Bohemian Rhapsody Comparisons (1975 vs 1986)

[Ikeisbo]

Vocals 1975: Not as matured and more smooth less choppy. Cleaner F and G4s.

Vocals 1986: Matured voice. More daring on high notes.

[Queenrock990]

Fred's voice with the Flu was better than all artists these days singing in unison!

[HateIronMaiden]

I will say that there's no doubt about Mercury was better in the 1970s than the 1980s. He was still a GREAT singer in 80s too, but I think he was best when he was younger. In the 1980s his voice became tired and rusty. Also, we may look at their albums. They were better in 75.On the other side, the rest of the ones sounded better in the 1980s, I think (but not much). But of course they were GREAT in 75 too! But I think 70s Queen is best totally. That's MY conclusion. The music and vocal and...

[bruzuppone]

You should put The rock at montreal 1981 Bohemian Rhapsody too, the best fucking live version ever.

[drdeclulzz]

@bruzuppone Indeed, that concert is amazing! Almost as good as the Milton Keynes one!

[Gregsynthbootlegs]

He sang the song better as he got older, though sometimes the touring schedule (and other factors) may not feature his voice at 100%. If you take the best live versions from each era/tour, you can hear his voice get stronger and his high note technique got better!

[HateIronMaiden]

@Gregsynthbootlegs I think exactly the opposite. He was MUCH better in the 1970s than in the 1980s!

[Gregsynthbootlegs]

Freddie's live technique got much better as he got older. Just compare songs like Bohemian Rhapsody, In The Lap Of The Gods...Revisited, We Are The Champions, Somebody To Love from the 1970s live shows to the 80s live shows: His breath support got a lot better, and he was able to sing the key notes/phrasings more correct (plus he didn't drop notes at the ends of long sustains). Wembley 1986 isn't really a good base (since his voice was blown), but other shows are!

[HateIronMaiden]

@Gregsynthbootlegs Hear the song at 0:21, 0:21. Not good, I think. 70s best! That's CLEAR!

[Gregsynthbootlegs]

Hammy 1975 isn't really a great show for Freddie: He had the flu, and was often cutting sustains off awkwardly, and hitting notes out of tune. There's way better shows from that time period (where his voice was more clear).

[foca217]

Nel 1970 la voce era + brillante. Freddie era, è e sempre sarà un mito ed un genio dela musica

[MrKillerDolphins]

Cocaine, cigarettes, booze, age, and illness will effect your voice. Also-where you play effects your sound and how the sound people set eq your gear... And what format you are recorded on-I imagine the early versions are on old quater inch tapes and the later are on Betacam... Freddies vocal's would be weaker as he aged cause he was a smoker and heavy cocaine user the the late 70's/early 80's... I don't think AIDs had much to do with it by '86-but I could be wrong...cheers...

[leonheart41]

it just like 2 differemt people. I couldn't recognize him, so different, from the voice to the appearance. But I think the mid 70s to the early 70s are his best voice, it's sound like in the studio and he could sing high notes

[santies96]

@tobyobrie dude Haven't you listen "show must go on"? Well alive freddie wouldn't do those hisgh notes that would be of a crazy man he had could fail in one of those notes... but his voice i think came to be most powerfull with the years no weak and thin as you said but Strong and powerful i would say but Grettings anyway :D

[icantstopchewinggum]

freddie was always talented and he always had unique power and range. Its just in the 70's, not only was he still young, but he wasn't smoking or drinking as heavily. As years went by, even his speaking voice changed a little and he got that raspier tone. But face it- 29 to 40 is a big difference. His whole style changed- but he was always full of talent and he could do whatever he wanted with that voice.

[Ikeisbo]

Freddie mercurys voice was not weak in the 70's. He had a softer tone because he wasnt smoking yet. Listen to him sing at Houston 77,Stockholm 78, And any night from the Crazy tour.

