Music Report

Album: A Night at the Opera Band: Queen Genre: Rock Instruments: Freddie Mercury Vocals, Piano, jangle piano, backing vocals Brian May Guitar, ukulele, vocals, harp, koto, backing vocals Roger Taylor Drums, vocals, percussion, backing vocals John Deacon Bass guitar, electric piano, backing vocals A Night at the Opera is the fourth studio album by Queen and came out in 1975. At the time of its release, it was the most expensive record ever made. It was a commercial success, and many critics and fans claim that this is among Queens finest works. The name is from the film A Night at the Opera (1935) which the band liked very much. The album was number 1 on the UK charts for four weeks, and it became their first platinum selling album in the US at a number 4 position. Track listing: 1. Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to...) 2. Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon 3. Im in Love with My Car 4. Youre My Best Friend 5. 39 6. Sweet Lady 7. Seaside Rendezvous 8. The Prophets Song 9. Love of my Life 10. Good Company 11. Bohemian Rhapsody 12. God Save the Queen (instrumental)

Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to) is about Queens ex-manager Norman Sheffield, who stole money from them and mistreated the band from 19721975. He is never directly mentioned, but because of the hateful nature of the lyrics, Sheffield sued the band over it. This is how the public knew what the song was about. Aside from the controversial lyrics, this is a standard Queen song (piano, vocal harmonies, guitar solo). I love it. Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon is only a minute long and very simple, but its very effective. The most prominent instrument is the piano, which Freddie played of course. He also recorded all the (backing) vocals. The lead vocals have a megaphone effect, which was done by sending the vocals to a tin bucket, and have a different microphone pick up on that sound. The song ends with a catchy guitar solo. Im in Love with My Car was written and sung by Roger Taylor. The lyrics are about a guys love for his car. Brian May initially thought it was a joke when he heard the demo. The song ends with sounds produced by Taylors current car. It is one of the most famous songs by Roger Taylor. Youre My Best Friend was written by John Deacon, but sung by Freddie (Deacon never did any of the lead vocals in Queen). Deacon wrote the song for his wife Veronica. He plays the usual bass but also an electric piano. The electric piano notes play an important role in the song. During live performances, Freddie would play the piano parts on a regular piano. 39 was written and sung by Brian May. The song tells the tale of space explorers who go on a year-long journey, but when they return, 100 years have passed. All their loved ones are dead. Backing vocals were done by Freddie and Taylor. May plays all the acoustic guitars. Fun fact: if you count all the songs starting with their first album, this is the 39th song. Sweet Lady is a traditional rocker song, written by Brian May and sung by Freddie. Theres not much to say about this song, except that I think this is one of the weaker songs on the album. Its still good, but it kind of falls flat compared to the rest of the songs. Seaside Rendezvous, written and sung by Freddie, is an up-tempo song once again dominated by Freddies piano playing and is best known for its musical bridge one minute into the song. Listening to it for the first time, you will probably think you hear instruments like the clarinet, tuba, trumpet and others,

but the entire section is performed by Freddie and Taylor. They imitate woodwind and brass instruments with their voices. The tap-dancing part is also done by Freddie and Taylor by tapping on the mixing desk with their fingers. The Prophets Song is the longest song on the album (and the longest Queen song overall) with a length of over 8 minutes, and was written by Brian May and sung by Freddie. Most of the lyrics were inspired by a dream Brian May head during the recording of Sheer Heart Attack (their third studio album). There are references to the Bible and the story of Noahs Ark. The song includes a long vocal canon by Freddie, using tape delay devices to echo his voice. The song has a strong progressive rock influence. Love of My Life is a ballad written and performed by Freddie. It was a song for his girlfriend Mary Austin. Freddie played the piano including a classical solo and he did all of the vocals. Brian May played the harp parts. The song has been covered by a lot of artists, and during live performances the audience would sing a big chunk of the song. While its a good song, I consider this one of the weaker songs together with Sweet Lady. Good Company was written and sung by Brian May, who did all of the vocals and played his fathers ukulele. Only using his guitar and amp, May recreated a Dixieland-style Jazz band. Bohemian Rhapsody was written and sung by Freddie. This is one of Queens most famous songs, and it was a huge hit. The song has no chorus. It consists of a ballad part ending with a guitar solo, an operatic part, and a hard rock part. At the time, it was one of the most expensive singles ever made. The song stayed on top of the UK charts for nine weeks. In 1991, it reached number one again after Freddies death. The music video for the song is considered groundbreaking, because nothing like it had been done before. Bohemian Rhapsody is probably one of the most famous songs in popular history, and is still very unique. God Save the Queen is a cover of the national anthem of the UK. I think the album should have ended with Bohemian Rhapsody. Even though its only a minute long, I find it completely redundant.

A Night at the Opera is one of my favorite Queen albums, and probably one of my favorite albums of all time. I love Queen and the diversity of their songs, backed up by the great voice of Freddie Mercury, incredible musicianship and successful experiments with 70s studio techniques (most prominent in Bohemian Rhapsody. The vocal types were worn out). Queens hits are great, but a lot of people dont know that Queen has a vast discography with amazing songs that were never commercially popular. A big 10/10 for this album.