Author |
Topic Search Topic Options
|
Cthulhu42
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 13 2012
Location: R'lyeh
Status: Offline
Points: 249
|
Topic: Best Songwriter in Queen Posted: October 06 2012 at 10:08 |
Mercury for the first couple albums; after that him and May were pretty much equal.
|
|
ole-the-first
Forum Senior Member
Joined: January 03 2012
Location: Russia
Status: Offline
Points: 1534
|
Posted: October 06 2012 at 03:00 |
Roger Taylor did a lot of great work as a solo artist, but in Queen Mercury was far better songwriter. Mercury wrote The March of the Black Queen, and that's enough for me to vote for him.
|
This night wounds time.
|
|
DiamondDog
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 15 2011
Location: Cambridge
Status: Offline
Points: 320
|
Posted: September 18 2012 at 10:17 |
TheLionOfPrague wrote:
DiamondDog wrote:
thellama73 wrote:
DiamondDog wrote:
None of the members of Queen were particularly great songwriters, just OK ish. The best song was Radio Gaga, most complete and flowing. Freddie was amazingly old-fashioned in his writing, almost vaudeville - it was strange to hear such a powerful and rocking band batter those songs into something that passed as "rockified". Some of their most anthemic 'songs' were banal and repetitive, perhaps ideal for crowd-singing beer-swilling karaoke fodder.
A great band, fine musicians, but songwriters? - never. |
I apologize for the assumption if it's wrong, but it sounds like you have only heard their greatest hits based on your comment. I assume the anthemic song you are referring to is We Will Rock You, which I agree doesn't have much to it. But how can you say songs like It's Late, White Queen, The Prophet's Song, '39, Love of My Life, etc. aren't well written?
|
No need to apologise, but nice of you to take the precaution of saying so. I have heard most of their songs, and I stand by my comments. Too many people are fooled by the production and often-excellent musicianship, strip all that away and though the songs are never bad, they are often average or non-songs. (IMO)! |
Just OK?? Bohemian Rhapsody, March of the Black Queen, My Fairy King, Millonaire Waltz, Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy, Bicycle Race, Love of My Life, Innuendo, etc.. |
As many people do, you're confusing production and performance with writing.
|
|
AEProgman
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 11 2012
Location: Toadstool
Status: Offline
Points: 1787
|
Posted: September 11 2012 at 22:55 |
I always liked Queen and Queen II. Their early stuff was much better than the later stuff. Queen II had a concept feel and had a heavy/art rock sound. Father to Son, White Queen, March of the Black Queen, and a vocal version of 7 Seas of Rhye, and others that had a unique sound.
As far as songwriters, combine Mercury and May.
|
|
|
TheLionOfPrague
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 08 2011
Location: Argentina
Status: Offline
Points: 1063
|
Posted: September 10 2012 at 21:14 |
DiamondDog wrote:
thellama73 wrote:
DiamondDog wrote:
None of the members of Queen were particularly great songwriters, just OK ish. The best song was Radio Gaga, most complete and flowing. Freddie was amazingly old-fashioned in his writing, almost vaudeville - it was strange to hear such a powerful and rocking band batter those songs into something that passed as "rockified". Some of their most anthemic 'songs' were banal and repetitive, perhaps ideal for crowd-singing beer-swilling karaoke fodder.
A great band, fine musicians, but songwriters? - never. |
I apologize for the assumption if it's wrong, but it sounds like you have only heard their greatest hits based on your comment. I assume the anthemic song you are referring to is We Will Rock You, which I agree doesn't have much to it. But how can you say songs like It's Late, White Queen, The Prophet's Song, '39, Love of My Life, etc. aren't well written?
|
No need to apologise, but nice of you to take the precaution of saying so. I have heard most of their songs, and I stand by my comments. Too many people are fooled by the production and often-excellent musicianship, strip all that away and though the songs are never bad, they are often average or non-songs. (IMO)! |
Just OK?? Bohemian Rhapsody, March of the Black Queen, My Fairy King, Millonaire Waltz, Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy, Bicycle Race, Love of My Life, Innuendo, etc..
|
I shook my head and smiled a whisper knowing all about the place
|
|
TheLionOfPrague
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 08 2011
Location: Argentina
Status: Offline
Points: 1063
|
Posted: September 10 2012 at 21:11 |
Gallifrey wrote:
Ogre Battle, March of the Black Queen and Bohemian Rhapsody are all in my top 10 songs of all time, so Freddy for me. |
This. Brian was fantastic too, but Freddie was by far the best. He could write 4 or 5 epic songs for album (at least in the 70's, not so much after that). Probably the best songwriter of the last century.
Edited by TheLionOfPrague - September 10 2012 at 21:12
|
I shook my head and smiled a whisper knowing all about the place
|
|
JeanFrame
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 01 2010
Location: London, England
Status: Offline
Points: 195
|
Posted: September 05 2012 at 09:43 |
The songs were only OK, not more than that. Great band though.
|
|
clarke2001
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: June 14 2006
Location: Croatia
Status: Offline
Points: 4160
|
Posted: September 03 2012 at 23:16 |
Each one of them was great in their own right.
My vote (today) goes to Roger, the raw rocker among them. I also love his voice.
|
|
|
The Doctor
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: June 23 2005
Location: The Tardis
Status: Offline
Points: 8543
|
Posted: September 03 2012 at 17:51 |
cstack3 wrote:
No one seems to remember the amazing first Qiueen album! For "Liar" and "Seven Seas of Rye," it must be Freddie.
