Musical Analysis/Breakdown of Queen - Death On Two Legs

#reaction #queen #deathontwolegs #analysis #queenreaction
☕ Coffee fund - www.buymeacoffee.com/JWsoundworks
🅿 Join me on PATREON - www.patreon.com/JWSoundworks
🎹 🎶 Piano Commissions - ko-fi.com/jwsoundworks
🎹 🎶 Piano Reductions Vol. 1- jwsoundworks.bandcamp.com/album/piano-reductions-vol-1
🎸 🎶 Original music & covers - jwsoundworks.bandcamp.com/
KZbin - www.youtube.com/@JWsoundwork5
Insta - jwsoundworks_2
-----------------------------
JW Soundworks (Original Music/Covers)
KZbin - www.youtube.com/@JWsoundwork5
Bandcamp - jwsoundworks.bandcamp.com/
Spotify - open.spotify.com/artist/3OQqYFSIfXLpJrSrZiGit5?si=x2i9CdKvRSG-QIbS3a7zfw
Instagram - jw.soundworks
Facebook - JWsoundwork5/
TikTok - www.tiktok.com/@jwsoundworks?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
---------------
John Wilson - Piano Videos / Lessons
KZbin - www.youtube.com/@johnwilson_onlinepianolessons
Website - www.johnwilson-onlinepianolessons.com/
Instagram - johnwilson_onlinepianolessons
Facebook - JohnWilsonOnlinePianoLessons/
---------------
DIAMIR (my band)
KZbin - kzbin.info/door/QXEormaEbxTWsXZxwiCvhw
Facebook - DiamirBand
Instagram - diamir.band_ni
Bandcamp - diamir.bandcamp.com/
Spotify -open.spotify.com/artist/4tAGr5K3zx9wj5mUlrX2rx?si=M6Yx_l4WQGyj2BLKtl4vxw
----------------------------

[@JWSoundworks2]

As UMG On behalf of: EMI have claimed the monetisation for my video; if you enjoyed my video and would like to support me to make more, you can do so via any of the links below: ☕ Coffee fund! - www.buymeacoffee.com/JWsoundworks 🅿 Join me on PATREON - www.patreon.com/JWSoundworks 🎹 🎶 Piano Commissions - ko-fi.com/jwsoundworks 🎹 🎶 Piano Reductions Vol. 1- jwsoundworks.bandcamp.com/album/piano-reductions-vol-1 🎸 🎶 Original music & covers - jwsoundworks.bandcamp.com/ Thank you for your support, JW

[@AndreasPhilipp]

Finally someone who appreciates the not so well known songs of this masterful band 😊

[@kimd.9070]

I have listened to this numerous times, and you pointed out things I have never noticed. I usually get so caught up in the lyrics, I have missed a lot of the beauty of the instrumentation. Thanks!

[@PK--ITA]

Me too. And i know that band since '90, Ok, i'm young man.

[@milton1448]

Brian had one of the best guitar tones back then. Always enjoyed his playing. Good pick

[@elpenza]

my first love when it comes to music and I still listen to Queen frequently. I remember listening to "live killers" the most for it was(and still is) one of my favorite Queen albums. The live version of this song is fantastic on that album. Great to see you are honoring musical heroes from the past like this, great reaction, keep m coming!

[@JWSoundworks2]

Thanks Stefan! Oh there shall be more Queen, don't worry! :D

[@donrichards271]

I can see myself talking to a friend about this reaction - "He got so into it he caused himself an injury", "Really, what song was it?", "Death on two legs by Queen", "Makes sense then".

[@BostonBobby1961]

From a composition point of view, Freddie does a great job with leading you and one direction and he goes in a different direction with his chord progressions. Just brilliant.

[@BostonBobby1961]

I'm 62 years old. I bought and listened to this album over and over back in 1976 which I was 15 years old.

[@martinaalderink7773]

I am right there with ya John... arguably one of May`s best technical perfect master pieces on guitar. This how i like the band best. Right into your face. Reminds me of some other channel that says : May doesn`t play solo`s...... May makes his guitar sing its part in the song.

