Mercury and Perry

[Enigma869]

You'd also have to admit that Mercury had a far more powerful voice. Perry would do a nice job on the beginning of "Bohemian Rhapsody" but couldn't compare to Freddie when it starts rocking in the later part.

I actually don't agree, at all, that Mercury had a more powerful voice. I think Perry's voice was as powerful as I've ever heard. I don't think you can really compare the two voices. I'm sure some of our resident expert singers on this board could weigh in on this one.

As for "Bohemian Rhapsody"...I think it's Queen's signature song. It shows Freddie's talents off better than ANY other song in their catalogue! I actually don't think ANYONE, other than Mercury could have pulled that song off! In fact, it's probably the most butchered song I've ever heard, by people trying to pull it off. That said, there are MANY songs in Journey's catalogue that Mercury simply wouldn't be able to pull off! I think Perry was the only guy who could pull many of those songs off, the way they're supposed to be sung! In fact, in Journey's case, it's been proven time and again, with ever new lead singer they roll out!


John from Boston

[RedWingFan]

Would you rather have the best handling smoothest ride that broke down after 6 years? Or another great car that gave you 20 great years and was dependable right til the end?
I've been feeling the football withdrawl since 2002 Raiders pick 3rd or 4th though, and Al Davis can't live forever.

That's a REALLY easy answer for me...I'll take those best 6 years of my life over the 20 dependable years! I understand what you're saying, but remember, most of us don't think Perry only had a 6 year career!

You'd also have to admit that Mercury had a far more powerful voice. Perry would do a nice job on the beginning of "Bohemian Rhapsody" but couldn't compare to Freddie when it starts rocking in the later part.

Mercury was a great singer, no doubt about it. But I don't know how well he would have done singing "Separate Ways?"

Absolutely, Mercury could do it fabulously. Better? No. Originals are almost always better. Nothing in SW Freddie couldn't handle. Again I'd have to play the durablilty card. Freddie could have sang it without taking it down a few steps. Perry can't which is why most think he won't tour. Which I respect him for. If you can't do it justice, don't do it. Look at a song like "Hitman" from Innuendo. Similiar to SW power wise. Freddie had it right til the end.

[youkeepmewaiting]

Freddie had nodules? I think you're mistaken. I've NEVER heard that.
If Freddie had nodules, his falsetto and head voice wouldn't be working as well as they did. I think that's incorrect.
If anybody had nodules, I'd say it was Steve. His voice got SO rough from Frontiers on. A true sign of nodules.
Freddie never had that roughness to his voice.
They're different types of singers. Freddie was more operatic, Steve was more soul.
If I had to pick the vocal style and apparatus out of the two that I'd want, I'd take Perry's.

Freddie, while a great great singer, always had problems live with his pitch. Perry NEVER did. Perry's pitch and power was superb. Freddie's pitch live was monstrous at times. In the studio, it worked wonderfully for him. Live, it didn't always and so he'd either have to lower the falsetto note into his chest voice, or yell it which probably created some of his pitch problems. Freddie Mercury has done some of the most beautiful recordings in the studio to ever grace a piece of plastic ("Take my breath away" for one), so I don't sell him short at all. I just think that Steve's vocal approach was more what I prefer.

Of course with approach, it would've been interesting to see who would've lasted vocally out of the two. Perry appears to have shot his voice to hell with his approach and Journey's touring. Freddie, well, we'll never know. I will say that on the posthumous "Made in Heaven" album, Freddie hits some amazing notes, and this from a guy who was dying at the time of its recording. While the album isn't the best Queen album, it features some awesome singing by Freddie.

Also- Brian May is also underrated as a singer. His solo record "Back to the Light" is a great album and he sings really good on it.

Very true. Also, i think Roger Taylors voice is great. The three main Queen boys put on some amazing harmonies/.

[Strange Medicine]

Freddie Mercury and Steve Perry are both virtuosos and vocal titans. It would be supremely difficult to compare them, however. Mercury's range, actually, might be larger than Perry's own, since he was a natural baritone who could sing tenor notes. If I remember correctly, I've never heard Mercury approach Perry's upper register, and even if he can, he certainly can't begin to compete with Perry's control. That said, Perry only became truly 'powerful' in terms of force once he adapted the deeper, gutteral voice from 1983+. I'll always prefer Perry, but if you ranked them in criteria, I'd say that it could go either way.

