Ninjapie24 Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 I’ve been listening to Queen (again) for the past couple days and it strikes me how similar the two are. Obviously the similarities don’t have to do with before they became famous, but during their careers there are some interesting similarities. 1. They both sing, play piano, and play guitar 2. Bohemian Rhapsody was mostly written by Mercury with the piano parts said to have been somenghing he had been working on for years. November Rain has almost the same situation for Axl. 3. Axl has specifically said that Mercury was a great influence on him. I even saw an interview with Axl during nu-GNR when he said Queen was his favorite band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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Dean Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Have you ever watched the Queen documentary which Axl hosted? Worth a watch. He's mentioned Queen a lot over the years. I believe in one of the interviews he did in '87, he talks about how great it was to hear Fred singing so well on 'A Kind of Magic' the year before and that he was hopeful of following a similar path vocally throughout the years. I think he wanted GN'R to follow a similar sort of path as Queen, transcending from heavy guitar based albums all the way to radio friendly hits with a lot of synth. Queen done that over a period of 20 years. I reckon the change was too much for Slash and co over the recordings of the Illusions and beyond. Not necessarily that Axl was wanting to release an album full of Pitman synth solo's, but that he wasn't wanting to limit himself to just another release in the same mold as Appetite. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackstar Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 (edited) He has said that what he liked the most, besides other things, about Queen and considered it their biggest influence on him was that they had songs of different styles on their albums and he wanted that for GnR too. ------ Some quotes: I believe in myself and I believe in my songs and everything. I think we will get there some day. It's like this, the album 'Queen II' wasn't a very successful album for Queen in the States, but I think it is the best recorded album in the history of rock and roll, I think it is up there with 'The Wall' [mentions another album?], and stuff like that. So it comes down to an art thing. I am just very, very serious about doing something I believe in, at least at the moment. (...) Yeah, when I first got the new Queen record, 'It's A Kind Of Magic', it was out like last year or so, I heard one of the songs off it and I thought, "Oh, they sold out," but I didn't listen to it closely, I just closed my mind because I was so used to their old material. Now it's one of my favorite records. I mean, the vocals that he does on this, I compare it to some of the old stuff, and, you know, the range is much higher and there is much harder technique [?]. It was amazing. I'm glad to see that [?]. You know, when I read about Live Aid some of the reviews, like in Kerrang!, where the Queen just, the Queen was it, the Queen was the whole show, no one was as good or as bad-ass as the Queen was. That's very good for me to see. http://www.a-4-d.com/t475-1987-12-26-telephone-interview-with-axl Freddie Mercury, Brian May, and Dan McCafferty of Nazareth are some other [apart from Bernie Taupin] lyrical influences. The list can go on and on, but those are my favorites. http://www.a-4-d.com/t2895-1988-04-dd-rock-scene-soft-as-a-petal-sharp-as-a-thorn-axl I've always looked at things in a versatile sense because of Queen, ELO, Elton John, especially early Elton John, and groups like that. With Queen, I have my favorite: Queen II. Whenever their newest record would come out and have all these other kinds of music on it, at first I'd only like this song or that song. But after a period of time listening to it, it would open my mind up to so many different styles. I really appreciate them for that. That's something I've always wanted to be able to achieve. It's important to show people all forms of music, basically try to give people a broader point of view. (...) The two records I always buy if there's a cassette deck around and I don't have the tapes in my bag are Never Mind the Bollocks and Queen II. I think I'd be in a bind to figure out which one I'd want if I was stranded on a desert island. I might go with the Pistols, because maybe a boat would hear me if I played it. http://www.a-4-d.com/t527-1989-08-10-the-rolling-stone-interview-with-axl-rose Queen just has always been my favorite band and Freddie was like, the greatest singer in probably ever, is the way I look at it. The other thing about Queen for me was that… they embraced so many different styles and approaches. You were talking about tenderness- there is that… http://www.a-4-d.com/t2686-2016-06-07-interview-with-axl-at-china-exchange Edited August 1, 2018 by Blackstar 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 Judging from those comments I think Queen II is for Rose what Exile is for Stradlin and Rocks for Slash, a sort of all-encompassing Bible. It is a good album but a bit of an oddity, made before ensuing mainstream exposure. The only famous song from it was ''Seven Seas of Rhye''. It