When I was growing up, I was a big fan of Queen – I listened to their albums over and over and felt real sadness and loss when Freddy Mercury died. I remember feeling this way, despite feeling very awkward about liking a gay musician (that just wasn’t done in my school).
Over the years Queen and I have grown apart, but occasionally I hear one of their songs when my ipod is on shuffle and the amaze me. Their composition is incredible, the way they assemble a song from start to finish was and still is mind blowing. The thing that consistently impresses me the most though is Freddy Mercury himself, I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say he had one of the greatest voices the world has seen.
When the Ben Harper newsletter sent out his remake of “Under Pressure” today I was quite excited to hear it and I love the way he makes it sound (that is Ben Harperish), but it reminded me again of how good Freddy is. To see Ben struggling to reach the notes that Freddy makes sound so easy, although it is hard to know for sure because Ben Harpers voice always sounds kinda strained (it is sort of his style).
These days I would choose to listen to the Ben Harper version every time, but Queen and particularly Freddy continue to impress me.
I also strongly recommend flicking around youtube listening to as many Ben Harper tracks as you can. He does so many cool covers including some great Led Zep stuff, some old soul remakes, a couple of Prince songs and of course his own stuff is pretty cool too (Better Way live is awesome).
Filed under: Music
