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Bohemian Rhapsody was the reason I bought A Night at the Opera. And A Night at the Opera was the reason I bought every Queen album they ever released. Still have them even though I no longer have a way of playing them. Too valuable to me to ever let them go.
Freddy was so good that some claim he used auto-tune. The problem is that auto-tune wasn't even invented until 6 years after Freddy passed away. He really was THAT GOOD.
@@lipby - not really... the only tools/methods available for pitch correction in the 70's were Varispeed on tape machines and Evantide H910 Harmonizer. Varispeed was incredibly laborious... and using the H910 induced digital artifacts when the original pitch was too radically altered. These tools/methods were extremely limited in what they could do. It wasn't until the 1980's, when the Fairlight CMI came out, allowing a graphical waveform (like in a contemporary DAW) of a sound that could be analyzed for pitch, and a replacement recorded into the Fairlight to be pasted in to replace the off-pitch section. It was easier to just re-record the part.
Oh brother 🙄 autotune is mostly used by rappers and hiphop, not by singers from Rock, Country, RnB, Motown, Disco, etc... Freddy wasn't anymore on pitch than Dio, Ann Wilson, Geoff Tate, Ian Gillan, Smokey, Earth, wind and fire or any other good singer.
@@cryptoking7093 That is simply bs. Both parts. Autotune is common in rock and country, and all over RnB. Just as a correctional device, not as the "Believe" effect. Most singers chorus when doubling/recording multiple layers. Freddie phased, because he was so in tune. You're far too clueless to be smartassing on this topic.
Brian May's guitar "Red Special" is truly one of a kind. He designed and built it with his father, Harold, when he was a teenager. This was due to him not being able to afford a brand name guitar. If you read into it you will realize how much of a genius Brian May is. Everything on the guitar is custom or modified in some way. The craziest part is the neck which was made out of a 100 year old fireplace mantle that had worm holes that Brian filled with matchsticks and epoxy.
That is cool, no wonder he treasured that guitar, I know when they did the video for “we will rock you” he didn’t use that guitar for fear it would get wet and damage it.😊
Watch Queen live when you can. They were incredibly talented and professional musicians. Freddie was a charismatic superstar and his love of all types of music including opera, gospel, jazz, ballet/classical helped create the eclectic music they created. I miss those days so much. 1.🙌❤
Maggie, many years ago (more than I care to mention) when this song was released as a single, I used to DJ in Pubs & Clubs. The day it was released I was working in one of my regular gigs and played Bo Rap. The owner shouted across the Pub for all to hear "What the F**k is this Shite", after the track had finished, I had a bet with her (a week's wages which at the time was £20.00, not to be sniffed at) that next week it would be #1 in the charts and she would be begging me to play it. I won the bet.
Hi Maggie, I had the good fortune to see them live with Freddie in Sweden 1984 and 1986. The best frontman ever. I was 12 years old when this came out and a childhood friend introduced me to Queen and their album "A Night At The Opera" and I was sold.
Yes, the beginning is all Freddie, in mulitple layers. The video shows all four because it better visually to see them all. Later, when you get to the "opera section", you'll have Freddie, Brian, and Roger with Roger hitting the highest notes of all.
Queen at Live Aid in 1984 really impressed everyone who actually thought of them as has-beens. That is still a wow-moment for me, as I was in my teens at the time.
The first part is all Freddie. John Deacon sang very rarely. All the really high notes in the opera parts are Roger. They wanted to create the effect of 200 people singing so had to sing it over 60 times as there was no digital recording
The number of overdubs doesn't have to do with digital or analogue. If you want 200 voices, you have to record 200 voices. The number of tracks is the issue that necessitated bounces (from several tracks to one (or two for stereo)). There were 24 track digital tape machines in the 80s.
Same! Of course nobody can replace Freddie, but Adam Lambert really embraces that same spirit! He did an excellent job. I hope I can attend many more concerts they do in the future!
Queen wasn't popular in the United States when this song came out, they got popular when the album News of the World came out in 77 the song We will Rock You/ We are the Champions. I was in junior high 12 years old.
I Seen Them In !986 Live. In My 63 Years, It Is By Far The Best Concert, That I Have Ever Seen. Freddy Mercury Was The Consummate Entertainer. BEST SHOW EVER!
I got to see Queen on their first tour of the US.. as opening act for Mott the Hoople .. they were amazing .. my wife went into labor at the concert and our first daughter born in the morning hours after concert
First remembered experience was from the Wayne's World movie. Then in late 90s my aunt died and I got some of her cd collection. Queen's Greatest album let me listen to many of these songs for myself. It is one thing to hear them occasionally on the radio; but to sit in your own time with headphones or stereo is a different experience.
