November 21, 1975 - A Night At The Opera

Two months since my last release and about a year after "Sheer Heart Attack", Queen released their fourth album "A Night At The Opera" on November 21, 1975. Their last album was a huge success and Queen's commercial breakthrough, but due to a very unfortunate contract the band had signed, they had received next to no money from their first three albums. After hiring a proper manager and getting out of their crappy deal, they signed with a new record label and began to write their next album which would be recorded at seven different studios in the U.K.. This album would continue the theme of more pop-oriented rock songs from their last album but there are still a few nods to their progressive beginnings. Let's check it out!

The album kicks off with "Death On Two Legs (Dedicated To...)" which Freddie Mercury wrote about Queen's old manager who the band thought had screwed them out of a bunch of money. His lyrics are very spiteful as he doesn't hold back in his dislike for this man. He opens the song with some speedy, cool piano and after a heavy opening they settle into a cool rock riff with Brian May leading the way with some cool guitar. Mercury's vocals sound great as always as he sings of how their manager took all their money and asked for more. He tells him to "kiss my ass goodbye" and even asks if he feels like suicide after all he's done. They really hated this guy! May plays a short guitar solo that is pretty cool before these guys jam out one final verse and chorus to end this solid introduction to the album. Up next is "Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon" and Mercury plays a cool little piano riff to carry this 1-plus minute song and he also does all the vocals in this one: lead and backing. His voice is different than usual as he seems to be having fun with this accent singing along to his piano. May adds a ftting guitar solo to the end of this short tune and it leads right into the next song, "I'm In Love With My Car". Roger Taylor wrote this song, sings lead vocals and plays guitar in addition to his normal drumming duties. His vocals sound pretty good in this slow rock riff as he sings about all the different parts of his car. May plays some cool lead guitar as Taylor and John Deacon keep the pace and Mercury adds some cool piano to the mix as well. Taylor's yelling voice and May's sweet guitar lead this cool riff and after a few goes through the song fades to an end as we hear a car revving. Track 4 is "You're My Best Friend" and Deacon wrote this song that would become a pretty popular single and he also plays the main electric piano riff that drives the song as well as his usual bass. Mercury's voice sounds fantastic as he sings Deacon's lyrics, which were written about his wife. It's a very catchy beat driven by the piano and Taylor plays some solid drums as well. This is certainly a love song but it has a very upbeat feel to it and doesn't sound sappy. May joins in for the second verse and adds some cool guitar and after another chorus he delivers a short, but fitting guitar solo. They play a fun little ending to cap it all off as this is a song that is hard not to like. May wrote the next song "'39" and sings lead vocals as well as he opens it with some speedy acoustic guitar. The guitar sounds pretty good as May sings along in his lesser Mercury-like voice. It almost sounds like a folk song that would be sung around a campfire as he hits some higher notes in the chorus. The lyrics tell of a story of four men who went on a voyage in space for a year, but when they returned 100 years had passed on Earth and everything they knew was dead and gone. It's a very sci-fi concept that sounds interesting, but it is very odd to accompany this acoustic folk music. Not Queen's best song but it is an interesting one. Track 6 is called "Sweet Lady" and it opens into a nice rock riff led by some heavy guitar by May. Mercury is back on lead vocals and he just has such a great voice, like May's but amplified in every great way. They speed it up for a bit in the chorus and Taylor plays some nice drum fills in this rockin' beat. After a couple more verses May takes it away for a guitar solo that sounds pretty sweet! He keeps going until the end of the song in a very nice solo that ends this pretty great song. The side ends with another short song called "Seaside Rendezvous" as Mercury plays a jangle piano to lead this 2-plus minute song and I think it sounds really cool! He sings very nicely along as Taylor and May add some cool backing vocals as well. For 30 seconds we hear a solo of sorts that sounds like brass and other instruments, but is actually Mercury and Taylor doing everything on vocals! As far as scat-singing goes, this sounds pretty cool I think and they bring it back to the catchy piano riff. I really like the vibe of this song as they play out one more verse and chorus and it ends with Mercury saying "give us a kiss". Queen are all over the map on this first side but there's lots of different, cool things going on.

