| deleted user 22.11.2006 19:31 |
Dear Queenzoners, Now I'm sure a lot of you have heard this same old thread over and over again, but seeing as how I'm new and that their has been quite an increase in newbies I'd like to bring this back on the table. Now, I've heard people say that Freddie's voice had weakened towards the end of his career due to his smoking habit which started roughly around the Jazz album. Even then I noticed a change with his voice. He began to loosen up (as it were) and rock out a lot harder. For example, compare his voice in Dead on Time to his voice in White Man. Of course those are two very diverse songs, but his voice seemed to make a change. Was that for better or for worse? You decide. Now, Freddie's voice during the Hot Space tour was (to me at least) extremely powerful. Whenever I go back and watch the DVD Queen on Fire I'm always astonished with his vocal range and the power he held. He truly was at the top of his game it would seem. However, in studio, his voice wasn't as impressive (it was still better than a lot of the artists at the time). Under Pressure would be an exception however. I think everybody would agree with me that his vocals in that song were astonishing. So much power, so much raw emotion. Now lets fast forward to 1984, The Works tour. I have to say, I haven't seen much footage of Queen during this tour. But from the way I understand it (reading from posts on this site of course) the song I Want to Break Free (live) was a rough one for Freddie. This is where, I believe, Freddie's voice may have started going down hill. But it didn't go down hill for long. Freddie had once said that the reason he smoked is because he liked his voice to get raspy. And I'm not joking. He really said that. If anybody could give their knowledge of this tour or post examples of this tour that would be fabulous. In 1986, his voice was more raspier than ever. But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing at the time. Queen, as all of you know, was recording A Kind of Magic (Highlander music+). His voice fit perfectly with the songs A Kind of Magic, One Vision, Gime the Prize and Princes of the Universe. Really good stuff on Freddie's part. But on the touring in 1986 (Queen's last tour) Freddie's voice was at times...dare I say...weak. He didn't have the same range he had during the Hot Space tour. It just wasn't the same. But still he knew how to put on a good show and was still able to give an entertaining rock concert. From 1989 on up until the day of his death Freddie's vocals only got better. It seems to me that he was gaining more and more power as the days progressed. My question is, did Freddie's vocals get stronger because he found out that he had AIDS? And because he found out he had AIDS he knew he didn't have much longer and he didn't want to fade out as a "once had a good voice" musician? I'm sure he wanted to go out with a bang, but what's your opinion? What do you guys know that I don't? I look forward to all of your comments and appreciate the time you set aside for reading my topic. Believe me, I understand that some people might be tired of the same old threads over and over again. And I apologize for that. I just have a thirst for knowledge at his moment and thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to bring it up once more. Once again, thank you. Yours truly, Steve |
| mircal 22.11.2006 20:46 |
I think that once he quite the smokes it helped clear up his voice and i suppose he put more time in studio work. |
| kdj2hot 22.11.2006 20:50 |
Freddie's voice got a lil deeper but it didn't change that much. His singing style changed because stopped hitting highs with falsetto in the studio. He never hit them really live with falsetto (which contrary to populatr ignorant belief is a mark of a better vocalist than one who uses the falsetto crutch, i doubt it was because he couldnt as so many here seem to believe) other than that like I said his voice just got a lil deeeper and really didn't change too much from 78/79-84/85 compaaring his best nights. AIDS had noothing to do with anything. Vocal rest and not smoking as heavily did. David Coverdale from whitesnake has a similar vocal recovery recently if you listen to him live. link He gave up smoking completely I dont think Freddie completely gave up smoking though. |
| Marcelo_argentina 22.11.2006 21:58 |
1986-87....best two years in the history of Freddie Mercury´s voice!!! Just out of this planet! |
| Bohemian MAY-niac/Deaconite 23.11.2006 00:52 |
I've noticed how Freddie's voice changed throughout the years. In the early days, it had a higher pitch, because he was younger. As he got older, his voice got deeper. Near the end, I feel his voice was at it's strongest point. His voice, in my opinion, was always strong though. |
| YourValentine 23.11.2006 03:34 |
I agree that age is the main factor. Also, studio and live performance cannot be compared. The concerts were very straining: two hours of singing at your limit with virtually no break is incredibly straining - in opera only Wagner singers have to do that and they do not sing at their vocal limits all the time. Freddie delivered amazing vocal performances. If you have ever sung yourself for longer than an hour you know what he actually could do. As to smoking: Freddie said he smoked to get his voice "raspier". If you watch him in interviews you will notice that Freddie never inhaled the smoke, he only "puffed". If he had inhaled all the smoke he would have been unable to deliver a performance such as Magic Tour, for example, because he would have reduced his lung volume considerably. Watching him run up and down the stairs and dancing away on the big stage of the Magic Tour it's obvious that he did not lose any of his lung volume to smoking at all. However, it's well possible that he hurt his vocal chords with all the smoke. |