[vitamincity]

I really do hear a difference, but he still sounds amazing in each one!

[kintelen]

This comprison has no sense: different acoustics, different sound engineering etc. Go to your bathroom and say something and then go to mountains and say something and then compare. As for his voice i`ve never loved live performance of BR neither in 70-ths nor in 80-ths. In live shows Mercury doesn`t sing the song, he just shouts - especially in high notes.

[Davemustang2600]

A lot of the difference is in the acoustics of the venue. Earls Court and Wembley stadium are very different spaces. Anything will sound bigger in a stadium. Actually his usable range decreased in the 80s. in the 70s he could stay up there. In the 80s because of smoking, sickness, and just generally singing like that his consistent range decreased.

[SMasta]

"As the 80's rumbled on, his voice became richer but his range decreased, sounding very rough on the top notes. By the early 90's, AIDS had weakened and thinned his voice, leaving him sounding like 70's Fred again."

what? he sang show must go on in one take when he had trouble standing due to AIDS. He sounded nothing like the 70's and if anything his vocal performance was the best in that song.

[TheKalen486]

man he new during the last tour of 86 he had contracted the AIDS virus still gave it all too his fans thanx for the memories FRED.

[TheKalen486]

voice is like stinky aged cheese gets better with age

[icantstopchewinggum]

one of the few singers (especially rock singers who drink, smoke, and do drugs) who's voices couldnt ever possibly get bad. It just keeps getting better and better as the years go by.

[Gregsynthbootlegs]

Most of his best live performances are from late 1979-1982, then you'll find Live Aid, Early Magic Tour, Some NOTW stuff, and pre-nodule stuff being right behind it!

So technically speaking: He got better as he aged, but most of the best live stuff is 1979-1982.

[TheBEATLESMania100n2]

I like 1986 more!!

[jaggass]

I dont think it changed that much. Only at the time of innuendo. He couldn't give as much due to his illness.

[Rydzyk654]

one m0:00re time !

[tonibcnn]

1986's version is more powerful

[VVidow]

He had nodules around 86 though, makes a difference.

[thebiggestqueenfan]

@VVidow he did in 1975 too.

[VVidow]

@thebiggestqueenfan Won't argue with someone named thebiggestqueenfan ! Cheers!

[thebiggestqueenfan]

@VVidow haha that's just a user name i chose a long time ago because i couldn't think of anything else...it doesn't mean anything and is not supposed to be degrading to others. But yes, the first signs of nodules were in spring of 1975.

[TheAleksMichel]

@VVidow hahaha love your answer...no its true he allways had them...but i think with times you have better technik and now your voice better so he would do things on stage to disguise it better whereas some live young recording my god its awful how badly he hits the notes...hahaha. peace out

[thebiggestqueenfan]

@TheAleksMichel i know seriously. like in japan 79, he should have just sang most of the songs and especially borhap an octave lower. It would have been much better than desperately trying to squeal out notes.

[TheAleksMichel]

@thebiggestqueenfan yh exacly japan or even actualy if you listen to the album Live Killers he does many little things that dont sound great whereas in the later live versions would just change the melody line a bit but in a more mature way!!! But yh your right for Japan, poor guy! you could see how bad he felt in his face and eyes and how he wanted to hit those notes and make a stuning performances but didnt work. you right he should have just sung it an octave lower!!!!! peace out

[thebiggestqueenfan]

@TheAleksMichel great points. I totally agree and although im the love the guy, i gotta admit he should have worked on his live singing voice and his technique so he would learn how to deal with nodes or the nodes would go away.

[Gregsynthbootlegs]

His live technique got better as he got older (Just compare Opera/Races to Crazy Tour), then compare his Crazy Tour voice to 1981 (Richer vocal registers in the 4th/5th octave)!

[thebiggestqueenfan]

@Gregsynthbootlegs i think his live singing was at it's best during the Crazy Tour to 1981. After that it started to get a little bit worse. C'mon, you can't argue that his best live singing is mostly from late 1979-1981.

