Reviews (page 14 of 15)
First Queen album I ever listened to straight through. What an experience. They could do it all. 39 would be a bit today, forget the rest of this thing with Rhapsody and Best Friend
ok 3.5
Excellent
Love it. Absolute classic. Funny that this was the first recommendations, as it was one of the first albums I ever loved.
Queen. Good. listen again you prick
Quintessential Queen Quality
Much prefer the first half of the album, it’s full of classics.
10cc did it better
Incredible queen album - not much more to say.
Este disco me cuesta trabajo. Las canciones que me gustan me gustan mucho y las otras más raras me cansan muy rápido. Además de Bohemian Rhapsody, You're My Best Friend y Love Of My Life son las mejores. 3.5 que sube a 4.
Pocas bandas y pocos discos logran el espectro tan amplio que tiene este disco: una balada melosa con Love of My Life, rolas pesada como Death on Two Legs, rolas como de cabaret y hasta un par de experimentos de Rock Opera como '39 y The Prophet Song. Eso sin contar Bohemian Rhapsody que es, yo creo, un parteaguas en el Rock, que puso en claro que se puede ser creativo, salirse de los 3 minutos típicos del radio, combinar géneros, meter un solo alocado de guitarra y con todo y todo, ser un hitazo. Y hablando de lo pesado… No sé cómo lo logra Queen, pero de algún modo logran lanzar canciones más o menos heavy que son digeribles para todo público y que otras bandas de la época (Led Zeppelin por ejemplo) con lo mismo o menos ya están en el espectro de "quita ese ruido infernal".
Listened to most of it. Didn’t blow me away. Not really a huge Queen fan to begin with.
I like it
It's good
many songs i've not heard before :O queen is good, but not what i'm currently listening to bohemian rhapsody still 5/7 though, but only because i've been brainwashed by the lizard elite
Excess on a grand – and mostly annoying – scale. The album seems composed to bring together the worst impulses of all the many genres it touches -- from classical leider to music hall/vaudeville to hair metal and glam. It's mostly bouffant nonsense (perhaps its intentino) -- clear evidence of why less is more. \"Best Friend\" is a terrific pop song, but doesn't come close to redeeming the rest. \"'39\" sounds wonderful – probably because it's a realitvely straightfoward, you know, pop song, rather than an overwrought song cycle. It all comes together in \"Bohemian Rhapsody,\" which is briliiant but also enocouraged further excess in the future. Whle there's much to admire, it works out to be just too much – much too much, in fact.
Stone cold classic. I don't know what to even say about this album. One of the greats.
Overblown and silly, but seems to be knowingly so. Still more likely to put on 'Greatest Hits' than any single Queen album if I ever listen to them. As an album experience a Night At The Opera is patchy and all over the place despite the obvious talent and hits.
No me gusta este estilo de rock
7/10
Too dramatic, not for me.
Plein de classiques incroyables, Death on two legs, Bohemian Rhapsody; You're my best friend... J'adore l'ambiance générale de l'album, avec une mention spéciale pour '39 qui me fait rêver.
One of those few and far between perfect albums.
Some songs were a bit out there, but overall a great album.
Bohemian Rhapsody has more than earned its place in the pantheon of all-time great songs, but A Night at the Opera offers a bevy of auditory delights, from the Dixieland jazz of Good Company (all replicated with Brian May’s guitar) to the Motown pastiche of You’re My Best Friend to the intricate harmonies and apocalyptic imagery of The Prophet’s Song. With their backs against the wall, Queen produce an album that isn’t quite their finest work, but gives an excellent overview of their skill and their fearlessness to experiment with genre and technique.
Enjoyed this from start to finish, the familiar songs and the new-to-me ones, too. Plus, Bohemian Rhapsody.
Masterpiece
Fantastic.
Sounds downright Beatlesque at times! I caught a few new tracks to save. Pretty funny that I’ve never troubled to listen to the entire album from which we get Bohemian Freakin Rhapsody.
I haven’t actually listed to a lot of Queen, aside from the hits everyone’s heard a thousand times. Pretty sure I never listened to this album before. It’s way weirder than I would have guessed. It’s interesting to hear Bohemian Rhapsody in context, with its call backs to little motifs from earlier songs. Very good and very strange, for an offering from an arena-filling rock band.
I mean... it's queen... it was fine
Bursting with an abundance of ideas, Queen delivers a diverse and overloaded twelve-track album that hits on hard-rock, soft-pop, music hall, suite-style composition, and some dazzling delay-like effects. While the band's off-the-wall oddities are most closely akin to the music of Sparks, this record is really, really good on its own terms. It's also refreshing to hear Roger Taylor and Brian May sing lead on a few tracks. Favorites: "Death On Two Legs (Dedicated To...)" and "'39"
Back to back bangers
Sehr abwechslungsreich. Nicht nur der Standard Queen Sound
okay, yeap, this is queen, thanks for the reminder... a lot of choir stuff...
One of these superclassic albums of the 70s.. perfection of style.
Some great songs on this album, but also a few just okay ones. The closer sealed it for me. Only four stars.
nice harmonies, most songs are kinda bland/generic. Although, the one's that are good are some of the best songs of all time.
the album with bohemian on it love of my life is also pretty good
One of those few and far between perfect albums.
❤️ brings me back to my childhood - a classic
Wasn’t a fan of The Prophets Song but other than that loved it.
I was listening to all the annoying vaudeville shit on this album and rolling my eyes and then I thought to myself, hang on, if Paul McCartney wrote that you’d be sucking it right off. I really dropped a truth bomb on myself. So this album actually rules.
Great
White album for theatre kids
This was my first album and to this day I do not think a more perfect album was ever composed. I got this for my 10th birthday and have memorized every song, lyric, lick and note from the 10k times I've listened to it. Where's the six star button?
Start på Semestern! Woohoo!
Queen is one of the best bands of all time and Bohemian Rhapsody is the greatest rock song ever made. Some of their less popular songs are featured on here and its refreshing to hear them with how prevalent their biggest hits are played. Freddie Mercury also had one of the best voices of lead singers and had one of the best stage presences ever.
LP
"Larger-than-life British arena-glam rockers who mastered the art of the pop single, led by the incomparable Freddie Mercury." This is what Allmusic has to say about Queen, even if all those pop singles were also coming from LPs, at least as far as I know. Note that this overall description doesn't mention albums at all. And there might be a reason for that, which could possibly be that Queen's extravagant antics were far less suitable for the length of a whole album, to the point when they could turn from extravagant to simply exhausting in the course of such longer plays... That being said, it would be ridiculous to *fully* exclude such a legendary band for a list of 1001 essential records, and *A Night At The Opera* is probably the best candidate for it out there, thanks to "Bohemian Rhapsody", of course, but also to the far less known and yet absolutely marvellous cuts in it, expecially the equally extravagant but also mystical "The Prophet" and its incredible vocal bridge in the middle of the song, the heavy blues-rock of "Sweet Lady", or the psychedelic folk ballad about space explorers "39", all of them penned by future astronomer Brian May (!). Add a large chunk of rockers (mean and wicked opener "Death On Two Legs" or Roger Daltrey's hilarious "I'm In Love With My Car" ) along with a few mock-novelty numbers here and there, and you have a great album whose main strength actually lies in its 180 degrees twists and turns, keeping you on your toes the whole time. Such a record proves that Queen can be interesting and even relevant for stuff that has nothing to do with their most obvious and famous hits, still sounding fresh today. You may think you know everything there is to know about this band, and yet you might be wrong about this. So who knows? Maybe *A Night At The Opera* will be an entry point for me so that I can later discover wonders in their other seventies albums (my superficial listening sessions for them strongly point towards "Queen II" , "Sheer Heart Attack" or "Jazz", maybe even "News of The World", even though I feel everything important about the latter can be summed up in its first two tracks, "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions", that I obviously already have in a compilation at home). Whatever the case may be, and in the meantime, I'm happy to include *A Night At The Opera* in my own list. I feel that for a casual listener to this band, there are worse ways to start a full-blown exploration of their back catalogue, at least. Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 851 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory: 82 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 37 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): 31
Enjoyed hearing some of the off-the-beaten path Queen songs!
