I think it's more than clear that the track was speeded up one semitone. Even one of the engineers confirmed that when they did the DTS versions. What Brian meant - imho - is that in the E Minor version Fred sang everything natural, which is still something.
Agreed Sebastian. F minor is a very odd key for John to write in, and Fred to sing in. Long Away, '39, Hammer to Fall among others have all be sped up, do we have a complete list?
You guys probably know more than me but didn't Queen play songs live in the same key as on record but with Freddie just not reaching some of the top notes?
That is correct yes, except for love of my life which involved a key change live to D, probably for the convenience of the guitar. I think there is one concert from the magic tour, budapest perhaps? whereas bohemian rhapsody is performed in F#?
Sebastian wrote: Even one of the engineers confirmed that when they did the DTS versions.
Indeed.
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This, combined with the variations in playback machines on video shoots and the necessary lip-sync for the videos, made the speed issue extremely important on the Greatest Video Hits 1 DVD. For The Game, however, being audio only, it is not so critical except for Coming Soon and Another One Bites The Dust which were significantly (and intentionally) speeded up when originally mixed.
> I think there is one concert from the magic tour, budapest perhaps? whereas bohemian rhapsody is performed in F#?
It wasn't. The reason it sounds in a higher key in the video is because the entire concert is speeded up. Which turns out quite well because Hammer To Fall rocks that way.
Is it not possible that maybe the music was recorded and sped up but not the vocals? If not then Brian is wrong when he says Freddie's vocals weren't sped up.