A Night at the Opera
Released: November 21st, 1975
Recorded: August- November 1975 at 6 different studios
Genre: Rock
Length: 43:10
Label: EMI, Parlophone (UK), Elektra, Hollywood (US)
Producer: Queen, Roy Thomas Baker
Personnel:
· Freddie Mercury: lead vocals, piano, harmony vocals, backing vocals, tape effects
· Brian May: guitar, harp, banjolele, backing vocals, lead vocals on “‘39” & Good Company, piano, toy koto, tape effects
· Roger Taylor: drums, percussion, lead vocals on “I’m in Love With My Car”, backing vocals, tape effects
· John Deacon: bass guitar, electric piano, double-bass
· Mike Stone: executive engineer
· Gary Lyons: additional engineering
· John Harris: equipment supervision
· David Costa: art direction
Singles:
Bohemian Rhapsody, released October 31st, 1975
You’re My Best Friend, released May 18th, 1976
Interesting Facts:
"Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to...)" could only be referred to as Freddie Mercury's hate letter toward Queen's ex-manager, Norman Sheffield, who is reputed to have mistreated the band and abused his role as their manager from 1972-1975. Though it never made a direct reference to him, upon listening to the song, Sheffield attempted to sue the band for defamation, and this revealed to the public the subject of the song. Sheffield later admitted that it probably gave the band an incentive to dedicate the song to him after he decided to sue them. During live performances, Mercury would usually re-dedicate the song to "a real motherfucker of a gentleman", although this line was censored out on the version that appeared on their Live Killers album in 1979.
The number 39 has a lot to do with Queen. Well, not really, but kind of. Counting all of the original songs starting with Keep Yourself Alive (on the first Queen album) all the way through to '39, this song falls 39th in chronological order. Brian May is also the 39th guitarist on the "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" (though he deserves to be way higher)
"Love of My Life" was written for Freddie Mercury's girlfriend at the time, Mary Austin.
"Love of My Life" was such a concert favourite that Mercury frequently stopped singing and allowed the audience to take over. It was especially well received during concerts in South America, and the band released the song as a single there. When Queen and Paul Rodgers performed the song (specifically Brian solo) he sang almost none of the words and let the audience sing it all, continuing the tradition.
"Bohemian Rhapsody" was written by Mercury with the first guitar solo composed by May. All piano, bass and drum parts, as well as the vocal arrangements, were thought up by Mercury on a daily basis and written down "in blocks" (using note names instead of sheets) on a phonebook.
Two songs that later became popular were written at the time of this album. "Tie Your Mother Down" was not finished with recording until the following year, where it was included on the A Day at the Races album. "We Are the Champions", however (according to him in a 1977 interview) Mercury felt the song didn't fit with the rest of the album. The song would be, in the words of Mercury, "pulled out the bag" two years later for the News of the World album.
Freddie and Roger had a legal dispute over the Bohemian Rhapsody/I'm In Love With My Car single. Freddie did not want Roger to receive royalties for Bohemian Rhapsody, which legally he would've been entitled to because I'm In Love With My Car was the b-side of the single. I'll bet this put a little strain on their relationship for a while.
