Queen - A Night at the Opera
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Free Music Notes for A Night at the Opera
Free Music Review: king of queens
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm not a Queen fan because Mercury's style sometimes rubs me the wrong way. Sometimes his vocal range quickly rears off in a completely different direction while singing what appears to be a straight-forward vocal melody, and it's hard for me to adjust to that style. However, I really like A Night at the Opera. Everybody knows "Bohemian Rhapsody". It's been played over and over a million times on classic rock radio. It's been played so many times for a very good reason- it's a great song. Any complaints I might have with Freddy disappear whenever this song comes on. A lot of people mention the rocking section as being their particular favorite moment. I agree!
I really like "39". Very demanding beat to a very pleasant vocal melody. That's what the song is all about. "You're My Best Friend" is another highlight. An innocent, yet highly memorable little tune. "I'm In Love With My Car" always reminded me of Roger Daltrey from the Who. I kept wondering "Why can't I find this lost Who song on a search engine?" It's because the song is by Queen! "Death on Two Legs" is another memorable track that many people probably don't even realize they do in fact know the song, and know it well.
Overall, there's no problems with this album. It's a really solid album.
Free Music Review: The album which forever immortalised Queen
Hit: 5 Stars
A Night At The Opera (1975.), Queen's fourth studio album
Throughout their career, Queen would always challenge themselves musically and would create a musical spectacle that would win over millions of fans. The band were especially innovative in their early career; powering out a blistering hard-rocking debut with `Queen I' and experimenting with more progressive ideas in `Queen II'. With their third release, `Sheer Heart Attack', the band got everything together to produce a `70's classic. However, the musical train definitely didn't stop there as a year later Queen released `A Night At The Opera'; an album you just may have heard quite a lot of press about over the past 30 or so years...
...Indeed, as most reviewers for this album will have stated, this is a seminal hard rock classic and in many ways marks a creative peak in the great career which Queen enjoyed. The album, filled with operatic harmonies and memorable tunes has influenced countless other bands down the years and across the genres. At a first listen, this album strikes you as a crazy operatic charade and in many ways it is! Queen here create an album which is based on the theme of an opera performance with all the crazy twists and turns thrown in. However it works brilliantly and is a truly innovative display that also rocks hard (in some parts at least!). An argument I've often heard with this album is that the whole thing is only made coherant by the one song `Bohemian Rhapsody'. Many agree that the song is the centrepiece of the album. However, I would not hesitate to say that a large number of the tracks stand up on their own two feet. Tracks like `Death On Two Legs' and `You're My Best Friend' are timeless classics in their own right. All in all, `A Night At The Opera' is definitive Queen; there is the pomp, excess, craziness and creative genius all fully featured on this disc. The album also marks a continuation of each member of the band contributing their own material. Brian May's compositions make up the more guitar driven works on the album such as `Sweet Lady' whilst Freddie Mercury contributes the more operatic and quirky songs such as `Seaside Rendezvous', `Love Of My Life' and not to mention the all time famous `Bohemian Rhapsody'. Roger Taylor and John Deacon also leave a clear statement on the album too.
`Death On Two Legs' opens this great album. This is one of Queen's best album openers and one of their best songs, period. Written as a cynical tribute to their previous band manager, Freddie Mercury spews venom in the lyrics in an amusing fashion over some great guitar harmonies and melodies from May. The grand piano work, which is synonymous with early Queen is there as well in this blistering opener too. `Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon' is next; a catchy one minute song with some amusing lyrics. There is more piano and overblown guitar lines and as a listener you can feel the operatic stylings in the album building. Then, enter Roger Taylor for `I'm In Love With My Car'. I've always been a big fan of the Roger Taylor songs in the Queen catalogue and this one is no exception. This song rocks hard and Taylor gives a great vocal performance, expressing his love for his car. `You're My Best Friend' is a beautiful song; John Deacon, the quiet man of the band really pulls out the stops in this song of his. A timeless Queen classic, the keyboards work a treat and Freddie Mercury delivers some fantastic emotive vocals. `'39' is an excellent semi-acoustic song about a couple being split up due to the beginning of World War II. `Sweet Lady' is another really cool song. With it's waltz like rocking guitar riff and strong vocals, this is a strong closer to the first half of the album.
`Seaside Rondezvous' keeps the operatic nature of the album going. The song has the excess and hilarity which a number of the tracks on the album exhibit and it again works a treat. `The Prophet's Song' is the epic of the album, clocking in at 8 minutes. Here we see what the sound Queen pioneered is all about, there are vocal harmonies and operatic squeals galore in this one. Although the track is a littel drawn out in parts, there is no denying the significance of this particular song. `Love Of My Life' is a Queen fan favourite; a calm and serene song, Freddie gives another brilliant vocal performance in this excellent ballad. `Good Company' is another amusing song, this time a Brian May composition. May performs the vocals and plays the ukelele to create a unique sounding song which I personally think is great. Next is a track I need not say too much about. `Bohemian Rhapsody' is a track everyone knows, whether you know this album or not - it is 6 minutes of pure craziness and genius. For it's time, it was the most expensive single ever made - the number of vocal layers on this song show this. Following this masterpiece, the album closes with Brian May rockin' out to the tune of `God Save The Queen'. Again we see the opera theme and Queen's joking around it, as operas traditionally had the song played at them after a performance.
`A Night At The Opera' is definitive Queen. If you want a showcase of what Queen is all about then this is the album to get hold of. The vast praise this album has been given over the years is completely deserved and this album is a milestone album in music. `A Night At The Opera' has aged extremely well and as aware as everyone is that this album dates back to '75, it still sounds fresh and lively. This album and it's predecessor `Sheer Heart Attack', for me marked the creative peak for Queen. This album is a must for any rock fans collection or for any fan of great music in general.
MY RATING: 9.5/10
Free Music Review: Another Good one
Hit: 4 Stars
Another versitile recording showing their mastery as muscians and artists. Their hit "You're My Best Friend" is just the tip of the iceburg when it comes to their ability to write just about any kind of music.Free Music Review: On a desert island
Hit: 5 Stars
If I were stuck on a desert island and could only have 10 cds to listen to for the rest of my life, this would be one of them.Free Music Review: The album that made Punk necessary
Hit: 3 Stars
I enjoy parts of this album---the guitar solo at the end of "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon" has a tendency to grab hold of my brain and not to let go, though I love actual music hall too much to enjoy the verse and the fake old-timey sound used.
Still, I can't add much to the negative reviews here: pretentious, sententious, overblown, overserious, overdone....all-in-all, an adolescent's idea of what "important" means. I'll still listen, but will chase it with a shot of "Pretty Vacant" (or even "Get Off the Air, Rodney") to still my gut.