[Gregsynthbootlegs]

He sounded the best during that time, but his singing technique was better at Live Aid/Early Magic Tour than 1979-1981. As great 1979-1981 was, Freddie was never able to probably sing Bo Rhap's verses (he would undersing or oversing them). At Live Aid, his improved technique allowed him to sing the first verse without either oversinging, wavering off the notes. Early Magic Tour is the same. Plus he was actually able to use his falsetto registers effectively.

[Werlath]

@tobyobrie Listen to the Innuendo album, come back, and tell us with a stale face that Freddie's voice was weak during that time.

[vergarabosse]

me parece mucho mejor la de 1975... por lejos..

[TheBellTolls666]

I agree to the fact that his voice changed a bit, but the main difference I think lies in the PA system that was much better in the later shows like wembley. Just listen how much more reverb all the instruments carry in '86, and how dry (but still fantastic) it was in '75 or '77.

[edmame]

fascinating comparison. would '79-81 be the best midpoint in having his unique/inimitable tone (as boy genius wonder) from 70s, & improving technique of projection/limitless tricks/styles in 80s+? montreal '81 was good compromise of the song's emotional resonance still personal enough. in '75 it's not just nerves but had a reason to "vent". by '86 it's what made his name & command performance type. '86 isn't lost meaning but morphed into fred-audience communion, a SHARED landmark in both lives:)

[tuzo2010]

1986 - TOO MUCH BETTER.

[maximumridechik]

it's like listening to 2 different people

[Isle0fRed]

@jaysojay72 what i meant by meaning is that BohRhap is about Fred, no questions there, and in 75 the song was still fresh, meant it still meant something personals. After touring for years, the song loses its personal meaning because of playing it so much i.e European NOTW tour

[thebiggestqueenfan]

@Isle0fRed Yeah I prefer most 70's versions as well. To me, the last great versions where it still had the meaning were the Crazy Tour.

[Isle0fRed]

@thebiggestqueenfan i would say the meaning was lost at european notw.

[aladdingee]

Aladdin Gee say this one is smoking rate R with talent like dis you going places in life if it were not so i would have told you thumbs up this i talent worth getting payed for thats why i took time out of my busy schedule to leave you this comment

[PureRocker2712]

Hey write "gift" before youtube.com!!!!

[ben5leto]

but in the 1975 video Freddie was sick and his voice wasn't as good as usual. but oh well this is a good video.

[thebiggestqueenfan]

@ben5leto To be frank, his sickness didn't really effect his voice much as he sounds more or less the same on other recordings from the tour

[Kacio94]

słabe ... ja lepsze robię:D

[buhdoble]

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[Isle0fRed]

1975

vocal = more nervous, better way to tell the story of what the song is about

band = appears more like filler, the build up to the best performance of the night

1986

vocal = more confindent, more experimental, as the song has been performed many times by the band, to them the meaning behind the song is possibly lost

band = this is the best song of the night, the bang and not the build up

and does anyone notice that Fred plays the piano different in the two concerts

[thebiggestqueenfan]

@Isle0fRed Wow you're right. Yes I did notice how his piano performance is different in the two concerts. In 1975 he was more interested in putting character in his playing when in 1986, he has played the song so many times that it didn't matter any more

[edmame]

@thebiggestqueenfan by '86 he was hardly on piano anymore & there is an emotional disconnect there, like groping past unfamiliar feel on the ivories 1st. whatever gripped him in '75 is so intense (check how he's "lost" in its world by denouement), unlikely to be repeated verbatim 10 yrs later = untrained, not technically disciplined like actors doing hamlet 100x/year. he SHARED it more w/ 80s audience tho, far less "come into my enclosure" of 70s marked by how "exotic"/peculiar his position was.

