Hi rick. This one is one of the best of the series. Ive been wandering if there's any chance to have a video on travis meeks music. Not any hit of the first record, but in general. He is a great musician and i would like to know what do you think.
@@CharlyM666 I think it's the record label who does the blocking. Not Queen. Rick has mentioned that the artist generally isn't responsible for the block. Nor is TH-cam. The big music companies do it & TH-cam is forced to comply. Usually the artist can't do a thing.
I’m surprised but not shocked that Brian agreed to join you, Rick. This is a testament to your incredible scholarship and an honor from one of the greatest rock guitarists ever. Well done!
When you think about quitting Rick, remember THIS is why you do it. Not only do you get to interview your heroes, but you get to bring those heroes to us. Thank you.
I don't know, if you want to quit at your peak, this might be it. Let me correct myself: That should have said 'if you want to go on a break' ;-). In all seriousness: I'd completely understand if any content creator wants to beat the TH-cam slur before it beats you.
A lot of us aren't kids any more. I was born in 1992, slightly less than a year after Freddie died and Queen are absolutely up there on the list of my favourite bands.
I have a kiddo with a severe developmental disability who has been fixated on Queen since she was in elementary school, she's 18 now and still loves it. She has a hard time with words, but can say Bohemian Rhapsody.
Really great to see how both guys get the best out of each other in this amazing episode. It has only made my admiration for this song and the members of Queen bigger. Amazing job Rick, keep up the good work!
@@kingofrunescapepking Brian May or no Brian May, it's up to the record company whether the video stays up. Don't be surprised if a tin eared executive at the record company blocks the video.
May this be the turning point, the moment when labels finally realize that it is an honor to be featured on Rick’s channel, and not a reason to block a video.
Yes, maybe Rick should invite Joe Walsh and then Don Felder … and the maybe finally Don Henley might be standing in the queue himself, begging for having his chance to become a member of this exquisite circle of selected and honored artists 😉
Isn’t Brian May so modest and humble about his own talents? He always has wonderful comments about his band members. This gent is one of the greatest guitar player/composers that has ever graced the planet!
Thing is, he's proved himself over and over and over, who can doubt his skill and creativity? Often the most capable people are both humble and generous with ideas, as they have more ideas than time to materialize them.
You really get it on Somebody to Love. The live version performed in Montreal is absolutely incredible, the refrain at the end really showcases Taylor’s singing
On Tenement Funster and I’m In Love With My Car he sounds like Rod Stewart, I always liked Roger Taylor’s lead vocals. He does the screaming at the start of In the Lap of the Gods as well. Incredible range. And he’s ‘only’ Queen’s backing and second banana singer! 😂
No matter how many times I listen to Bohemian Rhapsody, I always hear something new which I never noticed before. Just a testament to what a complex masterpiece it is. Excellent video Rick, one of your best. Those 38 minutes went by so fast.
Well said! I have a great appreciation for musicians like him. They know that they are incredibly talented but always work to build up and praise those around them.
I am 67 years old and I've heard parts in this breakdown today for the first time. I will never hear this song the same after this. It probably qualifies for the greatest song performance and production EVER written.
I second that! This kind of highly informative song analysis is very inspirational and of sobering humility simultaneously. It makes you want to be a better musician, and at the same time makes you realize how very little you know about music, which is one of your greatest passions in life. For me, the frustration was exacerbated in 2018 when I was diagnosed as having MS, and the worst one at that, which gets progressively worse with the passage of time. Thankfully however, I had a stem cell treatment in Moscow in 2019. The treatment was not a cure, but it did stop the progression, which means that technically speaking I am now at least disease free! I am still walking albeit with the assistance of a cane. So, now it's up to me to me to exercise my legs as much as possible in an effort to regain most of the strength I lost. I feel blessed that zi am still walking, albeit with difficulty. Most MS sufferers can't afford to get that treat, and continue be seriously disabled, some to the point of being bedridden and unable to anything at all. It's heartbreaking, but apparently some amazing treatments are on the horizon, possibly even a cure. God willing this will come to fruition sooner rather than later. In any case, I said all of this, to say that the stiffness in my hands is still there, and it prevents me from playing my guitar to the level that I was playing at before the onset of the MS. I was finally starting to play some nice jazz chord melody standards. It was was my best playing since I was 13 years old when I started playing guitar. I am using hand grips to strengthen my hands and fingers - they are getting stronger. I also do exercises that help with manual dexterity in my hands That said, it really saddens me to look at my guitars on my guitar stands, it is torturous to not being able to play them like before. I will continue to stay as positive as possible. But I feel very demoralized. MS Is a very, very cruel ìmmuno neuro muscular disease. But I keep fighting. I stopped teaching in 2018 too, because it was becoming dangerous as I also have a left foot toe drop. It is so easy to fall as the front of my left foot catches on cracks in the sidewalk. I am going to buy a brace that will keep my toes pulled up somewhat when I walk. I believe that will improve my walking significantly. Sorry guys, I needed to relieve dome stress. So thank you kindly goe your patience,;and for your patience and understanding. MS can put you in a very dark, scary, lonely place. At least I have my wife and 25 year daughter whom I love so much. They have both been my Rock of Gibralter 😊
Appropriate quote, considering that Wayne's World introduced the song to a younger generation who had never heard of Queen. I remember everyone going out to buy their albums (one of the Greatest Hits compilations and maybe A Kind of Magic, to be fair) after the movie came out. Like, "What the hell was THAT? I want to hear more!"
Side story. Back in my pro video editing days we licensed a bit of this song for a movie trailer we were creating. Part of our workflow was checking the audio through a vectorscope to confirm accurate surround sound spatial recording. In one of the early vocal parts instead of the vectorscope displaying a bunch of squiggly lines (like it normally did) it displayed an evenly spaced 9 dot grid (3x3). I have no idea how Freddie Mercury's voice did that. And In 30 years of editing I have never seen anything like that ever again.
Exactly..for all of Rick’s hard work and how much we appreciate his work.. Brian taking the time to do this is just as incredible..if only we could get Gilmour and Page to do something like this..Page talking Stairway, and SiIBLY would be epic..
@@masonbooth2363 Yes,and so many others,also for the respect for Rick's efforts,trying to remember us all of these fantastic groups. It's pure publicity for them.That they don't collaborate is one thing but that they block him is just insolence.l lost my respect for a lot of those l took for cool boys.....shame on them ......
I love Brian. He still gives Freddie the credit and praise he deserves and accepts that Freddie still over shadows him, Roger and now Adam Lambert. Deacy is still in the realm with Freddie since he never returned to the spotlight. We love and miss you, too, Deacy 👑🎸♥️
Dear Rick, when this song came out I was a just teenager like yourself. The only "minor" difference is that I was stuck behind the iron curtain in a communist Eastern European country with no hopes I would ever get to see Brian as if he would be speaking directly to me in my living room! Can't thank you enough for everything you do and especially for this wonderful video!
Fun fact Queen was the first major rock show behind the iron curtain when they played in Budapest in 1986. Almost 3 months to the day after a certain nuclear reactor exploded.
The look on Brian's face when Rick says that Queen is idolised in today's generation made me have that same smile. There will never be a band like them. Hats off to you and the rest of Queen
I'm not any sort of musician, just "a poor boy", but, God, isn't it so mind-blowingly beautiful that (a tiny fraction of gifted) humanity can create such art. For every evil thought and deed that mankind has produced there is the antidote, and this is such. Rest in peace Freddie. Thank you for being among us.
Some things were simply always "meant to be done" I can't imagine a world where Queen never happened, especially the genius of this great master-piece that almost should have been written by some ancient famous composer, but had to wait for the electric guitar to be invented. It is some of the greatest art, ever produced.
"Freddie was like a metronome, but a metronome with a lot of balls *gesticulates*" - honestly the best description of the man I've ever heard. Appropriate it came from Brian
Cool as the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation. The second I received notification of this video, my first reaction was, "WTF? No way can this be true."
I think a big part of why Queen crosses the generational boundaries is their trendlessness. While they occasionally mucked with the "current sound" by and large they just made Queen music. And nobody was dumb enough to try to follow them. So Queen from any era sounds like Queen, not that era. Which takes it out of time. So it never gets "old", it's never "70s music", it's just Queen.
What an erudite comment. Spot on, and I think the same might apply to Rush, as well. When you see some of Rush's later vids - in particular, the concert in Brazil - they are all kids going nuts over the band over the music.
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The Game was derided a lot back when it came out, by "fans". Due to them incorporating synthesizers (well, one synth, but for many "fans" that was already too much, particularly since you could, you know, prominently hear it :D). And of course the derision was of the "they're selling out, they use these non-musical machines they call 'synthesizers'. It's all synthetic, it says so in the name!"
I agree that there is an 'out of time' quality to Queen's music, but they definitely drew from most of the musical genres of their era, and from previous eras. Most importantly, the experimental nature of their music would have been (nearly) universally rejected in most eras. I remember the first time I heard Bohemian Rhapsody, my mind was blown, then I was asking myself: "Is this prog? Is this a parody of prog?" Songs like Killer Queen raised the same questions, but Bohemian Rhapsody doubled down on the over the top operatic sound.