| inmydefence 23.11.2006 06:08 |
one thing i've learnt as a singer is if you sing everyday (especially in the throaty freddie style) it will take its toll on your voice, and those high note will become... slightly unreliable! but that throaty or "raspy" style was freddies way. i think the two large factors in the changes to his voice in his later days were maybe he cut down on the smokes? this probably would have been the advice from his doctors? if u have a weakened immune system (due to aids in this case) its a good idea not to punish ur lungs with smoke?! so i think maybe he cut down on the smoking, and with his breaks between recording sessions it gave his voice a lot of time to recover. thats my opinion/theory! |
| FVBVA 23.11.2006 08:52 |
freddie,s tone was always good,in the studio and live,it is the color of his voice which makes him unique |
| Adam Baboolal 23.11.2006 11:00 |
It's a shame he smoked until that time as I think some of his singing on The Miracle sound like he's trying too hard. Freddie sounds more at ease on the Innuendo album. Adam. |
| john bodega 23.11.2006 12:31 |
I'd agree with that Adam. But I gotta say, I think it works on I Want It All or Was It All Worth It.... the guy sounds formidable. He sings with the oomph of a diesel train on those tracks. |
| beautifulsoup 23.11.2006 12:32 |
The Barcelona project is tops for me. |
| deleted user 23.11.2006 13:51 |
I have to add that I agree that the Barcelona project was the climax of Freddie Mercury's vocals! I must have listened to that album thousands of times, and each time he sounds better to me! It would have been interesting if Queen as a whole would have decided to a 100% rock opera album! Just a thought... |
| ploughman 24.11.2006 05:20 |
Hey, this topic seems to be going in my mind recently aswell! I really noticed the same thing while chronologically watching Queen -live stuff from 1974 up to 1986 and then listening to Miracle and Innuendo. What really happened? On Innuendo he has this unbeleavebly clear and high pitch on most of the songs. Compared to 1986 (watch them recording One Vision from Magic Years 1), the voice has a very different quality. I have alwasy thought that it had something to do with also the physical change he got throught (weight-loss etc.) Maybe here is a good question fro Brian in his "Letters"? Anyone? |
| Adam Baboolal 24.11.2006 07:55 |
beautifulsoup wrote: The Barcelona project is tops for me.Damned excellent work for sure! |
| kdj2hot 24.11.2006 15:38 |
And yet it continues: I told you idiots (and many others have also pointed it out) his voice sounds different on Innuendo because he got more rest from not touring. His voice got a little deeper during the late 70's and mid 80's because of heavy smoking and probably due to late night partying and heavy touring. Tone was key in the studio and he usually used falsetto to hit highs because it sounded prettier. I'm sick of idiots saying "hhe could never hit highs live" you morons he did hit highs live, he just didn't use falsetto you idots. It's easier to use that falsetto crutch than not to use it so it really burn me up when cum brains say he was a bad live singer because he didn't use falsetto live. To let you geniuses who's head this is going over to understand here is what I'm talking about: Bohemian Rhapsody, 1st vere. Mama just killed a man, put a gun against his head pulled my trigger not he's dead mama, life has (falsetto --> just begun) but now (falsetto > I've gone and thrown ) it all away. Thats what I mean when I say he used falsetto to hit highs for all who couldnt understand. |
| AndresGuazzelli 24.11.2006 15:46 |
In fact, Freddie hit his highest falsetto notes, LIVE, and not in the studio. Why did he prefer to sing in full voice, instead of those falsetto pasages? Easy. Volume. You lose a lot of volume and power singing falsetto instead of full voice.. and LIVE, that's a matter of importance. You can set, and edit the little volume and the dynamics on a song on the mixing stage on the studio. You can't do that live (actually, you can't but it's worthless). Freddie decided to simply sing the high notes fullvoiced, so they can actually be heard. I had explained something about that in my website, maybe you guys can check it out, and looking forward for future discussions :) link My best regards! A. |
| beautifulsoup 24.11.2006 15:58 |
Hi, AndresGuazzelli! Do be sure to check out the thread in the General Forum... Scandal - Freddie Really a Baritone? link |
| ploughman 24.11.2006 16:25 |