[Ianandres1]

@Isle0fRed more nervous because that show was broadcast live! plus of that Freddie and Brian was sick with flu!

sorry for my english

[Gregsynth]

You should a video for either Now I'm Here, or We Are The Champions!

[thebiggestqueenfan]

@Gregsynth maybe after u make your third blooper video

[Gregsynth]

Haha!

Give me a break!

[Eduranzoni]

I think that Queen of 86 was better in the melody part of songs. And the 70´s was better in the heavy part.

[thebiggestqueenfan]

@Eduranzoni I kind of see what you mean

[Eduranzoni]

@thebiggestqueenfan Thank you for the uploads and forgive my horrible english...

[thebiggestqueenfan]

@Eduranzoni Anytime. And you're english fine. Where are you from?

[Eduranzoni]

@thebiggestqueenfan Thanks! I´m from Brazil. Sometimes I use the Google translator when I dont find some words, this makes the translation a little strange. And almost always I am watching these rares Queen videos.

[thebiggestqueenfan]

@Eduranzoni Oh. Ya I use the translator a lot. It works most of the time but sometimes it is best to speak the language

[Gregsynth]

He cut down on smoking also (1987), then by 1990/1991, he stopped it all together! Plus, the lack of touring restored his voice during the late 80s!

[MACH1907]

His voice perfectly changed, Wembley rocks!!!

[lemonysnick123]

nice video, i loved it! :D

[thebiggestqueenfan]

@lemonysnick123 Well thank you very much...cheers

[Peneck]

grandisima! la mejor d las mejores.

[MarinStoikov]

but it seems that his voice was much weaker in the mid 70's than in the 80's, and by the way, you know that the best live performances of the song were from the end of '79 on ;-)

[Gregsynth]

Yep! The Crazy Tour-European Hot Space era was Freddie's "prime live" era!

[thebiggestqueenfan]

Yup. Best live Borhaps in my opinion are (not in order):

-Glasgow 79

-Newcastle 79 (second night)

- Hammersmith 79

-Cologne 82

-Edinburgh 82

-And Montreal 81

[Gregsynth]

Not only is the voice different, but the phrasing is too!

[XOPAUXO]

thats right, there are a lot of manners to play bo rhap on piano

[ced95570]

Very good video;nothing to say

[thebiggestqueenfan]

thanks!

[sokwest]

very interesting comparison!!

[thebiggestqueenfan]

Ya thanks

[Gregsynth]

Wow, I can't believe the differences between those 11 years!

[thebiggestqueenfan]

I know its amazing

[Gregsynth]

1975: Sounds "sweet."

1986: Sounds "Powerful."

[thebiggestqueenfan]

you are completely right. Good choice of words

[Gregsynth]

Do a 1975-1986 comparison from all concerts! LOL

[thebiggestqueenfan]

I might just make another one when i have the time. But which song though?

[Gregsynth]

Bohemian rhapsody, or Now I'm here!

[thebiggestqueenfan]

Ya I thought of now i'm here. Maybe champions comparison from 77-86

[Gregsynth]

That's great!

[gdsc4]

@Gregsynth in 86 specially at wembley he seems to be suffering singing because his voice was too raspy

[Gregsynth]

Well, it wasn't so much him being raspy--but he had a cold and his voice was slightly blown (if you listen to the 1st night, he goes all out).

The versions from earlier in the tour are much better than Wembley!

[Gregsynth]

In the early part of the tour, he had a clean voice! Just compare Leiden and Brussels to Wembley!

[carpau0]

@Gregsynth I think you summed it up perfectly. Personally I prefer 70's Freddie to 80's Freddie & this is reflected in my favourite Queen albums (which is from Queen to News of the World + Innuendo), but Freddie is general is amazing to listen to!! Thanks the biggestqueenfan for making this video, It was quite interesting to listen too and compare the change in vocals!!

[Gregsynth]

Yeah! On my "Gregsynthbootlegs" channel, I plan on making some videos that also are informative about Freddie's voice!