This was a band so hungry. They just left the Sheffield brothers. They had NO money. They were broke. They put everything into this song, this album. Bet on themselves and WON it all. This song lives on for the ages. Almost 50 years later and it still endures.
@@deadosaka1712 Yes, they had a big hit with Killer Queen, but they weren't seeing much money from it. That's part of the reason they wanted to leave the Sheffield brothers and sign a new manager. I remember Brian saying in an interview one time that, had A Night At The Opera not been a success, that would've probably killed the band (of course, that is speculation on Brian's part and we will never know for sure what would've happened, but at the very least, that shows that the financial situation of the band was pretty bad, so they had to give absolutely everything they had into these recordings).
I've heard this song hundreds of times but Rick was isolating parts I'd never noticed before. Fascinating, and with Brian's contribution it's the best one Rick's done yet, in my opinion..
They use the those trills a lot in their music to highlight/accentuate certain feelings or concepts. Always subtle but like the chimes on bohemian rhapsody they send a shiver down your spine
@@johnsrabe Brian came up with that sound by plucking the strings at the end 9f the guitar Bridge, creating a metallic bell-like sound. I first thought the harmonics were similar to the FM piano that was yet to exist.
you describe bohemian rhapsody as a small, lesser-known song? really? maybe in parts of the u.s., but in japan, south america or europe and especially great britain it‘s been several times on top of the charts. with their greatest hits album they‘ve sold more than the beatles in england. they‘re massive huge.
It’s obvious Rick’s peers totally respect and appreciate the insight with which he dissects the songs. When Rick plays the piano notes of Freddie’s amazing singing it really brings home the beauty and intricacy of the melodies. As a non musician Rick’s analysis enhances the listening experience and deepens my appreciation immeasurably for the music. Rick is simply a treasure.
Rick's deconstruction of music is kind of like Penn & Teller's deconstruction of magic. Seeing the craftsmanship that goes into it, and the thoughtfulness of how they structure it, enhances my enjoyment of the ones who do it well.
I can see the three guys looking at Freddie and asking, "What chords are we going to use?", and Freddie answering, "why, all of them darlings." Awesome episode Rick. My favorite one yet!
I have accepted the fact that Rick’s channel will continue to ascend until it is of another universe and is no longer accessible to mortals like me. You’re awesome Rick what an amazing video
There's so much to be said for simple pleasure. We've kind of lost the knack. He does indeed look like a kid looking through the window of a sweet shop.
I love how Rick just lets Brian talk. So many others would interrupt with questions or feel the need to interject. Let the legend talk about a legendary song. Good stuff!!
Yes, but also Brian is a great interviewee. He just talks and tells you interesting stuff in a way that's enjoyable to listen to. A perfect interlocutor. Let me tell you that as a person that interviewed quite a few people in my life ;-)
When I was 12, my mom got me out of bed to hear queen perform love of my life and bohemian rhapsody on the midnight special and my life was changed. I was in tears in the throw of emotions I couldn't understand fully as Freddy sang his sad song to his momma. I just wish we could give everyone a musical moment like that so they could understand that music drills into your soul and enriches it. Hearing that Queen song changed my life and I entered a life of music from that moment.
Man Rick I don't know if you remember but about 2 years ago I thanked you for helping me stay clean from heroin and keeping the music alive and here will still are. I'm so thankful I found your channel and to still be clean. You're an amazing man and great musician, thank you Rick.
Hi mate, I feel you, I've been on methadone for 65 days and 55 days clean from heroin, 60ml right now, i picked up playing electric guitar now that I have time and possi ility to have other hobbies than heroin lol. Hence why I found this channel.
"I hear the solo as a continuation of the vocals" Brian, I think I speak for everyone who's sung along to the solo in the car when I say we all agree 100%
This song is as close to perfection that I've ever heard. No matter how many times I've heard it, my hairs stand on end and my spine shivers. Childishly beautiful.
I really get you. Everytime I listen to it, and also while watching this video, I feel like my 17yo self hearing it for the first time. Stunned, overwhelmed, with a dropped jaw and goosebumps all over.
Yep. Still discovering nuances 46 years later. Never realised those beautiful harmonies over the entry to the main guitar solo were there. I suppose asa guitarist I was too focused on the guitar.
There's no escaping the fact that Freddie was just in a league of his own. To be that good a frontman, that good a singer, that good a songwriter... there's been no one like him before or after. I was lucky enough to be at his final Queen gig. Sheer unfettered genius.
@@maplesyrup4881 Prince was a talent alright, but it's pushing it a bit to say he was a guitar virtuoso. Joe Pass and Eddie Van Halen were virtuosos; Prince was a competent and tasty player, no more. Freddie's solo stuff was very much aimed at people who shared his lifestyle, and it doesn't take away from his work with Queen. Not all of Prince's stuff was top drawer either... for every Let's Go Crazy, there's a Raspberry Beret or a Manic Monday. Importantly, Freddie was a one-off who rewrote the rule book on being a frontman in rock, whereas Prince's act owes a heck of a lot to Larry Graham's act.
@@maplesyrup4881 Prince a better guitarist than EVH? We need to draw a distinction between people who can play, and people who changed the game. I've been playing guitar 47 years so far and I promise you: however good Prince was as an overall package, he wasn't remotely close to Eddie as a guitarist in terms of skill or impact. I can play anything Prince could play on a guitar but I can't get anywhere near Eddie.
@@maplesyrup4881 Freddie has said himslef that he didn't think his strength was in writting but composition tis vide shows how complex this song is but it's still easy to listen to,it's not trying to be clever for the sake of it he didnt find it easy to write lyurics but still wrote hits Brian added solos other than that freddie did write his own songs I'm not sure why you think he didn't
AFTER SEEING THIS DOCUMENTARY, I HAVE TO SAY THAT "BOHEMIAN RAPSODY" IS "TIMELESS" AND ALL FUTURE YOUNG PEOPLE WILL STILL BE LISTENING TO THIS SONG AND THEY WILL REMEMBER QUEEN. I'M 71 MYSELF AND I LISTEN TO THEIR SONGS EVERY SINGLE DAY. PURE PERFECTION ❤🎉
What I love about May in these types of interviews is that he really understands the fan and audience. He must have been asked similar questions 1000s of times of the years but he always keeps things fresh and recalls with genuine fondness.
God, I love Brian May. So smart, gentle, eloquent, humorous , humble, interesting and with one final sidebar, one of the best guitarists in rock history!
He is not the greatest vocalist of all time. He is most definitely the most overrrated vocalist of all time. On top of being a coke, alcohol and sex addict. @@JonahNelson7
I kid you not, just this morning I was driving around, thinking to myself "Rick should do a WMTSG on BH. Even though it's overplayed, oversaturated, and I'm almost tired of hearing it, this recording is so deep and so layered and so complex, Rick can resurrect the fascination within us by dissecting this masterpiece, rendering it new again." And that's exactly what you have done. Bravo! This may be the best WMTSG thus far! Thank you. Mr. Beato.
The reason he has not before now is that whoever handles the rights to Queen's music is very very very very aggressive with take downs. Rick could do a video on the 20 greatest cold guitar openings, literally have 5 seconds of something from Queen and see the whole video of it pulled. It has happened to him time and time again. It is only the live interview with Dr. Brian May that is keeping it from happening this time. Which I am very glad for. This song deserves the WMTSG treatment, Dr. Brian May is always insightful and a pleasure to listen to. Rick pulled out all the stops on this one. Almost 40 minutes long on what has to be one of the greatest rock songs ever recorded.
Brian’s humble reaction to Rick saying how Queen are so well known to the new generation reminded me of the time I briefly met him after a solo concert in ‘92. I was 16, overawed and I talked silly childish nonsense at him for a moment - and he just responded with kindness, humility and respect. That stayed with me.
The fact that he's explaining how COMPLEX this recording is goes to show how much of a MUSICAL MASTERMIND MONSTER Freddie was. He was a WHOOOLE lot more than a powerful voice, flashy stage behavior and good looks. He was a GODZILLA LEVEL musician/ artist....simply untouchable. 💎💎💎💎💎
Brian May was genuinely emotional at the end of the video. Here's one of the world's greatest rockstars actually being grateful to *us* that we are listening to his music.
The word appears to be getting out; instead of blocking it makes good business sense to keep your music relevant and talked about as much as possible. Rick, you are probably single-handedly responsible for this change in business philosophy. Congratulations on getting Brian May to sit down and talk about this song. A real feather in your cap and I see this interview opening a lot more doors for you in the future. “Well Brian May will sit down and talk with Rick about music so if I do it that it means I am in the same orbit as Brian.”
Jesus, when you solo Freddie's vocals it literally sends CHILLS down my spine!!! Brian May was precisely right - it sounds like a phaser effect, but it isn't. Freddie's vocal control is so PRECISE that he can phase with himself! It's just beyond belief! What an amazing talent he had!
shivers you mean. My favourite song ever. video released on my birthday. great present. ;) if could do one day again in my life, it would be my first queen concert. Freddie 4 ever.