[@dianecourtney2724]

Great comment

[@merqury5]

Absolutely joy to watch this with you. So glad you devoted some of your time to sharing your observations. The early Queen albums were intellectual musical journeys. Them coupled with Baker made incredible pieces of art. Brian may has his stamp all over it. His brain worked in incredible detail and method. I recall engineers saying that when they were to do guitar parts they brought their sleeping bags. Myself I've noticed the wealth of sounds he uses. With guitar and amp settings combined with microphone techniques. Not to mention his incomparable techniques. The extensive use of feedback. I dont think you can quite reproduce all of this even with todays modellers alone, it takes alot of talent on top. Glad you also noted Johns exquisite bass lines. Often overlooked. What a band. They reign.

[@stefanboskovic4724]

I can't agree more. My all time favourite band and an epic song

[@stuarthartley7428]

Congratulations, finally somebody with ears. I expect I have listened to this more than you,mainly because I’m older & am a massive Queen fan. Loved the way you went through this. Sometimes you have to force yourself to listen to other guitar parts or harmonies etc otherwise the dominant melody will drag your ears away. I think you are also correct with the small details that don’t happen by accident. Such a lot of effort missed by many unfortunately. Thank you. Nice job.

[@richardscales9560]

One of my all time favourite tracks for the intro alone. The guitar sounds, sharp, biting and acid.

[@ZENOBlAmusic]

Great analysis! I really enjoyed your intro video as well! Queen and Freddie Mercury did a lot of these defibrate details. The music or the composition tells just as much of the story as the lyrics. It is a shame that someone like Freddie Mercury never sat down with someone and explained all of his musical choices, but on the other hand people who are usually well versed in musical theory can usually understand these songs much better just from exploring the chords and the structure. I am sure you are right about the idea of some parts of the music changing or being added to show you that they did not get what they signed up for. I am glad you mentioned how you can hear the venom from Freddie's voice. It is one thing to be a good singer, but it takes a great singer to extract and display the exact emotion of the song thought their singing. Freddie was a master at relating and extracting the correct emotion through his singing. Brian May was a master at doing something similar with his guitar, as you pointed out, the different tones and moods his guitar adds to song is unique. Funny you should start singing Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon, I was waiting for that song to being! lol

[@JWSoundworks2]

Great comment! Thanks!

[@dianecourtney2724]

I FEEL GOOD !!! Where have you been all my life? Feel like crying 😢 You ‘ hear’ them. ( hope your finger’s alright )

[@JWSoundworks2]

Thank you, Diane 😊

[@loveym8879]

This was awesome. Thanks. Please break down one of Freddie's early masterpieces - My fairy king from Queen I or the three songs From the album Queen II that smoothly transition from one to the next so that they should be listened to together: Ogre Battle, Ferry Feller's master stroke and Nevermore.

[@JWSoundworks2]

I wonder would my students mind if i just cancelled a week's lessons and did everything from the first 3 or 4 Queen albums?! 😅 Someone, years ago, asked me what my top 5 albums would be and I think I said the first 4 Queen albums would account for 4/5 - without taking a breath! lol.

[@PK--ITA]

Man, this is a masterpiece. I didn't know the title of the song until I heard it :) Of course, I know it. For me, all these "effects" are guitar, something like "effects" for Van Halen '. It's so..... Queen 😍😍😍 so epic.

[@HealthAtAnyCost]

I know these songs in my sleep, but you showed me things I had never seen before. Thank you! Just wow. I heard this for the first time... for the 100th.

[@deboraclark5791]

I just love this song, sooo vicious 🤣 The next song after this is so happy, like they are really enjoying life, kind of another stab at the old management. Love it. Great analysis.

[@JWSoundworks2]

Ha! I never thought of that before - good point! :D

[@BurningFlame08]

I believe the low 'cello' sound was just John's bass I believe. And the siren's were Brian's guitar probably ran through some tape delay with some extra effects most likely?

[@alexandersturzu444]

I love how you went straight into 'Lazing on a Sunday afternoon'. I used to have all the Queen albums on cassettes growing up, and in my mind the single songs of each album are merged into A-side and B-side.😄

[@i8granola]

I loved this! Thanks for pointing out those little things. Brings new life to the song!

[@tomvenner6030]

One of my fav Queen songs!

[@JuanSan66]

What a song, what an album, what a year... Great job!. Nostalgia...

[@eminabrestovac]

this one is my fav from queen, so dramatic!