I was born in the 70s when this song came out but I was just a little tiny kid. I heard about Queen in the mid eighties, 1984. I heard Another one bite the dust, but I didn't know it was Queen. Queen still my favorite band, I love listening to Queen, because of Freddie's voice, and a greatest frontman. ❤
I was 17 too. What a time to be alive. Got to see them 3 times. Earl's court (Queen Elizabeth's silver Jubilee day 1977), Milton Keynes Bowl and the last one at Knebworth. I have been blessed.
I was 14 and, technically, I saw them live on tv during Live Aid. We'd never heard or seen anything like this in 1975. This was the first music promotion video. Some say, me included, that this was the inspiration for MTV.
Nobody really knew what to make of Queen, or Freddie. They were SO good-rockabilly, arena rock, rock opera-you just couldn’t put them in any one slot, and they did it all so well.
And yes, I was so fortunate to be a teenager in the 70’s & love that our music is standing the test of time & a new generation is discovering our music. It was pure talent, no auto tune just talent, raw & on stage.
I watched the whole Live Aid concert on TV. It was a long, long show, lots of great acts, but Queen’s performance-damn! I guess Elton John was backstage and shouted “you bastards” after their set, because he had to go on after that. (David Bowie was immediately after.). There’s an apocryphal story that someone once asked Freddie if he played anything other than the piano, and he answered, “the audience, darling.” So very true! If you haven’t seen their Live Aid set you really do have to watch it to see what he meant. Great reaction, Maggie! Sorry I missed the livestream!
Maggie, the beginning harmonies at the beginning of the song is Freddie harmonizing with himself! It's done by adding layers of your voice onto layers of your voice. And that was done without computers since they only had sound boards and recording tape.
When you say has anyone seen them live, that depends whether you mean Queen live 1971 to 1986, or the years since without Freddie Mercury and John Deacon, Queen plus if you like. I saw Queen with Freddie and John four times. I regret not seeing them in the 1970s but the first three times I saw them was from 1980-1982, when they were, officially, the biggest band in the world (in terms of sales and influence), and though still great live in 1984-1986, I believe their best live period was 1979-1982. But any Queen show from 1971-1986 was special. Many of them have been recorded. It was certainly an experience seeing them in that era. Freddie was a unique performer.
I hate I missed the live. In 1975 I was a sophmore in HS in Cleveland listening to a good pop station and an album rock station. I was a huge fan of the epic rock tunes of the day, Stairway to Heaven, Layla, In-a-Gadda-Da-Vidda, etc. I’m sure Bohemian Rhapsody landed in my top 5 the first time I ever heard it. Free Bird and Do You Feel Like We Do soon joined it. With todays auto-tune, canned drum tracks, and mindless lyrics, we are not likely to ever hear songs like this new ever again.
No, it's not all Freddy. Freddy had a great voice but his range was limited until later. Fanboys will make you think he was superhuman but he was as human as the rest of us. People will claim he has 23 octaves and that doctors examining him discovered physiological anomalies that make him special and so forth lol 😂 it's all silly. RIP Freddy, I saw you live and you kicked ass, buddy!
My mom got to see them when they played in Detroit, MI but but before she saw then was playing softball in the park with Journey. But of course that was when concerts did not cost an arm and a leg. You could see groups like Queen and Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band for like $20 or something like that. #1 I was about 2 yeast old when this album came out.
This is all Freddy, he wrote this as a rock opera! It was voted the best rock of all time! Queen came out with this when I was 14 & have loved it since I first heard it! ❤Freddy lives!
The anthem bohemian rhapsody is one of the greatest songs ,like Stairway to heaven - led zeppelin ! But I a suggestion you should also check out Welcome to the black parade- my chemical romance, as it's another anthem you'll absolutely love
Saw them around 1976. This was when Freddie had long hair. I wasnt much into them at this point. Well after the show i was into them. They rocked a lot harder in concert then how they sound on record. Much like Nightwish. I was sitting at the back of the auditorium and when Freddie came out on stage his aura literally knocked me off my feet. His persona was off the charts. Then Brian Mays guitar solo/playing during this song reminded me of Jimmy Page playing. Oh did i mention that the warm up band didnt show up. They played like 3.5 hrs. It is definitely in my top 5 concerts that i have ever attended.
I saw them 4 the last one I saw was knebworth there last concert and saw them liverpool, NEC Birmingham and leeds football ground everyone of them was great
I saw them in 85 at live aid in Wembley. They came in about 6pm or so and were amazing. It was a long day, very hot and I saw many legendary groups, but Queen were easily the best. My memory, even that day is hazy, but I do remember them being absolutely mesmerizing.