"A Night at the Opera" is the fourth studio album from Queen. It was also the most expensive album recorded at the time. Queen was in a desperate position as they were broke from their previous three albums from mismanagement by their management company which they subsequently dropped eventually signing with EMI Records. They recorded using 24 tracks with a wide range of styles including ballads, music hall, dixieland, hard rock, progressive rock, jazz and opera. On previous listens, besides the big hits, I thought the album was "too" all over the place. On repeated listens today, I came to better appreciate the sheer attempt to achieve something grander and larger and the change in styles. Lyrical themes ranged from science fiction, fantasy, heartbreak and romance. All four members wrote songs that made the album. Musically, the highlights are the vocal harmonization and Brian May's guitar. The album starts out with "Death on Two Legs ( Dedicated to...) with its classical intro progressing into some classic 70's style guitar. The song is about their former management company, Trident, and specifically their owner, Norman Sheffield. The second single and one of my favorite Queen songs is "You're My Best Friend " with its Wurlitzer electric piano intro. It was written by bass player John Deacon for his wife, Veronica. Ahhhh! " The Prophet Song" is Queen's longest song at 8 minutes. It is quite the journey more in the progressive rock style with May's guitar, delayed vocal tapes and harmonization and a fantasy about the great flood. I can see some detractors on this song. And the we have "Bohemian Rhapsody" combining the intro to a ballad to an operatic section to a rock song. The song was actually a combination of three songs. The band has remained very secretive about its meaning only admitting the content was personal to Freddie Mercury. This is quite the musically ambitious album which catapulted Queen into superstardom. The album connected with me today more than before. It's been awhile since I've watched "Wayne's World." Maybe today is the day.
Don’t think I’ve ever listened to this the whole way through. Not my favourite queen album. There was a few weird songs on their. But, BohRhap is such an absolute masterpiece of music it bumps this to a 4.
I thought I would like this more. At least there’s a few awesome songs that bump it to a 4.
This was good
So good! I had this album as a kid and it was one of my favourites. I do not enjoy the interlude in the Prophet's Song but the rest of the song makes up for it and everything else is either amazing or hilarious.
Really enjoyed it. I’ve grown to love Queen’s breadth of musicality
Uhh so yeah. Freddie’s brain child. Funky all through with elements of swing and classic 50s American music. Honestly Bohemian Rhapsody is ridiculously out of place on the album. It just doesn’t match the rest of the album thematically. Really would have wished Queen was known for some of these more funky and out there moments
Amazing album, with most forgetting how much the recording and layering sound pushed the boundaries at the time. Like The Beatles, the beauty of Queen was they had multiple talents able to get along, write songs AND... they never settled. "Just don't let me become boring" was all ever Freddie & Co was ever interested in.
Amazing
funky, fun, you know queen
It was definitely what would be expected from Queen. Didn’t know most of the songs. They were fine but I wasn’t super into any of them except the classics.
Super talented music theatre nerds who love hard rock. I have a friend who hates Queen (and he’s got a music degree) and this album exemplifies that hate. So much bombast. A two minute acapella in a song that isn’t a song just a ramble of ideas. The best songs take those elements and temper it (like the song) into an actual well thought out piece. Even love of my life sounds better live without all the flourishes just to show they can.
Another great album by Queen. The songs each have their own feel but they work well together. The mega hit is at the end of the album. I will listen to it again.
Good listen, but nothing that'll keep me coming back for more, found myself kinda phasing in and out in the latter half. 'cept for that song right at the end, what's it called again? man it was real good, I think I've heard it before, just gimme a sec, it's on the tip of my tongue. favorite song: bohemian rhapsody.
I'm biased towards rock music, so I'm not going to give Queen fewer than four stars. But except for 2-3 songs, the album is just OK. The rest of the songs kind of lack unique style and internal cohesion.
Adored. Did not know bohemian rhapsody was from this album, was a nice surprise!
Interesting without being great
Queen is my favourite band of all time. On my last.fm they are twice the number of my 2nd place artist. I could talk about every Queen album in detail for hours. I love this album. Of course the famous songs Bohemian Rhapsody and You're My Best Friend, but it's full of so much other great stuff. Brian May's contributions on this album are outstanding: '39, The Prophet's Song , and Good Company are brilliant and more people should know them. '39 is possibly my favourite Queen song, or at least in the top 3. This album is such an eclectic mix of songs it's always a joy to listen to.
Brings me straight back to high school where I'd listen to this a lot on the morning bus trip. It's a very engaging album with genres and moods switching up after each song. What I find really interesting is their ambition to not use any synthesizers during the 70s and instead create sounds of clarinets, jazz bands, saxophones, through voices and guitar effects. Every member contributes at least one of the album's all killer tracks, and the three different vocalists have a chance to shine. Even though I find Bohemian Rhapsody a bit annoying whenever its played at karaoke, I come to love it when its in context of this album. Favourite songs are 39, You're My Best Friend, Prophet Song, and Love of My Life (even though the live version is 3 times better).
Queen is a international referent, big band.
What a great album, so much fun. I love how it opens up and the way Bohemian Rhapsody fits in perfectly with the rest of the album. Faves: You're My Best Friend, Bohemian Rhapsody
Growing up in the UK, Queen are as omnipresent as complaining about the weather, so I've always thought of them as a band I "know", but in reality I haven't really listened to any of their albums in a dedicated fashion. This was great! A super fun listen, and it makes "Bohemian Rhapsody" seem slightly less alien when listened to in context. Fave track - I mean, "Bohemian Rhapsody" is just ridiculously good, and a karaoke get-the-whole-room-yelling-along classic. "The Prophet's Song" seems almost as epic, and I'd never heard it before, so that feels like an awesome discovery!
Whoa, absolutely love the variety on this album. It's silly, epic, sprawling, and contained depending on which track you're on. I like this side of Queen outside of their anthemmy rock hits.
Queen is just a solid rock band. Didn't love every song on the album but still an overall good one.
ANATO isn't my favourite Queen album, far from it, thought it's good and does what it set out to do. Just lacks in outstanding tracks that I love from them, except for Bohemian Rhapsody, and even that despite being something of a masterpiece isn't in my top 5 Queen songs. Probably gonna sit in the middle with a 3 rating for me.
Mixed on this - it flows together beautifully, it shows off Freddie's voice beautifully, and it's a really fun concept. But, it's so overblown (probably at least a bit deliberately?) that it takes some of the shine off, and there are some bits that don't work very well (I'm In Love With My Car is not great, and The Prophet's Song is a bit too prog-rocky in a bad way). Doesn't quite make a 4, even with Bohemian Rhapsody in it.
I fell in love with music because of this album. In classical music, in rock, in jazz, in vocal singing. Thank you Queen (10/10) FT: Bohemian Rhapsody, Love of my Life ... actually the whole album
Overrated and overblown although liked Best friend
curto afu há tempo ja
Topalbum, de beste van Queen!
Queen is altijd goed. Als je een typische album luisteraar bent dan kun je misschien de opbouw van dit album wel erg waarderen. Voor mij is het niet het beste album van Queen, maar zeker wel leuk om te luisteren. ***
it at the top of the queen totem pole for me. however, my queen totem pole isn't very tall. i love this album in the scope of queen albums, as far as how i place it amongst all music, it's merely above average. don't know why, but queen always had one trick (freddy) and they used it all the time. i like magic, but if i see you make the same card disappear over and over again, eventually i grown tired of it and look for a magician that can to more and better tricks.