Remarkable band....and remember, "No synthesizers" (at least not at first). |
My favorites on the album are the May and Taylor tracks, Son and Daughter is awesome, Doin' All Right is cool too (although I actually like the Smile version with Roger and Tim's vocals better), and Modern Times Rock 'n Roll is a classic. The Mercury songs, with the exception of Liar, I found kind of meh.
|
I can understand your anger at me, but what did the horse I rode in on ever do to you?
|
|
cstack3
Forum Senior Member
VIP Member
Joined: July 20 2009
Location: Tucson, AZ USA
Status: Offline
Points: 7319
|
Posted: September 03 2012 at 17:23 |
No one seems to remember the amazing first Qiueen album! For "Liar" and "Seven Seas of Rye," it must be Freddie.
Remarkable band....and remember, "No synthesizers" (at least not at first).
|
|
Gerinski
Prog Reviewer
Joined: February 10 2010
Location: Barcelona Spain
Status: Offline
Points: 5154
|
Posted: September 03 2012 at 15:24 |
resurrection wrote:
Musicians, an emphatic "yes"; songwriters? Just OK or half-decent. |
Funny, I would have said just the opposite (well to be precise, good musicians "yes" but "most than anything else good songwriters").
|
|
cqc19_genesis
Forum Newbie
Joined: August 26 2012
Location: Barcelona
Status: Offline
Points: 23
|
Posted: September 03 2012 at 11:51 |
the best band ever... difficult, but i vote for Freddie finally.. but May follows closely, and Taylor/Deacon made great songs also!
|
|
|
resurrection
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 08 2010
Location: London
Status: Offline
Points: 254
|
Posted: September 03 2012 at 11:30 |
Musicians, an emphatic "yes"; songwriters? Just OK or half-decent.
|
|
Libor10
Forum Senior Member
Joined: July 19 2005
Location: Czech republic
Status: Offline
Points: 692
|
Posted: September 03 2012 at 05:57 |
I love Brian May and his guitar work, but Freddie was probably better songwriter. On the other side, as somebody here said before, without Brian guitar would be some FM songs not so good. And thus my vote goes to Brian (for his Father To Son, White Queen, '39, The Prophet's Song, Teo Torriate, Dead On Time, Dreamers Ball, Dragon Attack, Who Wants To Live Forever etc). And they WERE good songwriters, some of their songs are very clever built with great harmonies and with hard studio work. Maybe they didn't use too complex metrics in their songs, but it's only rock'n'roll, isn't it?
|
|
|
JeanFrame
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 01 2010
Location: London, England
Status: Offline
Points: 195
|
Posted: September 03 2012 at 04:30 |
marvellous musicians who made great records. Not so sure about the quality of the songs though.
|
|
skorziks
Forum Groupie
Joined: May 24 2007
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 46
|
Posted: September 02 2012 at 15:27 |
Freddie
|
The ice cream lady wet her drawers to see you in the passion play.
|
|
Bitterblogger
Forum Senior Member
Joined: November 04 2007
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 1719
|
Posted: September 02 2012 at 13:57 |
Mercury had the best lyrics. May has the best riffs.
|
|
tupan
Forum Senior Member
VIP Member
Joined: August 22 2005
Location: Brazil
Status: Offline
Points: 1239
|
Posted: August 31 2012 at 15:14 |
Equality 7-2521 wrote:
^Everything you said.
I'm amazed that everyone in that band could write a good song, play an instrument well, and 3/4 had very good singing voices.
|
I like them all as songwriters... Well, Roger Taylor I don't like that much...
|
"Prog is Not Dead and never has been." (Will Sergeant, from Echo And The Bunnymen)
|
|
DiamondDog
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 15 2011
Location: Cambridge
Status: Offline
Points: 320
|
Posted: August 31 2012 at 14:13 |
thellama73 wrote:
DiamondDog wrote:
None of the members of Queen were particularly great songwriters, just OK ish. The best song was Radio Gaga, most complete and flowing. Freddie was amazingly old-fashioned in his writing, almost vaudeville - it was strange to hear such a powerful and rocking band batter those songs into something that passed as "rockified". Some of their most anthemic 'songs' were banal and repetitive, perhaps ideal for crowd-singing beer-swilling karaoke fodder.
A great band, fine musicians, but songwriters? - never. |
I apologize for the assumption if it's wrong, but it sounds like you have only heard their greatest hits based on your comment. I assume the anthemic song you are referring to is We Will Rock You, which I agree doesn't have much to it. But how can you say songs like It's Late, White Queen, The Prophet's Song, '39, Love of My Life, etc. aren't well written?
|
No need to apologise, but nice of you to take the precaution of saying so. I have heard most of their songs, and I stand by my comments. Too many people are fooled by the production and often-excellent musicianship, strip all that away and though the songs are never bad, they are often average or non-songs. (IMO)!
|
|
DiamondDog
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 15 2011
Location: Cambridge
Status: Offline
Points: 320
|
Posted: August 31 2012 at 14:10 |
irrelevant wrote:
^ I disagree. All were good songwriters except for Taylor IMO. |
We are all entitled to our opinion and we can agree to disagree.
|
|
Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.