HI MAGGIE! You really should also check out "Bohemian Rhapsody" LIVE... The best live version (IMO) is at: MONTREAL in 1981. Freddie Mercury's vocals are always even BETTER live (believe it or not). In the live rendition, they leave off Freddie's a-capella harmonies at the beginning... but otherwise, I like it MORE than the studio version. (Re. those beginning harmonies: Has anyone mentioned that those are, in fact, ALL Freddie?!?! ...Even tho in the music video they have all 4 band members lip syncing. Freddie recorded himself singing 5 different harmony lines and then overlaid them.)
I was present at their Sydney Concert at the Horden Pavilion back in 1976. It was a brilliant Concert. This was the main song back then.I was 17. I also went to see them at ANZ Station in Sydney in 2020, just before Covid hit. Where Freddie was up front in 76 & Adam lambert was up front in 2020. Both concerts were 2 of the greatest Concerts I have ever seen. I have seen more that 60 Concerts in my 64 years. I only rate Elton John & Pavarotti above them, LIVE.
I was lucky enough to see Queen play live at least twice at Wembley Stadium - they were awesome every time. Freddy had a way of grabbing the attention of the entire crowd, and would get everyone singing along with some of the big numbers - before proving what an amazing voice he has when he sang Ay Oh - no one in the crowd was able to keep up with him !! I just found a video on RU-vid called Queen: Ay-Oh (Episode 27) - You might want to take a look it it
Maggie you should react to many queen songs but please “White Queen” live at the hammersmith odeon or even Innuendo lyric video as that song could not be performed live 😥
When you were reading out the lyrics, you could have saved time by just telling your phone "siri, I see a little silhouetto of a man" and Siri will literally recite the lyrics for you.
The first section is Freddie over dubbed five times. The video shows them lip syncing but it is only Freddie's voice. John does not sing at all, only a bit live. I was 13 when it came out and saw them live when I was 14. Queen was unique and a total revelation. They were incredibly talented musicians. Roger Taylor's high vocals made them even more unique. The opera part was Brian, Roger and Freddie. Brian built his own guitar so it sounded completely different and made the unique Queen sound.
I am sorry. Anyone who can hear this song if this isn't in your Top 100(giving a lot of leeway) then please give up your hearing to someone who can't, so they can appreciate it. Ty
Maggie, I already loved you. I didn't think it was possible to love you more. But I was wrong. Honestly, though, this was music I listened to in high school. A buddy of mine exposed it to me. I had just graduated high school. I'm glad you appreciated it. I also appreciate your singing when I hear it. Thanks Maggie.
AND he has sub-harmonics in his vibrato. Very few have that. It's not an ability per say but rather a natural occurrence. Freddy wax and always will be the absolute best. Nobody in the world has/had his passion and commitment to quality. There are more people that listen to and who have discovered Queen in their youth in the past 10 yrs than any other singer in history. Queen was such a smash and still is ,, like I said millions of young people have been turned on to these guys ( mainly Freddy) and they are the most watched band / singer. 1970 I was 6. Haha. Freddy was and still is the most influential and idolized singer of any other performer. All the other groups at LIVE AID actually got a little jealous and upset because ( and they all said) damnit Queen totally stole the whole show. Even Elton said it. Queen is an absolutely amazing band but Freddy made the band,, he was beyond a legend and icon. A rock god doesn't begin to describe him and his awesomeness.
@@jimvasconcellos i think you meant to say 5. Even that is pretty difficult for the vocal chords. I don't know if 8 octaves is even possible. I think the absolute limit for human range would be maybe 6. Test that theory on a piano once and I think you will see what I mean. I don't think a piano even has 8 octaves. Not trying to be argumentative but I understand music theory very well and the human vocal abilities. Of course anything in life is possible but I am pretty certain 8 octaves on the human voice is impossible.
Freddy could indeed hit 5. Though he rarely used it. Scientists and vocal analysts monitored him and he could reach 5. He was also one of the very few people who had the very rare gift of having sub-harmonics in his vibrato.
Maggie, as long as you keep singing while you're straightening out the cords, I'm happy. My wife has a beautiful voice, too. I love to listen to her sing her way through tasks so when you started singing, that was (literally) music to my ears. Keep it up!
If you love their harmonies, you _NEED_ to do "Lap of the Gods" off the Sheer Heart Attack album. There's another song called "In the Lap of the Gods (revisited). Not that one (although that's a good one too). Heck just do both of them. The vocals are incredible.
Never seen Queen live but I have seen Brian May ( or should I say Sir Brian May) live. But I have actually most of the Queen albums and solo albums of both Roger Taylor and Brian May. Saw a documentary on the making of A night at the Opera, and of course Bohemian Rhapsody, and the master tape is actually almost rubbed clear with all of the over dubs.
Just ask Bri about it. He's here on YT in person. I bet he'd like an interview with you. I watched Queen live in 1981 and maybe 1983 in Hamburg, Germany. I took this song into our english lessons in middle school. (The teacher bought the album. The rest was pretty much shocked.) Took "White man" to english lessons in high school. (The teacher was shocked. The rest was nodding.)
