Is a night of the opera that great?

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[b]Brangwen Rocker wrote: [/b]

First up, hi everyone, just joined Queenzone!

It was 1972 or 73, and someone thrust a copy of Queen 1, into my dirty mits at school, took it home, put it on my parents then new Decca stereo, and I thought my God....wow, I'd never heard anything like it. Then in 73/4, Queen supported Mott The Hoople at the Brangwen Hall in Swansea, complete with out of tune piano!

Seven Seas of Rhye sounded awful, but the boys were cookin'

Queen 2 followed and to this day it is my absolute favourite Queen album!

Father to Son is simply fantastic, as is Ogre Battle, superb guitar work by BM, Roger to my mind has never played better on an album. March of the Black Queen chorally has not been bettered. Loser in the End a song about leaving home is as poignant today as the day RT wrote it. The single Seven Seas.. is brilliant. All in all a superb rounded body of work, which sounds as good and as fresh today as it did back in the early 70's

Sheer Heart Attack is a good album, but there were tell tale signs of the quartet's intentions to mix rock with commercial appeal a la Killer Queen!

A Night At The Opera is a good album feted by many as their greatest ever. I can understand this, Bo Rhap had gone stratospheirc and the album broke new ground at the time, as has been alluded to, by the many excellent posts on the subject.

As for recommending an album to someone new to Queen, I can see why some might suggest A Night as their choice, and all things considered, I would go along with this, however I would also give them Queen 2 also, as it would provide the new listener with a diverse perspective from which to conclude their own opinions.

All the best everyone [/QUOTE]


It's always nice seeing  older queens fan post here,  I regard these older fans as "the real queen fans"
 I don't think the younger fans  understand The band like the original fans did.  Anyway,  As for a recommending an album to someone who's new to queen,  I would say it depends on the persons taste.  If they like pop/rock I would recommend 'the game'  If they like epics I would tell them to buy ANATO for obvious reasons, the prophet song, bo rhap, or queen2.  If they like classic hard rock, or Heavy metal I would go with the first album, SHA, or NOTW.

Nice discussion indeed.  Although I would quarrel on a few things mentioned along the thread:  Loser In The End is hardly poignant in its discussion of leaving home... completely defiant, actually: "You'll get forgotten on the way if you don't let them have their fun" is a threat, really.  (Leaving Home Ain't Easy is quite poignant on the topic, by contrast.) 

Back to ANATO:  I like the unrestrained hard rock of Sweet Lady quite well, though it took me a year or three past its release to realize its genius.  I don't know why it's so unpopular because I think it's great, particularly very LOUD!  I think it's a slightly better song than '39, or I'm In Love With My Car, for that matter, though I realize I'm in the minority on that opinion.  ANATO was my #1 for a very long time.  Jazz came close to unseating it, though, despite what I consider to be the weaker tracks.

For me now, ANATO is #2 (right behind Innuendo) as the best Queen album of all time.  In fact, having recalled their waning popularity here in the USA at the time, I always suspected Innuendo was a specific effort to recall that earlier musical style (having moved so far away from it during the 80's) to deliver the more successful "classic rock" style of ANATO at that point in their careers and to do it "one better" with their wisened perspectives and improved musicianship. 

So, "yes", it is that great!  :-)

Peace

Yes, it is.

the whole album is fucking genius but sweet lady is one i always skip

well liam, i think you may be right. i also share your opinion, but other songs on ANATO, like loml, borhap,39, etc. made this album fantastic

I've always liked [b]Jazz [/b]as a good introduction to studio Queen and [b]Live Killers [/b]for live.  Dead on Time, If You Can't Beat 'Em, Don't Stop Me Now...I could keep going.  That album had little filler as all the songs were great.

Mark

Everyone has said how great this album is musically... I'll just say that this is IMO one of Freddie's best albums vocally... Only Innuendo and Barcelona can top it...

I agree with the other Queen fan who thinks ANATO AND Queen II should be the two albums given to someone new, because that's what I already do  :)

ANATO showcases all of Queen's musical styles (including the ability to play a rock song in an odd meter, like "Sweet Lady") while Queen II is many Queen fans' favorite because I think it just seems to flow perfectly.