is their most proggy, stuff like ''The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke'', ''March of the Black Queen'' and ''Ogre Battle''. Rose never really wrote songs like these, third-person narrative driven Celtic prog about elves and ogres haha 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner927 Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 59 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said: Judging from those comments I think Queen II is for Rose what Exile is for Stradlin and Rocks for Slash, a sort of all-encompassing Bible. It is a good album but a bit of an oddity, made before ensuing mainstream exposure. The only famous song from it was ''Seven Seas of Rhye''. It is their most proggy, stuff like ''The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke'', ''March of the Black Queen'' and ''Ogre Battle''. Rose never really wrote songs like these, third-person narrative driven Celtic prog about elves and ogres haha What did you think The General was about? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooker Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 6 minutes ago, Gunner927 said: What did you think The General was about? Chicken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitchisback Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feibo Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 That swinging around with the microphone sticks is definitely something I think Axl liked about Freddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
action Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 10 hours ago, DieselDaisy said: Judging from those comments I think Queen II is for Rose what Exile is for Stradlin and Rocks for Slash, a sort of all-encompassing Bible. It is a good album but a bit of an oddity, made before ensuing mainstream exposure. The only famous song from it was ''Seven Seas of Rhye''. It is their most proggy, stuff like ''The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke'', ''March of the Black Queen'' and ''Ogre Battle''. Rose never really wrote songs like these, third-person narrative driven Celtic prog about elves and ogres haha Well, Axl did sing about bob guccione Jr (who's dad gets more pussy than him) and mick wall at kerrang and I guess "get in the ring" is kind of an "orge battle" in that regard. change the serious fantasy and celtic battle themes with media slapping, and you start to get in GNR territory 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kardeshma Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 When Axl was at the Jimmy Kimmel show he said that as a teenager in Indiana he mostly listened to Queen and Sweet (which I find really interesting because I don't believe that Sweet was that big in the US compared to Europe?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 I see more of a Mercury influence among the ballads - Elton also but certainly Mercury. Stuff like, ''Lily of the Valley'', ''Love Of My Life'' and ''You Take My Breath Away'' must have inspired songs like ''November Rain'' and ''The Blues''. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Cnut Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 14 hours ago, Ninjapie24 said: I’ve been listening to Queen (again) for the past couple days and it strikes me how similar the two are. Obviously the similarities don’t have to do with before they became famous, but during their careers there are some interesting similarities. 1. They both sing, play piano, and play guitar 2. Bohemian Rhapsody was mostly written by Mercury with the piano parts said to have been somenghing he had been working on for years. November Rain has almost the same situation for Axl. 3. Axl has specifically said that Mercury was a great influence on him. I even saw an interview with Axl during nu-GNR when he said Queen was his favorite band. Is the answer not in the question here? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninjapie24 Posted August 1, 2018 Author Share Posted August 1, 2018 9 minutes ago, Len Cnut said: Is the answer not in the question here? True, but I was looking for more examples, which were definitely given afterwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgnr Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 Maybe I'll say something silly but knowing very well the catalog of both bands, I really fail to see the Queen influence on GNR songs. Even in the ballads, meaning the typical Queen 70's ballads - those Queen 70's ballads have something that I'll call it maybe 'jazzy', that I can't find in GNR ballads. I think Axl's epics scream Elton John and Billy Joel influences, but Queen not so much. Talking about Queen II, I can see Axl being found of a song like Nevermore but I can't think of any GNR song that somehow resembles it, for example. Even if Queen II was his favorite album ever, I really don't see any of it on GNR songs, unlike what happens with the Stones and Aerosmith influences from Izzy and Slash that are very present on a lot of songs. Also, if he first thought that Queen sell out with 'A Kind of Magic', I wonder what he might have thought about 'Hot Space'. Bet he loved it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackstar Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 10 minutes ago, dgnr said: Maybe I'll say something silly