I watched an analys video and they went into detail about the machine he must have used to create the fase! bit surprised when I explained it was just Freddie being precise!
I don't think that's what he meant by they would "phase together", in fact I think he meant the exact opposite. The phaser effect happens when you duplicate a track and the peaks of the sound wave have a slight offset such that they do not align exactly and is something that happens almost every time something is double-tracked which would need to be fixed in production. What Brian was saying was that Freddie was so precise with his singing that when recording You Take My Breath Away he managed to even align the phase of his vocal tracks (i.e. the result had no offset)
@@atrumluminarium I think when Brian says 'they phased with each other' I think he actually meant phase offset, which is the point of a choir or self-harmonization. It's not at all the same thing a phaser does, though, it's more akin to the chorus (named after choral performance for this very reason) and I also happen to have the track stems for Bohemian Rhapsody - Freddie's amazing, don't get me wrong. But NOBODY has the degree of vocal control you're implying where people control the phase relationship with precision - the wavelength of these frequencies would be in the multi-cm range (assuming an average of 4KHz in a 20C room) and human vocal chords just cannot control wavelengths of this size with the accuracy you imply. The reason chorusing happens is not due to the wave period, it's due to the misalignments resulting from natural timing and pitch variations that occur when you either group together a bunch of different singers (ie a chorus/choir) or layer a ton of self-harmonized vocal takes. Again, this comment is not at all to discredit Freddie, he's an amazing vocalist and the lush vocal textures he created indeed produce the constructive and destructive wave pattern interference that creates the chorus effect, which is why these lush vocal textures sound so rich and so thick.
Do you know what makes this so great? It’s that Rick has no ego here, sits back and listens to Brian. Sometimes people feel the need to “prove” themselves in this situations and speak too much. Stunning work
Absolutely! There were parts where you think he'd chime in with his own experiences/opinions, but nope, kept his mouth shut and just listened. Set it up, asked the question and listened. Good stuff.
Nice to see the living legend that is Brian May joining you Rick. I grew up in the late 70s and through the 80s, when Queen were at their absolute peak and loved them. Now my seventeen year old daughter, without any encouragement from me, has also found them and absolutely loves their music. Out of curiosity I asked her why she doesn't follow or play anything in the charts like I used to when I was her age. Her answer, 'because it's all crap'.
This may be the BEST “What Makes This Song Great” in the history of the series. Thank you, Rick. Well done. Thank you, Brian May! This song is a touchstone for my generation, and for my children’s. You boys created a transcendent body of work!
Rick im crying and yelling here, you got stuff out of Brian that he has rarely spoken about in such depth, I've seen him interviewed a million times over 40 years. WOW
Brilliant indeed. Have you heard The March Of The Black Queen from two albums previous when they were still developing their skills? It's a bit more raw, perhaps more ambitious, and the untethered Queen that I prefer.
@Conor K March of the Black Queen is one of my favourite songs ever. I just Queen would have released it as a single, that way they would have preformed more of it live, compared to just 2 minutes
Brian May seems like a genuinely nice guy that wouldn't mind talking to anyone which is pretty cool by itself. He's probably not given enough credit sound wise. I mean everyone loves Queen and all but it's kind of a whole band thing. That dude crushes it. I think this would be cool for other upcoming what makes this song so great videos. Nice to get some input from the artists for sure.
As overplayed as this song is, as much as I think “oh no, not BH again” when it starts playing at parties or any kind of get together, you just can’t stop listening and singing every time. Every time. Thank you for your passion ❤️
That was me as well, when I saw this title pop up. But I watched it, as I never skip any one in this series of videos. I watched it all the way through, my eyes are watery right now, and this is definitely Rick’s best one yet.
yeah, I don't really listen to it for that reason. A bit like Hotel California (another brilliant song). This was really nice to watch through though - very much appreciated the break down of it, Brian May, and it really made me appreciate it again as a masterwork piece of music.
Bohemiam rhapsody is possibly one of the greatest song of all times, I love it, my parents loved it and my kids love it. It has truly stood the test of time. Unfortunately, if it were written today, would it even get released?
@@Andrey_Yurkoff I've got to disagree. I think Queen is one of the very very few bands that you could move to any era, and would be just as successful even with the exact same songs. I think Freddie Mercury had an extremely unique presence, he was almost too big personality wise to not be successful.
Just when I think there are no more "great" songs left for Rick to showcase, he comes up with another jewel. This is one of, if not THE best WMTSG ever!
Brian's solo on this tune is, in my opinion, perhaps the greatest guitar solo ever made.. Its a song within a song, almost it's own being, played with a perfect amount of feel. Anytime I'm called into the studio for a lead guitar session I think about this solo when writing my own. How can I write something so memorable and "Sing-songy", compliment the lead vocal but not copy it.. Use some great technique without showing off and over playing.. It's really as close to a perfect guitar solo as they come.
Breaking down BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY with Prof. Brian May is like having an interview with MOZART as he explains his Symphony No. 41 Jupiter. Incredible! A TRUE MASTERPIECE for the ages Thank You Rick!
I loved listening to the interview in its entirety… my daughter used to love to listen to this song, because it was very interesting to her. Now she has grown up, and has a DMA in Vocal Performance, in, of all things, Opera! She has quite a wide range in her repertoire. Luckily, each of her schools has been generous in the production of many of the great classic operas. But, I often like to think it was this beloved song that had a hand in determining her love of music, and her life’s work. ❤️ 🎼 🎹 🎻 ❤️ 🎶 🎵 〰️〰️ ❤️ 🎺 🪕 🥁 ❤️ 🎼 🎹 🎤❤️
Back in '75, my first listen of Bohemian Rhapsody warped a malleable teenage mind in ways that no other single piece of music has ever done. That imprint is indelible. Thank you, Queen.
Rick, you are really creating a piece of history here. Nobody ever broke down this music piece in this way. So dankie meneer. (Just means Thank you Mister. in Afrikaans)
One of the most extraordinary examples of music education using theory and oral history I have ever seen. It was fascinating, accessible and enjoyable. Reminded me of Leonard Bernstein's programs. Thank you, Rick Beato.
Old school musicians had the talent to be able to make records in this way, it was lovely listening to Brian May's recollections. Rick, great interview, great video.
I think the most important lesson is when May talks about being on key, but not too much on key. It's important to keep the emotion and feeling. Rick looks like a 6-year-old meeting Iron Man! And yes, I too remember "bouncing".
Rick, you may never see this, but I have to comment... I'm not sure if you would call this an analysis, a de-construction, a dissection... But whatever, it was one of the most incredible 40 minutes of my musical life. Like, EVER. Thank you SO much for this amazing interview and explanation. Am I ever glad I found your stuff!!
Yes. I didn't discover Queen until a year ago, but its clear in videos: Freddy with his vocal cords and Brian with his guitar, were often singing duets.
You could go to any of the kids at my school and play some random rock song from that 70s-80s era of music and they won’t know them but they’ll always recognize Queen. Just goes to show how big of a legacy this group forged in their day.
Brian May’s sound - a guitar he and his dad made out of a fireplace with out of phase pickups, an amp made out of an old radio playing through a speaker rescued from a skip …. just incredible
What I love about groups like Queen - and this is really important - is that they were *craftsmen* as well as artists. This is why you could get tunes like “Liar”, “Bohemian Rhapsody” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “Another One Bites the Dust” from the same band…they were artistically prolific and diverse, and also had the CRAFTSMANSHIP to pull off their vision. Listening to Brian May explain the vocal tracking process, it’s very no-nonsense, methodical, workmanlike attitudes; just like how a mechanic, electrician or or woodworker goes about their business. Admirable. Much respect to Queen!!
What is this - groups like Queen? Queen are absolutely unique. No one can touch them. BR has 30 chords changed about 160 times. What bands do this complexity?
@@ilper1625 With all due respect, I have to add the Beatles to brilliant musicians as well. The Beatles and Queen are the only two groups that belong on the top pyramid of amazing musical pieces. These amazing artists think outside of singing/playing a single music note. Thank God they have such a fire in their belly about getting their music out just like they hear it in their heads. We are so fortunate to be able to appreciate all their hard work. Bohemian Rhapsody I have on repeat sometimes. This was a fantastic video and breakdown of this song. Bravo Rick 👏
It's pretty clear what he means with "groups like Queen". Go right ahead throwing in Pink Floyd in there. The amount of work that went into PF's records and their tinkering with any piece of equipment they could get their hands on is staggering.
If this series had to end with this episode, we could all die happily. What a song and what a breakdown of the song. Rick, your job is done. Thank you.
I feel for the young generations now that will never hear incredible rock music like Queen. Every concert was beautifully original. Most of today’s music sounds alike. One reason to be grateful for living through the 70’s, 80’s.
Brian May is the king of subtle guitar parts. So many Queen songs where he plays only a couple of long notes. He’s always supporting the song, never the other way around.
Brian May blows me away with his home-brew guitar, and slapped together out of trash amp, and makes a sound like nothing else. What an incredible guy he is.
