Queen - A Night At The Opera (1975) - Lp

A Night at the Opera is the fourth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 21 November 1975. Co-produced by Roy Thomas Baker and Queen, it was the most expensive album ever recorded at the time of its release. The album takes its name from the Marx Brothers film A Night at the Opera, which the band watched one night at the studio complex when recording.The album was originally released by EMI Records in the United Kingdom, where it topped the UK Albums Chart for four non-consecutive weeks, and Elektra Records in the United States, where it peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and became the band's first platinum selling album in the US. The worldwide sales for the album are currently over 6 million copies.
A Night at the Opera incorporates a wide range of styles, from ballads and songs in a music hall style, to hard rock tracks and progressive rock influences. It also produced the band's most successful single in the UK, "Bohemian Rhapsody", which became their first UK number one and one of the best-selling singles in both the UK and the world.
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.


Side A
A1. Death On Two Legs (Dedicated To....)  (3:42)
       Written-By – Mercury
A2. Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon (1:07)
       Written-By – Mercury
A3. I'm In Love With My Car  (3:05)
       Vocals – Roger Taylor
         Written-By – Taylor
A4. You're My Best Friend  (2:51)
       Electric Piano – John Deacon
         Written-By – Deacon
A5. '39  (3:30)
       Double Bass – John Deacon
        Vocals – Brian May
        Written-By – May
A6. Sweet Lady  (4:02)
       Written-By – May
A7. Seaside Rendezvous  (2:14)
       Orchestrated By [Vocal Orchestration Of Brass] – Roger Taylor
         Orchestrated By [Vocal Orchestration Of Woodwind] – Freddie Mercury
         Written-By – Mercury

Side B
B1. The Prophet's Song  (8:21)
        Koto [Toy Koto] – Brian May
          Written-By – May 
B2. Love Of My Life  (3:37)
       Harp – Brian May
         Written-By – Mercury
B3. Good Company  (3:23)
       Vocals, Ukulele [Genuine Aloha Ukelele], Guitar [Jazz Band] – Brian May
         Written-By – May
B4. Bohemian Rhapsody  (5:54)
       Vocals [Operatic Vocals] – Brian, Freddie, Roger
         Written-By – Mercury
B5. God Save The Queen  (1:13)
       Arranged By [Uncredited] – Brian May
         Written By – May
         Written-By [Uncredited] – Traditional

Companies, etc.

• Phonographic Copyright (p) – Queen 
• Manufactured By – EMI-Bovema Holland
• Published By – B. Feldman
• Published By – Trident Music 
• Recorded At – Sarm East Studios
• Recorded At – Roundhouse Studios
• Recorded At – Olympic Studios
• Recorded At – Rockfield Studios
• Recorded At – Scorpio Studios
• Recorded At – Lansdowne Studios
• Mixed At – Sarm East Studios

Credits

• Art Direction – David Costa
• Composed By, Arranged By, Performer – Queen
• Electric Bass – John Deacon
• Engineer [Executive] – Mike Stone
• Engineer [Invaluable Additional Engineering] – Gary Lyons
• Guitar, Performer [Orchestral Backdrops] – Brian May
• Management – John Reid (8)
• Percussion – Roger Taylor
• Producer – Queen, Roy Thomas Baker
• Supervised By [Equipment Supervision] – John Harris
• Vocals, Piano [Bechstein Debauchery] – Freddie Mercury

Notes
Released: 21 November 1975
Recorded at Sarm, Roundhouse, Olympic, Rockfield, Scorpio and Lansdowne
Mixed at Sarm Studios
Genre: Rock
Style: Hard Rock, Pop Rock
Length: 43:!0

Label - EMI Records