Lover of Life, Singer of Songs
Hollywood Records just sent me their new Freddie Mercury "solo" retrospective, a double-disc treatment culling the best stuff from his Queenless songbook. Here's a quickie review plus a QUESTION FOR YOU:
Where does Freddie fall on a list of BEST FRONTMEN EVER?
Freddie Mercury
Album: Lover of Life, Singer of Songs: The Very Best of Freddie Mercury Solo (Hollywood)
Why we care: Queen's late, great rock god (who would have been 60 this year) didn't have a prolific career sans his regular mates, but his solo work was as powerful as it was compact. A Parsi hunk born Farrokh Bulsara, Mercury is celebrated here with a double-disc beauty including cuts culled from his solo albums plus 15 remixes.
Why we like it: Mercury's eighth-wonder voice is all parts operatic and hammy, gut-wrenching and nuclear. The man tackled his music with bear-hug gusto, especially on such muscular dramas as There Must Be More to Life Than This. Unlike Queen's reliance on Brian May's guitar laser beams and related gonzo effects, Freddie's solo work is much simpler, built via piano and synth and that open, vulnerable voice — oh, that voice.
Reminds us of: Queen with less leather, more lace
Download these: There Must Be More to Life Than This, Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow
Sean Daly is the pop music critic for the St. Petersburg Times. His CD collection -- from Journey to Dylan, Prince to U2, Public Enemy to Stan Getz -- is much bigger and better than yours.
I'll admit it! I was strangely attracted to Freddie Mercury!! Is that wrong? Okay - so he was in desperate need of a good dentist. And that mustache was atrocious! But he was masculine and vulnerable at the same time. And he could play a mean piano. And he could sing the heck out of a song. And look at those high cheekbones and tight pants! What a combination!
Posted by: Forever Fiancee | November 30, 2006 at 04:02 PM
I think Freddie is up there. He's not #1. That title - to me - forever goes to Robert Plant. I think #2 is David Lee Roth. But it can easily be argued that Freddie is top-5. I think it can also be argued that he lies ahead of Ozzy, and is comparable to Steven Tyler. Sean, when this is all said an done, why not give us your Top-10 list of rock front men?
Posted by: Mike T | November 30, 2006 at 07:30 PM
High cheekbones and tight pants? Are you talking Mercury or Daly?
Posted by: Guy | November 30, 2006 at 09:30 PM
Guy, I think you mean high arches and are there really any pants that could be tight on Daly!?
In terms of front men, though, Robert Plant is, without a doubt, the top front man ever. Freddie Mercury was great in his own right and would be somewhere in the top ten.
I really couldn't have told you that Mercury had a solo career. Kind of like Jagger and Daltrey.
Posted by: chaps | December 01, 2006 at 10:37 AM
Setting this man apart from most other (with only a few exceptions) is that his entire body was his instrument, not just his throat... even seeing him in rare studio clips singing into the mic (sans audience), he sang with every molecule of his being.
Posted by: ScottB | December 01, 2006 at 02:06 PM
Freddy was, without a doubt, the greatest showman I've ever seen live. I'll never forget seeing Queen at the Lakeland Civic Center in 1977. I'd have to vote for Freddy over Robert Plant, although my vote might be tainted by the Led Zeppelin riot at Tampa Stadium and the promised performance the next night that never happened.
Posted by: Ron R | December 01, 2006 at 05:07 PM
great
Posted by: shital jethva | August 24, 2007 at 03:47 AM