Brian May is so generously talking ablut the incredible talents Freddie had... what a lovely man to be able to speak so lovingly about Freddie not himself. That is truly brotherly love. Thank you, Brian...I was fascinated learning so much from you & Rick Beato , it is truly wonderful to learn about this music you all created together.
I LOVED Rick’s face as he was listening to Brian describing the the recording process!! He looks like he’s ready to explode with joy!!! Which is fitting! this song brings me total joy as well!! So many rock songs may be cool, or “angsty”, or dark, but VERY FEW can produce pure joy! (That’s in SPITE of the “poor boy” lyrics!! Joy just from the artistic BEAUTY!!! AMAZING doesn’t even begin to describe the genius and gifted talent contained in this creation!!
Rick, Bryan talking about how the tracks not being perfectly in tune makes the song BIG, and you agreeing with a "I KNOW" face, cause you just said that in an recent video, was really GOLD for who follows your videos
We’ve heard this song so many times that I thought “do I really want to listen to pieces of it for 38 minutes?”. Seeing Dr. May would be chiming in, I thought “why not?”. I’m so glad I did. I heard things I never expected and teared up as Brian almost did near the end. This was epic, Rick! Congratulations!
Check out my full length interview with Brian on my Rick Beato 2 channel. If you are not subscribed remember to ring the bell!
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Hi rick. This one is one of the best of the series. Ive been wandering if there's any chance to have a video on travis meeks music. Not any hit of the first record, but in general. He is a great musician and i would like to know what do you think.
Hey rick did you ask him about queen being blockers on youtube?
I did...Excellent!
@@CharlyM666 I think it's the record label who does the blocking. Not Queen. Rick has mentioned that the artist generally isn't responsible for the block. Nor is TH-cam. The big music companies do it & TH-cam is forced to comply. Usually the artist can't do a thing.
Hey Rick, im a little bit late but could you do Call Of The Mountains from Eluveite?
I’m surprised but not shocked that Brian agreed to join you, Rick. This is a testament to your incredible scholarship and an honor from one of the greatest rock guitarists ever. Well done!
Yes, it demonstrates the credibility that Rick has earned. Peter Frampton, Joni Mitchell, Ron Carter and others too.
Brian May really gets social media, check out his Instagram. Great stuff! No wonder he's aware of Ricks videos. What a legend ❤️
And the generosity and humility of Brian! Incredible video!
@@urbangorilla33 Don’t forget the big recent convo w/Pat Metheny.
I'm not. Brian has always been a fantastic person. My father knows him via astronomy and all I've ever heard is Brian is such a down to earth person.
When you think about quitting Rick, remember THIS is why you do it. Not only do you get to interview your heroes, but you get to bring those heroes to us. Thank you.
Well put.
Who's quitting? Bite your tongue! 🤣
wait, he’s quitting??
I don't know, if you want to quit at your peak, this might be it. Let me correct myself: That should have said 'if you want to go on a break' ;-). In all seriousness: I'd completely understand if any content creator wants to beat the TH-cam slur before it beats you.
I don’t think Brian May is his hero
The smile on Brian’s face when Rick mentioned their music is still so popular to kids warmed my heart.
Totally! My kids, 8 and 6 are right there with that group!
A lot of us aren't kids any more. I was born in 1992, slightly less than a year after Freddie died and Queen are absolutely up there on the list of my favourite bands.
My 12 yo comes home from school, puts his headphones on, sits out the garden and listens to 1 hour of Queen before starting his homework. Every day.
@@andrewwebb3431, you lucky boy, for us you're still a kid.
@@hermannus3894 Stop acting like you're some ancient God that's lived for a thousand years boomer. 30 years old is not a kid.
I have a kiddo with a severe developmental disability who has been fixated on Queen since she was in elementary school, she's 18 now and still loves it. She has a hard time with words, but can say Bohemian Rhapsody.
Goat Kidds exactly "High on a hill with a lonely Goat Heard"
Galileo Figaro
The Cleft Chin is a Goat the Single Chin is a Sheep
We are composites of the animals from the area in which they created Us
Brian May and Rick Beato in the same video. My birthday came in early this year!
I knew that Brian was a talent, but listening to him discuss the particulars is a real treat.
My jaw dropped when I saw mr. May
@@felipecoutinho3125 Please, let us use the correct honorific. It is Sir May.
Sir Dr. May, if you will.
Really great to see how both guys get the best out of each other in this amazing episode. It has only made my admiration for this song and the members of Queen bigger. Amazing job Rick, keep up the good work!
Christ. Just the fact that this video EXISTS is a miracle…so far…
I imagine having Brian join him on the video helped a lot with getting it approved
"The miracle"
"Peace on earth and end to war today!"
@@kingofrunescapepking hell yeah I agree. It’s also really cool to get that behind the scenes details.
@@kingofrunescapepking Brian May or no Brian May, it's up to the record company whether the video stays up. Don't be surprised if a tin eared executive at the record company blocks the video.
Explicit analysis of a masterpiece! I feel lucky to have discovered your channel. Keep up the good work Rick !
May this be the turning point, the moment when labels finally realize that it is an honor to be featured on Rick’s channel, and not a reason to block a video.
AMEN!
Yes, maybe Rick should invite Joe Walsh and then Don Felder … and the maybe finally Don Henley might be standing in the queue himself, begging for having his chance to become a member of this exquisite circle of selected and honored artists 😉
Invite Mr Henley ...
Great that Brian got on board. Science and music hand-in-hand. So perfect.
Wouldn’t that be good 👍
Isn’t Brian May so modest and humble about his own talents? He always has wonderful comments about his band members. This gent is one of the greatest guitar player/composers that has ever graced the planet!
Loved him since I was a kid ☺️
He most certainly is. What a crew to grow up with
Thing is, he's proved himself over and over and over, who can doubt his skill and creativity? Often the most capable people are both humble and generous with ideas, as they have more ideas than time to materialize them.
Not to mention he's also a freaking astrophysicist
He is a wizard..Still here new bits evertime I hear Queen 2 especially
I don’t think Roger Taylor gets enough credit for his singing. His ability to harmonize is amazing.
Raspy, soaring back up vocals. And his few lead singing songs are classics.
You really get it on Somebody to Love. The live version performed in Montreal is absolutely incredible, the refrain at the end really showcases Taylor’s singing
@@terptek1 Completely agree. Songs like I'm In Love With My Car, Drowse and Tenement Funster are all great Queen songs written and sung by Roger.
On Tenement Funster and I’m In Love With My Car he sounds like Rod Stewart, I always liked Roger Taylor’s lead vocals. He does the screaming at the start of In the Lap of the Gods as well. Incredible range. And he’s ‘only’ Queen’s backing and second banana singer! 😂
I'm fond of the songs Roger wrote in the 80s like Radio Gaga, a kind of magic, breakthru, these are the days of our lives, innuendo, the invisible man
Rick gets Brian May to discuss Bohemian Rhapsody….yeah, this is going to be amazing
...and it WAS!!! Peace.
Unbelievable, right??
this one probably won't get a take-down notice
@@yinoveryang4246 Loved to have been a fly on that wall when those conversations when going on.
@@MobiusBandwidth Queen does not block their music on youtube.
The best song analysis series doing the greatest song of all time. Yes please.
When are you going to cross the Fandango, using the Galileo, that would be Magnifico o o o o.
My favourite youtuber is a queen fan too?
Geowizard here? Best crossover ever
What are you doing here?
Yesssss geoooo
Bohemian Rhapsody really is genius. It's really the perfect encapsulation of Queen as a band- eccentric, complicated, powerful, and wholly unique.
Omg, this is the best video on TH-cam ever! My favorite song analysed by Brian May himself and my favorite TH-camr!
Amazing!
@@amjan how many of those other analyses are _by_ Brian May and Rick Beato though? Oh none? ok then calm down and go fack right off.
What he said.
This is my favorite to
@@iComplainer there's always one isn't there
No matter how many times I listen to Bohemian Rhapsody, I always hear something new which I never noticed before. Just a testament to what a complex masterpiece it is. Excellent video Rick, one of your best. Those 38 minutes went by so fast.
It’s kind of like reading Dune. So many layers
And now that you have broken the song down even more Rick, I'll be listening for the sounds you solo' d as the song play! Thank you!!
Also it gets played a lot and your in a different mood every time you hear it. Wouldn’t call it a masterpiece, more amusing and novelty.
Check out the cover by Brooklyn Duo & quartet. Strictly instrumental with piano, violin, & cello.
It's compositional hash.
Dr May not mentioning his own amazing talent, but prefers to compliment his bandmates. Gentleman.
That's our Bri for you.
I mean, guitar legend, astrophysics PhD, the guy doesn't need to prove anything to anyone anymore...
Man of a culture🤍🛐
That's how civilised people behave.
Well said! I have a great appreciation for musicians like him. They know that they are incredibly talented but always work to build up and praise those around them.
I am 67 years old and I've heard parts in this breakdown today for the first time. I will never hear this song the same after this. It probably qualifies for the greatest song performance and production EVER written.
I second that!
