A Night at the Opera [Bonus Tracks] (CD - 1975)

Queen: Freddie Mercury (vocals, piano); Brian May (guitar, harp, ukulele, background vocals); John Deacon (electric piano, acoustic & electric basses); Roger Taylor (percussion, background vocals).

Recorded at Sarm Studios, Roundhouse Studios, Olympic Studios, Scorpio Studios, Landsdowne Studios, London, England and Rockfield Studios, Wales.

Composer: Queen.

Personnel: Brian May (vocals, guitar, banjo, koto, ukulele, harmonica, keyboards); Freddie Mercury (vocals, piano); Roger Taylor (vocals, drums, percussion); John Deacon (guitar, electric piano, double bass, electric bass).

Audio Remasterer: Steve Hoffman.

Recording information: Lansdowne (1975); Olympic (1975); Rockfield (1975); Roundhouse (1975); Sarm (1975); Scorpio (1975).

Arranger: Queen.

Though they began their career practicing an artier, more theatrical variant on Led Zeppelin's 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 probably a 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.

Queen were straining at the boundaries of hard rock and heavy metal on Sheer Heart Attack, but they broke down all the barricades on A Night at the Opera, a self-consciously ridiculous and overblown hard rock masterpiece. Using the multi-layered guitars of its predecessor as a foundation, A Night at the Opera encompasses metal ("Death on Two Legs," "Sweet Lady"), pop (the lovely, shimmering "You're My Best Friend"), campy British music hall ("Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon," "Seaside Rendezvous"), and mystical prog rock ("'39," "The Prophet's Song"), eventually bringing it all together on the pseudo-operatic "Bohemian Rhapsody." In short, it's a lot like Queen's own version of Led Zeppelin IV, but where Zep find dark menace in bombast, Queen celebrate their own pomposity. No one in the band takes anything too seriously, otherwise the arrangements wouldn't be as ludicrously exaggerated as they are. But the appeal -- and the influence -- of A Night at the Opera is in its detailed, meticulous productions. It's prog rock with a sense of humor as well as dynamics, and Queen never bettered their approach anywhere else. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine minimize