After watching the One Vision documentary, there's no doubt Freddie was the Leader of the band (he denied the title on an interview in Brazil) the mastermind, and the mainly producer during the recording sessions. I can see that Roger, Brian & even John gave their inputs, but it seems that Freddie had to approve whatever ideas the rest of the members created. There's one part where Freddie tell Roger the way he has to play the drums, and when writing the lyrics Freddie said what he thought it was correct or didn't fit on the song. You must think I can't make these judgements for only one documentary, but I've also heard that Freddie changed the style for a "Kind of Magic" from heavy to pop (need to confirm that) and he was the one who like John's AOBTD demo (Roger refused it).
What do you guys think? I recognize Brian's, Roger's and John's contribution to the Band but IMO Freddie was the mainly producer of the Queen Catalog.
Freddie did have a powerful imput, but I wouldn't call him the leader. He did contribute a lot to One Vision though. He changed A Kind Of Magic to make it more commercially successful. I have the original version on MP3 (you can also hear it on the ending credits of Highlander). As far as I'm concerned, Queen are all equal. No member is better or worse. I just happen to take interest in Freddie more because he's the lead vocalist.
You gathered this from a 25-minute documentary of one song? I'm sure if there were footage of, say, 'Brighton Rock' or 'Fight From The Inside' (not the best examples, but you get me), the story would be very different. Freddie did play a major role, I'll agree, but he wasn't the leader. John obviously was.