This kind of highly informative song analysis is very inspirational and of sobering humility simultaneously. It makes you want to be a better musician, and at the same time makes you realize how very little you know about music, which is one of your greatest passions in life.
For me, the frustration was exacerbated in 2018 when I was diagnosed as having MS, and the worst one at that, which gets progressively worse with the passage of time. Thankfully however, I had a stem cell treatment in Moscow in 2019. The treatment was not a cure, but it did stop the progression, which means that technically speaking I am now at least disease free! I am still walking albeit with the assistance of a cane. So, now it's up to me to me to exercise my legs as much as possible in an effort to regain most of the strength I lost. I feel blessed that zi am still walking, albeit with difficulty. Most MS sufferers can't afford to get that treat, and continue be seriously disabled, some to the point of being bedridden and unable to anything at all. It's heartbreaking, but apparently some amazing treatments are on the horizon, possibly even a cure. God willing this will come to fruition sooner rather than later.
In any case, I said all of this, to say that the stiffness in my hands is still there, and it prevents me from playing my guitar to the level that I was playing at before the onset of the MS. I was finally starting to play some nice jazz chord melody standards. It was was my best playing since I was 13 years old when I started playing guitar. I am using hand grips to strengthen my hands and fingers - they are getting stronger. I also do exercises that help with manual dexterity in my hands
That said, it really saddens me to look at my guitars on my guitar stands, it is torturous to not being able to play them like before. I will continue to stay as positive as possible. But I feel very demoralized. MS Is a very, very cruel ìmmuno neuro muscular disease. But I keep fighting. I stopped teaching in 2018 too, because it was becoming dangerous as I also have a left foot toe drop. It is so easy to fall as the front of my left foot catches on cracks in the sidewalk. I am going to buy a brace that will keep my toes pulled up somewhat when I walk. I believe that will improve my walking significantly.
Sorry guys, I needed to relieve dome stress. So thank you kindly goe your patience,;and for your patience and understanding. MS can put you in a very dark, scary, lonely place. At least I have my wife and 25 year daughter whom I love so much. They have both been my Rock of Gibralter 😊
Brian May is so down to earth and eager to talk about his work. One would never guess he is a rock legend and astronomy expert.
And a PhD!!
Brian is a rock god, and also a brilliant person. He always was my favourite in Queen.
he was so awesome at getting in to the "back in my day" stuff without having that "mrah back in my day!" vibe! Really interesting stuff!
Yes, Brian is amazing. I was a full day with him jn a astronomical observatory. It is like to meet Jesus christ. He is very soft, friendly, humble
Yes, he's an Astro Physicist and he loves animals too! He protested about Fox Hunting and Badger culling here in the UK.
Brian May playing the Bohemian Rhapsody solo for you is a Wayne’s World “We’re not worthy” moment. Brilliant video!
Yes!!!
I was thinking that exactly!
Appropriate quote, considering that Wayne's World introduced the song to a younger generation who had never heard of Queen. I remember everyone going out to buy their albums (one of the Greatest Hits compilations and maybe A Kind of Magic, to be fair) after the movie came out. Like, "What the hell was THAT? I want to hear more!"
Agree, I feel uneasy when listening to it.
Brian May might be the nicest man in music. What a humble, articulate and decent person.
Side story. Back in my pro video editing days we licensed a bit of this song for a movie trailer we were creating. Part of our workflow was checking the audio through a vectorscope to confirm accurate surround sound spatial recording. In one of the early vocal parts instead of the vectorscope displaying a bunch of squiggly lines (like it normally did) it displayed an evenly spaced 9 dot grid (3x3). I have no idea how Freddie Mercury's voice did that. And In 30 years of editing I have never seen anything like that ever again.
Brian May is such a legend for doing this
and such a nice,gentle and humble man.....loved that.....
Exactly..for all of Rick’s hard work and how much we appreciate his work.. Brian taking the time to do this is just as incredible..if only we could get Gilmour and Page to do something like this..Page talking Stairway, and SiIBLY would be epic..
Brian May plays the most melodic solos..I have great respect for him.
@@masonbooth2363 Yes,and so many others,also for the respect for Rick's efforts,trying to remember us all of these fantastic groups. It's pure publicity for them.That they don't collaborate is one thing but that they block him is just insolence.l lost my respect for a lot of those l took for cool boys.....shame on them ......
I love Brian. He still gives Freddie the credit and praise he deserves and accepts that Freddie still over shadows him, Roger and now Adam Lambert. Deacy is still in the realm with Freddie since he never returned to the spotlight. We love and miss you, too, Deacy 👑🎸♥️
Dear Rick, when this song came out I was a just teenager like yourself. The only "minor" difference is that I was stuck behind the iron curtain in a communist Eastern European country with no hopes I would ever get to see Brian as if he would be speaking directly to me in my living room! Can't thank you enough for everything you do and especially for this wonderful video!
I don’t think anyone thought they would see this lol
Fun fact Queen was the first major rock show behind the iron curtain when they played in Budapest in 1986. Almost 3 months to the day after a certain nuclear reactor exploded.
The look on Brian's face when Rick says that Queen is idolised in today's generation made me have that same smile. There will never be a band like them. Hats off to you and the rest of Queen
I'm not any sort of musician, just "a poor boy", but, God, isn't it so mind-blowingly beautiful that (a tiny fraction of gifted) humanity can create such art. For every evil thought and deed that mankind has produced there is the antidote, and this is such. Rest in peace Freddie. Thank you for being among us.
True, I listen to he song and my small brain can't grasp how something like that was composed.
Well said. There is hope because we recognize this
Or maybe it was inspired by God himself?
@@MrVahe69 Indeed, Freddy is god.
Some things were simply always "meant to be done"
I can't imagine a world where Queen never happened, especially the genius of this great master-piece that almost should have been written by some ancient famous composer, but had to wait for the electric guitar to be invented.
It is some of the greatest art, ever produced.
"Freddie was like a metronome, but a metronome with a lot of balls *gesticulates*" - honestly the best description of the man I've ever heard. Appropriate it came from Brian
Brian may is THE coolest.
Notice he's engaging with Rick rather than blocking the video.
Cool as the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation.
The second I received notification of this video, my first reaction was, "WTF? No way can this be true."
@@nicholashylton6857 That's so fitting, since he's finally completed his PhD. - in astrophysics, no less. :-)
LOL Not only that! Notice that Rick even got the original stems of the greatest rock song in history!! Invaluable treasure right there!
@@aussiebloke609 His doctoral dissertation was on dust. Go ahead and start singing.
@@fredlougee2807 The zodiacal light. Yes.
I'd love to find a site with really dark skies where I could see it one day.
I think a big part of why Queen crosses the generational boundaries is their trendlessness. While they occasionally mucked with the "current sound" by and large they just made Queen music. And nobody was dumb enough to try to follow them. So Queen from any era sounds like Queen, not that era. Which takes it out of time. So it never gets "old", it's never "70s music", it's just Queen.
What an erudite comment. Spot on, and I think the same might apply to Rush, as well. When you see some of Rush's later vids - in particular, the concert in Brazil - they are all kids going nuts over the band over the music.
The Game was derided a lot back when it came out, by "fans". Due to them incorporating synthesizers (well, one synth, but for many "fans" that was already too much, particularly since you could, you know, prominently hear it :D). And of course the derision was of the "they're selling out, they use these non-musical machines they call 'synthesizers'. It's all synthetic, it says so in the name!"
They only made one bad album.... “Hot Space”.... even that one has “Under Pressure”, which almost redeems the entire thing with one song.
agreed rush is that way so is zeppelin a lot of timeless music came from the 70s
I agree that there is an 'out of time' quality to Queen's music, but they definitely drew from most of the musical genres of their era, and from previous eras. Most importantly, the experimental nature of their music would have been (nearly) universally rejected in most eras. I remember the first time I heard Bohemian Rhapsody, my mind was blown, then I was asking myself: "Is this prog? Is this a parody of prog?" Songs like Killer Queen raised the same questions, but Bohemian Rhapsody doubled down on the over the top operatic sound.
This was a band so hungry. They just left the Sheffield brothers. They had NO money. They were broke. They put everything into this song, this album. Bet on themselves and WON it all. This song lives on for the ages. Almost 50 years later and it still endures.
eh, they were quite big by the time the album came out
@@deadosaka1712 Yes, they had a big hit with Killer Queen, but they weren't seeing much money from it. That's part of the reason they wanted to leave the Sheffield brothers and sign a new manager. I remember Brian saying in an interview one time that, had A Night At The Opera not been a success, that would've probably killed the band (of course, that is speculation on Brian's part and we will never know for sure what would've happened, but at the very least, that shows that the financial situation of the band was pretty bad, so they had to give absolutely everything they had into these recordings).
@@deadosaka1712they were in debt before bohrap. they were getting popular but wasn't earning much
They weren't earning much money because they were getting screwed over by their manager I believe
I've heard this song hundreds of times but Rick was isolating parts I'd never noticed before. Fascinating, and with Brian's contribution it's the best one Rick's done yet, in my opinion..
Right! The chimes? I NEVER heard them despite hearing the song 9b times while playing Galaga!