The beginning acapella portion of this song is all just Freddie multitracking his vocals. The harmonies though out the rest of the song are Freddie, Brian and Roger. The highest falsetto parts are Roger. The first time they say "anyway the wind blows" there is another ambient sound (supposed to be the wind) as well as the shivers sound. The record company didn't want to release this as written, as a single because of the length of the song, most radio stations would only play songs that were around 3 minutes or less. The record company and Queen's new manager wanted them to shorten the song but Queen said no, it needs to be one song. Kenny Everett was a friend of Freddie and the band and also a very popular radio DJ. Freddie played the song for Kenny before it was polished up and Kenny stole a copy of the song and started playing it on his show every hour without Freddie even knowing about it. Freddie was not happy about that, since it hadn't actually been released yet, but the song was so loved by the audience that people started calling all the other radio stations and requesting it. So the record company agreed to release it as a single. That is the whole story, Queen didn't threaten to quit, that might be a bit of creative license taken from the movie. I have never heard anyone Officially Queen ever say that. They were under contract and it would have cost them plenty to get out, not to mention that their manager had fronted them a lot of money to produce the album. Queen knew it was a risk, it would either be a huge hit or a miserable failure. The band was technically bankrupt due to being ripped off by their former managers, so they were going to have to break up if this album did not do well. Of course, BoRap was a huge hit and the band was saved so we all got to continue to hear great songs and go to fabulous concerts by Queen. I love this song! Another outstanding performance by Queen that you must listen to or react to, your choice; is "White Queen" live at Odeon, Hammersmith 1975. Freddie's vocals are so emotive and there is a nearly 2 minute instrumental extravaganza (mind boggling guitar and piano section with the drums and bass filling in the foundation). It defies everything we know about live performances, it is absolute perfection by every member of the band. Thank you for your great reaction.
(1) Saw Queen on "The Game" tour in Greensboro, N.C., August, 1980 when I was a junior in high school. Hellz to the yeahz! Can you dig it? CAN YOU DIG IT? It cost $12.50. I mean, can ya dig it? Ha ha ha, so, yeah, I was alive when this song came out and our 8th grade graduation was a march to this song. My mother played it, so we had to go out and buy the sheet music for her. The 70s were alive with Queen on the radio big-time from like '74 on.
Bohemian Rhapsody was the first Queen song I ever heard in 1976. I was only 6 years old at the time and I remember hearing it being played on the radio a lot. I absolutely love Queen.
Maggie please do the Allman Brothers “Statesboro Blues” live at the Fillmore East. Then go from there, Greg Allman’s voice is one of the blues and southern rocks best.
Was I alive? I was at the same Uni, the London University South Kensington Block, they were at Imperial (Brian May had been doing an Astronomy Doctorate) I was at Queen Elizabeth College reading Astrophysics, half a mile down the street. London in 1971 was so exciting, though I was more into Modern Jazz. Think Queen had moved on but, the talk in the Imperial Bar was all Queen. I never saw them live as I was more into people like Ornette Coleman. Our college seemed more into Yes. They thought me and my taste for Pharoah Sanders and Coltrane was beyond weird - giggles
Did you ever hear that song he did with a real opera (?) singer, something Caballero? She was initially very skeptical, and didn't know anything about him. It was for the football world championship in Spain, I think. Afterwards she said she could tell he wasn't a trained singer, as such, but was positively impressed by how he performed on their duet.
Saw them first on 11 Feb 1975 at the auditorium of the Universities Student Union on the Sheer Heart Attack Tour. This was a smaller venue. Can't imagine there was more than 1000 people. And, there were no seats and we were sitting on the floor. It seemed like we were in somebody's rec room. One nice party like everyone knew each other. My favorite song was Seven Seas of Rhye.
I was only a child when this came out, and when I was a teenager i chose other bands to be a fan of, such as Pink Floyd, Rush, Deep Purple and Iron Maiden, but I always admired these guys for their talent. If you want recommendations of Queen's songs, some of them are underrated, no one reacts to them - I don't know why - and you could be the one to do it: "One vision"; "A kind of Magic"; "Save me"; "Who wants to live forever"; "Don't stop me now"; and the way these guys found to say goodbye to Freddie - the sad and beautiful "Show must go on" - it was told, by that time, that Freddie was ill when he recorded this song (the official music video is a compilation of the band's footages, all along their career, but Freddie is not seen singing it, only his voice is heard). R.I.P., Freddie!
You need to listen to a few different songs.... How about '39 by Brian May (he sings lead vocals on it) or "White Man" - this one starts off with Brian and then Roger Taylor sings the lead....
