I now want to see both Queen with Annie Lennox singing and the Rolling Stones with Prince!

Maybe all bands should rotate singers for like one month a year just to see what happens...

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2008 MIM Strat w 3-tone sunburst
2002 LP Special Ebony Faded
2008 G-Dec
'59 Reissue Bassman 4x10 combo
TS 808
DS 1
Gretsch 6120DS (on loan)

Hey, no argument there! Nobody could ever truly replace Freddy Mercury. My thinking was that Michael's vocal timbre and general vibe seemed to fit in pretty well with Queen's songs. Here's the song to which I was referring...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YGwfGka ... re=related

By the way, here's the Gary Cherone song from the same concert. This was good, too (great vocals, lots of energy), but to me he just didn't seem to fit in as well (kind of like when he was in Van Halen!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99B9vuE9 ... re=related

(Black Sabbath fan bonus -- watch for Tony Iommi starting around 1:24!).

But, regardless, it's all kind of a moot point -- Queen without Freddy Mercury isn't really Queen, is it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ar76dXf ... re=related

With my vile singing voice I have nothing but total respect for anyone who's even prepared to attempt a Freddie Mercury number. But honestly, talk about Hamlet without the prince...!

Rock journo Charles Shaar Murray has a theory that there are "great" bands and there are "perfect" bands. By "great" he means bands such as The Stones, where so long as you have the core members others can come and go and it's still the same band. So long as you have Mick, Keef and Charlie it's still the Rolling Stones, whoever else is on stage.

Then there are "perfect" bands, those where loosing one member means it just ain't that band anymore. Ultimate example, The Beatles.

Or Led Zeppelin: when Bonzo died they rightly called it a day. Ever since it's simply Page & Plant, far as the True Believers are concerned.

And if ever there was a case of a band being a shadow of it's former self it's Queen without Freddie. I guess "May & Taylor" wouldn't pull in a tenth of the audience, but...

Cheers - C

+1 I think you hit the nail on the head!

It is true that I am a huge Extreme and Gary Cherone fan. I saw Extreme on the 'Waiting for the Punchline Tour', and they just knocked me out. What a show. And I am probably the only one who liked Van Halen III w/ Cherone. I wil say this, though ... I have seen Van Halen six times: twice with Roth in the '80s, three times with Hagar, and once with Charone. Out of those six VH shows, the Van Halen concert with Cherone was the clear #2 (coming in behind Roth on the 1984 tour). VH live w/ Cherone was outstanding, and those that saw it in person will back me up.

PS Also, people keep thinking I am saying that Cherone is bettter than Freddie. No, but Cherone is better than Paul Rodgers by a long shot (especially in the context of Queen). If it is not clear, let me reiterate that Freddie Mercury - in my opinion - was the most talented front man ever. Bar none. That is just my opinion.

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

Yep. And most people don't realize he could play a little guitar too!

Hey, does that make him Freddie Fender..?

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I really like all them "Aster" guitars. You know, like the Stratoc, Telec and Jazzm.

I have to admit that after seeing GC in the Youtube video a couple times, I thought he did a great job! I'm sure that his live performances with VH were great, as well. I think he unfortunately suffered some undeserved fan backlash because, at the time, people were still disappointed about the David Lee Roth reunion that didn't happen (until years later). For fans, the personalities of their favorite bands are often as important as the music itself -- when those personalities aren't the same, a lot of folks have trouble getting on board.

Well there are so many valid points being thrown around.First does anyone remember the Extreme set at the Freddie tribute concert.They did a Queen medley and kicked $@!.Losong the lead singer of a huge band is just about impossible to overcome.I think VANHALEN was the only band to do it and I was never a big Sammy fan till he was in VANHALEN I hate when pwople say they went down when he joined I disagree they were different but still great just not as dark.Brian May has always been one of my alltime faves his note and scale choice at the time was very differant than most of the pentatonic based lead at the time,and the way he helped pioneer double,triple,quadrupleing guitar lines is still amazing today.