In honor of the deposed White House Director of Communications Anthony Scaramucci, The Vinyl of the Day is ‘A Night At The Opera’ by Queen, 1975. Nothing succeeds like excess–at least that’s the case with Queen’s breakthrough classic, A Night at the Opera. On one level, the title is a reference to the band’s operatic pretensions, best in evidence here on the classic “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which was championed by headbangers a generation before being revived by the Wayne’s World set. Of course, A Night at the Opera was also the title of a Marx Brothers movie, and the reference wasn't lost on Queen, who seldom scaled the heights of pomp-rock without a knowing wink. This was another one of those game-changing albums for me — I had just started high skool and had heard literally nothing like it before, because of course nothing like it had existed. I think if Queen had worked in a more ‘serious’ manner, the album wouldn’t have worked, but it was their self-conscious humor and sense of fun and showmanship and the incredibly unique sound of Freddie and Brian that made it a true ‘Sgt. Pepper’ of the time. It really blew the doors off of music of the day.
The album has been discussed to death, but here it goes anyway. Everyone's heard the brilliant 'Bohemian Rhapsody', which might be the band’s career song (and IMHO has been ruined by the ‘Wayne’s World’ parody) and 'You're My Best Friend' (written by bassist John Deacon) is also excellent. But have you heard gems like Brian May's '39', a beautiful folk/sci-fi fusion that is one of the unsung highlights of the album? Then there's the breezy, endlessly creative 'Seaside Rendezvous', and the romantic ballad 'Love of My Life' is a fan favorite (to my ears it's a little too sappy, but Freddie's vocals make it all worth it). For all the silliness, all of these tracks are carefully produced and are worth re-visiting time and time again. Queen didn't completely abandon their hard rock roots, either. There's 'Sweet Lady' and 'Death on Two Legs' (which was dedicated to their former manager). A classic album, though it might not be to everyone's tastes, but you can't deny the talent and sheer creativity. A Night at the Opera is viewed by most as the quintessential Queen album, and justifiably so.
From Wikipedia;
At the time the most expensive album ever recorded, May has asserted in subsequent years that, had A Night at the Opera not been successful, Queen would have disbanded. Upon release, the album was a commercial success, debuting at No. 1 in the UK and topping the charts for four non-consecutive weeks. In the US, it reached No. 4, the band’s strongest showing at that time. In 1977 “Bohemian Rhapsody” received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus and Best Arrangement for Voices.
In a contemporary review, Kris Nicholson of Rolling Stone magazine said that, although they share other heavy metal groups’ penchant for “manipulating dynamics,” Queen are an elite act in the genre and set themselves apart by incorporating “unlikely effects: acoustic piano, harp, acapella vocals, no synthesisers. Coupled with good songs.“ Melody Maker called the album a “must-have”, encouraging listeners to “turn it up loud and enjoy”, while the Winnipeg Free Press wrote: “The group’s potential is practically limitless, indicating that Queen is destined to finally take its place among the small handful of truly major acts working in rock today.” Robert Christgau, writing in The Village Voice, felt that the album “doesn’t actually botch any of a half-dozen arty-to-heavy ‘eclectic’ modes … and achieves a parodic tone often enough to suggest more than meets the ear.” However, he questioned what “that more is”.
Uncut noted “the extent of the band’s barmy diversity.” Mojo called the album “an imperial extravaganza, a cornucopia”, and Queen “a band of hungrily competitive individualists on a big roll of friendship and delight.” Pitchfork Media’s Dominique Leone said that the band topped their contemporaries on the album without limiting themselves or sparing any effort. According to Rhapsody’s Mike McGuirk, A Night at the Opera is often viewed as one of the greatest rock albums of all time. McGuirk felt that the album’s combination of heavy metal, recording effects, theatrical sophistication, and British grandeur still make for an engaging listen.The BBC said of the record: “Christmas 1975 was to be forever remembered as Queen’s. And A Night at the Opera remains their finest hour.”
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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.
In 2015, actual Astrophysicist Dr. Brian May was named by NASA as a New Horizons probe collaborator! Here he is in 3D;
www.nasa.gov/...