They use the those trills a lot in their music to highlight/accentuate certain feelings or concepts. Always subtle but like the chimes on bohemian rhapsody they send a shiver down your spine
@@johnsrabe Brian came up with that sound by plucking the strings at the end 9f the guitar Bridge, creating a metallic bell-like sound.
I first thought the harmonics were similar to the FM piano that was yet to exist.
Yes - my only complaint is that it was not long enough!!!
I could not agree more, great vid!
Glad you're giving small, lesser-known songs a chance to shine.
Winning.
I really appreciate getting to hear new music from undiscovered bands like this. I think they might have a real shot.
Bohemian Rhapsody probably Queen’s most underrated song.
you describe bohemian rhapsody as a small, lesser-known song? really? maybe in parts of the u.s., but in japan, south america or europe and especially great britain it‘s been several times on top of the charts. with their greatest hits album they‘ve sold more than the beatles in england. they‘re massive huge.
@@greenogre22 They're all being sarcastic
Brian May is always so humble and complimentary of other musicians. A true class act.
The most beautiful, complicated song ever written and sung
It’s obvious Rick’s peers totally respect and appreciate the insight with which he dissects the songs. When Rick plays the piano notes of Freddie’s amazing singing it really brings home the beauty and intricacy of the melodies. As a non musician Rick’s analysis enhances the listening experience and deepens my appreciation immeasurably for the music. Rick is simply a treasure.
Rick's deconstruction of music is kind of like Penn & Teller's deconstruction of magic. Seeing the craftsmanship that goes into it, and the thoughtfulness of how they structure it, enhances my enjoyment of the ones who do it well.
Non musician?
Are you saying Rick is a non musician ?!?
@@bobouzala No he's saying *he* is the non-musician appreciating Rick's analysis
I can see the three guys looking at Freddie and asking, "What chords are we going to use?", and Freddie answering, "why, all of them darlings."
Awesome episode Rick. My favorite one yet!
Am I the only one who read that and heard it in Freddie's voice? :-)
@@aussiebloke609 You're not alone... I also heard and 'saw' Freddie when I read this. :-)
I can totally picture this! 😀
I have accepted the fact that Rick’s channel will continue to ascend until it is of another universe and is no longer accessible to mortals like me. You’re awesome Rick what an amazing video
2050
"today i have what makes this song great with phil, from mars"
*hard cut to an alien with a guitar hologram*
I’m 85 and have no musical knowledge but I remember when I first heard Bohemiam Rhapsody, I knew it it was special. I never get tired of hearing it.
Let's take a moment to contemplate the fact we get to listen to Brian May explain a Queen song. This is pure gold.
Yes!
The face Rick makes when Brian was explaining the solo is just priceless. Such joy and wholesomeness.
There's so much to be said for simple pleasure. We've kind of lost the knack. He does indeed look like a kid looking through the window of a sweet shop.
I thought the same thing! Watching Rick’s face when Brian is talking was incredible.
Yeah, at 15:44 I think Rick's going to explode with joy as Brian plays to him!
I love how Rick just lets Brian talk. So many others would interrupt with questions or feel the need to interject. Let the legend talk about a legendary song. Good stuff!!
If I was video chatting with Brian May I would also mostly smile and nod my head!
Lool literally every interview video has a comment like this.
Yes, but also Brian is a great interviewee. He just talks and tells you interesting stuff in a way that's enjoyable to listen to. A perfect interlocutor. Let me tell you that as a person that interviewed quite a few people in my life ;-)
When I was 12, my mom got me out of bed to hear queen perform love of my life and bohemian rhapsody on the midnight special and my life was changed. I was in tears in the throw of emotions I couldn't understand fully as Freddy sang his sad song to his momma. I just wish we could give everyone a musical moment like that so they could understand that music drills into your soul and enriches it. Hearing that Queen song changed my life and I entered a life of music from that moment.
The “What Makes This Song Great” episode we’ve all been waiting for
I couldn't agree any more with you. Literally. There is no way possible in which I could agree with you here. 😋
Exactly
Man Rick I don't know if you remember but about 2 years ago I thanked you for helping me stay clean from heroin and keeping the music alive and here will still are. I'm so thankful I found your channel and to still be clean. You're an amazing man and great musician, thank you Rick.
Congrats dude! It's so good of you to share your story, which will help all of those who are struggling.
Hi mate, I feel you, I've been on methadone for 65 days and 55 days clean from heroin, 60ml right now, i picked up playing electric guitar now that I have time and possi ility to have other hobbies than heroin lol. Hence why I found this channel.
Couldn't scroll past. Love be with you.
To all who decide to make better vibrations in their life. May you live in peace and you will 😎
I had to stop and say; "YOU GUYS ROCK"... Keep on keeping on...
"I hear the solo as a continuation of the vocals"
Brian, I think I speak for everyone who's sung along to the solo in the car when I say we all agree 100%
Queen were blessed with four song writers but most of all four great musicians.
This song is as close to perfection that I've ever heard. No matter how many times I've heard it, my hairs stand on end and my spine shivers. Childishly beautiful.
I really get you. Everytime I listen to it, and also while watching this video, I feel like my 17yo self hearing it for the first time. Stunned, overwhelmed, with a dropped jaw and goosebumps all over.
Heard it for the first time in 1981 when I was 8 and like you said, goosebumps everytime, espcially during this breakdown by Rick.
Yep. Still discovering nuances 46 years later. Never realised those beautiful harmonies over the entry to the main guitar solo were there. I suppose asa guitarist I was too focused on the guitar.
@@Ken-sx6sl As you say, Ken. I felt kinda embarrassed during Ricks breakdown, realizing how many of these gems I had overheard all the time!
The smile on Ricks face when he realizes Brian is personally playing guitar for him 🤘🏼🤩🤘🏼
I will be ready to die immediately after that, and say I had a great life!
That face is saying "I can't believe I am getting this."
And the cut to the actual recording is perfect too.
There's no escaping the fact that Freddie was just in a league of his own. To be that good a frontman, that good a singer, that good a songwriter... there's been no one like him before or after. I was lucky enough to be at his final Queen gig. Sheer unfettered genius.
Was that the one where Deacon slammed his bass against the amps?
@@maplesyrup4881 No he was not , just stop it.
@@maplesyrup4881 Prince was a talent alright, but it's pushing it a bit to say he was a guitar virtuoso. Joe Pass and Eddie Van Halen were virtuosos; Prince was a competent and tasty player, no more. Freddie's solo stuff was very much aimed at people who shared his lifestyle, and it doesn't take away from his work with Queen. Not all of Prince's stuff was top drawer either... for every Let's Go Crazy, there's a Raspberry Beret or a Manic Monday. Importantly, Freddie was a one-off who rewrote the rule book on being a frontman in rock, whereas Prince's act owes a heck of a lot to Larry Graham's act.
@@maplesyrup4881 Prince a better guitarist than EVH? We need to draw a distinction between people who can play, and people who changed the game. I've been playing guitar 47 years so far and I promise you: however good Prince was as an overall package, he wasn't remotely close to Eddie as a guitarist in terms of skill or impact. I can play anything Prince could play on a guitar but I can't get anywhere near Eddie.
@@maplesyrup4881
Freddie has said himslef that he didn't think his strength was in writting but composition
tis vide shows how complex this song is but it's still easy to listen to,it's not trying to be clever for the sake of it
he didnt find it easy to write lyurics but still wrote hits
Brian added solos other than that freddie did write his own songs I'm not sure why you think he didn't
AFTER SEEING THIS DOCUMENTARY, I HAVE TO SAY THAT "BOHEMIAN RAPSODY" IS "TIMELESS" AND ALL FUTURE YOUNG PEOPLE WILL STILL BE LISTENING TO THIS SONG AND THEY WILL REMEMBER QUEEN. I'M 71 MYSELF AND I LISTEN TO THEIR SONGS EVERY SINGLE DAY. PURE PERFECTION ❤🎉
Stop screaming 😕
What I love about May in these types of interviews is that he really understands the fan and audience. He must have been asked similar questions 1000s of times of the years but he always keeps things fresh and recalls with genuine fondness.
God, I love Brian May. So smart, gentle, eloquent, humorous , humble, interesting and with one final sidebar, one of the best guitarists in rock history!
Freddie would love this. ❤
No. Lmfao.
Tf do you know?
@@mercuryisaliteraljoke.5595 lol why not
A nice sentiment but you really don't know that
He is not the greatest vocalist of all time. He is most definitely the most overrrated vocalist of all time. On top of being a coke, alcohol and sex addict. @@JonahNelson7
He talks about Freddie in the present tense which is one the most beautifully sad things I’ve heard
I kid you not, just this morning I was driving around, thinking to myself "Rick should do a WMTSG on BH. Even though it's overplayed, oversaturated, and I'm almost tired of hearing it, this recording is so deep and so layered and so complex, Rick can resurrect the fascination within us by dissecting this masterpiece, rendering it new again." And that's exactly what you have done. Bravo! This may be the best WMTSG thus far! Thank you. Mr. Beato.
