As I've said, many of the songs on the album are great, with but a few small exceptions. The only real stinker here being the epilogue track 'God Save The Queen' which I usually skip through anyway, the less potent songs are still decent rockers that aren't out of place on this album. There's a very prevalent classical influence on the album. From the operatic harmonies of Freddie Mercury in the bombastic climax of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' to the erudite piano introduction to 'Death Of Two Legs,' it really sounds like Queen is making a brand of classical music for the new generation of music.
That's certainly not the only style shown on the album however. The most personal and moving track '39' delves straight into the realm of skiffle-folk. On another note, the most progressive song on the album, 'The Prophet Song' takes a much heavier approach, and has even been called by some as being the first 'power metal' song ever done althought I tend to disagree personally.
The best known song here is easily 'Bohemian Rhapsody' which is the climax of the album. I can't say this for many songs I've listened to, but the performance on 'Bohemian Rhapsody' is well near perfect.
With the great load of effort and talent that was put into this album, it's not hard to say that this is a masterpiece. It's not one of my favourite albums, but the world would not be the same without this gem of music.
This is one to cherish. Guitars, they attracts me here most. It's simply something that Brian May can do very well and I'll always admire him for it. Even there's basically only one song I knew from previous encounter with songs from this record Bohemian Rhapsody , yes this spectacular song , they are surprised me.
They're better mostly than others. I tended to keep with my dear old Races. From guitar paradise in first track to typical Queen, little bit ironic meant, partly seriously intended little song, quite uplifting.
Only disappointed is The Prophet's Song , which is, well, weird. Maybe it just needs time. And for most of course, important rock album with a lot of prog elements. They clearly to heard, aren't they? There is no real purpose for me to talk about the individual tracks because we all know that this album is considered to be both a critical and commercial success.
After all, A Night at the Opera has been consistently voted by the public as Queen's finest work and one of the greatest albums ever recorded. The only composition that I'd like to highlight is the underrated Prophet's Song which is my personal favorite from the bunch.
The track has some progressive influences but don't expect anything resembling Yes or Genesis. It starts off very atmospheric which is quite unusual but it's just as unique to hear an eight minute long Queen song!
To think of it, this is the longest piece of music that Queen has recorded not counting the multitrack medleys and it's truly a magnificent piece of work. This is an excellent release from start to finish and I definitely recommend it as an introduction album instead of all the horrible and inconsistent Queen-compilations out there. An essential piece of music for any rock music collection! Wading through the fields of rhapsodic blather that surrounds the making of this record, I had to fight the very strong temptation to conclude that deprived of the Beatles, Rock's finest scribes in the UK seemed desperate to adopt A Night at the Opera as the rather effete 70's child prodigy of Sgt Pepper.
Judging by the more avuncular appeals for caution emanating from the other side of the pond, it seems Uncle Sam's appraisal of his nephew as nothing but a calculating little sprog not remotely equipped to follow in his father's footsteps, didn't fall entirely on deaf ears.
Despite some million sales globally, Queen were always viewed with some suspicion in the USA as their provocative cocktail of pomp, glam, vaudeville twee and 'campness aforethought' did not sit easily with the regimented corp d'esprit of the heavily armoured division of rock fans. Amongst the 'earnest and hirsute', Fred and his troupers were considered too faggy to be heavy, too glib to be deep, too shiny to be dark and too goddamn ironic to be assimilated into any 'our gang versus the establishment' rallying cry.
The rest of the world seemed more forgiving of their undermining of the traditional testosterone grunt of rawk and it could be argued that Europeans in particular, were more cognisant of the stylistic reference points that Queen employed Noel Coward, cabaret, Music-Hall, Ivor Novello, operetta and those daring stage outfits worn by Mercury that were tantamount to Privates on Parade As far as musicianship goes, we can draw some telling comparisons with the aforementioned Fab Four e.
