A Night at the Opera

iTunes Review

Such was the impact of Queen’s fourth release on rock’s fortunes that it tempts parallels to Newton’s Third Law of Motion: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In the case of Queen’s effusive, deliciously over-the-top 1975 Opera, the payback may well have been the reactionary ascendancy of punk rock. Yet it’s clear many overreacted — or missed the joke entirely. Ultimately, this album is about as pretentious as the dizzy 1935 Marx Bros. classic it nicked its title from — from the Freddie Mercury/Brian May technical wizardry and high camp of its ambitious goof of a musical centerpiece, “Bohemian Rhapsody,” to the tongue-in-cheek hard-rock earnestness of drummer Roger Taylor’s “I’m In Love With My Car” and pure-pop sheen of bassist John Deacon’s “You’re My Best Friend.” The core tracks typically parody ‘70s excesses while simultaneously, weaving elements as disparate as the English Music Hall of “Lazing On a Sunday Afternoon” and “Seaside Rendezvous” and hard rock of “Death On Two Legs” into a heady set of expectations Queen would never quite meet again.