With the wide range of sounds, genres and influences that are present in A Night at the Opera, you would think that there would be no coherency and that it would be all over the place. However, Queen manage to wrap it all up in a neat bow, hell there's even an instrumental version of the British National Anthem to tie it altogether! AJ Ramirez of PopMatters sums the album up much more eloquently than I have "... while the transitions between genres would conceivably throw listeners for a loop, none are jarring. Instead, Queen succeeds because it pulls from all the best tricks in the library of showbiz history to deliver laughs, heartache, grandeur, and spectacle to its audience at precisely the right moments." Best: Bohemian Rhapsody (cliche I know) Worst: Good Company
Solid Queen album...better than Sheer Heart Attack. You're my best friend is a top Queen song in my book. 3.5/5
very theatrical - i guess not surprising given the name. but as much as i realized queen was like this I didn't realize how much.
Not a masterpiece but a collection of wonderful singles
Cool! Now let's see what's the hype is all about... Update: Basically glam rock but the musicians are actually very talented. But this particular album is pretty playful. They don't take themselves too seriously. It's kinda fun, carefree even. An opener that seems to trash on someone? A song about a loving cars? Together with monster hits like "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Love of My Life"? Clearly, this isn't an ordinary night at the opera. As of now, it's a 4. Maybe I'll appreciate it more if I come back to it.
As much as I love classic rock, Queen has never been one of my favorites. The album is good enough I guess, but it's not something I had gone back to much when I first listened to it years ago. "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a classic masterpiece, of course, but we've all heard it a billion times. The only other one I really like from the album is the first track "Death on Two Legs" which is less bombastic, although the lyrics seem a bit whiney.
It's hard not to be charmed by this album. It's fun and well performed by everyone involved. It's just a classic. Duh. 3 5's in a row? Wow.
+Death On Two Legs, '39, Love of My Life -Sweet Lady, The Prophet's Song Highlights are not the radio hits we're used to (but those are good, too)... The album opens up with a suckerpunch that knocks you windless, but keeps you wanting...'39 is a light-hearted strummy melody that harkens back to John Denver but in that unique Queen way. What I didn't like... Sweet Lady: "You call me sweet like I'm some kind of cheese" lolwut?...The Prophet's Song is great for the first 3 minutes, then it devolves into a long, grating, and repetitive and I feel like it was intentionally done this way because only Queen could get away with it. This is a terrific album, however with wall-to-wall hits and great variety.
4.5. This is a classic. So many great songs.
So close to being 5 stars, but the Car song and Sweet Lady really drag this album down.
It does have *that* song on it, but the rest of the album is very enjoyable as well. Operatic and a bit over the top in a good way
12 canciones (1975) Escuchadas previamente: Love of my life & Bohemian Rhapsody Fav: Bohemian Rhapsody Descubrimiento: Sweet Lady Notas: Inicio y final de las canciones >>> El solo de guitarra de Sweet Lady mola mucho Puntuación final: 4,2/5
Heard a couple songs before, decent album. Unique.
Such great stuff on this, even besides "Bohemian Rhapsody," which everyone knows. I mean "You're My Best Friend," " '39," "I'm In Love With My Car" are all great as well. But you can't get around the elephant in the room, can you? It's just too big. I tend to listen to the B-sides / deep cuts of Queen more only because I have heard those greatest hits so often. And BR is one I think I have heard hundreds of time now. It's still a great song, though. The band is firing on all cylinders on just about every song. Not one I would skip at all.
I did not immediately like this album as much as I like their first three; I'm a sucker for harder rock. Don't get me wrong, Death on Two Legs and I'm In Love With My Car are great hard rocking songs, the former a brilliant opener. It was the middle of the album where I was a bit uncertain. But I found when I was already in an amped up mood, this album took it to the next level. And it's far too complex to appreciate in one or two listens. After a few listens, I loved it, especially the more jazzy songs. What was particularly impressive was when I learned that a lot of the cool jazz sounds I learned to like were created through Mercury's and Taylor's vocals (Seaside Rendezvous) or regular instruments (Good Company). May's and Deacon's instrument innovations throughout the album are impressive. You're My Best Friend and Love of My Life are two very different but equally lovely odes. '39 was probably the place where I first started to wonder about the album (maybe May's just ok vocals?), but after a closer listen it's a pretty cool ballad - a cross between Led Zeppelin and John Denver. And I love how Sweet Lady cleanses the palette after. I don't always want to listen to Bohemian Rhapsody I've heard it so many times, but it is a rock opera masterpiece. Still, I think I might like The Prophet's Song just as much for its sweeping, grandiose style; it might be my new favorite on the album. In the end, I think I'm at a 4.5 but I'm rounding up for all the intricacy they put into the album and because they're freakin' legends (and deservedly so).
What can you say? Classic Queen songs.
I quite enjoyed this one.
2.5
Good listen
Muy buen disco
Bohemian rhapsody aside, this album was good and the opera vibes were there the whole time. I also really like you’re my best friend. Also bohemian rhapsody holy shit bro
A total mix of genres, but they pull it off. However, were some misses. Overall I enjoyed the album, though did feel like I was just waiting for Bohemian Rhapsody
p351. 1975. 5 stars Yes, it's overblown and over produced camp rock - but it's also an A grade rock band on top form with some cracking tunes and a sense of humour, and that covers a multitude of sins. There is a reason why Queen were so popular and why their songs are still played today, and this is the perfect illustration why. There isn't a weak track on it, although you can argue that The Prophet's Song outstays its welcome. And Brian May seems quite a good guitarist.
🙄
So good.
yep, that’s queen
3.9 - Another Queen album that's completely over-the-top. Mostly the maximalist approach works but it can also be quite annoying. "You're My Best Friend" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" are obvious classics, and still sound amazing despite Queen's recent resurgence in pop culture. I also like a few of the deeper cuts. "The Prophet's Song" is an opus of several movements with an interesting a cappella breakdown in the middle. "Love of My Life" is a lushly orchestrated ballad. But "Death On Two Legs" hits like whiplash and I don't enjoy it as an album opener. "Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon" is similarly campy and theatrical.
Huh, I just had Sheer Heart Attack day before yesterday. That's OK! You can't have too much Queen. A Night At The Opera is not a chore. ...yep...still great. Be my clementine!
Brilliantly original, quirky and inventive. I love how they are doing their own weird ass thing. It remind me a couple of times of McCartney with the very silly and British “show tunes”. But then mix in the epic, soaring opera and blistering hard rock guitar solos. With 2 classic singles and album tracks full of interest, has to be 5 stars.
4, i know the hits but surprised how much i like the whole album. Death on two legs is a banger
I needed this. Too many mediocre albums have passed by. I bought this as a kid and played it to death and even 47-odd years later people are still listening to it in droves. So varied- even the 'dodgy' tracks are great (Lazing on a Sunday. I'm in love with my car) and all have a story attached to them. Vocals (and not just Freddies), guitar, bass and drums all top of the game and the production is beyond perfection. Even the one-star reviews admit how mega it all is and base the score on just not being into it's excess. 'Death on two Legs' is my favourite Queen song by the way....If I could give this 1000 stars I would.
Listened to on 4/7/22 5/5 Favorite song: Bohemian Rhapsody, God Save the Queen Simply. Iconic.
A truly eclectic album with so many different instruments and styles. A number of classics with Bohemian Rhapsody (potentially the greatest song of all time) along with You’re My Best Friend and Love of My Life. A very solid 5.
4/7/22 The easiest 5 I’ve given yet! Such a fun album with the perfect blend of theatrics and talent. Excellent guitar as well! Really enjoyed every song in the album and the ending was amazing! Favorite song: Bohemian Rhapsody Favorite new song: ‘39
class
Not their best, over produced
Not my style. Bohemian Rhapsody is obviously very good, but the rest of the album was disappointing.
A very easy 5 stars. It's crazy how such a massively versatile album can be so consistently excellent. Apart from the somewhat annoying middle-part of The Prophet's Song (not quite the lightning in a bottle that is Bohemian Rhapsody) and the sub-par Good Company, every single track is worthy of the 5 star album score. '39 in particular is a longtime Queen favorite of mine.
FINALLY!
Not the first Queen album I would pick to listen to
Epic
This is, at a personal level, probably the most important record of my life: I was listening to it at the precise moment in which I decided that I was (and still am) a woman. And The Prophet Song should have been a huge hit.
