01	Death On Two Legs						03:43
	02	Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon						01:07
	03	I'm In Love With My Car						03:04
	04	You're My Best Friend						02:51
	05	'39						03:30
	06	Sweet Lady						04:03
	07	Seaside Rendezvous						02:15
	08	The Prophet's Song						08:19
	09	Love Of My Life						03:38
	10	Good Company						03:23
	11	Bohemian Rhapsody						05:53
	12	God Save The Queen						01:13

Queen
A Night at the Opera
Hollywood (61065-2)
UK 1975

Freddie Mercury, vocals;
Brian May, guitars, orchestral backdrops;
Roger Meddows-Taylor, percussion, vocals;
John Deacon, bass

Tracklist:
1. Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to...) - 3:43
2. Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon - 1:08
3. I'm in Love With My Car - 3:05
4. You're My Best Friend - 2:50
5. '39 - 3:25
6. Sweet Lady - 4:01
7. Seaside Rendezvous - 2:13
8. Prophet's Song - 8:17
9. Love of My Life - 3:38
10. Good Company - 3:26
11. Bohemian Rhapsody - 5:55
12. God Save the Queen - 1:11

total time 42:52


bob

If Ground and Sky were still a prog-only site, I'd say this album doesn't really belong here, as it's mostly a pop/rock album with the exception of the proggy vocal showcase "Prophet's Song". But it's a damn good pop album, which ranges all over the map of popular musical styles from old fashioned to heavy metal. The vocals are stunning and the mood is mostly infectiously upbeat (with the exceptions of the viciously bitter opening track and the over-the-top prog epic mentioned above). Each misstep, like the goofy lyrics of "I'm in Love With My Car" ("Cars don't talk back, they're just four-wheeled friends now!") and the sappy "Love of my Life" is offset by absolute classics like "'39" and "Bohemian Rhapsody". A great album, prog or not.
review by Bob Eichler - 7-31-03


dom

Queen were superstars in Europe, and rising ever quickly to that status in America. Their tours sold out weeks in advance, their songs got lots of radio exposure everywhere, and when they ditched their old record company and management and signed with megacorporation EMI, they pretty much blasted into the rock upper echelon.
It should be noted that even though they used six studios to record this album, and with "Bohemian Rhapsody" spending countless weeks at number one, A Night at the Opera isn't markedly better than Sheer Heart Attack - it's just bigger. The range of the tunes is broader, from straight hard rock ("Death on Two Legs"), to light pop ("You're My Best Friend") and torch songs ("Love of My Life"), to even fake trad-jazz ("Good Company"). Because of this genre-hopping, the album lacks a bit of the glue that held together previous albums, but is certainly no less entertaining for it. And in the end, what else could we ask from them?

For example, take "Seaside Rendezvous". Queen does Shirley Temple, or possibly Lawrence Welk on this send-up of the 20s-era Hollywood dance number. Besides Mercury's carefree gadabout lead vocal, the main shows are his and Taylor's string and brass harmony vocalizations. If it could be sung, Queen probably did it, and with more ridiculous white sass than you could muster in three lifetimes.

"The Prophet's Song" was one of the last real pseudo-prog epics the group did, almost a throwback to Queen II. In keeping with group tradition, just what message this prophet is bringing to the people is unclear, but it something to do with an earth-shaking human zoo - I think. In any case, what you're likely to remember is the rather amazing Mercury a capella performance in the middle of the piece: just his voice, looped and looped, until it sounds like you've been sent to some kind of fairy-tale opera tune-up.

