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A Night at the Opera (30th Anniversary Coll. Ed) [CD/DVD Combo]

Queen - A Night at the Opera (30th Anniversary Coll. Ed) [CD/DVD Combo] Audio CD

A fair review of the Queen "A Night at the Opera (30th Anniversary Coll. Ed) [CD/DVD Combo]" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Queen reviews here, or go back to the Queen tabs.

Band: Queen
Title: A Night at the Opera (30th Anniversary Coll. Ed) [CD/DVD Combo]
Rating:

Release Date: 2005-11-22
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Death On Two Legs 2: Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon 3: I'm In Love With My Car 4: You're My Best Friend 5: '39 6: Sweet Lady 7: Seaside Rendezvous 8: The Prophet's Song 9: Love Of My Life 10: Good Company 11: Bohemian Rhapsody 12: God Save The Queen

It's About the Surround Mixes
1 Surround mixes! A friend recommend this version highly and I've finally gotten around to buying this. Reviewers who made comments like "disappointed in the video" are missing the point: It's all about the 5. But the point is that Queen's masterwork and Roy Thomas Baker's pinnacle are now being made available to enjoy in 6 channel audio. The videos are secondary to this kind of format.

Here is what you do. Go out and buy a 5. 1 surround system. Set it up properly. Start the album (yes I said "album"). Then turn off the TV! Just listen. THAT is the purpose of these kinds of discs. Then after you have satisfied yourself, go back and listen to it again with the TV on and simply let your eyes gently fall upon the TV screen as screensaver images of yesteryear pass by. This is the purpose of this kind of disc.

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Music at its best!
It defines Queen, in my opinion. All Queen fans MUST have this cd/dvd. It's classic rock at its best by the greatest rock band EVER!.

Queen at the Opera
I loved it! It was so nice to get the added videos too! Awesome!.

Rather buy me a new carbouretor
Marked by the operatic "Bohemian Rhapsody," "A Night At The Opera" mixed all the grand elements of Queen's first three albums into one pastiche of glory. The album that essentially defined Queen to an American Audience gets the royal treatment, and it was well worth the upgrade. Each band member contributed songs and Roy Thomas Baker perfected his kitchen sink approach to production on this. From the simple Sci-Fi Ballad "39" to the Prog-rock excess of "The Prophet Song" to the snappy rock of "Death on Two Legs," "A Night At The Opera" had it all.

Queen (and primarily Freddie Mercury) loved the exaggerated pomp and camp of rock, and were determined to capture it all on record. There are stories that the vocals for "Bohemian Rhapsody" consisted of over 1,000 overdubbed Mercurys, Taylors and Mays to get it perfect, and yet the show-hall sounds of "Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon" couldn't be goofier. It was almost as if the band was trying to show up prog bands like Yes, only to squeak a rubber-duck in their faces at the coda.

The end result is perfection. The remaster sounds incredible, with the nuances of the softer songs ("39" "You're My Best Friend" clearer than ever and the stunning production on the rockers ("Death On Two Legs," "The Prophet Song") confirming just how brilliant the band could be when they were firing all the engines. "A Night At The Opera" influenced decades of artists: everyone from The Darkness to Mike Meyers owes Queen a bow.

As for the bonus material, the DVD is mostly a waste. The commentary is interesting and it's nice to have the "Bohemian Rhapsody" original video, but the cut and paste quality of the rest leaves much to be desired. Since you can't get the CD remaster any other way, this version of "A Night At The Opera" is still worth it. Now, how about similar re-does on Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack or News of the World?.

Queen's GRAND breakthrough to the US gets a 30th anniversary fit for a king

The album was the band's sink or swim album, if it flopped it would have been the end of Queen. Queen's fourth album A Night at the Opera was originally released in December of 1975.
Here is a track-by-track summary of the album.
"Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to. . . )" kicks off the album in a hard rocking manner which was frontman Freddie Mercury's ode to an ex-management company whom treated the band like dirt. The vaudevillian sounding "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon" follows and is great with its 1930s-ish sound and harmonized heavy metal guitar solo at the end is amazing. Drummer Roger Taylor's ode to the automobile "I'm In Love With My Car" follows and is a superb rocker sung by Roger. The ballad "You're My Best Friend" follows and is a nice song written by bass player John Deacon for his wife Veronica (whom he is still married to today) and was a US Top 20 hit in the summer of 1976 peaking at #16. I love the melodies and harmony parts. Guitarist Brian May's "'39" is a great skiffle (folk) song with Brian singing. The song is Queen's sci-fi song about a man who goes time travelling for a hundred years but comes back one year older. Musically sounds like an outtake from either The Beatles' Rubber Soul or a Kingston Trio album. Brian writes the next track, the rocker "Sweet Lady" which is a great hard rock track. Freddie's vaudevillian sounding "Seaside Rendezvous" ends the first half. Got to love those voice orchestrations from Roger and Freddie imitating a brass and horn section.
Brian's epic "The Prophet's Song" kicks off the second half in epic style and all I can say is WOW! The song was written while Brian was sick with the curable form of hepatitis and an ulcer which forced Queen to cancel a US tour in 1974. It's a great epic, superb vocals. Especially with Freddie's vocal solo which was pure genius. Freddie's "Love of My Life" follows and is a great song about a breakup. Brian's "Good Company" is next with Brian's jazz guitar orchestra, ukulele and vocals on this track just rock. Next is the album's biggest hit and Queen's arguable greatest moment, Freddie Mercury's nearly six minute "Bohemian Rhapsody". The song is Freddie's 6 minute magnum opus and a song unlike any in rock history. It has it all, ballad, an OPERA section (voices by the Queen members and was overdubbed and overdubbed to point where master tape almost deteriorated). This song would be Queen's first US Top 10 hit reaching #9 in 1976. Then it would reach #2 in 1992 in the US when re-released because of Wayne's World. Brian's classic rendition of the British anthem "God Save the Queen" closes this masterpiece.
When this album was released, it went to #4 in the US and became Queen's first million seller and has sold up to 3 million copies to date in the US alone (I helped when I first bought the album on CD in March of 1992 only being familiar with Bohemian Rhapsody and You're My Best Friend as they were on Elektra/Asylum's 1981 version of Queen's Greatest Hits).
In November of 2005, Queen re-released A Night at the Opera complete with a new remaster which buries any previous CD version of ANATO(including the remastered version on the 1998 Queen box set The Crown Jewels) plus a DVD of videos, commentary and the album in 5. 1
The cut and paste videos on the DVD I liked the best are Death on Two Legs(showing footage from the Earls Court and Houston concerts in 1977), I'm in Love With My Car(which features more rare concert footage), Sweet Lady(with footage from the Hyde Park performance Queen did in 1976) and The Prophet's Song. Also, you get new re-mastered videos for You're My Best Friend and the "flames" version of Bohemian Rhapsody which was only an easter egg on the Greatest Video Hits 1 DVD released in 2002.
The commentary may not be new but at least it gives stories behind each track.
Some will say why buy again but I say go for it because of the remastering!
Highly recommended! .

You can see a complete list of all Queen discography, or go back to the Queen tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.