Surprised me! Obviously knew some of these songs but even the ones I didn’t were pretty good!
If you've never heard this before: this album contains "Bohemian Rhapsody." So, imagine an album where that song makes sense. That's right: it's an insane blender of styles and unchecked ambition. There's a harp on here. Also, young Freddie Mercury is even more amazing than I remember. Also, Brian May deserves the props and respect that he gets.
Love the country vibes
The number of strong songs on this album is staggering: Bohemian Rhapsody, Love of My Life, '39, You'Re My Best Friend, God Save the Queen. The rest are at least very good. Among the early Queen records, this is easily the most important one. Truly iconic. 5/5
Quality. Must have sounded epic when it came out.
At school we broadly split into a Queen/ELO axis and a more Indie group. 40 years on and my view remains the same! I can understand why people like Queen and I can really admire what they have done, but I don't have to like it...... and I don't!
I love queen but don’t think this is one of their best albums. Yes it had two of their best known songs on it but the rest of the album were done that were so so.
This album is one of my all-time favorites. Listening to it today was fantastic, because it’s a repeat of something I do often. Freddie’s master class on live looping in The Prophet Song is worth the price of admission on its own, but starting with Death on Two Legs? Sheer perfection.
I mean... you know, named after a Marx Brothers Film...one of my faves and the album is no slouch either.
it feels like I’ve heard a hundred different Queen songs but the only ones I knew from this was You’re My Best Friend and of course that which must not be named so it was a pretty pleasant surprise hearing more proggy songs like Death On Two Legs and The Prophet’s Song as well as more Tally Hall vibe songs like Lazing On a Sunday Afternoon or Seaside Rendezvous, though I guess that one’s more Elton John also ‘39 was a whole-ass surprise, who knew Queen made a motherfucking folk song it’s reported that at the time this was the most expensive album ever produced and it sure does sound like it, fucking phenomenal - 10/10
When I was about 13, my mate Peter played me the Prophet's Song on his walkman during a school excursion to the Sydney Opera House (we were there for an afternoon at the opera. Matinee performance of Manon Lescaut.) I didn't think much of the opera, but I loved Queen. He subsequently made me a cassette of Night at the Opera backed with Queen's Greatest Hits. I had been familiar with Bohemian Rhapsody and many of their singles prior to that, but Night at the Opera was the first Queen studio album that I really delved into and played obsessively. I find it hard to approach this record objectively, because of my nostalgic love of the record. Does it have a lot of songs that delve into pastiche and novelty? Yes. Is it almost bombastically over-produced? Well, yes. Is it full of cracking tunes and rocking rock? well, hell yeah! Let's play it again, and louder!
One of the greatest albums I've ever listened to. I love this one through and through. From Death on Two Legs, '39, Sweet Lady, and all the rest. This is Queen at their best.
I get the concept, but that doesn't mean I have to love the concept.
5/5 what.an.album.
Queen are instantly recognizable thanks to Brian May's unique guitar sound and Freddie Mercury's amazing distinctive vocals. It's quite a playful (operatic) album but occasionally it veers into self indulgence. At it's best it's simply breathtaking (Bohemian Rhapsody, You're My Best Friend) but some of it is rather mediocre.
Bo rap is a fantastic song takes music some where its never been before. The rest is pants
Bohemian Rhapsody is truly majestic, the rest rather less so.
Lovely. God save her Maj from getting the AIDS again
Difficult to reflect on the album (as a whole) as legendary as it is, Bohemian Rhapsody takes most of the limelight. It's a fun album, but other than You're My Best Friend the rest of the songs are forgetful.
So much more here than just Bohemian Rhapsody! What a great album.
3.5
I do like Queen. They are a lot of fun, Freddie is an unmistakable voice and character, and the vocal harmonies are great, the musicianship (Brian May is amazing!) is fantastic. All that being said, sometimes they are a bit too much for me -- when I'm in the right mood for them, it rocks and it's a great time. When I'm not, it can be a bit in my face, but I totally get that's part of the charm, so I don't knock them for that. Also, this album has songs I grew up hearing so many times, like 'You're My Best Friend' and of course the timelessly iconic 'Bohemian Rhapsody', so, heck yes, it belongs on this list.
5, really enjoyed this
Bohemian rhapsody adds a whole point, other than that it’s cool I like the one about the car but other than that meh
All around a great album. All good songs, including the monster hit Bohemian Rhapsody. Quite the variety of songs. Easy 5
You suck my blood like a leech You break the law and you breach Screw my brain ‘til it hurts You’ve taken all my money and you want more - death on two legs (dedicated to … )
Legendary album.
listened to before Queen's best work
2/17/2022 Today's Album: "A Night At The Opera" by Queen - This is an album that I have had on vinyl since around the beginning of the initial 2020 quarantine and in the time it really has not gotten old to me. The reason? This album is one of the best produced albums of the decade. In my opinion, this is a textbook example of how to mix and pan audio to transform it from a basic performance to something that feels beyond instrumentation. The Bohemian Rhapsody movie that came out a few years ago did a great way of showing how much Freddy Mercury wanted to create an LP at the caliber of a theatrical performance and with a good pair of headphones, it absolutely sounds like it. The way Death On Two Legs begins with a gigantic instrumental build before it cuts out to pretty much nothing is absolutely stunning. Lazing On a Sunday Afternoon is a really fun ragtime tune about exactly what the title would imply. I'm In Love With My Car, despite its absurd title, has a ton of really creative sounds in the mix and they are all mixed exceptionally well as well. The song '39 is one that I had on repeat after listening to it because of how enchanting it is. You're put into this bittersweet song about war and forgotten love that tugs on the heart string despite the lyrics being quite vague. It has this deep emotional weight to it and is the best track on the album in my eyes, with two acoustic guitars and the bass playing off each other in a way that gives this song great levity despite the lyrics. Seaside Rendezvous is a really fun piano-focused track that has a really bouncy 20's feel to it, similarly to many other songs on this album. It is a great way to end side 1 of the vinyl with Freddy saying, "Give us a kiss" before one last musical hit. Prophet's Song, being the longest track on the album, is an incredibly dark and menacing track with great chorus vocals and bass work before the track breaks out into a several minute experimental looping and prog rock section. I think it's really well done and despite how long it goes on for, it totally works with the flow of the record. Love Of My Life is, in my opinion, one of the best love songs to ever exist. It's up there with The Beatle's Something and everyone should know this song. It's heartbreaking, but lovely and incredibly well performed by Mercury. Also the harmonies are literally perfect. Like I haven't emphasized it very much yet, but this guy's vocals are NUTSO. Good company is an all around solid track, Classic queen with great guitar work, fast basslines, and a ton of extraneous orchestral instruments. The stringed instrument, which I think is a ukulele(?) is a really nice part of the track and gives it a lot of personality. Bohemian Rhapsody needs no review. It is fucking Bohemian Rhapsody (It sounds funny at 45 speed on the record player lol). God Save the Queen closes off the album and is just the British national anthem. Epic. Overall, this album is really enjoyable from start to finish and more people should hear it because it's some of queen's best work, despite some of it being really overplayed (Really just Bohemian) Score: 9.5/10 "Bloody Brilliant" Highlights: Death On Two Legs, Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon, '39, Seaside Rendezvous, The Prophet's Song, Love Of My Life, Good Company
Easy 5 stars. Masterpiece of an album.
iconic album, not 1 bad song
It is undeniably good but I just don't feel anything listening to Queen
Classic Queen album, in the better end of their discography - but not their best album though.
An absolute classic.
nunca fui fãn de queen esse album abriu minha mente
A collection of fun, eclectic and well-composed songs, with a smattering of classics, all impeccably recorded.
A fun mix of rock, pop and music hall. The best opera I've ever heard.
Jag fattar varför hitsen är hits. Inte ett fan av det andra tbh
woopidoo
Starkt! inte så tätt med klassiska låtar men uppskattar det, känns nytt och fräscht!