Side two begins with the longest song Queen ever recorded at over 8 minutes, "The Prophet's Song". This song throws back to the progressive rock of their first couple albums continuing the theme of songs on this album being very different from one another. May starts it off with some slow, cool guitar and Mercury sings very nicely overtop. May plays some cool electric guitar as the riff becomes much heavier. May and Taylor contribute their usual high background vocals and Mercury hits some pretty high notes as well. This opening part sounds pretty epic and around the 3:20 mark it moves into a new part that features a lot of use of tape delay. Mercury recorded his parts and using the studio technology was able to have it sound like there are three Freddie Mercurys! These three vocals are on a couple second delay and Mercury does a fantastic job of making them line up at some points and repeat each other in others. I really like how it sounds and Freddie sounds like he's having lots of fun with it. May has a bit of fun with some delayed guitar before taking off to a new part. He plays some excellent guitar in this new part and they segue brilliantly back into the opening riff. After another well done riff May starts to trail off and plays some more cool acoustic guitar to end this prog song as it began. He ties it all together nicely in what is definitely my favourite song on the album so far. Up next is "Love Of My Life" as Mercury plays some beautiful piano while May adds some cool guitar. May also plays the harp on this song adding to the beautiful vibe. Mercury carries the song though with his wonderful piano and his spectacular singing. May and Taylor do a great job backing as well as this song has no drums or bass, it's a straight love ballad driven by the piano. Mercury is just one of a kind and May plays a fitting slow guitar solo. Mercury plays some more fantastic piano and sings one last verse before May finishes it off with some nice harp. Track 10 is "Good Company" and this song is a rarity in that it doesn't feature Mercury at all! May sings all the vocals in this song that he wrote and he also plays ukelele in another unique Queen song. May reminds me a bit of Paul McCartney as he sings along to a cool ukelele riff. There are many effects on May's guitar and it sounds like a song that might be on Sgt. Pepper's! I like this rag-time vibe and May's voice sounds pretty good, although I'm sure Mercury would've inevitably done better. It becomes a bit circus-y at the end of another interesting May-written song. The next song is "Bohemian Rhapsody" and what hasn't been said about this song already? It is one of the most well-known songs ever written and despite being just under six minutes long, it's also one of the most successful, and longest singles ever! All four members sing the opening lines of this song and I, like so many others know every word to this song. Mercury plays some slow, amazing piano as he takes over lead vocals and May and Taylor do the usual backing vocals. They sound fantastic together as Mercury carries this opening part with some lovely piano playing. He sings about shooting a man and how he's thrown his life away. Taylor comes in with a slow drum beat as Mercury's vocals are just some of the best singing you'll ever hear. His voice can hit any and every note and he weaves them all together so beautifully. He sings another wonderful verse about how he needs to leave and "face the truth" as May and Deacon finally join in on guitar and bass. May goes off for a guitar solo that is really, really good and it sounds so epic! It's final note starts off the middle section of this song that is led by some quick piano by Mercury. Mercury sings some ridiculous-sounding lyrics and this whole part sounds amazing! They alternate between quiet and very, very loud in this wonderful section that words just do not justice to. It's pure genius and there is nothing else like it. It ends with one very high-pitched "me!" and they seamlessly shift into a fantastic head-banging rock riff! May plays some excellent guitar and Mercury sings another superb verse as they rock out in this wicked riff. May's guitar seems to become Mercury's piano as they transition beautifully again, this time back to the beautiful piano of earlier but with May soloing overtop. This sounds great but is short-lived as they quiet it down for one final verse from Freddie. He reminds us that "nothing really matters" as he plays out the song with some more great piano. "Anywhere the wind blows" and Taylor ends this truly amazing song with a gong smash. It really is a masterpiece! The album ends with "God Save The Queen" and Taylor starts it with a drum roll before May takes over with a guitar rendition of the British national anthem. He did it as an homage to Hendrix's Star Spangled Banner and he does a pretty good job. This short 1 minute instrumental ends the album and Queen would use it to end their live shows as well.

That is the end of "A Night At The Opera" and I thought it was a fantastic album! The first side is pretty good and has lots of different styles and several cool songs and the second side is even better! I really enjoyed "The Prophet's Song" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" really is an absolute masterpiece. I think that this album is far and away better than anything Queen have done so far and it's going to be very tough to top such a good album. Queen would finally get the money they deserve after this landmark album and I can't wait to see what comes next!