but knowing very well the catalog of both bands, I really fail to see the Queen influence on GNR songs. Even in the ballads, meaning the typical Queen 70's ballads - those Queen 70's ballads have something that I'll call it maybe 'jazzy', that I can't find in GNR ballads. I think Axl's epics scream Elton John and Billy Joel influences, but Queen not so much. Talking about Queen II, I can see Axl being found of a song like Nevermore but I can't think of any GNR song that somehow resembles it, for example. Even if Queen II was his favorite album ever, I really don't see any of it on GNR songs, unlike what happens with the Stones and Aerosmith influences from Izzy and Slash that are very present on a lot of songs. Yeah. Probably the influence has to do more with the "approach" on certain things than the music itself (although he obviously likes it a lot). I haven't dug that much into the Queen catalogue, but I think Catcher In The Rye from CD is the song where the Queen influence is more obvious. Same with what he has cited as his lyrical influences. I don't see any striking similarities in content or form that would make the influence obvious, not even with Bernie Taupin (based on the lyrics I've heard and read - I haven't dug deeply into this either). The influence probably lies in something like the way of combining ideas or putting words togethre, for example. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nice Boy Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 15 hours ago, DieselDaisy said: Rose never really wrote songs like these, third-person narrative driven Celtic prog about elves and ogres haha Thank god for that - he can leave that to the likes of Iron Maiden, constantly trying to rewrite Led Zep's Immigrant song Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Nice Boy said: Thank god for that - he can leave that to the likes of Iron Maiden, constantly trying to rewrite Led Zep's Immigrant song With Queen it was more toungue-in-cheek - or at least I hope it was! There is an one called ''Jesus'' on their debut and the lyrics are excruciating, Quote And then I saw Him in the crowd A lot of people had gathered round Him The beggers shouted and the lepers called Him The old man said nothing He just stared about Him All going down to see the Lord Jesus All going down to see the Lord Jesus All going down Then came a man before His feet he fell Unclean said the leper and rang his bell Felt the palm of a hand touch his head Go now go now you're a new man instead All going down to see the Lord Jesus All going down to see the Lord Jesus All going down It all began with the three wise men Followed a star took them to Bethelehem And made it heard throughout the land Born was the leader of man All going down to see the Lord Jesus All going down to see the Lord Jesus All going down It all began with the three wise men Followed a star took them to Bethelehem And made it heard throughout the land Born was the leader of man All going down to see the Lord Jesus All going down to see the Lord Jesus All going down But they finally achieved their quintessential sound on their third album, Sheer Heart Attack, and largely abandoned ''outright'' prog, with one or two reversions (e.g., Prophet's Song on Night at the Opera). Those first two Queen albums exist more as fan revered curios. Edited August 1, 2018 by DieselDaisy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ludurigan Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 21 hours ago, Ninjapie24 said: I’ve been listening to Queen (again) for the past couple days and it strikes me how similar the two are. Obviously the similarities don’t have to do with before they became famous, but during their careers there are some interesting similarities. 1. They both sing, play piano, and play guitar 2. Bohemian Rhapsody was mostly written by Mercury with the piano parts said to have been somenghing he had been working on for years. November Rain has almost the same situation for Axl. 3. Axl has specifically said that Mercury was a great influence on him. I even saw an interview with Axl during nu-GNR when he said Queen was his favorite band. i wish we could all say that their bands released a lot of albums, but the score is Queen 13 x GNR 3,5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 22 minutes ago, ludurigan said: i wish we could all say that their bands released a lot of albums, but the score is Queen 13 x GNR 3,5 And Guns N' Roses have about ten years' on Queen (and still counting). Queen should be releasing Innuendo 4 right about now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fashionista Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 2 hours ago, DieselDaisy said: And Guns N' Roses have about ten years' on Queen (and still counting). Queen should be releasing Innuendo 4 right about now. Queen should've died with Freddie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ludurigan Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 4 hours ago, DieselDaisy said: And Guns N' Roses have about ten years' on Queen (and still counting). Queen should be releasing Innuendo 4 right about now. i cant agree with that, last time i counted GNR lasted 7 years i suppose queen lasted more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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