[Saint John]

Mercury couldn't sing Something To Hide, Winds of March or Mother Father in his wildest same-sex wet dreams. In fact, I bet he wanted to smack his lips on Perry's crank after hearing "the voice" belt out those songs.

[Strange Medicine]

Mercury couldn't sing Something To Hide, Winds of March or Mother Father in his wildest same-sex wet dreams. In fact, I bet he wanted to smack his lips on Perry's crank after hearing "the voice" belt out those songs.

Agreed.

As I said, to my knowledge, Mercury hasn't demonstrated the upper register required to tackle those songs. His falsetto notes are most impressive, as his his operatic range since he is a baritone. And he was a heavy smoker. And, while not quite on Perry's level live, he performed admirably. He was a goldmine of talent.

[StoneCold]

If I could listen to only one of these guys I'd choose Mercury over Perry for the reason someone mentioned earlier. Mercury changed it up a little more. Doesn't mean he has the better voice though.

[Indyjoe]

Very true indeed!

Both are incomparable vocalist. Yet, vastly different.

I've seen both live numerous times and was blown away by each. I never heard pitch issues with Freddie live...never. His strength was not the high notes, it was everything else.

It's not about range...it's about soul and delivery! I have the utmost respect for both Freddie and Steve. Too hard to compare...so, I simply enjoy both.

Chad

I like the way you put this, I totally agree. I've seen Steve Perry live a few times but never got to see Freddie - I would have loved to.

You are very lucky!

~Wendy

[Ftloperry]

Steve Perry and Freddy Mercury both have great voices but I have give a slight edge to Freddy. His operatic vocal range and they way he sang is just amazing. Queen's performance at Live Aid was the greatest performance on that day and still the greatest performance that has yet to be topped by anyone person or group. Queen's performance at Live Aid was pure magic and something special. During the making of the last Queen album "Made In England" Freddy's voice is still amazing even though at that time he was very sick and passed away just a few short weeks after they finished the studio work on the album. Listening to that cd one would never know that Freddy was so very ill then, taking many breaks to rest while recording the songs. I have yet to see another band that captured the audience as Freddy and Queen did. How many bands can say that the audience sang the first verse of a song in unisome along with the lead singer?? Especially when Queen and Freddy sang "Love of My Life" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKXO2T06ZBU&feature=related That happened many times with Freddy and Queen. Live Aid was not a Queen or Freddy audience so look at how the crowd in unison waved their hands in the air and sang in unison with Freddy. Amazing....simply amazing...... How could anyone forget this performance of Queen at Live Aid.....the first 50 seconds of this video is INCREDIBLE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfYcKNqQoJo&feature=related

Steve has an amazing voice as well. He has a voice that could sing anything especially R&B music....there are some people that when they sing you just know they were born to sing Motown and R&B music and Steve is one of those people. His live performance on "Mother Father" is amazing. His vocal range is not like any other and then we can't forget his vocal range on "Homemade Love" the live version where he scats a little is just purely amazing. Both Steve and Freddy are amazing with their talents and both have received recognition like this.

This video to me is Steve's best vocal performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuxleqU0iDg

[Deb]

Mercury couldn't sing Something To Hide, Winds of March or Mother Father in his wildest same-sex wet dreams. In fact, I bet he wanted to smack his lips on Perry's crank after hearing "the voice" belt out those songs.

No disrespect to Freddie, but that was funny!

Both extremely talented frontmen............but no one can touch Perry when it comes to emoting, nobody delivers a song quite like him.

[Deb]

This video to me is Steve's best vocal performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuxleqU0iDg

Absolutely stunning performance by all of the them and especially SP. Have yet to see a better clip of any band running so perfectly on all cylinders as that performance. And my gawd, when SP sings, you feel it. Hell, almost had my head rocking back and forth too.

[msmercury01]

To me, Mercury was a better vocalist, better showman and had more talent all the way around. I'm not saying I don't like Perry but hands down I say Mercury.

[StoneCold]

To me, Mercury was a better vocalist, better showman and had more talent all the way around. I'm not saying I don't like Perry but hands down I say Mercury.

Who's your avatar? A. Jolie?

And I loved MST3K !

[Journey/Survivor]

Would you rather have the best handling smoothest ride that broke down after 6 years? Or another great car that gave you 20 great years and was dependable right til the end?
I've been feeling the football withdrawl since 2002 Raiders pick 3rd or 4th though, and Al Davis can't live forever.

