A Night At The Opera - QUEEN*****

Death On Two Legs/Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon/I'm In Love With My Car/You're My Best Friend/'39/Sweet Lady/Seaside Rendezvous/The Prophet's Song/Love Of My Life/Good Company/Bohemian Rhapsody/God Save The Queen

Queen hit the big time with the release of A Night At The Opera. It contains a very diverse range of tracks that reflect the group’s creativity. Topping it all is their best known song Bohemian Rhapsody, a UK No. 1. (US:4 UK:1)

“The apex is the operatic Bohemian Rhapsody, always talked about as being one of the greatest songs ever recorded, and for good reason. Aided by Mercury's incredible vocals, and May's excellent guitar work in the heavier sections, it certainly qualifies as an all time epic.”

“Queen often go from pop-rock anthems and simple songs, to musical genius and some of the best writing in rock music ever heard. But either way the music is great. This album has some of their best stuff.”

“The vocals are what set A Night At The Opera apart as something special. Mercury had an amazing voice, and he applies layer upon layer of overdubs on every track to multiply the impact of its power and range. Most bands with progressive tendencies downplay the vocals to draw focus to the instruments. Queen, on the other hand, treated the vocals as another instrument that could be used to blow listeners away, the same way a great guitar solo or complex riff might be used. They had no qualms about putting effects on vocal tracks to create a certain sound or feeling.”

“Although Bohemian Rhapsody is the Queen song that almost every person on the planet knows, the album that it is taken from offers many other varieties of tracks. They combine classical sounds with a rock & roll inspired outlook. It's difficult to see exactly which direction the band is taking, but I believe that they were still experimenting at this stage. All in all, a great rock album, one that got me hooked on the Queen sound. It has a little bit of everything for many different musical tastes.”

“This is probably the best representation of Queen's early sound. It's definitely their most cohesive and developed, as their previous albums were a bit more scattered and experimental. A Night At The Opera, however, was when Queen really broke through to the general public and made them one of the 70s most enduring bands.”

“On this album Queen goes from hard rock to vaudeville, folk, pop and progressive rock and they do it all brilliantly.”