61 replies to this topic

[Lorraine]

I've been thinking about this all morning.  I voted for Bohemian Rhapsody.  To my amateur and talent-less ears, it sounds more complicated thus requiring more talent to both write and perform.  But I could be wrong.

What do you think?

[Bigbobby10]

Stairway to Heaven took no talent to write, the stole it off of Spirit

[bluefox4000]

Queen.  Stairway never really did it for me.

Mick

[Lorraine]

bluefox4000, on 25 November 2017 - 12:13 PM, said:

Queen.  Stairway never really did it for me.

Mick

You think it took more talent to write Bohemian Rhapsody?

[bluefox4000]

Lorraine, on 25 November 2017 - 12:21 PM, said:

bluefox4000, on 25 November 2017 - 12:13 PM, said:

Queen.  Stairway never really did it for me.

Mick

You think it took more talent to write Bohemian Rhapsody?

i wouldn't say that.  their both talented.  i'd say more WORK went into Bo/rhap   mainly with the layered vocals and all.

I just was more wowed with what Queen accomplished overall with their tune.

Mick

[Entre_Perpetuo]

And another resounding duh.



I do love Stairway though, but come on.

[Alien Girl]

While I absolutely love Stairway to Heaven...Bohemian Rhapsody is beyond compare.  Freddie Mercury had the most phenomenal voice in rock history, that combined w/ Brian May's guitar and just the general unique style mix of the song is what makes it superlative.

[Lorraine]

Entre_Perpetuo, on 25 November 2017 - 01:50 PM, said:

And another resounding duh.



I do love Stairway though, but come on.

Come on what?  i'm not a musician.  I don't know which song took more talent to write.  Just because something sounds good doesn't necessarily mean it's better.

Edited by Lorraine, 25 November 2017 - 01:58 PM.

[Maverick]

Bohemian Rhapsody was stolen from classical and operatic music. No worse than what Stairway to Heaven may have been stolen from.

There is no new ground being broken on either song.

Bohemian Rhapsody was almost a forgotten song, if not for Wayne's World.

Nobody ever forgot Stairway.

[The Cat 3]

I have to go with Queen, again, just by a hair.

[Entre_Perpetuo]

Lorraine, on 25 November 2017 - 01:57 PM, said:

Entre_Perpetuo, on 25 November 2017 - 01:50 PM, said:

And another resounding duh.



I do love Stairway though, but come on.

Come on what?  i'm not a musician.  I don't know which song took more talent to write.  Just because something sounds good doesn't necessarily mean it's better.

Sorry, I shouldn't assume the difference in complexity is always obvious to everyone. To my ears as a musician, a great deal of skill and talent went in to the performance and execution and recording of both of these tunes, but Stairway had to be way easier to write, and that's the deciding factor.

The idea of Stairway is essentially a song that builds from a somber acoustic intro all the way to a euphoric blast of heavy metal and touches every base in between. Not necessarily easy to pull off, but easy enough to understand. Once you have the idea, it almost writes itself.

The idea of Bohemian Rhapsody is far less intuitive and requires a truly unique talent to imagine. It begins with an eery a Capella intro which fades seemlessly into a gorgeous piano power ballad. The ballad section escalates into a righteous guitar solo before crashing down into something more identifiable as opera than rock and roll. The opera section is thoroughly entertaining and dynamic, and ends with an astounding climax that immediately breaks into pure heavy metal thunder, which then slowly fades away (and how) into yet another gorgeous and somber piano led ballad section which closes out the piece with only a few lyrics and a perfectly placed gong. To even come up with this idea implies being some kind of madman musician who got carried away, but to make it work, to make it defy all expectations and actually touch the hearts of millions and become one of the most renowned songs of all time? That implies a genius musician who may have gotten carried away, but knew exactly what he was doing. That kind of compositional talent puts Freddie up there with Mozart and Beehtoven in my book. And the whole band are of course monstrously talented in actually being able to pull the thing off.

[Entre_Perpetuo]

Maverick, on 25 November 2017 - 02:00 PM, said:

Bohemian Rhapsody was stolen from classical and operatic music. No worse than what Stairway to Heaven may have been stolen from.

There is no new ground being broken on either song.

Bohemian Rhapsody was almost a forgotten song, if not for Wayne's World.

Nobody ever forgot Stairway.

In America maybe. The rest of the world has never forgotten Queen.

[Maverick]

ReGorLaTroy, on 25 November 2017 - 02:08 PM, said:

I have to go with Queen, again, just by a hair.

Nooooooo!

[The Cat 3]

Maverick, on 25 November 2017 - 02:11 PM, said:

ReGorLaTroy, on 25 November 2017 - 02:08 PM, said:

I have to go with Queen, again, just by a hair.

Nooooooo!

Sorry, it might be a biased preference thing. However, as ReRushed would cleverly say, both of these songs are part of my DNA by now. Spot on observation about "Stairway to Heaven" though.

[The Cat 3]

[Alien Girl]

Entre_Perpetuo, on 25 November 2017 - 02:11 PM, said:

Maverick, on 25 November 2017 - 02:00 PM, said:

Bohemian Rhapsody was stolen from classical and operatic music. No worse than what Stairway to Heaven may have been stolen from.

There is no new ground being broken on either song.

Bohemian Rhapsody was almost a forgotten song, if not for Wayne's World.

Nobody ever forgot Stairway.

In America maybe. The rest of the world has never forgotten Queen.

Wayne's World just served to cement what many of us already knew as a perfect song....'OHhhhh...Now they pick up on it.'  I'd been singing along to BR for years before WW came out.

[Mr. Not]

Everyone would have forgotten about Stairway To Heaven had it not been for the Wayne's World scene

[Mr. Not]

I feel like the WW scene of Bohemian Rhapsody cheapened what I consider to be a pretty serious song. I don't like a masterpiece being reduced to a "silly song from that one comedy", or a "party song to sing along with", or anything like that. I don't know how many people have that sort of perception of Bohemian Rhapsody, but it's not mine.

I love both but prefer Stairway. Couldn't give a shit about the Spirit song "Taurus" which LZ hardly took from. Is there any evidence that it was a blatant "steal", or was it just a coincidence? The same idea can arise in two thinkers without there ever being any interaction between the two.

[Alien Girl]

Mr. Not, on 25 November 2017 - 03:28 PM, said:

I feel like the WW scene of Bohemian Rhapsody cheapened what I consider to be a pretty serious song. I don't like a masterpiece being reduced to a "silly song from that one comedy", or a "party song to sing along with", or anything like that. I don't know how many people have that sort of perception of Bohemian Rhapsody, but it's not mine.

I love both but prefer Stairway. Couldn't give a shit about the Spirit song "Taurus" which LZ hardly took from. Is there any evidence that it was a blatant "steal", or was it just a coincidence? The same idea can arise in two thinkers without there ever being any interaction between the two.

I didn't say it was a party song...I said I'd been singing along with it for years, meaning I'd appreciated it for years.  Yes, it's a serious song, seriously good, too.  I agree that Wayne's World somewhat diminished that and turned it into something more trivial.  Oh well, though.  Overplay on the radio stations diminished Stairway as well, not that it's not a fantastic song (not my favorite LZ song, but up there), it is.

[Babycat]

Bohemian Rhapsody.