That's a REALLY easy answer for me...I'll take those best 6 years of my life over the 20 dependable years! I understand what you're saying, but remember, most of us don't think Perry only had a 6 year career!

You'd also have to admit that Mercury had a far more powerful voice. Perry would do a nice job on the beginning of "Bohemian Rhapsody" but couldn't compare to Freddie when it starts rocking in the later part.

Mercury was a great singer, no doubt about it. But I don't know how well he would have done singing "Separate Ways?"

Absolutely, Mercury could do it fabulously. Better? No. Originals are almost always better. Nothing in SW Freddie couldn't handle. Again I'd have to play the durablilty card. Freddie could have sang it without taking it down a few steps. Perry can't which is why most think he won't tour. Which I respect him for. If you can't do it justice, don't do it. Look at a song like "Hitman" from Innuendo. Similiar to SW power wise. Freddie had it right til the end.

IMHO I don't think that Mercury could have done it as well. I don't think that Mercury had that same kind of power to his voice that Perry has in SW.

[Journey/Survivor]

Freddie Mercury and Steve Perry are both virtuosos and vocal titans. It would be supremely difficult to compare them, however. Mercury's range, actually, might be larger than Perry's own, since he was a natural baritone who could sing tenor notes. If I remember correctly, I've never heard Mercury approach Perry's upper register, and even if he can, he certainly can't begin to compete with Perry's control. That said, Perry only became truly 'powerful' in terms of force once he adapted the deeper, gutteral voice from 1983+. I'll always prefer Perry, but if you ranked them in criteria, I'd say that it could go either way.

Yeah, Perry displayed more power in his voice after 1983. A couple of his best were "Separate Ways" and "You Better Wait."

[Journey/Survivor]

DEB.

I was trying to quote you, but the server or something like that won't allow it right now for some reason.

The one singer that I do feel emotes as well as Perry is Jimi Jamison. But I'd definitely put Jamison and Perry at the top.
Some the next best IMO are Lou Gramm, Joe Lynn Turner, Paul Rodgers, Mercury, Kevin Chalfant.

[mikemarrs]

I was actually there on the day, a mere 16 year old kid and i knew even then i was witnessing something special. The whole atmosphere went up 10 fold from the opening bars of Bohemian Rhapsody, all 80,000 people were singing, punching the air, and this was a NEUTRAL audience, not a Queen gig!!

Truly awesome, and very rare indeed.

are you talking about the tribute thing back in '92? i was 16 or 17 myself and already tried for years to get friends into queen but most didn't care for it.then when mercury died,they then had this tribute plus waynes world hit with bohemian rhapsody and all these friends who hated queen were suddenly liking the band.queen was probably the top selling band besides nirvana and pearl jam in '92 because they had a couple number one albums that year.sorry freddie had to die but the band did get red hot again in america for a while.strange thing was eric carr of kiss died of cancer the same day freddie died but it was basically almost ignored by the press.

[Paul_UK]

Like i said earlier, i really couldn't compare these two incredible talents. However, Freddie dabbled in ALL genres of music and his voice fitted hand in glove with each, for me that is the sign of the ultimate vocalist.

Barcelona (opera)
Somebody To Love (gospel)
Another One Bites The Dust (disco)
Crazy Little Thing Called Love (rock n roll)
Seaside Rendez Vous/Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon (1930s skiffel)
Stone Cold Crazy (thrash metal)
You can take your pick of a whole catelogue of Queen material for the hard rock genre!

I cannot think of another vocalist that can ease their voca style into whatever genre they choose like Freddie did. Whatever one's personal taste, it can't be denied that Mercury was a very unique talent, one that i truly believe we won't see again.

[Paul_UK]

are you talking about the tribute thing back in '92? i was 16 or 17 myself and already tried for years to get friends into queen but most didn't care for it.then when mercury died,they then had this tribute plus waynes world hit with bohemian rhapsody and all these friends who hated queen were suddenly liking the band.queen was probably the top selling band besides nirvana and pearl jam in '92 because they had a couple number one albums that year.sorry freddie had to die but the band did get red hot again in america for a while.strange thing was eric carr of kiss died of cancer the same day freddie died but it was basically almost ignored by the press.

I was referring to the Live Aid show in 1985. However, i was at The Freddie Mercury Tribute concert too!

