Aug 14 AOTD: Queen - A Night At The Opera

Aug 14 AOTD: Queen - A Night At The Opera

In 1975 Queen released the greatest album of their career, scaling their talents to a height they would only come close to again, cementing their place in the pantheon of the rock god bands next to the Beatles, Stones, Who and Zeppelin.  And though A Night At the Opera may not be the best rock album of all time (it certainly deserves to be in the running), it did show off strengths of which no others in the pantheon could boast.

First, every member of the band could not only write songs, they could each write ear-worm hits.  We will get to the obvious "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Freddie Mercury in just a minutes.  But starting with the third track, "I'm in Love With My Car," the drummer, Roger Taylor delivers a burning-rubber, vocal-scorching performance of his own composition.  This is followed by the bass player, John Deacon's composition "You're My Best Friend," which eventually made it's way onto their greatest hits disc.  Additionally, guitarist Brian May composed 4 songs on the album, only outdone by Mercury's contribution of five.

Secondly, few other bands could so successfully render as many styles on one album: hard rock on the opening number, Mercury's vilest (he encourages his subject to commit suicide), insult-ridden "Death On Two Legs," sung dripping with bitterness by Freddie himself;  progressive metal on May's epic dream-influenced "Prophet's Song" about a biblical flood; the various music hall ditties like "39" and "Good Company"; and then, of course the operatic "Bohemian Rhapsody."  Many of these vary same songs (like "Prophet's Song" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" also feature all four band members in a cappella breakdown, showing off their vocal prowess.

But, of course, it's "Bohemian Rhapsody" above all other songs that really made this album monumental. The grandiose gestures in "Prophet Song" alone, could have given this album enough propulsion into the hall of fame, but that fact that few even know of that song, tells just how creatively powerful Rhapsody is. Some facts: There is no chorus. Mercury had the whole song composed in his head before he wrote anything down.  When he finally did get to laying it out block by block, he wrote it down on a phone book.  The song is a suite with disparate styles, ranging from rock to opera.  It features, in its instrumentation, first piano, then drums, then guitar. And though the song does not speak of love, like the traditional pop song of its era, does, rather, speak to despair and murder while making esoteric references from various operas to the devil to the Quran, it is one of the most popular sing-alongs of all time (as evidenced by, or helped by, the SNL-inspired film Wayne's World).

Ironically, or fittingly, the album ends with "God Save the Queen."