Det är ju så satans bra är det??
blev homofob av att lyssna på detta album han förtjänade att dö i aids
Clássico. Icônico. Top Hits do Queen.
Try as I might, I always find Queen more irritating than interesting.
Classic rock is classic. Bohemian Rhapsody is god-level.
I personally think that Queen is kinda overrated, even though I am not gonna lie, it's a beautiful piece of an album, Bohemian Rhapsody is a classic, undoubtedly. The rest of the album isn't just a background of one hit, I really enjoyed it and it has an unique, special vibe
Plutôt cool mais sans plus
Sympathique, mais pas transcendant. On ne retient que très peu de morceaux…
Good album. Really enjoy transitions here.
Quelques passages exceptionnels impulsés par un Freddy Mercury totalement déchaîné. Légère inquiétude cependant vers le milieu de l'album lorsqu'on aperçoit celui-ci les mains posées sur les hanches et le front couvert de sueur. Plusieurs minutes s'écoulent alors pendant lesquelles on lui demande s'il a assez de force pour terminer l'album. L'intéressé se montre rassurant et reprend (heureusement) sa place pour enregistrer le classique Bohemian Rhapsody. Il s'écroule au début de la piste suivante et se voit contraint de céder sa place sous une ovation.
Le problème de Queen, je vous le donne en mille, c'est que certes, ils ont proposé un nombre de titres légendaires hallucinnants sur leur carrière. En revanche, ils sont incapables de tenir un album, la faute à une endurance très en dessous des standards. Cet album le démontre très bien, puisque Freddy Mercury va venir faire irruption sur cet album avec une énergie folle, multipliant les jeux de voix exceptionnels. Les musiciens le suivent, tout comme les auditeurs, dans une belle symbiose. Seulement, après quelques chansons dans une ambiance incroyable, Freddy Mercury commence à suffoquer, et demande une pause à ses musiciens. Il ira s'asseoir sur un banc au bord du studio, et ce pour la demi-douzaine de sons qui suivent. Une fois requinqué, et de nouveau bouillonnant d'energie, Freddy Mercury reviendra nous offrir le titre légendaire Bohemian Rhapsody, avant de s'effondrer de fatigue sur l'épaule de son bassiste.
This is an extraordinary album. It was revolutionary when it came out, and you can still feel that almost 50 years later. I don't know any other group that can successfully interweave such a mix of musical ranges.
This feels like a band at the top of their game, with the freedom to deliver exactly the kind of album they want, even if it is risky from a trad pop perspective. "Bohemian Rhapsody" isn't even the most outre track. The album goes in all sorts of different directions, all tied together by the craft and extravagance of Queen.
Not really my thing. Probably blasphemous to say but Mercury’s vocals are obnoxious. Way too over the top. I get that’s his deal but it’s not for me. The guitars on this are cool though.
Very enjoyable! Has "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "You're My Best Friend"
One of the good ones
This was my first favorite album at the age of 8 or 9. I have probably listened to these tracks more than any other tracks, or at least for the most years. It's hard to analyze these songs objectively. I like how silly a lot of them are. The Skiffle Band influence is on full display here. This is Queen in transition. They are not quite yet the powerhouse arena rock band they became, but they are also growing out of their art school glam rock phase (I mean, they were always glam, let's be honest). Bohemian Rhapsody is so overplayed on the radio that it takes a conscious effort to listen with fresh ears and appreciate its brilliance. That being said, I think Prophet's Song does what BR is also doing, but better. I'm in Love With My Car is the worst song Queen ever wrote, and I'm happy they got it out of the way this early in their discography.
Een album dat blijft verrassen
Barely scrapping a 3
On second listen the opening is too poor to give it a 4 star review. Second half is great fun though.
Feels harsh giving it a 2 as there's a lot of great musicianship there, but I really dislike most of the songs apart from about 3 of them
Starts well but descends into abject nonsense really quickly.
Not the strongest first half but Bohemian Rhapsody more than makes up for it
This is the one with Bohemian Rhapsody on it, which is still a great song no matter how many times you've heard it. Overall, the album is pretty darn good but doesn't scream "classic" to me. It comes with a sort of whimsical "Sgt. Pepper's" atmosphere, but just isn't as consistent. It's an album with brilliant highlights, but a couple of skippable tracks too.
A Night at the Opera is the fourth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released in 1975. It was the most expensive album ever recorded at the time of its release. It has been hailed as Queen's best album, and one of the greatest albums in music history. Favourite sobgs: "Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon", "You're My Best Friend", and of course "Bohemian Rhapsody". Wanted to rate it 4 because overall this record still is not for everyone. But sorry I can't. It's 5/5 without any doubt.
Classic
I particularly liked the song 39. This was different from traditional Quuen songs
I hadn’t heard most of the tracks on this album since 1975 or 1976 when one of my classmates (I can’t remember who) brought it into school, to Mr Jones’ music appreciation lesson. The standout track is of course Bohemian Rhapsody, which stayed at number one on the UK singles chart for nine weeks and was universally loved by everyone I knew. I have a very clear memory of being fourteen years old and trying to remember all the lyrics to that song while trudging the dark cold streets of Freckleton on my morning paper round. Listening to A Night at the Opera now, some 26 years later, my overall feelings about it are much the same as they were back then; although the musicianship and songwriting are obviously second to none, much of the actual music leaves me a bit cold. Many of the songs are a little too experimental for my taste, a little too avant-garde. That’s not to say that there aren’t highlights; Besides Bohemian Rhapsody, You’re My Best Friend, Love of My Life and ’39 (a cautionary tale about the dangers of Einsteinian time dilation) stand out to my ear. Overall I would give A Night at the Opera three stars out of five, mainly for the inclusion of the wonderful Bohemian Rhapsody, but also for the inevitable sense of nostalgia for my long-lost misspent youth that comes with revisiting an album I haven’t heard in so many years. Perhaps I won’t wait another quarter of a century before listening to it again.
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is 5 minutes and 54 seconds of extravagant, lavish spectacle; some of the best pop music ever. I had never heard the album from whence it came, so I had very high expectations for the experience. "A Night at the Opera" was indeed 43 minutes of extravagant, lavish spectacle. It is a true tour de force. (Forgive me using that phrase, but it is absolutely appropriate here.) Maybe it was just a bit of sensory overload from all that spectacle today, but I really started to think about "Sheer Heart Attack," and I went back and listened to it, and I felt more at home with that album. Such a surprise. It's also perhaps time to confess that I have never liked "You're My Best Friend" with its "Ooh, you make-uh me live, now honey!" So what are you going to do? But there is much I love about this album, including the vitriolic "Death on Two Legs" transitioning immediately into the '20s (er, 1920s) music-hall-styled "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon." "'39" is a sweet song that I was not familiar with, but it's been the one I keep playing. I liked it even more when I learned it came from Brian May's background in astrophysics. Ending with their guitar-and-cymbals "God Save the Queen" is reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix's "Star Spangled Banner," and is the absolute perfect way to have ended this album.
I have said it before and I may say it again...I love Queen! This is an excellent album! There is so much of musical interest to my ears. The variety of musical styles and instrumentation is lovely.
What a glorious piece of work this is. An incredible example of what's possible in rock music. A grand display of hutzpah and talent. I love it very much.
