@richopp, you don’t have the full picture. I hold no songwriter in higher regard than Brian Wilson. My first live concert was The Beach Boys in the summer of 1964, when Brian was still playing bass and singing on stage. Upon hearing the Smiley Smile album in early ’68, I became obsessed with Brian, reading everything I could find on him (two chapters in Paul William's great book Outlaw Blues is about the aborted Smile album), and buying every bootleg album of the Smile recordings I could find. I know FAR more than you about the man, and love his music at least as much as any living human being. So don’t lecture me on Brian Wilson.
Shortly before I read the quote from Brian about "Bohemian Rhapsody", I made a pilgrimage from San Jose to Brian’s mansion in Bel Air with a songwriter I had been recording demos with for a year. We brought a copy of our demo to give to Brian, intending to ask him to produce us in a pro studio (I had engineered the demos, using a pair of condenser mics, a Sony Mixer, and Revox and Teac reel-to-reel recorders).
Standing at the front gate, I rang the buzzer. Brian’s wife Marilyn answered, but wouldn’t let us see Brian. She said to leave the tape against the gate, which we did. Dusk was just descending, so we walked up the driveway of the house next door, to see what we could see (stalking?). Through his dining room window, we saw Brian sitting in a high-back chair at the table, absolutely motionless for about 15 minutes. We left, and never heard from Brian.
The next year (1976), Brian was trotted out for his "comeback"---the 15 Big Ones album. At that time it was disclosed that Brian, from his years of drug abuse, had sustained brain damage. He was being treated by Psychologist Eugene Landy, for mental illness. I rest my case.
Saw it this past weekend and it was really good! Here's the thing, I own 1000's of recordings and don't own a SINGLE Queen record, not my thing. That said, not many flicks give me goose bumps and when they break into 'We Are The Champions', it definitely put a smile on my face!
The thing I liked about Queen in their heyday, especially in hindsight, was they were willing and able to take chances and accomplished some great and unique things along the way as a result. Plus Freddie Mercury was a virtuoso singer and showman whose rep has actually grown over time as more people discover him. The best Queen songs are instantly recognizable and among some of the most artistic pop-rock compositions of the late 20th century.
I had long ago stopped paying attention to Rock music when sometime in the mid-70's I read an interview with Brian Wilson in the great Phonograph Record Magazine (reviewers included Greg Shaw of Bomp Records, Ken Barnes, Lester Bangs, John Mendelsohn, Jon Tiven, Mark Leviton, a bunch of others. There was also a hilarious column entitled "A Blind Date With Flo & Eddie", wherein Barnes would play the Turtles/Frank Zappa Band duo unidentified songs, and they would critique them. Very entertaining.). Ken Barnes asked Brian what he thought of Queen (whose "stacked"-harmonies were obviously Beach Boys-influenced). Brian said he had heard "Bohemian Rhapsody" and it scared him.
Brian's music on Smiley Smile had scared me ("Here Comes The Night", "Woody Woodpecker Symphony: Fall Breaks And Back To Winter"---chilling), so I thought THIS I gotta hear. Hear it I did, but I didn't get scared. Except about Brian's sanity.
Great Movie. Not really about Queen’s music but mostly about Freddie, a troubled and eccentric once in a generation genius. Few bands were ever able to be as good as Queen were live. RHCP. AC/DC. James Brown. To name a few.
No doubt Freddie is a truly great frontman and it certainly makes perfect sense that most of the popular culture thinks that he is
though i too feel he is one of the best frontman there is no way that ill ever think he is better than who i feel is the greatest frontman of them all...
Loved the movie, saw it twice, once in the theater, second time on the plane. I became a Queen fan after watching Live Aid on TV. IMO, Freddie Mercury was the greatest frontman in rock history. Yes, bigger and better than Jagger. No one had the audience in the palm of his hand like Freddie. The movie captured Freddie's stage presence. I'm playing Love of My Life on the piano now. I had never heard that great tune until watching the movie.
Critics didn't like it, some were disappointed in factual inaccuracies (as if it were claimed to be a documentary...ha), but I was thoroughly entertained as were my kids. It was better than I expected. You need to embrace it for what it is - entertainment!
I thought it was mixed really well ( for a movie ) and sounded great . I found myself turning it up on the musical parts and then turning it back down through the dialogs. I liked it. My two 18 inch subs came in handy ... LOL. I still remember sitting around the kitchen table during a blizzard, smoking pot with a house full of teens, while listening to the just released News of the World album in the late 70’s.
I liked the movie but can appreciate it even more after watching this split screen video of the real Live Aid performance vs the movie scene. At least as far as Live Aid accuracy, they nailed it.
My opinion was changing from "they did this really well" to "this is a boring movie" a number of times. I give the main character a credit for being a great impersonator. He does it better than I do Elvis.
Did anyone think that the same actor should do a movie about Mick Jagger? There were moments I thought he was trying to do just that. One live scene just after "Edinburgh 1976" is written on the screen, the man is Mick Jagger's twin.
Shame Queen never played Bohemian Rhapsody all the way through live, as far as I know. I wonder why they didn't just hire the singers able to do the 'operatic' bit when they did gigs......biggest disappointment for me. No Freddie, no Queen. Simple as...
Saw Queen on their epoch world changing Wembley Stadium gig. Prior to that they had been considered in the popular press of the day a chart hits band. After their stunning performance, they ratcheted up to Premier live rock band.
But for my own personal taste just could not get into it without Freddy.
Its a good movie, but the lyric is "Is this just fantasy?" If you heard "Or just death on two legs" you might want to look for a better theater..... and stereo.
What’s not to like? Bohemian Rhapsody was a great movie, but clearly Hollywoodized. My wife loved it! The lead actor probably deserved the Oscar. I was never a big Queen fan but I enjoyed the movie.
I got my teenage daughter and wife to love Queen and they loved the movie. They are going to see them (with Adam Lambert) a second time in three years this summer. I went first time and enjoyed but that was enough. Movie was entertaining based on subject matter but pretty formulaic and toyed with facts....typical Hollywood.
I would have far more interest in Bohemian Rhapsody if they had been able to keep Sacha Baron Cohen in the starring role. But he bolted. I'm sure I'll give it a try eventually.
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