Death on Two Legs Dedicated To The starter being that of Flick of the Wrist Rarely has Freddie sounded this vicious and although it's easy to surmise he might just 'protest too much' and relish this villainy more than he abhors it, the lyrics leave no margin for such ambivalence: Do you feel like suicide?
I think you should Is your conscience all right does it plague you at night do you feel good, feel good? Although the dedicatee is unnamed, their previous manager Norman Sheffield attempted to sue the band for defamation when he heard this track.
Word to the wise Norm, if there's a smoking gun on the carpet, don't stoop to retrieve it with the casual rejoinder: Whoops, I was wondering where I'd left that, thank you constable May really steps up to the plate on this song and his crescendo of dissonant guitar effects on the intro sets the hostile atmosphere perfectly. Those familiar with Vincent Crane's piano on Gershatzer will probably detect a whiff of same from Mercury's florid scalar passage that precedes the sung sections.
Great use is made of contrasting dynamics between the Spartan verses and massive choruses with the latter being punctuated brilliantly by Queen's signature stacked harmony layers. Yep, one of the 'hosepipe gang's' very finest songs. Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon - Talk about contrasts, the inspiration here is clearly Noel Coward and British music-hall on a delightful but all too brief pastiche of 78 rpm wax cylinder antiquity.
Even Brian May manages to coax a sepia tinted flavour out of his indelible guitar sound. I'm in Love with my Car - This was probably the point at which most Queen fans started to approach a Roger Taylor track with the sort of trepidation that Beatles fans reserved for those by Ringo. Told my girl I just had to forget her, rather buy me a new carburettor There is not even a vestige of self-depreciating irony in Taylor's delivery and wedded to a composition that is a guttural dirge of droning barre chord angst, it just induces armchair road-rage in your reviewer.
The hissy little oink even locked himself in a cupboard until Mercury relented in allowing this wretched song to appear on the B side of the Bohemian Rhapsody single. Now had the 'three talented ones' come up with an auto-mobile inspired tune, they might have populated a sleek cockpit with Danny La Rue as a drag racer and I would pay to hear that.
You're My Best Friend - The Wurlitzer electric piano at the start always reminds me of Deep Purple's Demon's Eye but there the resemblance ends abruptly as we are ushered quickly thereafter into a sunny slice of breezy pop that would not disgrace even someone as accomplished in this medium as either Fleetwood Mac or Steely Dan. Although hardly prolific, Deacon's first two compositions certainly enhance both the albums they appear on see the even poppier Misfire from Sheer Heart Attack '39 - I've never been a big fan of Brian's voice because as decent as it is, he just comes across as a bit well, sickly and delicate or lacking in conviction I guess.
Throw in a sci-fi story about time travel accompanied by a country and western 'hand on belt buckle' hootenanny thang y'all and you have one very unhappy furry listening critter. The high pitched and 'other worldly' backing vocals are inspired but despite this enticing promise they never actually herald the tune deviating from what was inevitable from the outset. Times like these a man gets to thinkin' Freddie could normally salvage some mediocre riffing with a memorable tune or sheer wanton bravura eg.
They also provided the 'tap dancing' percussion interlude via the surface of the mixing desk with thimbles on their fingers. Rock bands with a sense of humour that surmounts body fluids, body parts, groupies and fart gags are rarer than eskimo porn.
The Prophet's Song - Perhaps the most overtly proggy track of their career and that it was penned by Brian May should come as no real surprise as of the four, it was he who was responsible for stretching and pushing his colleagues into new and uncharted territory the most.
A brooding and foreboding song that paces its development very carefully and even features a very ambitious vocal canon which due to its daunting complexity, was seldom tackled in the live realm. This was another piece that May reputedly conceived while recuperating from a near fatal bout of hepatitis while in hospital.
Given such a perilous and fragile condition it's hardly surprising that some of the lyrics and imagery betray a dawning sense of his own mortality couched in terms of an apocalyptic biblical flood: and two by two my human zoo they'll be running for to come out of the rain oh flee for your life who heed me not let all your treasure make you Deceive you not the fires of hell will take you should death await you The influence of Zeppelin is at its most palpable on Prophet's Song but I can also detect faint traces of Yes, Wishbone Ash and even Sabbath in places.
A killer verse melody that leads into an addictive chanted chorus and if the intention of the a cappella canon was to replicate the audible symptoms of delirium, they have succeeded wholesale. Love of my Life - One of the most beautiful and regularly covered numbers in Mercury's hugely impressive songbook.
Depending on which source you believe to be the most reliable, it was a heartfelt sentiment addressed to Freddie's first and probably only long-time girlfriend Mary Austin. Good Company - like Seaside Rendezvous this inhabits a similar territory to the Beatles When I'm 64 but its 'George Formby washboard ukelele' surface hides a salutary moral tale contained in a witty and punning lyric sung by Brian about the perils of material success: Now marriage is an institution sure, my wife and I our needs and nothing more All my friends by a year by and by disappear but we're safe behind our door I flourished in my humble trade my reputation grew The work devoured my waking hours but when my time was through Reward of all my efforts my own limited company.
Bohemian Rhapsody - Notwithstanding I became bored scatty by dint of its stay at Number 1 in the singles chart for what seemed at least 3 years of my adolescence, there is very little that remains unsaid about this particular landmark in popular music. Even stripped of the celebrated mini operetta that lies at its centre, Bohemian Rhapsody would still consist of an achingly beautiful and powerful ballad that builds towards a coruscating heavy rock finale unmatched in any mainstream rock or pop genre.
Prog just might be the only conceivable exception With the benefit of hindsight, In the Lap of the Gods from the previous Sheer Heart Attack album could be viewed as a precursor to this ambitious extravaganza and there is ample evidence to suggest that not even its composer Mercury had any real concrete idea what it would sound like until its completion. There are several factors that make the piece's success all the more remarkable e.
The lyrics are deceptively simple but have a carefully considered ambiguity that has long fascinated me and to this day I have yet to arrive at any clear cut consensus even in my own befuddled head as to their meaning.
There are some clear references to both Goethe's Faust where the hero sells his soul to the devil in exchange for all worldly knowledge and Albert Camus' The Outsider where the hero shoots a man for apparently no reason and is subsequently sentenced to death but neither really square up to the nightmarish imagery that Mercury's disassociation of the real and the imagined presents.
Some commentators have speculated at inordinate length that the song represents our Fred's 'coming out' and bidding farewell to a heterosexuality he never felt comfortable with couched in terms of his fear of being judged a 'deviant sinner' with the resultant shaming of his family and his own Zoroastrianism faith.
Whatever, like the equally cryptic Lamb Lies Down on Broadway it is unequivocally a moral fable concerned with atonement and redemption albeit expressed in a deliberately allegorical style God Save the Queen - Maybe the praise heaped upon the young Brian as the new fastest gun at the 'geetar' corral had gone to his permed head.
Covering your own national anthem on a guitar solo will inevitably result in two things: Your efforts will be compared to the frankly daunting precedent set by Hendrix and: you might just consider yourself fit to be deserving of such a comparison.
Dream on not so clever clogs The ego has landed I know I'll be swimming against the tide here but as enjoyable, accomplished and ground-breaking as A Night at the Opera undoubtedly was, I consider it in many ways an inferior album to its predecessor Sheer Heart Attack. Both are worthy additions to anyone's music collection but for me, the latter's songs are uniformly strong and the Roy Thomas Baker 'ear candy' had yet to rot the band's teeth i.
The word thesis above has said it all; Queen's 'A Night at the Opera' is a definitive album of , a year when prog was asolutely flourishing with many bands producing their best material.
If you look at the best prog albums of the year, it reads like a veritable Best of Prog list. Let's put this into perspective before tackling why Queen's album is a let down. So Queen produced this album at the height of prog and yet did not include a single prog element except one penultimate song that we have all become accustomed to. Of course I speak of 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. Perhaps this is a good opportunity to gush over this song. I believe it is quite simply the greatest rock song in history.
It features a rock opera within its complex structure. We can all recite its Wagnerian lyrics with multi layered vocal harmonies:' Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very fright'ning me, Galileo Galileo Galileo Galileo, Galileo Figaro, Magnifico! No, we will not let you go Let him go!
The structure is really three sections encompassing three distinct genres of rock. The piano driven rock ballad begins the track after an intro of harmonies. The ballad speaks of a man who has killed a man, shot him in the head and now he is facing death row. As he is waiting in his cold cell for the bell to chime reflecting on his past life and it doesn't have much time Iron Maiden, anyone? The opera section is the most celebrated, most discussed section in Queen history.
Using operatic terminology and harmonies the song defies anything done before or since. As the song builds to a crescendo the paroxysm of lightning explodes onto a power riff that is pure metal. The doors are blown apart with dynamite. Section three is metal complete with the killer riff, lead break and screaming vocals. The murderer has escaped, a violent struggle and he is free.
Mercury is stunning in this section as he screams to the world: 'So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye, So you think you can love me and leave me to die, Oh, baby, can't do this to me, baby, Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here? It all ends with a bookend, more piano, same melody as beginning; 'nothing really matters' and like all good operas finishes on a resounding gong.
That's how you create a masterpiece. That's about it, isn't it? Oh, that's right there are other songs. They pretty much disappear in light of this track but they are worth a small mention. The problem is the BR track is so massive that if you are expecting more like this you are in for a shock as nothing comes close and nothing is prog.
This is disappointing and Queen had a huge opportunity to present a masterpiece and it is not even a pale imitation. There are good tracks such as the single, 'You're My Best Friend' with a radio friendly catchy melody that I like a lot.
Weird and memorable but annoying on subsequent listens. And the live set and album closer, the bombastic patriotically British 'God Save the Queen'.
Of course this is infamous for the track where Mercury appears on stage at the end in flowing royal robes and royal crown. He dips his crown to the loving crowd and retains his enthroned position as Queen of rock. Looks good in concert but sounds rather bombastic on CD. Of course pomp rock was Queen's Curriculum Vitae but there is a lot of very ordinary music on the album. So all this considered, here is an album that does not live up to the hype.
Yes, it features Queen's and rock history's greatest song, and a killer single, but is that enough to gain masterpiece status? On a prog site I cannot recommend this, although the songs mentioned should appear on any progger's list, and you can get these on any Queen compilation which are recommended over this.
You will get all the best songs of this on 'Greatest Hits' and the latest 'Absolute Greatest'. I think 'A Night At The Opera' is a worthwhile album but you may well find yourself using the skip button to get to the good stuff.
Place the opener "Death on 2 Legs", a diatribe against a previous band manager, I'm in Love with my Car, Roger Taylor's requisite rocker, and Sweet Lady in the hard rock category. Put "You're My Best Friend" and "39", into the popular rock category. Both songs prominently feature rather unique vocal sections. With "God Save The Queen" wrapping things up as a fun arrangement utilizing overdubs of the classic Queen guitar sound. It is worth noting that back in the 70's, almost nobody else had a guitar tone like Brian May's.
It was a "signature sound", which made a song like this "stand out" all the more. Why the 2 star rating? Although this is a high quality eclectic rock album, it only offers 2 songs that I would consider of high interest to Prog Fans solely from a Prog Rock perspective. One of those two songs has been so overplayed by commercial radio that it has lost much of its effect for most listeners. That said, check out "The Prophet's Song" if you get a chance!
Even if you aren't a Queen fan, you just might like this song! And yes, it deserves that status. It's like a mini opera with some amazing multi-layered vocal work in the middle part. But the whole album operates in a poignantly overblown, self-mocking level in which many various musical styles meet. Glam rock and hard rock with a good measure of progressivity had been Queen's own field already on their earliest albums.