This is an album I know well, as it was in my sister's record collection in my youth and I played it often. But I don't think I've listened to it since she moved out when I was in junior high. So this is an exciting opportunity. A NIGHT AT THE OPERA is nothing short of amazing. "Death on Two Legs" pairs soaring Queen vocals and heavy metal guitars to rip into whoever it was dedicated to. You know you are in for something good. Who else but Queen would then dive right into the tinny vocaled 1920's-ish "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon" then with a little guitar solo jump headlong into the hard rock "I'm In Love With My Car" - a wonderful love song to a car. This is really thrilling stuff! I've always loved "You're My Best Friend." That song still makes me incredibly happy as I think of my best friends every time I hear it. I love the electric piano and vocals. Such a wonderful song. "'39" is a total change of pace and I love it. The acoustic guitar driven song is a great listen evoking its sci-fi backstory with great use of vocals and the electric guitar. I don't think I've heard this song in 40 years but as soon as it started I remembered instantly how much I love it. "Sweet Lady" is a straight Queen rocker with some unusual tempo changes that make it quite interesting to listen to. "Seaside Rendezvous" is a 20's sounding piano driven track. I love sailing along over Freddie Mercury's smooth vocalizations imagining the stage show as I sip a Bee's Knees in some illegal club. "The Prophet's Song" is a dire warning accompanied by the heavy guitars and dark vocals as a prophet warns of the flood made famous by Noah's ark. I love the a cappella vocal solo in the middle that give way to a guitar solo. "Love of My Life" is a heart wrenching love song supported mostly by a gorgeous piano arrangement. Beautiful. "Good Company" adds a dixieland style with a ukulele-driven number again providing testament to Queen's incredibly versatility. Remarkable too is that this song precedes the utterly remarkable... "Bohemian Rhapsody" - what can one say about this song? No one would ever have imagined such a song could ever be exist - let alone become a huge hit, becoming one of the most beloved and enduring songs in rock and roll - and probably in all of music history. Listening to it in the context of this album was wonderful. There were a few moments when I could briefly feel what it was like to listen to this for the first time as an eight-year-old kid and being utterly mesmerized. "God Save The Queen" closes A NIGHT AT THE OPERA in a truly epic way. I have chills. I cannot imagine any other group with the audacity and talent to create anything like this album. The songs all come together beautifully to create a transcendent listening experience. While the singles are spectacular on their own, there is nothing like listening to this album as a whole. A NIGHT AT THE OPERA is a masterpiece.
la plus grosse masterclass de ce monde
An album I’ve known and owned (on cassette) for a long time. Not my favourite Queen album but still very good. You’re My Best Friend is one of Deacons best and Love of My Life is as good a singalong anthem as Queen ever wrote
God, I love this album. It's the flaming cherries jubilee of rock albums. It's decadent and absolutely too much, but incredibly beautiful. I mean, have you ever spent a night at the opera? I have and it really isn’t like this at all, but at the same time, they kind of nail it here. It’s big and luxurious and theatrical and you might just shed a tear before it’s all over. This is probably Queen's most perfectly realized album. It's one of the only ones I can listen to without skipping a track. The production is superb and the band are in the best form of their lives. The layered vocals are stunning, the arrangements absolutely gorgeous. It has all the pomp and majesty and R-O-C-K you want in a Queen album, with plenty of surprises. The way the band breezily sways from twee, old timey confections like "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon" or "Seaside Rendezvous" to muscular, complex songs like "Prophet's Song" and "Death on Two Legs" is a sonic joy, something no other band could hope to pull off without sounding ridiculous. Only Queen could put out an absurdity of a song called “I’m in Love with My Car” and not be met with endless derision. Queen gives us permission to let go and indulge as listeners like no one else. They were at heart a killer power trio plus one, the One being Freddie Mercury, rock’s greatest front man, with an operatic vocal range and a flair for the dramatic. It’s the interplay/tension between that huge rock sound and the band’s more elegant, progressive inclinations that creates a singular kind of magic. Throw in a little winking, campy humor and you have a style of music that delivers on every level. "Bohemian Rhapsody" is of course the star of the whole production. Queen does more musically with this song than most bands could hope to do with an entire album. The pathos, the grandeur, the bombast, the humor, the strutting rock assault. Yes, this song gets played a lot, but there's a reason why. There's nothing else in the world like it. Fave Songs (All songs, in order from most to least favorite): Bohemian Rhapsody, You're My Best Friend, Death on Two Legs, Love of My Life, Seaside Rendezvous, The Prophet's Song, Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon, '39, Sweet Lady, Good Company, God Save the Queen, I'm In Love With My Car
A classic, Bohemian Rhapsody was a song I didnt like as a teenager, but love now, a personal example of musical growth
SEASIDE RENDEZVOUS
This album gets 4/5 just got Bohemian Rhapsody alone. The rest of the record easily takes it over the top.
I've never been a fan of Bohemian Rhapsody but the rest of the album is great. I love the different musical styles.
Best Song: '39. Topic is unexpected for what I know of Queen. Worst Song: The Prophet's Song. The layered vocals/canon thing that takes up the entire middle of the song is horrible. Overall: I could never listen to Bohemian Rhapsody again and die happy.
Concepção grandiosa e fundamental
big big.
Enjoyed this more than I thought I would. The less famous songs were a refreshing change of pace to what I thought I knew about Queen.
I am not a Queen fan! I generally pretentious and overwrought. I had Queen II earlier and it did nothing to dispell my pre conceptions. Now this is their best known album and I do confess to a certain fi ding a certain charm to Behemian Rhapsody, probably more to do with its ubiquitous presence in modern popular culture. I guess it wore me down. I'm also anxious to hear I'm in Love With My Car after Mine Myers performance in the movie. It's a nice song. I also didn't realize that You're My Best Friend is also on this album...I like its straight ahead pop song aesthetic, but these guys can't help themselves even on a "pop" song ad the drums and bass are overwrought instead of being simple and in service of a beautiful melody. The next song '39 has a charming folk feel but again is done in by an over produced and somewhat weak chorus. Still I like the song. For the rest of the album it goes from songs that are over produced an over wrought to parody songs (Seaside Rendezvous). Overall it's a better album than Queen II but still filled with Queen's portentious theatricality (The Prophet's Son, Love of my Life.... Yech!) 2.5 stars
I knew this was going to come up eventually, perhaps my most controversial musical opinion: I do not like Queen. I'll sing along at karaoke, sure, but actually just listening to them brings me little to no joy. Despite being unfamiliar with most of the tracks on this album none of them came even close to changing my mind. Just not for me.
I love Queen, Freddy Mercury will always be a great loss for music, but a Night At The Opera is not their best album in my opinion. Carried hard by some tracks.
I'm a big fan of piano riffs, guitar riffs, ethereal vocals, and bands with a slightly unique sound - it's therefore no surprise I really enjoyed this album. There are definite dud notes which stop it getting a 5, but lazing on a Sunday afternoon, prophet's song, and bohemian rhapsody (obviously) are enough to elevate this to a strong 4.
The vocal harmonies and iconic guitar make Queen what it is, and it's clearly inspired so many musicians that have come after. That said, I can only really take Queen for a couple of songs at a time and their music dances on that balance of making me hop along an making me feel extremely anxious. This album contains pretty much all of their bangers but I still don't love it and can't give it more than a very very strong 3
Jenny tycker om Queen och jag tycker om Jenny
Freddie just knows how to do it to you
It's so good. So much variety and incredible performances vocally and musically. I was also surprised how many of these songs I didn't even know I knew. There was only one or two I hadn't heard before. What a great album! Favourite Tracks: (Besides the classics) Death On Two Legs, I'm In Love With My Car, Lazing On a Sunday Afternoon, Seaside Rendezvous
I hadn't listened to this album as a whole before and it was great. Lots of songs I knew and some I didn't. Dynamic, and beautiful. Favourite songs: You're My Best Friend, Seaside Rendezvous, Bohemian Rhapsody
It starts so heavy and powerful, then gets a little dorky. You're my best friend is such a feel good moment. There's a switch to a more folksy sound with '39 before heading back to classic rock. Seaside Rendezvous is full ridiculous campy cabaret I would have loved to see live in a small theatre. Prophet's Song is a little too rock opera and inconsistent for me. I couldn't figure out if Good Company featured a banjo or ukelele and learned of the combo instrument for the first time. How quirky and fun. Bohemian Rhapsody, what a masterpiece. Not possible to listen without joining in. Didn't really need the patriotic closer, but wow what a tight set of tracks showcasing real DYNAMIC range.
Genre bending, sing a long operatic rock. I can see the influence on bands like Mr Bungle
Yet another Queen classic.
Ravishing loud pop, capped by Bohemian Rhapsody. Don't forget - this was produced by Rav Sinclair! We sat at his Shabbat table in Israel.