[@Marco-Duck]

Best queen reaction in youtube. Finally!! Thanks!!

[@JWSoundworks2]

Thank you 😊

[@maryadamec124]

Thanks, that was quite an analysis, kinda like the song, "way out there"... but in a good way!! This was always my favorite song in any (and all, btw) concert was when Freddie would "moon" the audience as his "salute" to Mr. Sheffield... for telling him he would never amount to anything... boy, did he ever get that wrong! LEGENDS NEVER DIE... thanks again, really enjoyed that. Blessings.

[@aussiebloke609]

I love how the piano wanders around in the intro. it puts me in mind of someone who's pacing restlessly around the room before exploding in a torrent of anger and vitriol.

[@sagebooker]

thanks again for pointing all thoses 'little" things we don't hear at first

[@JWSoundworks2]

You're welcome!

[@lisaargyrou1488]

Wow 🥰 beautiful Freddie ❤️ that's one of my favorite Freddie's songs ❤️ thank you for your wonderful analysis 😍❤️ Freddie Mercury ❤️

[@aryansigrid]

Thanks for doing some Queen John, I actually suggested Queen as a place to start way back at the beginning when you started your channel, I was just trying to suggest the idea, I noticed people around the world were wanting to know so much more about Queen @ that time, especially from Music-Reaction & Music-Analysis channels . I know you didn't ask originally, I noticed you were a new comer & thought I'd stare you in a direction just to get your channel 'out there' a bit, you were new. When you said you wore the Queen VHS tape out & so you didn't see the point in going there with Queen I thought, well I tried. I was actually coming from a viewers/subscribers point of view as I noticed so much 'newfound' interest in Queen. Many moons later and you do Queen, out there dude? (Personally I can only put up with Queen in Small doses.) 🤭

[@JWSoundworks2]

Thanks for the comment. When I started the reactions I hadn't considered doing videos on songs I'd already heard. And I couldn't do a reaction to any queen songs because I've heard them all, multiple times lol. But now I know that people also enjoy these breakdown videos I will be doing more. 😊👍

[@shadokat]

Night at the Opera is my favorite Queen album and I was right there with you rocking out to this song. I wonder if you had the same feeling during the part of the song that goes "you never had a heart of your own." The guitar or whatever instrument that played that next sound reminded me of a turkey gobbling, and I wondered if Freddie was using the sound to call his former manager a "turkey." That was/is an insult after all. What do you think? Queen was special and I agree that they can't be overshadowed. Recently, though, you compared Nightwish to Queen and that cemented my "fan-ship" of you. Nightwish is another band the likes of which don't come along very often. The fact that they've both existed in my lifetime makes me feel very privileged. I'm not a musician so I can't see the songs the way you do, but I love the way you talk about music. It's definitely in your soul. I love your reactions and analyses. Thank you for putting the spotlight on one of my favorite Queen songs. I like a lot of the weird stuff. Tenement Funster. Flick of the Wrist. Teo Torriate. Seven Seas of Rhye. And yes, the song you mentioned in the Nightwish video. Who Wants to Live Forever. Thanks for your fantastic channel. Keep doing what you do. You are great at it.

[@susanmarks2382]

Great reaction, my favourite band. Their Live Aid set stole the show and every other artist knew it.

[@JWSoundworks2]

🎵🎸Moody, atmospheric, instrumental , one-man-band prog? Right this way 👇 kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z5-6lmadlJyjp6M

[@Flesharrower]

Would you ever do the whole album at once? The way each song flows into the next...

[@gaztl1000s]

Listening to the early queen stuff, especially with headphones,well it should be part of school music lessons, just listening to what can come from a blank sheet of paper, the sheer wizardry from the hands of Roy Thomas baker, especially considering the technology available to them back then, just listening to the video of the making of bohemian rhapsody, and the one for prophet song, just shows you the skill for all involved, and music like that should be listened to and appreciated by all from a young age, it may improve the standard of song writing and production, that to me and my ears, is missing from the more modern stuff

[@BostonBobby1961]

No one ever mentions the vocal interruptions. Not sure what that technique is, but where he sings a line and every other line he interrupts himself. They do it on Keep Yourself Alive and Ogre Battle.

