice. I had a quote of Freddie which says:"I was also pleased with my voice.I like it husky.It's all the smoking.That's why I smoke-to get that husky voice." Age,smoking,cocaine,partylife and a tecnique based on pure instinct skills led his voice to sound like it sounded in the 80's but..I really love it!Am I the only one!? It was a dramatic change of image compared to the 70's but I love it way better. I'm not into that much of the glam 70's look and I always loved his voice in every era but when I think of Freddie it come immediatly to mind his strong,powerful and huskier voice of the mid 80's along with his mustache! I always felt one thing.In the 70's he sang with a beautiful and youthful voice,no doubt about it but he sang "slower" if you get my drift and talked very frequently between songs,which is fine for me.But during the 80's his vocal delivery seems to me like "speeded up",more faster,powerful,energetic and masculine like the change of look with jeans,T-shirt and Adidas shoes which I love way better than the 70's one.Maybe I'm in a minority...I agree completely. |
people on streets 02.08.2013 17:12 |
Supersonic_Man89 wrote: [quote] and I often wish I could hear his 1981 self sing Who Wants To Live Forever or It's A Hard Life.indeed. |
Rizky Fajriansyah 23.03.2015 00:17 |
Yes I notice that I feel different in Freddie's voice between Keep yourself alive-Play the game and AOBTD-TSMGO And I think his Ultimate Makeover make a change in his voice too |
hachiman 24.03.2015 06:27 |
I think his voice did get better after he quit smoking though for the last two albums. He sings high tones for songs like DTSH. |
raucousmonster 01.04.2015 03:50 |
Freddie's voice had a lovely purity to it in the 1970's which he moved away from in the 1980's. I love both eras of course but to me there is something so exciting in the sound of his voice after 1984. The power and the tone were just spellbinding. He did say in interviews somewhere that part of the reason he started smoking was to get that husky voice I'm talking about. I think it puts a little dirt into the voice although after a while you will sacrifice some range as the trade off. The Innuendo voice is still powerful - very powerful in fact but he's losing his tone by then due to his illness sadly. It's not because he gave up smoking. It's a reflection of his body's condition. Even Roger Taylor admitted in a recent interview that the voice was thinner throughout that last album due to illness. It had lost some of the wonderful personality that Freddie had always been able to infuse his singing with and for this reason they are my least favourite Freddie vocals to listen to. |
Biggus Dickus 01.04.2015 05:20 |
^^ I remember reading a Hot Space Tour era interview of Freddie where he said that his higher range was already going down at that point. I think you can hear this when comparing the first part of the tour with the second part. |