[img=/images/smiley/msn/heart.gif][/img] Yes it is.  It is the greatest album that they ever put out.  True, seaside rendevouz and good company aren't that good, but 39 was made for Brian.

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[b]littlekillerham wrote: [/b]

[img=/images/smiley/msn/heart.gif][/img] Yes it is.  It is the greatest album that they ever put out.  True, seaside rendevouz and good company aren't that good, but 39 was made for Brian.[/QUOTE]






both seaside and good company are brilliant.

A Night At The Opera is the greatest Queen album, a true masterpiece, in my opinion. I don't know if I would recommend it to a beginner. But the funny thing is that it was A Night At The Opera that made me fall in love with Queen. Just weeks before the best love-story of my life started off, I watched a Queen Top 10 on VH1. And I didn't like their greatest hits. Actually, I didn't like them at all. I watched it against my will, because my dad wanted to watch and I had nowhere to go (we were in a hotel room and outside the rain was pouring). But Bohemian Rhapsody glued me to the screen. I didn't fall in love with them by then, but Bohemian Rhapsody struck me as something so totally different, it did move me deeply. But half a month later, my heart was conquered by A Night At The Opera. I had listened to it before many times, my dad owned a vynil from 1975, it was our only Queen possession by that time. I never liked it, except for Seaside Rendezvous, which I adored when I was 10 years old, and '39.$0Then one evening I came in the room while my dad was playing the vynil. Didn't like it, again. I used to hate Death On Two Legs the most. I went for a couple of minutes on the balcony, I kept hearing the music and when I stepped into the room, the song had gotten to Brian's solo. The beauty of it struck me. It was the first time I was able to find beauty in it. So I just sat down and listened the whole album. And I loved it, totally devotedly loved it. That's how I became a Queen fan. The whole experience was akin to falling in love - akin to really falling in love, like head over heels, not just anyway! :)$0$0$0$0$0So yeah. That's how A Night At The Opera charmed me. But I don't know if it would charm somebody else in the same way. Before Queen, I was not into rock, I was into classical music, so perhaps the operatic stance of the album was what attracted me first. I guess it depends a lot on the musical background of the individual. Perhaps Queen Rocks would be a good introduction to Queen for heavy rock lovers. And it's to be noted that some people who were only into new music became Queen fans through The Cosmos Rocks (I've read two of such stories on this board). $0

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[b]liam wrote: [/b]

I know most people consider it the best and it is historically regarded as a masterpeice. However if i was to introduce someone to queen or even suggest an album to a casual queen fan to buy i would not suggest this one. It's a great album but things have always bothered me about it. I have a few reasons;

1. Two piano ditties, Lazing on a sunday afternoon and seaside rendevous. They are fillers, lazing on a sunday afternoon is good, but seaside rendevous is not a great song and does not represent queen or show their talents, surely they had something else to put in place of at least one of them.

2. Good company  - I think two songs sung by Brian on an album is too much. Perhaps Freddie should have sung 39.

3. Sweet Lady - really is one of Queens worst songs.

4. Middle section of the prophets song - Ruins the song really.

5. If you take out the piano ditties, sweet lady, good company and god save the queen, thats only 7 songs, 5 of which are sung by Freddie. Just seems like theres a few fillers on this album.

I know i'm going to be slammed for this but i've just started thinking perhaps it's overrated.
Anyone else agree or am i going to be destroyed?[/QUOTE]




Oh God...your shitting me right ?????????????
What was good in your eyes??? hot space >?

ANATO is the best Queen album! I don`t know a single person who dislikes it. Even a woman I know who is crazy about Sinatra and the like said that the CD is good. It is perfect to the smallest detail.

I agree that A NIGHT AT THE OPERA is the great, but i dont agree that lazing on the sunday afternoon and seaside rendzevous are piano dirties. I think both songs are very beutiful to listen and i like freddies manner of singing

I think Sweet Lady is the only misstep on the album, because it covers ground that they did in better fashion both before and after.

I can't really fault the rest of the songs.  One could say that Roger singing about cars is as painful as Freddie singing about his cat, but if you appreciate the song for what it is, it's not really a problem.  I think (Sweet Lady aside) they're all great.