There were all the top rock acts there, Robert Plant, Roger Daltrey, Axl Rose, David Bowie, Elton John, George Michael...etc each and every one were bringing the songs down a key or two in order to cope!

[finalfight]

Like i said earlier, i really couldn't compare these two incredible talents. However, Freddie dabbled in ALL genres of music and his voice fitted hand in glove with each, for me that is the sign of the ultimate vocalist.

Barcelona (opera)
Somebody To Love (gospel)
Another One Bites The Dust (disco)
Crazy Little Thing Called Love (rock n roll)
Seaside Rendez Vous/Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon (1930s skiffel)
Stone Cold Crazy (thrash metal)
You can take your pick of a whole catelogue of Queen material for the hard rock genre!

I cannot think of another vocalist that can ease their voca style into whatever genre they choose like Freddie did. Whatever one's personal taste, it can't be denied that Mercury was a very unique talent, one that i truly believe we won't see again.

But Freddie didn't adapt his vocals to suit these songs he simply sang them in his usual manner - easy enough as they were written to suit. He would likely sound horrible singing a proper opera song as well as thrash metal or any other genre out of his range - Despite having the greater range Perry likely would too.

All things considered in my opinion Perry is a far better performer and vocalist especially in a live setting. I've never once heard Perry mess up live even when running around the stage like a coked up ninja turtle during the ROR tour. However Mecury had plenty of very spotty live moments where his vocal ability did not always match his entertaining stage antics.

Here's another thought - Although often imitated Perry has never been equalled vocally whilst Mercury has had a slew of vocalists riding his vocal coat tales to the top of the charts. Justin Hawkins (of The Darkness) and Mika spring immediately to mind. Draw your own conclusions from the fact that both of these imitators and likely many others are largely succesful due to some comedy gimic or other.

Don't get me wrong I like them both I just believe that Perry is by far the superior vocalist.

[Saint John]

Like i said earlier, i really couldn't compare these two incredible talents. However, Freddie dabbled in ALL genres of music and his voice fitted hand in glove with each, for me that is the sign of the ultimate vocalist.

Barcelona (opera)
Somebody To Love (gospel)
Another One Bites The Dust (disco)
Crazy Little Thing Called Love (rock n roll)
Seaside Rendez Vous/Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon (1930s skiffel)
Stone Cold Crazy (thrash metal)
You can take your pick of a whole catelogue of Queen material for the hard rock genre!

I cannot think of another vocalist that can ease their voca style into whatever genre they choose like Freddie did. Whatever one's personal taste, it can't be denied that Mercury was a very unique talent, one that i truly believe we won't see again.

Calling "Another One Bites The Dust" disco is ridiculous. As are some of your other classifications. Perry sang that pillow biter under the table. A place I'm sure he frequented a time or two.

[Paul_UK]

[
Calling "Another One Bites The Dust" disco is ridiculous. As are some of your other classifications. Perry sang that pillow biter under the table. A place I'm sure he frequented a time or two.

Well it made it to No1 on the disco/club chart in 1981 so i thought i'd use it as an example. OK then, try "Staying Power", "Dancer"...etc from Queen's disco orientated Hot Space album as an example then.

Why you have to be so confrontational SJ?

[Saint John]

[
Calling "Another One Bites The Dust" disco is ridiculous. As are some of your other classifications. Perry sang that pillow biter under the table. A place I'm sure he frequented a time or two.

Well it made it to No1 on the disco/club chart in 1981 so i thought i'd use it as an example. OK then, try "Staying Power", "Dancer"...etc from Queen's disco orientated Hot Space album as an example then.

Why you have to be so confrontational SJ?

Ahhh...don't take me seriously. Not being confrontational, just sticking up for my favorite singer in an animated fashion.

[RedWingFan]

Mercury couldn't sing Something To Hide, Winds of March or Mother Father in his wildest same-sex wet dreams. In fact, I bet he wanted to smack his lips on Perry's crank after hearing "the voice" belt out those songs.

I think Mercury could sing Something to Hide just fine. I'd think "Brighton Rock" would be just as difficult to sing. Also another thing in Freddie's favor is that his ego wasn't so huge that he fired John and Roger. Perry on the other hand fired Smith and the other guy.

[larryfromnextdoor]

To me, Mercury was a better vocalist, better showman and had more talent all the way around. I'm not saying I don't like Perry but hands down I say Mercury.

Who's your avatar? A. Jolie?

And I loved MST3K !

i havent thought of MST#K in a while.. i loved it.. they must have run out of bad movies or something.....