This album is the favorite of a person that played a crucial role in my past. Listening to these songs after all these years unpacks profound memories. Freddie’s voice is sublime. Love of my life, You’re my best friend are songs that will ever live in the collective conscience, let alone Bohemian Rhapsody… It is a fascinating trip, a piece of art.
Campy and ambitious, this album is the pinnacle of 70s rock excess. The vocal arrangements are genius and the meticulous and uncompromising layering of music stands apart. Brian May is one of my favorite guitarists and his Dixieland jazz layered solo in ‘Good Company’ is one of his best with the guitar simulating an entire brass section including a sliding trombone. Of course, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is the climax of this album. That song is iconic on its own, but within the context of the album it becomes even greater. I adore this album
such a pleasure to have a break from the constant Greatest Hits that one is normally exposed to, even though there are a few on this album. A few songs that really caught my off guard in a positive way. Sick of Bohemian Rhapsody though
How could I do anything but love this album? Such an iconic set of tracks, a legendary voice gone too soon. A roaring triumph of an album with a bold set of classical influences. I love that Queen manages to be both highbrow and utterly weird. Fave track: Bohemian Rhapsody, duh.
You're My Best Friend, '39, Love of My Life, and Bohemian Rhapsody. This is such a fun and well-recorded album. Possibly the best by one of the all-time greats.
I usually don't review an album song by song, but I found myself doing this here. Death on two legs is a very strong opener, has an epic feel to it and the guitar's sound great. Lazing on a sunday afternoon is kind of a silly "Tiny Tim" kind of song, could go without it but we'll see how it ties into the album. I'm in Love with my Car: Now we're into an 80s Hair Rock song that sounds like it could be The Scorpions or Def Leppard. At this point I'm starting to think this album is going to be very disconnected song to song, but maybe more of a satire/comedy focus? You're My Best Friend: Classic tune, everyone knows it. Very upbeat and poppy. '39: Very strummy, stompy folk song. Reminds me of Country Roads Take Me Home but with a little Queen flair. I dig it. Sweet Lady: Back to the rock, guitar-first tune this time around. Kind of busy, bouncy melody, again very 80s kind of sound but more of a Foghat or Aerosmith vibe this time. Seaside Rendezvous: A ragtime piano tune, with some horns and slide whistles thrown in, file this one under weird Queen, vocals are great as usual but it's a bit out there. The Prophet's Song: Oh wow this is 8 minutes long. This one has a bit of an operatic quality to it, and a bit Metal telling an epic story, this is like Tenacious D almost but minus the comedy and more straight laced. Gets into a strange echoing chant in the middle that kind of kills the vibe. Love of my life: A romantic piano ballad, Freddy putting the emotion into this one. Good company: A vocal harmony, almost has a Beatles vibe now. A touch of ragtime again, and some plunky guitar. Bohemian Rhapsody: The quintessential Queen song. Fits perfectly in this album, the song goes in a lot of directions and matches the amount of whiplash you'll feel from song to song. God Save the Queen: It's actually God Save the Queen, but like a Jimi Hendrix style guitar solo version. Overall Thoughts: That was a wild ride, every single song is completely unlike the other. It feels like Queen had a checklist of genres or bands they wanted to pay homage to and they went through that piece by piece. Some really great tunes, some that I personally didn't dig but I recognize they were well done. Quality is there, Queen is an excellent band and belongs on this list, I can see why this was here. Overall liked it but the inconsistency dragged it a bit. Still giving it a 5, the highs are very high.
Despite not even containing many of my favorite Queen songs (except Bohemian Rhapsody, obvs) this album still delivers. With Freddie's amazing voice, each song is interesting and enjoyable!
Top to bottom, great album.
This album has so many good songs. I had honestly never heard ‘39 and it might have become one of my favorite Queen songs out there. While not every song is great, this album as a whole is.
I was really looking forward to the listen because of Rhapsody, which is a GD national treasure. It started off great with Death on Two Legs. The rest was good with expressive drums and bass, and sharp melodic guitar, and amazing vocals. I know why I haven't heard of many of these songs, they don't stand out. But they work together in the album.
While it is obvlously a classic, I find it a bit overwrought - not really to my taste. I'm not a fan of Opera either.
I was surprised to find that many of these songs didn't hold my attention. Obviously some classics here, "You're My Best Friend" and "Bohemian Rhapsody." Easy to hear why the songs that Freddy's not lead on have receded over time.
Two Queen albums in one week! I must say that while this album is quite an achievement, Queen's high energy theatrical bombast can be exhausting over the course of an entire album. They have individual songs which are these completely brilliant shining diamonds but I find that those songs are often so amazing that it's nearly impossible to maintain that level of output. So, perfectly decent songs that might be standout tracks on somebody else's album just end up being filler here. Also, the pacing seems a bit odd at times. All in all, those brilliant songs easily make up for any comparatively lackluster moments.
I really wanna like the album more than I can honestly admit. I think it’s a 5 in terms of cultural impact but for my listening pleasure a lot of the songs are just on. Bohemian Rhapsody is a 5/5 and the production is very good but, I wish the rest of the album was as catchy and bombastic as that.
A couple of bangers and obviously it’s a good album but maybe not one I would choose to listen to all the way through.
// Favs: Bohemian Rhapsody Score: Decent to Strong 4
Liked this a bit more than Queen II. Bo Rap helps of course
if bohemian rhapsody didn't happen to be on this album it would not be on this list. My suspicions have been confirmed, once you've listened to Sparks you can never go back to early Queen because the Mael brothers did everything they did only better, smarter and funnier. Mercury's voice is absolutely incredible though, and Rhapsody one of the best songs of all time, but the rest of this album really sucks to me.
10 Stars.
Love it
Eh. Queen's still mostly a singles band to me. But the singles are excellent. 6/10
Quirky, high energy
Meh, it's all bit all over the place and then, you know, Bohemian Rhapsody
I have never been the biggest fan of the song "Bohemian Rhapsody". To me it's just a messy mix of styles are are glued together poorly, though I won't deny it's quality. The rest of the album is overshadowed by this song and that is too bad as other songs ("Love of My Life") are also great. It's a nice mixture of ballads and power rock songs and a unicorn.
Ambitious? Yes. Is it well produced? Maybe for the 70s, but overall I tend to agree with the guy who told them that's a poorly-made collage-like record. Although there are two great songs (Love of my life and Bohemian rhapsody), other songs are plain stupid. The only good in them is Freddy's vocal that sounds angry, energetic and transparent at the same time, that's badass.
8/10
Some great and some ok songs
This album contains two of my favourite Queen songs (Bohemian Rhapsody and You're My Best Friend) as well as some other nice ones. It also contains some songs that... aren't winners for me (particularly '39 and The Prophet's Song). All in all I think it's a 3.5 for me, which I will round up because I have a soft spot for Queen.
it is great i actually think the first half is better has fillers but cant deny it is great
It's been a long time since I've heard this, and I'm amazed by how well it holds up. Even the music hall and dixieland bits are better than I remember. Probably more like 3 1/2 stars, but I prefer to round down.
LOVE THIS ALBUM
TBH, expected better from Queen
For me this is not the best Queen, but for sure is the album that has the best songs.
Have been listening to this one when i was 14, still do now, 25 years later. Another timeless gem.
good songs on here….including one of the classics: bohemian rhapsody..
This album is actually quite good. Some songs are reminiscent of Ween. Generally outstanding instrumentation and performance. Deserving of headphones.
Enjoyed a few new songs, but overall not my style. Somewhat distracting. I would not put this on for a dinner party
Good, weird to discover that queen had a sound besides epic rock opera - a few of the tracks were surprising
oh finally i get the option to rate an album after refreshing: which is how i feel about this album.