kdj2hot wrote: And yet it continues: I told you idiots (and many others have also pointed it out) his voice sounds different on Innuendo because he got more rest from not touring. His voice got a little deeper during the late 70's and mid 80's because of heavy smoking and probably due to late night partying and heavy touring. Tone was key in the studio and he usually used falsetto to hit highs because it sounded prettier. I'm sick of idiots saying "hhe could never hit highs live" you morons he did hit highs live, he just didn't use falsetto you idots. It's easier to use that falsetto crutch than not to use it so it really burn me up when cum brains say he was a bad live singer because he didn't use falsetto live. To let you geniuses who's head this is going over to understand here is what I'm talking about: Bohemian Rhapsody, 1st vere. Mama just killed a man, put a gun against his head pulled my trigger not he's dead mama, life has (falsetto --> just begun) but now (falsetto > I've gone and thrown ) it all away. Thats what I mean when I say he used falsetto to hit highs for all who couldnt understand.Hmm. I was talking about a totally different thing. I was not referring to Freddie's use of falsetto, which has nothing to do about the fact that his chest-voice was so much more high pitched towards the end of his life. Just the fact how he hits these notes on songs like Show Must Go On and Innuendo. By the way, it's quite hard to enjoy the tone of your posting. Why would you need to act like an arrogant fuckker? Cheerio, Eero Kaukomies Gamma Ray |
| AndresGuazzelli 24.11.2006 16:27 |
beautifulsoup wrote: Hi, AndresGuazzelli! Do be sure to check out the thread in the General Forum... Scandal - Freddie Really a Baritone? linkDone ;) Thanks for the link :) |
| koldweather123 24.11.2006 16:28 |
Its true that Fred could sing Falsetto live, you only have to listen to some of the stuff he done on the works/magic tour to know he could. What has been said is also true, you lose alot of power...but I don't think that was the main reason. The simple fact is that when your belting like he nearly always did live, its far harder to switch into falsetto when pushing this note as hard as you can, if you try that then your voice is very likely to just crack and thats something that wouldn't sound too pleasent! |
| kdj2hot 24.11.2006 21:04 |
Let me point out that also a lot of the times he used vocal harmonies for highs too on pre Mack Queen albums. (example from Good old Fashioned lover boy - I like for you and I to (vocal harmoney ----> go romancing). Thats a response to a postr I read about the TOTP's version of that song being "shit". When you factor him him almost completely phasing out the use of falsetto in the studio and not using as many vocal harmonies his voice is gonna sound almost drastically different but it really wasnt that different just a lil' deeper. |
| Asterik 25.11.2006 18:05 |
Fred's voice started off with a crystal quality but the power wasn't there. This came around News Of The World- just listen to Spread Your Wings and It's Late. This voice was changed by 1979 after problems in Japan but recovered until 1982 hwne he had power and range on the Hot Space tour. His lifestyle caused his voice to roughen- early signs came on The Works but listen to Is This The World We Created and it could still be the Fred of the Jazz era ( I think his changed appearance gives the problem of noticing a link with the past!). The tour was his worst for vocals but One vision displays evidence of a real comeback the subtletly had been lost but the raw power returned. His 86 voice was much in this ilk- strained at times but terrifyingly powerful, ideal for stadium rock. A diferent but sound but just as effective as his Hot Space voice. Increasingly, from 86 we see Freddie's voice develop into a combination of his 70s clarity and 80s power. DTSH sounds like a bootleg from the seventies such is the grace of his delivery, but headlong showcases the throaty strength. His vocie was definitely higher in this period- note his high lead on the title track Innuendo and he could also get down low such as on IGSM so we see greater range, a more varied texture and some of the most impassioned singing anyone has heard in rock. |
| mike hunt 26.11.2006 01:37 |
Asterik wrote: Fred's voice started off with a crystal quality but the power wasn't there. This came around News Of The World- just listen to Spread Your Wings and It's Late. This voice was changed by 1979 after problems in Japan but recovered until 1982 hwne he had power and range on the Hot Space tour. His lifestyle caused his voice to roughen- early signs came on The Works but listen to Is This The World We Created and it could still be the Fred of the Jazz era ( I think his changed appearance gives the problem of noticing a link with the past!). The tour was his worst for vocals but One vision displays evidence of a real comeback the subtletly had been lost but the raw power returned. His 86 voice was much in this ilk- strained at times but terrifyingly powerful, ideal for stadium rock. A diferent but sound but just as effective as his Hot Space voice. Increasingly, from 86 we see Freddie's voice develop into a combination of his 70s clarity and 80s power. DTSH sounds like a bootleg from the seventies such is the grace of his delivery, but headlong showcases the throaty strength. His vocie was definitely higher in this period- note his high lead on the title track Innuendo and he could also get down low such as on IGSM so we see greater range, a more varied texture and some of the most impassioned singing anyone has heard in rock.I agree, I think the barcelona and innuendo albums are some of the best vocals I'v ever heard from a pop/rock singer. |