Product Description

Though they began their career practicing an artier, more theatrical variant on the Led Zeppelin heavy rock sound, Queen was always capable of much more. Ultimately, Freddie and the boys were popsters at heart, and capable ones to boot. A NIGHT AT THE OPERA is where they begin to show their eclecticism and compositional facility. The album title is probablya reference to the FM rock anthem "Bohemian Rhapsody", which begins as an existential ballad before moving into a mock-operatic section featuring scores of overdubbed Freddie Mercurys.
"Rhapsody" is just the tip of the iceberg here. "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon" is a music hall ditty that owes a debt to the Kinks. "'39" is a surprisingly poignant folk-rocker written and sung by Brian May. "You're My Best Friend"is pure '70s AM melodic pop. Queen even ventures into vaudeville territory (given Mercury's show biz leanings, not as much of a stretch as one might think) on the fatalistic, old-timey "Good Company". There are several souped-up rockers here as well, but it's A NIGHT AT THE OPERA's winning stylistic experimentation that makes it a milestone in Queen history.

Track Listing

1. Death on two legs
2. Lazing on a Sunday afternoon
3. You're my best friend
4. I'm in love with my car
5. Sweet lady
6. Seaside rendezvous
7. Good company
8. '39
9. Prophet's song
10. Love of my life
11. Bohemian rhapsody
12. God save the Queen

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35507 in Music
• Released on: 1993-09-27
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
One of the most preposterous albums ever made, A Night at the Opera also remains one of the most popular. While it is difficult to completely dislike a record that successfully introduced the phrase "Scaramouche! Scaramouche! Will you do the fandango?" into the popular lexicon, it is harder still to understand quite what Queen were thinking of when they made this. Whether or not Queen were fully aware of their own absurdity remains a moot point. However, if one can find the hefty psychic hooks and pulleys necessary to suspend this much disbelief, A Night at the Opera is a perversely enjoyable record. The awesomely daft and supremely catchy "Bohemian Rhapsody" aside, it contains the almost equally risible excursions "The Prophet's Song" and "39", a couple of the irresistibly amusing headbanger numbers that Queen could write in their sleep ("Death On Two Legs") and the very possibly heartfelt pop ballad "You're My Best Friend". Immortally baffling, like the pyramids. Yet also enjoyably compelling. --Andrew Mueller

From Amazon.com
Nothing succeeds like excess--at least that's the case with Queen's breakthrough commercial smash, A Night at the Opera. On one level, the title is a reference to the band's operatic pretensions, best in evidence here on the classic "Bohemian Rhapsody," which was championed by headbangers a generation before being revived by the Wayne's World set. Of course, A Night at the Opera is also the title of a Marx Brothers movie, and the reference isn't lost on Queen, which seldom scaled the heights of rock pomp without a knowing wink. The album is remembered for its meticulously produced bombast, but the truth is that there's a wide variety of material on display here, from the gorgeous piano-based "You're My Best Friend" and the McCartneyesque "39," to the music-hall-style "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon" and the pedal-to-the-metal rockers "Death on Two Legs" and "I'm in Love with My Car." A Night at the Opera is viewed by most as the quintessential Queen album, and justifiably so. --Daniel Durchholz

Customer Reviews

Good Queen album, but not their best.....
This is Queen's most realised studio album. When you think of Queen, you think of Bohemian Rhapsody and its parent album A Night At The Opera. The music is totally over the top but, nonetheless, great. As well as Bohemian Rhapsody and You're My Best Friend (Deacon-penned single which is a real undervalued gem) there are some classic album tracks here - Death On Two Legs, Love Of My Life and I'm In Love With My Car (yes, Roger Taylor did write the odd great track in the 70s). Also, this album is pretty consistent as compared with subsequent Queen studio albums (which always tended to have the odd stinker!). Having said all of this, I still prefer its predecessor Sheer Heart Attack.

A Masterpiece!
It's been well over thirty years since this album came out and I finally bought it. I've been missing out on a lot of fantastic music. This album is extraordinary in its own merit, and I finally understand what "Queen" really was all about - the entire experience! Sure, "You're My Best Friend" was a really nice song and "Bohemian Rhapsody" defined an entire generation, but hearing it as it was pieced together in one collage of a musical experience and you'll understand what the big fuss is all about. Freddie Mercury's vocals are astounding. There simply is no `best' song on this album. Every song is its own masterpiece, but I am partial to the anthemic, "'39". God Save the Queen!

The one that sent Queen around the world
Popularly received as "Queen's finest album", I have to agree with the reviewer who likened it to "Sgt Pepper" in terms of its perceived greatness. Ditto "Ziggy Stardust", "Born To Run" and "Astral Weeks" - accepted by most as that artist's best ever recording but not necessarily the most enjoyable to listen to. "Sheer Heart Attack" had seen Queen move away from often heavy-influenced ditties about fairies to establish their own clear identity, through both their own burgeoning personalities and their "chocolate box" recordings which mixed innumerable styles of songs next to each other. Why, they had even developed their own corporate crest by now, used to great effect on the album's iconic white cover.

There is some great rock music on this album, and this should not be overlooked. "Death On Two Legs" is one hell of an album opener, great searing guitar licks and a vitriolic vocal. However, it is followed by the preposterous Noel Cowardisms of "Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon", which, in my opinion, along with the equally ludicrous "Seaside Rendezvous" and the irritating "Good Company" should have no place on a rock album (just like "When I'm 64"). Nevertheless, for many people, therein lay Queen's appeal. Thousands were attracted by the difference from one track to another and to be fair, very few groups have ever operated in this manner, and so successfully to boot. Personally, though, I prefer an album to have a "feel" and something of a continuity. "Queen II" achieves this, but "A Night At The Opera", to me, always plays as a whole in a somewhat disjointed fashion. I have always found it difficult to sit and enjoy "Death On Two Legs" when I have to suffer what follows. Of course, track programming can solve this problem, but I like to listen to an album as it was intended to be listened to. Here lies the problem. Just as I've stopped humming along, reluctantly, to "Lazing.." along comes old Roger Taylor and his lumpen rock with "I'm In Love My Car", which is nowhere near as good as many people make out. To me, It is just another "Roger track", similar to "Ringo" tracks, or Bruce Foxton (The Jam) tracks. John Deacon's sublime summery pop of "You're My Best Friend" follows, but then we get the tedious, folky and frankly listless "39". "Sweet Lady" is great rock, but the afore-mentioned thirties-influenced "Seaside Rendezvous" is just more silly Mercury whimsy. The Led Zeppelin-influenced "The Prophet Song" is both awesome and clever, with an even better mid-song vocal bit than "Bohemian Rhapsody", the gorgeous "Love Of My Life" is Freddie Mercury's best ever love song but the mood is spoilt by the awful George Formby pastiche of "Good Company". George Formby ? In 1975 ? On a rock album ? Heaven help us all. It is lyrically embarrassing too. "Bohemian Rhapsody" is peerless of course, but taking this album as an entireity and, speaking as someone who has listened to Queen's music avidly since 1974 I do not find this album as pleasurable as its two immediate predecessors, or indeed, its follow up, although I bow to its superior production and songsmithery overall.

In terms of complete interplanetary effect, and that it launched Queen into outer space as a huge band, then it has to go down as their classic recording. No other of their recordings had such a seismic effect as this one. I am merely pointing out why I don't play it as much as some of the others. Maybe, like "Ziggy Stardust" and "Born To Run", I've just heard it so many times....