A NIGHT AT THE OPERA- QUEEN

CD: MADE IN WEST GERMANY. 1975.

Nothing succeeds like excess--at least that's the case with Queen's breakthrough classic, A Night at the Opera. On one level, the title is a reference to the band's operatic pretensions, best in evidence here on the classic "Bohemian Rhapsody," which was championed by headbangers a generation before being revived by the Wayne's World set. Of course, A Night at the Opera was also the title of a Marx Brothers movie, and the reference isn't lost on Queen, who seldom scaled the heights of pomprock without a knowing wink. The album is remembered for its meticulously produced bombast, but the truth is that there's a wide variety of material here, from the gorgeous piano-based "You're My Best Friend" and the McCartneyesque "39" to the music-hall-style "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon" and the pedal-to-the-metal rockers "Death on Two Legs" and "I'm in Love with My Car." A Night at the Opera is viewed by most as the quintessential Queen album, and justifiably so. --Daniel Durchholz

DEATH ON TWO LEGS

LAZING ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON

I'M IN LOVE WITH MY CAR

YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND

'39

SWEET LADY

SEASIDE RENDEZVOUS

THE PROPHET'S SONG

LOVE OF MY LIFE

GOOD COMPANY

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN