A NIGHT AT THE OPERA

A great album!!!!! I'm not even going to pick out songs like "Bohemian Rhapsody" or "You're My Best Friend" because even those who despise this band have heard these songs at one time or another!! I will admit that "Bo Rap" is possibly one of the quirkiest most innovative and inventive songs ever written and recorded...but even I'm tired of hearing it, heheh!

I will pick out the songs that are seldom heard, the real meat and potatos behind this disc. The album opens with the moody rocker "Death On Two Legs," dedicated to Queen's management team who had been screwing them out of tons of money. They were sued, unsuccessfully! The lyrics were quite raw in 1975: "You suck my blood like a leech, You break the law and you breach, Screw my brain till it hurts, You've taken al my money and you want more." It goes on...very nice with some great vocals by Mr. Mercury and an awesome solo by Brian.

You have several great rock tracks included here: "I'm In Love With My Car" sung by drummer Roger Taylor, and "Sweet Lady", a terribly overlooked hard rock number. Then of course you have "Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon" and "Seaside Rendezvous" two vaudeville-esque oddities, the wonderful acoustic "39" sung by Brian May, "Good Company", another Brian lead track played on the ukulele, and the orchestral "Love Of My Life" which became a massive stage favorite later on, minus the harp of course!!! To say Queen is divere is an understatement! Find me a review that can say the same thing about another band!

The showpiece of this disc is the 8 minute plus "Prophet's Song." Like "Bo Rhap" this song goes through several movements, ranging from slow and melodic in the beginning, to a steady bass lead rhythm, building to a rather enjoyable and impossible to duplicate section of perfect vocal overdubs and melodies winding in and out and around each other, almost like a choir of angels if I dare say so...:) This finally builds into a rather heavy rock piece augmented by an amazing solo by Brian. This song, in my opinion is simply a perfected version of "Bohemian Rhapsody." Yes I am a die hard fan, and yes you can send hate mail for that comment!! Perhaps those who can't get past the cheese factor of "Bo Rap's" operatic section, this may be more to your liking!!

If you buy this disc, don't do it for the hits - do it to explore the range of Queen's musical output and form your own opinion.