When I listen to concerts in the period 1974 - 1977 I think the vocal harmonies are really bad. Especially Roger is singing wrong. Don't get me wrong I love Roger's voice. I think it changed with the jazz tour. What was Queen's problem ? Didn't they have enough monitor ? Has any of you guys mentioned this before and what would be the cause of this vocal problem ?
I agree. Roger was always "on" during the live shows. Brian would tend to go off a little. But then again, they really couldn't re-create what they did in the studio.
JDL2nd wrote: When I listen to concerts in the period 1974 - 1977 I think the vocal harmonies are really bad.
No way, it's the other way around... until 78 or so, their harmonies were incredible, but then as their show slowly moved towards being a visual thing, they concentrated less on things like harmonies.
Yeah I agree with GH. I was waiting for someone with more musical experience to state this opinion before I chimed in. IMHO opinion Queen's best harmonies were on the 74-3-31 (or was this overdubbed?).
JDL2nd wrote: When I listen to concerts in the period 1974 - 1977 I think the vocal harmonies are really bad.
No way, it's the other way around... until 78 or so, their harmonies were incredible, but then as their show slowly moved towards being a visual thing, they concentrated less on things like harmonies.
Yeah, I think the vocal harmonies were at their best 73-74... as I think they concentrated more on the musical aspect of the performance - they probably rehearsed a lot more at this point also. Some people claim the Rainbow stuff is heavily overdubbed, which I doubt... its just mixed well, and I'm sure they would have put more effort in for their first pro-shot gig/s... although if you listen to some of the bootlegs of the band supporting Mott The Hoople in the US, they had the harmonies down really well.
Rip Van Winkle wrote: Yeah I agree with GH. I was waiting for someone with more musical experience to state this opinion before I chimed in. IMHO opinion Queen's best harmonies were on the 74-3-31 (or was this overdubbed?).
Honestly, I'm still not sure how much was overdubbed, but some was FOR SURE. There's one point in Liar where you can hear Freddie's lead vocal, and it overlaps the next line he sings. I'll check when I go home tomorrow for the exact point in the song.
Yeah indeed, before 1977 the vocals were great. And in the 1977. I don't know What Roger did with his voice but he's singing soooooo bad.
I'm glad they payed a lot of attention to the harmonies on the current tour. It's really great! They're all singing so much better than when they had that homo with them
FriedChicken<br><font size=1>The Almighty</font> wrote: Yeah indeed, before 1977 the vocals were great. And in the 1977. I don't know What Roger did with his voice but he's singing soooooo bad.
I'm glad they payed a lot of attention to the harmonies on the current tour. It's really great! They're all singing so much better than when they had that homo with them
Okay, so I took a few days!
For those who are interested, in the Rainbow 3-31-74 recording, check out the part right after "time after time"... Freddie sings "Liar" clearly before the previous line has ended. Overdub.
I listened to the recording yesterday, and there are a few points where the harmonies just sound too good to be true...
FriedChicken<br><font size=1>The Almighty</font> wrote: Yeah indeed, before 1977 the vocals were great. And in the 1977. I don't know What Roger did with his voice but he's singing soooooo bad.
I'm glad they payed a lot of attention to the harmonies on the current tour. It's really great! They're all singing so much better than when they had that homo with them
I don't agree with this. I think during the American NOTW-tour (1977) they sounded great with their harmonies, especially It's Late has some nice harmonies.
A good example of Queen harmonies is indeed Fat Bottemed Girls from Live At The Bowl (beginning bit). A bad example is on the second disc (Japan '82) in Teo Torriatte when it's just Bri & Fred. Perhaps this is why in later years i.e. '86 Spike did alot of the work Bri would have done years before. I personally think that pre-jazz harmonies were great. They then picked up again later with the addition of Spike. Who Wants To Live Forever being a good example.