[@JWSoundworks2]

It’s done by skipping out every other line when recording through first time, and then going back to the beginning and doing another run through but instead singing the lines that were left out the first time. That’s how you achieve the “overlapping” effect in the lead vocal. I’ve never heard anyone ever explain why it’s done before, but when I’ve used the same technique recording my own music it’s normally because there is very little time for the singer to catch a breath between the lines, or it sounds better having the two lines overlap than having a “rushed” breath between. As a byproduct it also creates a cool effect anyway, and is something you can’t recreate live. So at the very least, as an artistic decision, it gives the song an otherworldly vibe because of the unnatural delivery of the vocal sentences.

[@BostonBobby1961]

@@JWSoundworks2 I know Queen was very experimental in the recording studio. There’s a KZbin video where Roy Thomas Baker explains how they achieved the cannon vocal section of Prophet’s Song. Using multiple recording machines with analog tape draped over fans fed from one machine to the other. This was recorded before the days of digital recording. Absolutely mind blowing what boundaries they pushed.

[@dac2007]

Do "The Prophet Song" next!

[@betseyclark2832]

I really liked your Breakdown of this Queen song. I's be interested to hear what you have to say on some of their other songs, as they are more complex than most of the rock songs of that time: Flick of the Wrist, Millionaire Waltz, March of the Black Queen.

[@jeroens9160]

Glorious job, John. Perhaps you should do the album in sequence, but spare yourself by not doing it in one session

[@JWSoundworks2]

Thank you very much!

[@rianvandenhoof4124]

The more Nightwish I love the more it`s because I`m a huge Queen fan.......... all the hidden musical diamonds shine through their music........ and the awesome singing of Freddie these days. My favorite....the Prophet`s song....I think from a day at the races....not sure.

[@shadokat]

Prophet Song is also on A Night at the Opera. It's a favorite of mine too. 🤘

[@Alicatt1]

thanks for showing some of the insights into the construction of this. Been a long time Queen fan, sad also as my boxed set of Queen records (The Complete Works) as well as all my Queen videos were a victim of my divorce so I can't throw them on the turntable and give them a listen ... I'll have to make do with the cassettes I made of them to play in the car. Question, there was an old kirk in Glasgow that my uncle took me to where a lot of musicians used to hang out and make music, is it still there? I moved away at the turn of the century and lost contact with the music scene in the area.

[@JWSoundworks2]

Thanks for watching - glad you enjoyed! It's been a long time since I've listened to a cassette - but they were the glory days when you were less likely to skip something and just listen to it anyway! Miss them because of that. I'm not Scottish dude. I'm from Belfast, Northern Ireland. A lot of people seem to think I'm Scottish from my accent, though! 😊🤘

[@Alicatt1]

@@JWSoundworks2 ☺ Doh! Funny that, lots of British people used to say my wife sounds like she comes from Ireland, after years with me they now say she is Scottish, she is Flemish :) I used to make cassettes for a recording studio, Grampian Records in Wick Scotland, a very long time ago! I did the engineering and quality control of the high speed tape duplication plant as well as look after the recording studio.

[@JWSoundworks2]

@@Alicatt1 you're gettin' fairly North there, up in Wick! I've not been there before but I've been over to the Highlands a few times now. Beautiful part of the world! That sounds pretty cool! My bro bought an old reel to reel machine a couple of years ago as he's into vintage gear. Would've loved to have seen the bands recording onto tape back in the day!

[@Alicatt1]

@@JWSoundworks2 we did mostly jock jumping music or Scottish folk music, we had a 16 to 8 mixing desk to a Studor 8 track 1" tape deck and then that could be mixed down to a stereo 1/4" tape again a Studor deck the cassette was mastered onto 1" tape to be played back in an endless loop at 32x, cassette tape was on 12" reels and recorded on a bank of slave recorders they were made by Cetek Gauss. That was my first job after becoming an engineer in 1976.

[@shadokat]

@@JWSoundworks2 you have to forgive a lot of us Americans. We often can't tell Irish from Scottish and some of us even get British mixed up in that. Even worse, there are those who will lump in Australians and they are on the other side of the world from you! We definitely can't decipher regional accents. I'm not going to insult you by saying you all sound the same, because you don't. But lots of us just aren't very good with accents. We should learn to listen better. 😊

[@damonhammond1223]

Good Company please

[@topmandog1]

please do lazing on a sunday afternoon