[mistiejourney]

To me, Mercury was a better vocalist, better showman and had more talent all the way around. I'm not saying I don't like Perry but hands down I say Mercury.

Who's your avatar? A. Jolie?

And I loved MST3K !

i havent thought of MST#K in a while.. i loved it.. they must have run out of bad movies or something.....

No, no! The guys are still out there! You need to look up "The Film Crew" - they are doing the exact same riffing, only not as the MST characters! They also do it LIVE as "RiffRaff" - they've been in SF a few times but I've missed them!

I went to the MST 3k Conventiocon in Minneapolis back in the late '90s - hilarious fun! To sit in a room with a hundred folks with the same sense of absurd humor is priceless.

My screen name is my combo of MST and Journey!

[BobbyinTN]

The reason I'll always consider Mercury better is hearing Brian May tell the story about Freddie who was riddled with AIDS a few weeks from death, get up to belt out a couple of beautiful lines. Then have to rest to do it all over again. He struggled to record whatever he could up until the last. What's Perry doing? Perry was great. Now he's petting his cat. Both in their prime were great. But this story ranks Mercury higher, always will.

Yeah, Freddie had more passion for singing than Perry, no doubt. Being sick and dying probably gave Freddie an appreciation for his gift that healthy people don't have.

What's really amazing is hearing Freddie's vocals near the end. They were still beyond incredible. Here's one of the last songs he recorded, called A Winter's Tale http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghS0OBmOikI

AMAZING!!!

[Journey69]

Mercury couldn't sing Something To Hide, Winds of March or Mother Father in his wildest same-sex wet dreams. In fact, I bet he wanted to smack his lips on Perry's crank after hearing "the voice" belt out those songs.

OK,that was damn funny SJ..I love it when you say crank..I haven't heard that term in years! And as much as I like Strange Medicine,his intelligence is thinking inside the box.. Freddy had a gruffer voice,he has a different style and tone. Its like NFL quarterbacks.. Some have touch on their throw ,some don't.. Some can place the ball in there just right ,some just don't have it.. Steve Perry has that touch,Freddy doesn't. Its like a dr operates on someone using a very fine tuned instrument like a lazer(Steve Perry) or he decides to use a more blunt approach and uses a scalpel(Freddy Mercury).They both have feeling in their songs,just different..Just as SJ says he'd like to see Freddy sing Something to hide,can Perry sing half of Mercury's songs..He can,but they wouldn't sound right..Like Lukather said,its not that someone is better,its art,it is what it is..

[finalfight]

The reason I'll always consider Mercury better is hearing Brian May tell the story about Freddie who was riddled with AIDS a few weeks from death, get up to belt out a couple of beautiful lines. Then have to rest to do it all over again. He struggled to record whatever he could up until the last. What's Perry doing? Perry was great. Now he's petting his cat. Both in their prime were great. But this story ranks Mercury higher, always will.

Yeah, Freddie had more passion for singing than Perry, no doubt. Being sick and dying probably gave Freddie an appreciation for his gift that healthy people don't have.

What's really amazing is hearing Freddie's vocals near the end. They were still beyond incredible. Here's one of the last songs he recorded, called A Winter's Tale http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghS0OBmOikI

AMAZING!!!

Okay this is going to be controversial but this track reeks of auto-tune. Either that or a lot of flanger. It definately sounds like tuning although perhaps only for the first minute that I can hear. Now no doubt Freddie could have handled this mush with ease so either the producer was heavy handed, it was pieced together from multiple takes or the beginning just plain needed some assistance.

That being said it could be the low quality YouTube audio doing the vocals no justice at all, weird how it only seems to be the first minute though. There is a definate difference in audio 'sound' after that - on the first 'Am I Dreaming' to be precise.

[Paul_UK]

I wouldn't at all be surprised if there was tuning in there or multiple takes put together, the man was weeks from his death when this album was made.

There was a documentry here in the UK on the making of this album and Freddie would sing 3 lines and would then have to take a seat where he was too weak to stand at the mic. Freddie's art was still at the forefront of his thoughts...leaving something behind for the fans was priority.

The final song he recorded "Mother Love" was recorded just 5 weeks before he died. He didn't actually get to put down the final verse, so Brian sings it on the final cut. Musical taste aside, there's gotta be total respect for that.

I wonder how many other artists would make such efforts in such dark times?