Album Title: A Night at the Opera
Artist: Queen
Release Date: November 21, 1975
Side One
Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to…) (Mercury)
Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon (Mercury)
I’m in Love with My Car (Taylor)
You’re My Best Friend (Deacon)
’39 (May)
Sweet Lady (May)
Seaside Rendezvous (Mercury)
Side Two
The Prophet’s Song (May)
Love of My Life (Mercury)
Good Company (May)
Bohemian Rhapsody (Mercury)
God Save the Queen (Traditional, arr. May)
A Night at the Opera is almost universally regarded as Queen’s best album. It has appeared on numerous “best albums of all time” lists (though rarely as high as I would put it), and in books like 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (along with two other Queen albums). If I had to make a pick, I’d concur with the general consensus. Though the albums before and after (Sheer Heart Attack and A Day at the Races respectively) are nearly as good and several others also come fairly close, I’d have to give A Night at the Opera the edge, in part because of “Bohemian Rhapsody”, but also because of the quality of the rest of the songs, which are extremely diverse and yet go together to make a unified whole.
The band members are at their peak, with Freddie Mercury and Brian May writing an excellent batch of songs along with a song each from John Deacon and Roger Taylor (in Deacon’s case, he wrote the album’s second hit single) and May’s guitar, Mercury’s piano, Deacon’s bass and Taylor’s drums all being played with great skill and precision. The production is also superb, perhaps not surprising considering it was one of the most expensive albums ever at the time. While I think every Queen album (with the possible exception of the Flash Gordon soundtrack) is worth owning, if you only get one, it should be this one.
A Night at the Opera Song by Song
Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to…): The album opens with a driving rocker written by Freddie Mercury. Musically it’s relentless, with the band firing on all cylinders. Lyrically, it’s a vicious attack on their former management. Freddie was rarely one for subtlety, and he pulls out all stops here, writing a song even more scathing than his “Flick of the Wrist” from the group’s previous album. To be honest, the lyrics were originally too much for me (supposedly the rest of the band was also initially a bit taken aback), but now I’ve gotten used to them, helped by the song’s musical virtues and the fact that Mercury’s verbal assault is not lacking in cleverness.
Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon: The opening track segues directly into this short song, also by Freddie Mercury but different from it in almost every way, being a jaunty little tune in the British music hall tradition. The vocals were made to sound as if they were sung through a megaphone. Despite the great contrast with both the tracks before and after, this song fits in perfectly.
I’m in Love with My Car: “Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon” in turn segues into the guitar opening to this song, Roger Taylor’s sole composition on the album (and one on which he sings lead vocals, as he did on most of his early songs). While not as good as his songs on either the preceding or following album, the song is fun enough, in a slightly silly way.
You’re My Best Friend: John Deacon’s second song for Queen, and his first hit composition, is a more straightforward pop song. Though I slightly prefer a few of his later songs, this one is also a good one, and helps balance out the more extravagant compositions of the others.
’39: This song by Brian May, which he sings lead on, is one of my favorites, with its great acoustic guitars, excellent melody, and sci-fi story about explorers journeying to a distant star and back, only to find that a century has passed on Earth and all their loved ones have died. This must be one of the only, if not the only, rock song to feature the effects of time dilation as described in Einstein’s theory of relativity.
Sweet Lady: This rocker from Brian May is one of the most straight-forward tracks on the album. Perhaps for that reason, it never stood out for me as much, but it is a solid track, and as one of the harder rocking songs on the album it makes a good break from the songs from other genres. The use of a dialogue by sniping lovers, allowing the woman to get her say, is also a nice touch.
Seaside Rendezvous: Another music hall style track from Freddie Mercury, I’ve always enjoyed this song a lot, with its jangly piano, catchy melody and campy lyrics. The brass section, performed by Mercury and Taylor using voices alone, is also pretty impressive.
The Prophet’s Song: The second side of the original vinyl album opened with this long, elaborate progressive rock song written by Brian May. It opens and closes gently with a koto (a Japanese instrument similar to the Chinese guzheng), in contrast to the driving electric guitar that dominates the majority of the song. With excellent guitar playing, great vocals from Mercury, and interesting lyrics, this is another great track. The only mild criticism I have is that Freddie’s a cappella section, while also great, goes on a little longer than it should (though when the guitar does finally come back in, it makes a powerful contrast).
Love of My Life: The end of “The Prophet’s Song” segues directly into this excellent ballad by Freddie Mercury. While lyrically it isn’t all that original, it has a beautiful melody and some impressive classically-inspired piano playing by Mercury, complemented by May’s guitar orchestra and harp. With an entirely different arrangement (May’s acoustic guitar as sole accompaniment to Mercury’s singing), this became a concert favorite.
Good Company: This song was written and performed by Brian May, who did the vocals and played the “guitar jazz band” (with layered guitar overdubs) and the ukulele. The music is simple but well put together. The song’s strongest point is the lyrics, which tell a short, humorous morality tale, showing once again that Brian May was the member of the group most inclined to put a extra depth into his lyrics.
Bohemian Rhapsody: This, of course, is Freddie Mercury’s magnum opus, the song that commonly tops “greatest song of all time” polls in the UK. While many Queen songs credited to a single member actually included some writing contributions by other band members, the others have stated that in this Mercury was responsible for the entire track, even the hard rock section at the end (though Brian May did come up with the guitar solo that comes before the opera section). He also did all the vocals on the opening section, though the opera section features May and Taylor as well, with Taylor handling the high notes. The track is impressive in terms of composition (though like most listeners, I’m far from certain what it’s about lyrically), arrangement and performance, and deserves its accolades as the centerpiece of Queen’s best album.
God Save the Queen: Following the climax of “Bohemian Rhapsody” comes the denouement in the form of this Brian May arrangement of the UK’s national anthem. A tribute of sorts to Jimi Hendrix’s version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” (though very different due to the two guitarists differing styles), this makes a nice closer to the album.
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