When A Night at the Opera came out, Freddie was living in a flat that was so damp all the time that he came back from the band's first trip to Japan to find mushrooms growing on the walls
Track Listing:
Side One:
1. Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to…) (Mercury)—3:43
2. Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon (Mercury)—1:07
3. I’m in Love With My Car (Taylor)—3:05
4. You’re My Best Friend (Deacon)—2:52
5. ’39 (May)—3:31
6. Sweet Lady (May)—4:03
7. Seaside Rendezvous (Mercury)—2:15
Side Two:
1. The Prophet’s Song (May)—8:21
2. Love of My Life (Mercury)—3:39
3. Good Company (May)—3:23
4. Bohemian Rhapsody (Mercury)—5:55
5. God Save the Queen (Arr. May)—1:18
1991 Hollywood Record Bonus Tracks
1. I’m in Love With My Car (1991 bonus remix by Mike Shipley)—3:28
2. You’re My Best Friend (1991 bonus remix by Matt Wallace)—2:52
Recorded: August- November 1975 at 6 different studios
Genre: Rock
Length: 43:10
Label: EMI, Parlophone (UK), Elektra, Hollywood (US)
Producer: Queen, Roy Thomas Baker
Personnel:
· Freddie Mercury: lead vocals, piano, harmony vocals, backing vocals, tape effects
· Brian May: guitar, harp, banjolele, backing vocals, lead vocals on “‘39” & Good Company, piano, toy koto, tape effects
· Roger Taylor: drums, percussion, lead vocals on “I’m in Love With My Car”, backing vocals, tape effects
· John Deacon: bass guitar, electric piano, double-bass
· Mike Stone: executive engineer
· Gary Lyons: additional engineering
· John Harris: equipment supervision
· David Costa: art direction
Singles:
Bohemian Rhapsody, released October 31st, 1975
You’re My Best Friend, released May 18th, 1976
Interesting Facts:
"Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to...)" could only be referred to as Freddie Mercury's hate letter toward Queen's ex-manager, Norman Sheffield, who is reputed to have mistreated the band and abused his role as their manager from 1972-1975. Though it never made a direct reference to him, upon listening to the song, Sheffield attempted to sue the band for defamation, and this revealed to the public the subject of the song. Sheffield later admitted that it probably gave the band an incentive to dedicate the song to him after he decided to sue them. During live performances, Mercury would usually re-dedicate the song to "a real motherfucker of a gentleman", although this line was censored out on the version that appeared on their Live Killers album in 1979.
The number 39 has a lot to do with Queen. Well, not really, but kind of. Counting all of the original songs starting with Keep Yourself Alive (on the first Queen album) all the way through to '39, this song falls 39th in chronological order. Brian May is also the 39th guitarist on the "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" (though he deserves to be way higher)
"Love of My Life" was written for Freddie Mercury's girlfriend at the time, Mary Austin.
"Love of My Life" was such a concert favourite that Mercury frequently stopped singing and allowed the audience to take over. It was especially well received during concerts in South America, and the band released the song as a single there. When Queen and Paul Rodgers performed the song (specifically Brian solo) he sang almost none of the words and let the audience sing it all, continuing the tradition.
"Bohemian Rhapsody" was written by Mercury with the first guitar solo composed by May. All piano, bass and drum parts, as well as the vocal arrangements, were thought up by Mercury on a daily basis and written down "in blocks" (using note names instead of sheets) on a phonebook.
Two songs that later became popular were written at the time of this album. "Tie Your Mother Down" was not finished with recording until the following year, where it was included on the A Day at the Races album. "We Are the Champions", however (according to him in a 1977 interview) Mercury felt the song didn't fit with the rest of the album. The song would be, in the words of Mercury, "pulled out the bag" two years later for the News of the World album.
Freddie and Roger had a legal dispute over the Bohemian Rhapsody/I'm In Love With My Car single. Freddie did not want Roger to receive royalties for Bohemian Rhapsody, which legally he would've been entitled to because I'm In Love With My Car was the b-side of the single. I'll bet this put a little strain on their relationship for a while.
When A Night at the Opera came out, Freddie was living in a flat that was so damp all the time that he came back from the band's first trip to Japan to find mushrooms growing on the walls
Track Listing:
Side One:
1. Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to…) (Mercury)—3:43
2. Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon (Mercury)—1:07
3. I’m in Love With My Car (Taylor)—3:05
4. You’re My Best Friend (Deacon)—2:52
5. ’39 (May)—3:31
6. Sweet Lady (May)—4:03
7. Seaside Rendezvous (Mercury)—2:15
Side Two:
1. The Prophet’s Song (May)—8:21
2. Love of My Life (Mercury)—3:39
3. Good Company (May)—3:23
4. Bohemian Rhapsody (Mercury)—5:55
5. God Save the Queen (Arr. May)—1:18
1991 Hollywood Record Bonus Tracks
1. I’m in Love With My Car (1991 bonus remix by Mike Shipley)—3:28
2. You’re My Best Friend (1991 bonus remix by Matt Wallace)—2:52
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