The proggiest moments besides Rhapsody are in the 8-minute 'Prophet's Song'. A Night At The Opera no closer connection to the Marx brothers film has so unique and bold identity that even if I haven't listened to it in perhaps over twenty years, I have no difficulty to remember it though I have seen a TV document some time ago to refresh those memories. The production is wonderful but a large part of the charm is in the way they didn't take themselves too seriously.
This album is bursting out some kind of humour. It is campy so deliberately that it's totally disarming. Even if I'm still not longing to get it onto my shelves, I simply feel no right to give this classic less than four stars. The album starts off heavily and darkly, with Death On Two Legs , a fierce rocker, which, unlike a later pop song of theirs, actually says "Do you feel like suicide?
I think you should ". Another good prog moment comes in The Prophet's Song , a heavily produced piece that features some great work with an early form of delay probably created with tapes. The only truly boring song is the maudlin Love Of My Life. It's too bad Queen never could get back to their roots after this album. Of course, the dense, crazy style of composing rock that sounds like opera reaches a peak with 'Bohemian Rhapsody', which I really need not describe. It's not my favourite on the album though.
The little song that follows without a gap, 'Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon', is equally fun and enjoyable. The guitar solo is in a totally unrelated key; things like this just get overlooked with Queen when people focus on their showmanship and power chords.
They are more musically accomplished than most prog bands. The not so great tracks are basically 'I'm In Love With My Car', a bit of a throwaway thrasher from drummer Taylor, and 'Sweet Lady' from May, which is a good, Zeppelin-style rock song, but just not in the same compositional league as the rest of the album. A Night At The Opera is otherwise perfect, continuing with the slice of warm, electric piano pop, 'You're My Best Friend', Deacon's well- crafted single, and another 30s dixieland-style piece from Freddie, 'Seaside Rendevous', which is just lovely to listen to with all of those brass instruments which are actually treated vocals.
Mercury also lends his greatest ballad to the album, 'Love Of My Life', which has melodies to die for. Meanwhile, Brian May spoils us with three of his best pieces, the stomping space-folk ballad '39', with beautiful chords and lyrics, the ukulele-led 'Good Company', with plenty of jazzy guitar effects, and great cadences, and forming the centrepiece of the album, the prog-rock effort 'Prophet's Song', which would be mediocre if not for that middle section, in which three a cappella Freddie's sing their harmonised hearts out.
Stunning, and original, like the rest of the album. Luckily, this evening's opera can be listened to again and again, which is what I have done, and will continue doing.
This album is very special, with a warm feeling, faultless production, and enough creativity to challenge The Beatles. Worth all the hours they put in. A decent listen, but there's severe consistency issues creeping in. Such intricate, flamboyant, progressive and clever compositions would never make it unto the radio had they been released today. In fact no matter what music style Queen touch on "A Night at the Opera" , the outcome is quite brilliant.
The band are such skilled performers and composers that they can pull off this eclectic blend of styles with ease and great conviction. Once again, the main aspect of the group happens to be Freddie Mercury, the frontman and vocalist along with being a founding member. His singing has improved a lot in this stage of his career, and cements his reputation as being one of rock's best vocalists. Brian May also makes a large amount of contributions to this album as the guitarist.
He does plenty of overdubs, a signature playing style for him. John Deacon brings out his songwriting in the elegant ballad "You're my Best Friend", while Roger Taylor writes the song "I'm in Love with my Car", one of his best songs yet. What's so interesting about this album is the fact that it can change so many genres in an instant. Take the epic Prophet Song for example.
It begins with a nice acoustic guitar intro with Freddie singing, yet all of a sudden it erupts into a prog rocker complete with the epic feel and beat shifts. Afterwards, it goes into a lengthy A cappella interlude with massively overdubbed vocals by Freddie Mercury. Then it goes for the solo, the chorus once again, and an ending with the acoustic guitar coming back into play. It should also be noted that this is the longest song on the album, clocking in at over 8 minutes. The point overall is that these great genre changes are common in the album.