The reason he has not before now is that whoever handles the rights to Queen's music is very very very very aggressive with take downs. Rick could do a video on the 20 greatest cold guitar openings, literally have 5 seconds of something from Queen and see the whole video of it pulled. It has happened to him time and time again. It is only the live interview with Dr. Brian May that is keeping it from happening this time. Which I am very glad for. This song deserves the WMTSG treatment, Dr. Brian May is always insightful and a pleasure to listen to. Rick pulled out all the stops on this one. Almost 40 minutes long on what has to be one of the greatest rock songs ever recorded.
Rick, I guess you realize this is the best _What Makes This Song Great_ that you've ever produced.
Certainly the one we've all been waiting for.
Brian’s humble reaction to Rick saying how Queen are so well known to the new generation reminded me of the time I briefly met him after a solo concert in ‘92. I was 16, overawed and I talked silly childish nonsense at him for a moment - and he just responded with kindness, humility and respect. That stayed with me.
Didn’t he try and get you backstage?
The fact that he's explaining how COMPLEX this recording is goes to show how much of a MUSICAL MASTERMIND MONSTER Freddie was. He was a WHOOOLE lot more than a powerful voice, flashy stage behavior and good looks. He was a GODZILLA LEVEL musician/ artist....simply untouchable. 💎💎💎💎💎
The more u know, the bigger that godzilla becomes lol
Absolutely right! 👌 And he wasn't even 30 yet, when he composed this!
Brian May was genuinely emotional at the end of the video. Here's one of the world's greatest rockstars actually being grateful to *us* that we are listening to his music.
The word appears to be getting out; instead of blocking it makes good business sense to keep your music relevant and talked about as much as possible. Rick, you are probably single-handedly responsible for this change in business philosophy. Congratulations on getting Brian May to sit down and talk about this song. A real feather in your cap and I see this interview opening a lot more doors for you in the future. “Well Brian May will sit down and talk with Rick about music so if I do it that it means I am in the same orbit as Brian.”
I truly hope you are right, there are so many classic rock artists I’d love to hear talk about their creations.
It’s amazing that their just figuring that out now!
Just invite the artist to participate! Who'd a thunk it?
Frustratingly, dude on skateboard drinking cranberry probably had more impact to opening this door, but at least it's opening.
Brian May is one of the coolest dudes alive right now. He's a freaking astrophysicist rockstar...
Buckaroo Banzai was Brian May's secret love child!
@@Fakeaorta hahaha. I had to look that one up.
Who also made his own one of a kind electric guitar!
@@jasonstanford and it's one of the most bad ass guitars ever too
he also has the world's largest sixpence coin collection
Man. Queen is once in a lifetime.
Jesus, when you solo Freddie's vocals it literally sends CHILLS down my spine!!! Brian May was precisely right - it sounds like a phaser effect, but it isn't. Freddie's vocal control is so PRECISE that he can phase with himself! It's just beyond belief! What an amazing talent he had!
shivers you mean. My favourite song ever. video released on my birthday. great present. ;) if could do one day again in my life, it would be my first queen concert. Freddie 4 ever.
And EMI didn't want to publish it because it ran longer than the three minute timeslot of radio broadcast. More fool them.
I watched an analys video and they went into detail about the machine he must have used to create the fase!
bit surprised when I explained it was just Freddie being precise!
I don't think that's what he meant by they would "phase together", in fact I think he meant the exact opposite. The phaser effect happens when you duplicate a track and the peaks of the sound wave have a slight offset such that they do not align exactly and is something that happens almost every time something is double-tracked which would need to be fixed in production. What Brian was saying was that Freddie was so precise with his singing that when recording You Take My Breath Away he managed to even align the phase of his vocal tracks (i.e. the result had no offset)
@@atrumluminarium I think when Brian says 'they phased with each other' I think he actually meant phase offset, which is the point of a choir or self-harmonization. It's not at all the same thing a phaser does, though, it's more akin to the chorus (named after choral performance for this very reason) and I also happen to have the track stems for Bohemian Rhapsody - Freddie's amazing, don't get me wrong.
But NOBODY has the degree of vocal control you're implying where people control the phase relationship with precision - the wavelength of these frequencies would be in the multi-cm range (assuming an average of 4KHz in a 20C room) and human vocal chords just cannot control wavelengths of this size with the accuracy you imply.
The reason chorusing happens is not due to the wave period, it's due to the misalignments resulting from natural timing and pitch variations that occur when you either group together a bunch of different singers (ie a chorus/choir) or layer a ton of self-harmonized vocal takes.
Again, this comment is not at all to discredit Freddie, he's an amazing vocalist and the lush vocal textures he created indeed produce the constructive and destructive wave pattern interference that creates the chorus effect, which is why these lush vocal textures sound so rich and so thick.
Don't forget, It wasn't quite enough for Brian May to be a legendary musician, he's a PhD in Astrophysics, too.
Amazing breakdown of an amazing song.
I agree. Dr Becky covered his PhD work a couple of years ago. Fascinating
Not just your average guitar player, that's for sure.
@@sandybarnes887 and Scott Manley converted his PhD as well
Do you know what makes this so great? It’s that Rick has no ego here, sits back and listens to Brian. Sometimes people feel the need to “prove” themselves in this situations and speak too much. Stunning work
Absolutely! There were parts where you think he'd chime in with his own experiences/opinions, but nope, kept his mouth shut and just listened. Set it up, asked the question and listened. Good stuff.
Well put. Rick has undetectable Ego. Therefore in zero need of one. Just presence, and appreciation, and joy. In the moment, is our man.
Nice to see the living legend that is Brian May joining you Rick. I grew up in the late 70s and through the 80s, when Queen were at their absolute peak and loved them. Now my seventeen year old daughter, without any encouragement from me, has also found them and absolutely loves their music. Out of curiosity I asked her why she doesn't follow or play anything in the charts like I used to when I was her age. Her answer, 'because it's all crap'.
she is spot on.. I lived through 60s,70s and 80s.. Thats all I play now.. apart from classical music.. Electric and rap....aaaaaah
This may be the BEST “What Makes This Song Great” in the history of the series. Thank you, Rick. Well done. Thank you, Brian May! This song is a touchstone for my generation, and for my children’s. You boys created a transcendent body of work!
Easily the best, and there have been some good ones too so the competition is tough!
It’s INCREDIBLE that Brian joined you…He sounds like a genuinely nice guy too. Just brilliant.
Rick im crying and yelling here, you got stuff out of Brian that he has rarely spoken about in such depth, I've seen him interviewed a million times over 40 years. WOW
This is in my humble opinion the best song ever created.
Brilliant indeed. Have you heard The March Of The Black Queen from two albums previous when they were still developing their skills? It's a bit more raw, perhaps more ambitious, and the untethered Queen that I prefer.
@Conor K March of the Black Queen is one of my favourite songs ever. I just Queen would have released it as a single, that way they would have preformed more of it live, compared to just 2 minutes
Thank God for QUEEN.
Bohemian Rhapsody.
nah, the show must go on is
Years from now someone is going to do a “What makes this video great”, and this will be the standard. Awesome, Rick.
Brian May seems like a genuinely nice guy that wouldn't mind talking to anyone which is pretty cool by itself. He's probably not given enough credit sound wise. I mean everyone loves Queen and all but it's kind of a whole band thing. That dude crushes it. I think this would be cool for other upcoming what makes this song so great videos. Nice to get some input from the artists for sure.
No one else can truly fill the roll of Freddie. The same can be said of Brian.
Brian likes liberty...but only if its licensed.
Yeah, he's pretty chill and humble.
He's the chillest friendliest most down to earth (see what I did there ) world renowned rock star / astrophysicist
@@JohnSmith-km7qy And he enjoys liberty...but only if it's licensed. A real humanitarian.
As overplayed as this song is, as much as I think “oh no, not BH again” when it starts playing at parties or any kind of get together, you just can’t stop listening and singing every time. Every time. Thank you for your passion ❤️
It's not just a popular classic, it's incredibly creative, musically complex song at the same time. Very rare.
That was me as well, when I saw this title pop up. But I watched it, as I never skip any one in this series of videos. I watched it all the way through, my eyes are watery right now, and this is definitely Rick’s best one yet.
yeah, I don't really listen to it for that reason. A bit like Hotel California (another brilliant song). This was really nice to watch through though - very much appreciated the break down of it, Brian May, and it really made me appreciate it again as a masterwork piece of music.
Bohemiam rhapsody is possibly one of the greatest song of all times, I love it, my parents loved it and my kids love it. It has truly stood the test of time.
Unfortunately, if it were written today, would it even get released?
Sadly you’ve made an excellent point
I think if queen was in fact around today and they decided to release Bohemian Rhapsody it would do well,considering how well it’s compromised
Were it released today it wouldn’t gain as much attention as way back then simply because todays market is very fragmented.
I loved it, my sons love it, and my grandsons are beginning to love it.
@@Andrey_Yurkoff I've got to disagree. I think Queen is one of the very very few bands that you could move to any era, and would be just as successful even with the exact same songs. I think Freddie Mercury had an extremely unique presence, he was almost too big personality wise to not be successful.
