Bowie started basically in 1969, Queen in 1971 but their first album came out 1973. Freddie Mercury may be the greatest frontman ever (greatest live performance ever, Queen at Live Aid), but Bowie is no slouch and is a fantastic entertainer and songwriter. Both were very distinctive, and influential. So the question is who do you prefer. Not A choice must be made or millions of people will die! I am going with Bowie…barely.
I hope this poll doesn’t put too many of you Under Pressure.
I like a lot of Queen stuff (my first ever single bought with my own pocket money was by Queen), and there’s few bands that could compete with them live, but Bowie, well Bowie had a run of albums from the early 1970s until the 1980s that is really quite extraordinary. Hunky Dory to Let’s Dance is a long strange journey.
Queen, because Brian May made his own guitars. Bowie fails because of that monstrosity of a video he did with Jagger.
Bowie has such a wide variety of stuff that I’m bound to dislike some of it, but it seems a bit unfair to hold that against him.
Queen, hands down - and not just because I’m currently working at We Will Rock You.
They’re both awesome. To me, Queen was awesomer.
Confused-where’s the option for Roxy Music at?
Back in the day, I might have said Bowie. But now, it’s Queen all the way. Their music seems to have aged better, at least to me. It still sounds relevant, while most of Bowie’s stuff sounds dated to my ears.
To me, not comparable - both had glam in their appearance, but Queen are over-the-top Stadium-level entertainers; Bowie is a quirky, persona-and-style-changing innovator.
Space Oddity will never be irrelevant!
No, that did not happen. It does not exist. La la la la la la I cant hear you la la la.
Bowie by a nose.
No contest. Queen is enjoyable. Bowie is brilliant (though as inconsistent as someone who has repeatedly reinvented himself is bound to be).
Wouldn’t that be John Deacon by a nose?
Well, I’d say Bowie went from being inconsistent to downright shitty after Let’s Dance (which was 30 years ago). Queen’s last 3 albums or so were no masterpieces, either, but they didn’t suck for nearly as long, so I’d give them the edge.
They didn’t exist for nearly as long.
Bowie. It’s not even close in my mind. I can think of dozens of Bowie songs I’d like to cover, and only one Queen song.
I can’t believe Queen is winning in the poll right now. I hate when the SDMB is wrong.
Love them both, but to me, it’s Queen all the way. I can listen to them for hours on end.
I went with Queen.
To qualify my answer, I’ll state up front that I’ve never been a huge fan of either act, though I did purchase Queen’s Crazy Little Thing Called Love single back when I was in junior high school. As such, for both acts I’m really only familiar with their radio material, and utterly unfamiliar with their deeper album cuts.
That said, I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve heard from Queen. Bowie, not so much. The quirkiness of Space Oddity interested me, but aside from that I can’t really think of anything of his that I could actually say I liked. I hear people say he’s “brilliant”, and frankly, I have to assume that his “brilliance” relates to image and persona, cuz I just don’t hear it in the music. In that regard, I have to put Bowie in the same box with Pink Floyd: I have the utmost respect for them as musicians and acknowledge their success, but whatever they’re doing that supposed to be so amazing, I just ain’t hearing it. Maybe it’s because I’ve never done drugs.
…and I can’t believe it is as close as it is, 29-18 as of this posting. I’m sure the gap will widen.