Queen
A Night at the Opera


4.5
superb

Review

by Necrotica USER (196 Reviews)
February 28th, 2010 | 651 replies


Release Date: 1975 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Bombast at its finest.

Chapter IV: The Peak of Bombast

When we use the term bombast, many people have the term "progressive rock" come into their minds. This is definitely a true statement, but it can sometimes be used a bit too much, even for the genre. Some bands, however, show the label proudly. Those bands utilize the aforementioned word without a care in the world what people think. A band that carries this status (or did, rather) at the fullest is Queen, and they reach their peak here, with A Night at the Opera. While their previous album Sheer Heart Attack was a breakthrough release for the group and showed their potential, this is really where they hit said potential with full force.

Once again, the main aspect of the group happens to be Freddie Mercury, the frontman and vocalist along with being a founding member. His singing has improved a lot in this stage of his career, and cements his reputation as being one of rock's best vocalists. Brian May also makes a large amount of contributions to this album as the guitarist. He does plenty of overdubs, a signature playing style for him. John Deacon brings out his songwriting in the elegant ballad "You're my Best Friend", while Roger Taylor writes the song "I'm in Love with my Car", one of his best songs yet.

What's so interesting about this album is the fact that it can change so many genres in an instant. Take the epic Prophet Song for example. It begins with a nice acoustic guitar intro with Freddie singing, yet all of a sudden it erupts into a prog rocker complete with the epic feel and beat shifts. Afterwards, it goes into a lengthy A cappella interlude with massively overdubbed vocals by Freddie Mercury. Then it goes for the solo, the chorus once again, and an ending with the acoustic guitar coming back into play. It should also be noted that this is the longest song on the album, clocking in at over 8 minutes. The point overall is that these great genre changes are common in the album.

The John Deacon contribution "You're my Best Friend" is a nice highlight to the album. It eases things up a bit, especially in the middle of the album where it's needed. It's starts with opening chords on a Wurlitzer piano. This song generally focuses on Freddie Mercury's vocals, along with the multiple harmonies supplied by Roger Taylor. Overall, it's just a nice, gentle, and graceful tune. It would definitely be the best song written by John Deacon.

Other great tracks like "I'm in Love with my Car"(Roger Taylor's contribution about his love of cars) and "Sweet Lady" are also in here, but who could miss the great Bohemian Rhapsody? While a tad overrated, it's easy to see why people liked the song. It mixes to many genres into one song, yet comes out so well. Thus, it is a definitive piece of classic rock that will be remembered for a long time.

One thing has to be admitted with this record, however: With indulgence in one's own works, some music may meander a bit. Queen isn't one that escapes from this fact either. To be honest, Prophet Song is probably the prime example. The A cappella part, While great, is unnecessarily long at points.

That doesn't detract too much from the album, however, and actually the band can also be quite cohesive in their sound. Overall, this album defines the style they tried to find all along. They would continue down this path with a large string of great albums up until 1982. This right here is bombast at its finest.



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user ratings (1864)
4.4
superb
other reviews of this album
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Comments:Add a Comment 
scotish
February 28th 2010


836 Comments


yeah, review isn't bad; I would say it's a bit stop-and-start descriptive. it's far from a track by track though. all it needs is a bit more flow and you've got a pretty good review on your hands.

qwe3
February 28th 2010


21836 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

probably the best album ever made

Deviant.
Staff Reviewer
February 28th 2010


32288 Comments


Somewhere in the internet cemetary gblackman is spinning in his grave

qwe3
February 28th 2010


21836 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

gblackman is the funniest cat on the planet. put in so much effort to churn out such shit reviews

AtavanHalen
February 28th 2010


17919 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Ahahaha, that was classic

qwe3
February 28th 2010


21836 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

"Not to say A Night at the Opera doesn’t have its problems because it does but the good easily out shines the bad and there’s of course the small matter of a certain monster hit that would be bigger than anything that Queen had or will have done since."



hahahahahha i mean wtf

Gyromania
February 28th 2010


37380 Comments


I wish this had Killer Queen on it.

Romulus
February 28th 2010


9110 Comments


This guys were like my childhood and yet I managed never to hear a full album by them

Plutonio
March 1st 2010


474 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

You wish you were as gblack as gblackman.

Romulus
March 1st 2010


9110 Comments


Will do necro.

mandan
June 1st 2013


13925 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I had this 5'd but imo Queen II is better.

Necrotica
October 12th 2013


10693 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

m/

manosg
Emeritus
October 12th 2013


12709 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Incredible album, second favorite Queen.

Rowan5215
Staff Reviewer
October 12th 2013


47960 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

What's the best Queen to start with fellas

Necrotica
October 12th 2013


10693 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

This and Queen II :3

Rowan5215
Staff Reviewer
October 12th 2013


47960 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

cheers man I'll get onto it

manosg
Emeritus
October 12th 2013


12709 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Sheer Heart Attack is also up there so you might want to check it too.

Rowan5215
Staff Reviewer
October 12th 2013


47960 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

I'mma just get all their albums with above 3 averages on Sput so yeah I guess I'll do SHA after the two Necro suggested.

ViperAces
October 12th 2013


12597 Comments


sheer heart attack is my fav

Necrotica
November 16th 2013


10693 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

Album rules



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