It eases things up a bit, especially in the middle of the album where it's needed. It's starts with opening chords on a Wurlitzer piano. This song generally focuses on Freddie Mercury's vocals, along with the multiple harmonies supplied by Roger Taylor. Overall, it's just a nice, gentle, and graceful tune. It would definitely be the best song written by John Deacon.
Other great tracks like "I'm in Love with my Car" Roger Taylor's contribution about his love of cars and "Sweet Lady" are also in here, but who could miss the great Bohemian Rhapsody? While a tad overrated, it's easy to see why people liked the song. It mixes to many genres into one song, yet comes out so well. Thus, it is a definitive piece of classic rock that will be remembered for a long time.
One thing has to be admitted with this record, however: With indulgence in one's own works, some music may meander a bit.
Queen isn't one that escapes from this fact either. To be honest, Prophet Song is probably the prime example. The A cappella part, While great, is unnecessarily long at points. That doesn't detract too much from the album, however, and actually the band can also be quite cohesive in their sound. Overall, this album defines the style they tried to find all along. They would continue down this path with a large string of great albums up until This right here is bombast at its finest.
Same goes for "Sweet Lady," one of the forgotten Queen gems that sounds great but won't make it into the Greatest Hits. These are the only classic-rock songs to be heard, and the band plays them well and energetically. Scattered throughout this album are four! They're well produced, often with layers of vocal overdubs and a variety of guitar sounds; however, with the notable exception of "'39" they're little more than diversions that'll get your toe-tapping for two minutes while you're waiting for something more interesting to come up.
Bouncy, fun, and forgettable. This is a warm acoustic ballad with an irresistible feel and lead vocals by May, whose voice fits very well here. The story and lyrics are beautiful, as is the lush production of the song. A standout track. All you have to do is pick a song and click a button to play it. A night can be set to automatically play the next track when it finishes the current one.
It shows Queen cover art that gets regularly changed, and it also gives you the possibility to stop playback. A night at the opera identifies the Queen songs by their name and format. This means that, although there can be no modifications made in the interface e. Although it hasn't received updates for a long time, we haven't experienced compatibility issues with later Windows versions in our tests. It had minimal impact on the computer's performance and remained stable throughout its runtime.
To sum it up, Queen. Monday 6 September Tuesday 7 September Wednesday 8 September Thursday 9 September Friday 10 September Saturday 11 September Sunday 12 September Monday 13 September Tuesday 14 September Wednesday 15 September Thursday 16 September Friday 17 September Saturday 18 September Sunday 19 September Monday 20 September Tuesday 21 September Wednesday 22 September Thursday 23 September Friday 24 September Saturday 25 September Sunday 26 September Monday 27 September Tuesday 28 September Wednesday 29 September Thursday 30 September Friday 1 October Saturday 2 October Sunday 3 October Monday 4 October Tuesday 5 October Wednesday 6 October Thursday 7 October Friday 8 October Saturday 9 October Sunday 10 October Monday 11 October Tuesday 12 October Wednesday 13 October Thursday 14 October Friday 15 October Saturday 16 October Sunday 17 October Monday 18 October Tuesday 19 October Wednesday 20 October Thursday 21 October Friday 22 October Saturday 23 October Sunday 24 October Monday 25 October Tuesday 26 October Wednesday 27 October Thursday 28 October Friday 29 October Saturday 30 October Sunday 31 October Monday 1 November Tuesday 2 November Wednesday 3 November Thursday 4 November Friday 5 November Saturday 6 November Sunday 7 November Monday 8 November Tuesday 9 November Wednesday 10 November Thursday 11 November Friday 12 November Saturday 13 November Sunday 14 November Monday 15 November Tuesday 16 November Wednesday 17 November Thursday 18 November Friday 19 November Saturday 20 November
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