And finally, "Bohemian Rhapsody": It all seemed to come together in 1975 for Queen. They were stars in England and the U.S., and each record was bigger than the last. Logically, the centerpiece of this album should be at the end, and if you can imagine a better song to remember Queen by, you're probably thinking of the wrong Queen. In summary: Mozart + Zeppelin + sheer Freddie = a big fat hit.

review by Dominique Leone - 5-27-01


conrad

The Marx Brothers spent more time and effort on their movie "A Night at the Opera" than any other in order to produce a lasting masterwork. Queen determined to do the same on this album, and the result is an all time classic album. The album features two number one hits ("You're my best friend" and a Rhapsody you may have heard before) as well as recording techniques that pushed the technology of the day to its limits.
Opening with "Death on Two Legs", a bitter song about their ex-manager driven by Brian May's distorted guitar, we jump to the aesthetic foppery of "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon" and then into Roger Taylor's straight rock with bent lyrics in "I'm in Love With My Car". This album is nothing if not eclectic.

The stand out track from Side One for me is "'39". This is a country style piece about faster than light interstellar travel; however, this is a misleading descriptoin. While the strumming style is very country, Brian May's voice is soft and English so the effect is almost folky. The lyrics too are written in a style that implies that the song is about ships traveling to the colonies in America, not outer space.

Side Two is where the album is most impressive, and also most progressive. All the songs are of the highest calibre, with the exception of "Good Company" which is merely a good song. From the start of the powerful and atmospheric "Prophet's Song" (which appears to be about Noah) to Brian May playing "God Save the Queen", this would have to be one of the great album sides of all time.

I have only two minor complaints about this album. "Seaside Rendezvous" is not that strong a song, and we have already had our light-hearted Edwardian fix in "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon". Also, "The Prophet's Song", while for the most part brilliant, probably plays around too much with the echoing vocal effects for my taste.

Queen fans may argue about the status of this album as their Magnum Opus, but it is undoubtably one the highlights of their stellar recording career.

review by Conrad Leviston - 12-11-02


joe

I hate saying crap like this, but (Wilford Brimley voice on) this was back when rock albums were rock albums! A Night at the Opera is, simply put, Queen at the pinnacle of their gloriously pompous but crafty form. On "Lazing in the Afternoon," you can practically see the straw hats and vests, and hear the teacups rattling to Freddie Mercury's 'Beckstein debauchery'. Then, just a while down the road, "Sweet Lady" roars up like it was slated for Gene Simmons. If you can come up with a more brilliantly over-the-top two minutes-and-change than "Seaside Rendezvous" ("Bohemian Rhapsody" is six minutes, sorry...but jeez that's on here, too, isn't it!) in the past twenty-five years then you're a sad, mistaken bastard. Seriously, though, my two favorite songs on this album are among its most modest and straightforward offerings: "You're My Best Friend" and "'39." Check 'em out, and the rest while you're at it. Like The Marx Brothers from whence they ostensibly got the album title, Queen would follow up this meisterwork with the somewhat lesser but still considerable A Day At the Races.

review by Joe McGlinchey - 10-19-01

(c) ground and sky









Digital remasters @2001. The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Queen Productions Ltd., under the exclusive licence to EMI Records Ltd. 1993 Queen Productions Ltd.

Queen was straining at the boundaries of hard rock and heavy metal on Sheer Heart Attack, but they broke down all the barricades on A Night at the Opera, a self-consciously ridiculous and overblown hard rock masterpiece. Using the multi-layered guitars of its predecessor as a foundation, A Night at the Opera encompasses metal ("Death on Two Legs," "Sweet Lady"), pop (the lovely, shimmering "You're My Best Friend"), campy British music-hall ("Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon," "Seaside Rendezvous") and mystical prog-rock ("'39," "The Prophet's Song"), eventually bringing it all together on the pseudo-operatic "Bohemian Rhapsody." In short, it's a lot like Queen's own version of Led Zeppelin IV, but where Zep finds dark menace in their bombast, Queen celebrates its own pomposity. No one in the band takes anything too seriously, otherwise the arrangements wouldn't be as ludicrously exaggerated as they are. But the appeal - and the influence - of A Night at the Opera is in its detailed, meticulous productions. It's prog-rock with a sense of humor as well as dynamics, and Queen never bettered their approach anywhere else.