Just an absolute masterpiece of music. I'll never get tired of hearing this song and I could listen to Brian talk about Freddie all day long
Rick finally does Queen AND gets Brian May to appear?! This man has officially reached god status.
Actually Rick has to do one ABBA song and then he gets the god status.
Yeah- If he can manage to get Anni Frid from ABBA on the show I will call him God of the matrix.
But..- he won’t
@@Evilyoo never say never
@@Evilyoo Why not? I'm not disagreeing, just wondering why he wouldn't?
@@GjergjMero what song would Rick do? Dancing Queen would be a deserving choice, but I feel there's gotta be one that's stronger.
Just when I think there are no more "great" songs left for Rick to showcase, he comes up with another jewel. This is one of, if not THE best WMTSG ever!
The mine is barely scratched for Rick to mine!
He took his time with this one and it's well worth the wait!
...and Rick hasn't even done any ELO songs yet...
@@darthmoll1225 ...or 10cc...
Brian's solo on this tune is, in my opinion, perhaps the greatest guitar solo ever made.. Its a song within a song, almost it's own being, played with a perfect amount of feel. Anytime I'm called into the studio for a lead guitar session I think about this solo when writing my own. How can I write something so memorable and "Sing-songy", compliment the lead vocal but not copy it.. Use some great technique without showing off and over playing.. It's really as close to a perfect guitar solo as they come.
Breaking down BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY with Prof. Brian May is like having an interview with MOZART as he explains his Symphony No. 41 Jupiter. Incredible!
A TRUE MASTERPIECE for the ages
Thank You Rick!
for sure...what a great contribution ..since i was 15 i was into queen,,,,the intro into Keep Yourself Alive still gives me a rush
You are so right. So lucky to have this
It's Wayne's World, Wayne's World, Party Time, Excellent!!!!!!
I loved listening to the interview in its entirety… my daughter used to love to listen to this song, because it was very interesting to her. Now she has grown up, and has a DMA in Vocal Performance, in, of all things, Opera! She has quite a wide range in her repertoire. Luckily, each of her schools has been generous in the production of many of the great classic operas. But, I often like to think it was this beloved song that had a hand in determining her love of music, and her life’s work.
❤️ 🎼 🎹 🎻 ❤️ 🎶 🎵 〰️〰️ ❤️ 🎺 🪕 🥁 ❤️ 🎼 🎹 🎤❤️
SO well put!!
Back in '75, my first listen of Bohemian Rhapsody warped a malleable teenage mind in ways that no other single piece of music has ever done. That imprint is indelible. Thank you, Queen.
We sat in front of a tiny stereo and our jaws dropped. Never heard such majestic sound. Our parents thought: This is how madness sounds.
Agree. And it even sounded fantastic on dolby AM radio!
Imagine what Xanadu, by Rush can do to a teen! I was/am terrified of and obsessed with that song!
It was 1988 for me, and yes, same impact.
Yep! Right there with you!😁
The last 20 seconds or so was the most I’ve ever wanted to weep with awe, inspiration, sadness and joy watching Rick’s videos.
Rick, you are really creating a piece of history here. Nobody ever broke down this music piece in this way.
So dankie meneer. (Just means Thank you Mister. in Afrikaans)
One of the most extraordinary examples of music education using theory and oral history I have ever seen. It was fascinating, accessible and enjoyable. Reminded me of Leonard Bernstein's programs. Thank you, Rick Beato.
Hadn't thought of that juxtaposition: Bernstein / Beato, but now that you have, it fits perfectly
:) Bernstein also got very lost in the music. Check out the photograph of Bernstein having a cigarette after a gig. He's a total rockstar in it.
Old school musicians had the talent to be able to make records in this way, it was lovely listening to Brian May's recollections. Rick, great interview, great video.
I think the most important lesson is when May talks about being on key, but not too much on key. It's important to keep the emotion and feeling.
Rick looks like a 6-year-old meeting Iron Man!
And yes, I too remember "bouncing".
Rick, you may never see this, but I have to comment... I'm not sure if you would call this an analysis, a de-construction, a dissection... But whatever, it was one of the most incredible 40 minutes of my musical life. Like, EVER. Thank you SO much for this amazing interview and explanation. Am I ever glad I found your stuff!!
One of the most emotional episodes ever, moved me to tears. Rick "Epic" Beato did it again....
“We very rarely did edits…we kept doing it until we got it right” - We need more musicians like this
Literally almost the exact opposite of a lot of musicians today, relying too much on editing and effects
Brian's descriptions of his solo as another voice, temporarily taking part in the story and handing it back to Freddy... 🤯
Yes. I didn't discover Queen until a year ago, but its clear in videos: Freddy with his vocal cords and Brian with his guitar, were often singing duets.
@@veramae4098 You’re so right.
You could go to any of the kids at my school and play some random rock song from that 70s-80s era of music and they won’t know them but they’ll always recognize Queen. Just goes to show how big of a legacy this group forged in their day.
Brian May’s sound - a guitar he and his dad made out of a fireplace with out of phase pickups, an amp made out of an old radio playing through a speaker rescued from a skip …. just incredible
With a coin as a pick no less
@@maykstuff I started using a coin because of Brian.
and a Deacy Amp
Wasn’t that fireplace outta a castle as well?
The pickups can be in or out of phase.
What I love about groups like Queen - and this is really important - is that they were *craftsmen* as well as artists. This is why you could get tunes like “Liar”, “Bohemian Rhapsody” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “Another One Bites the Dust” from the same band…they were artistically prolific and diverse, and also had the CRAFTSMANSHIP to pull off their vision. Listening to Brian May explain the vocal tracking process, it’s very no-nonsense, methodical, workmanlike attitudes; just like how a mechanic, electrician or or woodworker goes about their business. Admirable. Much respect to Queen!!
What is this - groups like Queen? Queen are absolutely unique. No one can touch them. BR has 30 chords changed about 160 times. What bands do this complexity?
@@ilper1625 I think he means to say "bands that create handmade music".
@@ilper1625 With all due respect, I have to add the Beatles to brilliant musicians as well. The Beatles and Queen are the only two groups that belong on the top pyramid of amazing musical pieces.
These amazing artists think outside of singing/playing a single music note. Thank God they have such a fire in their belly about getting their music out just like they hear it in their heads.
We are so fortunate to be able to appreciate all their hard work.
Bohemian Rhapsody I have on repeat sometimes.
This was a fantastic video and breakdown of this song.
Bravo Rick 👏
It's pretty clear what he means with "groups like Queen". Go right ahead throwing in Pink Floyd in there. The amount of work that went into PF's records and their tinkering with any piece of equipment they could get their hands on is staggering.
Those songs are not even their good ones.😉
If this series had to end with this episode, we could all die happily. What a song and what a breakdown of the song. Rick, your job is done. Thank you.
Agreed!
But that doesn’t mean we want you to stop, Rick!
Yup. This is a masterpiece.
I feel for the young generations now that will never hear incredible rock music like Queen. Every concert was beautifully original. Most of today’s music sounds alike. One reason to be grateful for living through the 70’s, 80’s.
Brian May is the king of subtle guitar parts. So many Queen songs where he plays only a couple of long notes. He’s always supporting the song, never the other way around.
I find Rick Beato extremely amazing. How he hears such minute detail is incredible.
It’s amazing
And his ability to express the analasis (spelling?) impresses me
@@Samson16436 It's spelled 'Analysis' but otherwise your English is very good
Ditto
Think Rick is having fun? Oh yeah.
Brian May blows me away with his home-brew guitar, and slapped together out of trash amp, and makes a sound like nothing else. What an incredible guy he is.
I think it cost him 16 pounds to build at the time...amazing
It was John Deacon who built the amp they were talking about.
Brian May is so generously talking ablut the incredible talents Freddie had... what a lovely man to be able to speak so lovingly about Freddie not himself. That is truly brotherly love. Thank you, Brian...I was fascinated learning so much from you & Rick Beato , it is truly wonderful to learn about this music you all created together.
I LOVED Rick’s face as he was listening to Brian describing the the recording process!! He looks like he’s ready to explode with joy!!! Which is fitting! this song brings me total joy as well!! So many rock songs may be cool, or “angsty”, or dark, but VERY FEW can produce pure joy! (That’s in SPITE of the “poor boy” lyrics!! Joy just from the artistic BEAUTY!!!
AMAZING doesn’t even begin to describe the genius and gifted talent contained in this creation!!
Hahah I just dropped a similar comment without reading yours, You are so right!!!👏👏
I was about to say the same thing. Always love the look on Rick's face when he is immersed in a song.......
Rick, Bryan talking about how the tracks not being perfectly in tune makes the song BIG, and you agreeing with a "I KNOW" face, cause you just said that in an recent video, was really GOLD for who follows your videos
We’ve heard this song so many times that I thought “do I really want to listen to pieces of it for 38 minutes?”. Seeing Dr. May would be chiming in, I thought “why not?”.
I’m so glad I did. I heard things I never expected and teared up as Brian almost did near the end. This was epic, Rick! Congratulations!