There's a quote from fabled film director Howard Hawks about what makes a great movie: "Three great scenes, no bad scenes." That same rule applies to one's definition of a great album. But it has to check both boxes. Queen surely meets the "3 great songs" criteria here (You're My Best Friend, Bohemian Rhapsody and Death On Two Legs qualify, as does 39 on a good day). But imagine you're the drummer for Queen, and your band's frontman is Freddie Freaking Mercury. You decide to bring in a song you wrote for your band's make or break album, and it's titled "I'm In Love With My Car". You're so fond of this song that you insist it can only be sung by you. The drummer. Who can sell the song in a way the iconic Freddie Mercury just wouldn't understand. Your belief in this song is such that you go so far as to lock yourself inside a cabinet unless it not only makes the album, but it also has to be the B Side of the Bohemian Rhapsody single. As one does. There are 3 songs of which Mercury takes a back seat (although in the interest of full disclosure, I don't mind guitarist Brian May's vocals on the aforementioned "39"). But it's the bad songs that keep this album from the fabled 5 rating. Listen to this with a great set of headphones to really appreciate the finer moments. Even the auto enthusiasts can feel free to skip Roger Taylor's car song.
Adrenaline rush from start to finish. Tracks keep jumping without a moment's breath. Really puts the prog in prog rock by taking inspiration from all sorts of classical genres, from the namesake opera ("Bohemian Rhapsody") to ragtime ("Good Company"). There are the really poppy songs. The true-to-form hard rock songs ("I'm in Love with my car"), which gets even heavier, metal-like with "Sweet Lady." The beginning of the folk '39 sounds like it could have come out today, especially with that beat. The songs are catchy and fun to sing to. Production sounds amazing. Weaknesses? I'm not sure this is a weakness, but I felt the diversity in genres could be a double-edged sword. On one hand, it grabs your attention the entire album, interested to discover not just what the next song will be, but what the very song you're listening to will sound like in a minute. On the other hand, they don't share much in common beyond the high energy, and it can be kinda exhausting with the sound constantly changing with each passing second. I think a better example of genre-blending is LDIV, but I don't think this deters from a perfect score. The songs can stand on their own. Each song is interesting to listen to from start to finish. There's really not much to dislike about anything about this album.
Too much self indulgence and pomp at times for me.
Some queen classics and some rather psychedelic tracks
I never owned this one but this was one of those albums you didn't have to buy since it was played so much at all the parties. Side 1 doesn't have THE song, but it is still a strong side. The Side 1 songs I remember most from the parties where this LP was spun are "You're my best Friend" and "I'm in Love with my Car". You're My Best Friend still sounds great. Death on Two Legs is also musically good and lyrically full of piss and vinegar to say the least. Wiki just taught me that this song was with respect to their management that they fired at the time over financial and contractual issues. I recall the Bohemian Rhapsody movie made it seem like the old label was fired because they wouldn't agree to make THE Song a single because it was too long for radio. I guess this was a better storyline for the movie than the legal one. It also allowed the brilliantly casted scene where Dana Carvey plays the record company exec who gives a diatribe about how bad Bohemian Rhapsody was. I can't watch that scene without thinking of Dana and Mike Myers bobbing their heads in the car while they lip sync THE Song. There is a lot of genre hopping in this LP: On Seaside Rendezvous I keep waiting for the tap dancing solo, lol, 39 is a cool folk song, Good Company is a funky Ragtime song, The Prophet's Song has a 2 1/2 minute capella segment, and THE Song brings us opera. One could argue whether or not the music itself brings this to a 5 but, imo, Queen's ability to record good songs in so many off the beaten path genres gets it there.
I have the same problem with this as I did with 10cc. It’s all over the place. In addition to rag-time piano, we get skiffle music (I was sure Spotify switched to another album for ’39), Dixieland, kazoos etc…not to mention a one-minute rendition of God Save the Queen – all this mixed with commercial rock and hyper-overdubbed vocals, which would make the songs near impossible to perform live. Speaking of which, Bohemian Rhapsody of course is a classic and worth an extra point. And the piano playing is good too.
I remember listening to my crappy AM radio in bed many years ago when I was 13 yrs old and the DJ introduced this new song by Queen that was really “different”. I was only a kid but I realized that nothing was gonna be the same after Bohemian Rhapsody. That song changed my perception of music and it opened the door to prog, art rock and opera. BR is a 600 lb gorilla of a song and there are also a few other great tracks on this album but it just misses out on a perfect 5 score because there are a few clangers on it. I get that they wanted to be experimental and whimsical but the album is not 100% cohesive. But that 600 lb Gorilla though!
good album decent songs, its a shame bohemian rhapsody has become a cliche since everything else they make only lives in its shadow
Outstanding and much missed
Some big hits that I liked -such as You're my best friend. Some weird songs too. Such a strange band.
More mixed than I remember
Light 6-7, felt like a musical, had some interesting musical moments but didn’t feel a real connection to it
Magnificent album. Bohemian Rhapsody is still a Top-25 song on Spotify after all this time.
What can you say about an album that makes you wait until the very end to hear Bohemian Rhapsody and yet you don't feel like skipping any of the tracks to get to that masterpiece? This album is great from the very first song. It features a tremendous diversity of songs and a wide range of emotions and tones, but each one flows effortlessly from the one before it. A true classic 5/5
All of the songs on this album are already pretty good, and then Bohemian Rhapsody kicks dick and makes it a masterpiece. Favorite tracks are Death on Two Legs, The Prophet's Song, and Bohemian Rhapsody, obviously.
A singles band that couldn't put it together for a full album. Decent lead single tbf!
Overall this banged, it was cool to hear bohemian rhapsody in the context of an album. I think some of the tracks were a little obnoxious- the intentionally overblown style can only do so much. 8/10
9/10. All pretty good, but nothing that I really love.
I liked it a lot. 9/10
Fantastic! One of the greatest opening tracks of all time to set the tone for the album. Love the juxtaposition of The Opera with raucous rock n roll. A great bloody time, the whole time.
I'm surprised that I've never actually listened to this one all the way through. There were a couple songs that I'm surprised weren't released as singles. There were one or two that were a lot more ...bluegrass? than I thought would've been there.
Good. I liked all of it, "You're my best Friend" being my favorite. I don't enjoy this as much as I do their earlier works. Still solid, though.
Classic. One of the best from an amazingly unique band.
Не моё
So great
Good album some misses. Prefer to stick with their hits.
Hard to beat that!
Better than I thought it would be. Nice cohesive album with some great songs and nice guitar parts.
A masterpiece of songwriting, arranging harmonising and playing.
Easiest 5 star album of my life. I'd never heard many of the songs on this album, so it was an awesome listen. The Prophet's Song is really impressive and creative!
Iconic. Some filler in the middle but enough classics to keep it going
Trash album from a trash band. Facile, pompous, pretentious, dull twee, insincere and self absorbed. Unpopular opinion - Roger Taylor is the best singer in Queen! Two stars because I ‘You’re My Best Friend’ is pretty nice.
2nd half stronger than the first. Feel like it had a ratings bump from having Bohemian Rhapsody at the end. Some of it didn't work for me, but it sounds like they were having fun.
Je moet dit waarschijnlijk in zijn tijd zien, maar voor mij zit er weinig in wat ik kan waarderen. Goede muziek en geweldige zanger natuurlijk. Dat dan weer wel.
Beetje teveel Queen op dit moment. Hoewel ik dit wel echt een goed album vind. Niet alles is even interessant, maar toch zeker een paar pareltjes. Zoals bijv. Love of my Life.
Vloeken in de kerk voor veel mensen, maar ik heb er het briljante nooit van ingezien. En de hele verheerlijking en hype die er omheen gecreeerd is werkt bij mij juist averechts. En zullen we afspreken dat voor zolang de mensheid bestaat, we Bohemian Rhapsody gewoon NOOIT meer draaien?
Heb het niet helemaal kunnen luisteren (zo’n actieve vakantie :)), maar wat ik heb gehoord vond ik best leuk en gevarieerd.
I know it is a classic…but it does not amaze me…
Feels pretty middle of the road to me honestly. Like to to be honest, I don't think it's bad. It's just a decent album. But then, it also has bohemian rhapsody. Which is a certified classic.
Good album with some incredible standout tracks