A Night at the Opera - Inside Queen’s masterpiece

A Night at the Opera - Inside Queen’s masterpiece

Photo. A Night at the Opera. 

“A Night at the Opera” is Queen’s Crown Jewel. This is the album where rock meets opera and made Queen royalty. And this was done by Queen themselves: The closing track was an instrumental cover of "God Save the Queen", the British national anthem, for which May was credited as the arranger. 

All I will say: eight minutes to eternity. Especially the song “Bohemian Rhapsody” changed everything - multi-tracked to the heavens with layered vocals, layered guitars. 

In one way “A Night at the Opera” sounds chaotic with songs composed from all bandmembers - put together – all of them have something to say, but at the same time the songs float so extremely well through the album. 

A Night at the Opera is for me a very fascinating experience, but at the same time very confusing - a musical rollercoaster: It doesn’t have a single concept or storyline running through it, but it’s a showcase of Queen’s creative range, eccentric style, and studio wizardry. 

As the title suggests, “A Night at the Opera” channels the spirit of opera - not in content, but in scale. Queen approached rock like opera: big emotions, dramatic shifts, sharp contrasts and with no boundaries. Like an opera, it moves through moods and genres with flair: grand, emotional, unpredictable.

To get deeper into the album, I have listen to it unnumerable times, reading magazines as Mojo and Uncut, and used artificial intelligence services to analyse the lyrics. Especially I wanted dive deeper into the song "The Prophet’s Song". Just as most of the songs on the album is hard to understand. This song isn't just a standalone apocalyptic tale - it's deeply shaped by Queen's own context, especially Brian May’s state of mind and the band's evolution at the time. Without understanding that background, the lyrics can feel cryptic, even impenetrable. I am not trying to decode Queen’s most ambitious album totally but just explain it little bit more. 

“A Night at the Opera” is the fourth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 28th November 1975 (A Night at the Opera - Queen album - Wikipedia). The album was recorded at seven different studios over a period of four months. Queen spent a month during the summer of 1975 rehearsing in a barn at what would become Ridge Farm Studio in Surrey. This scene was also displayed in the movie “Bohemian Rhapsody” from 2018.  

The title itself comes from the Marx Brothers film “A Night at the Opera”, which hints at the band's love for theatricality and humour, for example the song “I am love with my car.
The album embraces flamboyance and drama, often blending opera, rock, metal, vaudeville, and music hall styles. It`s so much musical experimentation on the album with each song sounds wildly different. 

Some of the songs are: 

• Bohemian Rhapsody – The centrepiece. A six-minute epic that combines opera, hard rock, and balladry - Despite being twice as long as the average single in 1975 and garnering mixed critical reviews initially, the song became immensely popular, topping charts worldwide. It remained unprecedented nine weeks in the UK and is widely regarded as one of the greatest songs in music history. It’s surreal, emotional, and defied every rule of radio at the time. No chorus. No precedent. Just pure Queen.
• You're My Best Friend – A sweet, sincere pop song written by bassist John Deacon. Pure warmth and love dedicated to his girlfriend. 
• Love of My Life – Freddie Mercury’s tender ballad, one of the band's most beloved live songs. And also one of Queen's most covered songs: There have been versions by many acts like Extreme featuring May, Scorpions and Elaine Paige.
• Death on Two Legs – A savage opener, full of venom - it’s reportedly aimed at their former manager. Rock fury, cloaked in glam
• Seaside Rendezvous & Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon – These are cheeky throwbacks to 1920s-30s British music hall styles. Quirky, unexpected, and fun.
• '39 – A sci-fi folk ballad by Brian May about time dilation and space travel. Beautiful and strange - and sung by May himself. My favourite Queen song ever!
• "I'm in Love with My Car" - It is the album's only song written entirely by drummer Roger Taylor.

It was one of the most expensive albums ever recorded at the time. Queen used multi-tracking to the extreme, especially in the vocal and guitar layers. It solidified Queen’s place not just as rock stars, but as genre-defying innovators. It was a huge risk - but it paid off. Without it, Queen might not have become the legends we know today.

As mentioned, "The Prophet's Song" is one of Queen’s most ambitious and mysterious tracks o the album - composed by Brian May. He wrote it after a vivid dream that felt prophetic - which inspired the apocalyptic tone. Running over 8 minutes, it’s the longest song Queen ever recorded, and it's often seen as the spiritual twin to "Bohemian Rhapsody" - darker, more apocalyptic, and haunting.

At its core, it’s a prophetic vision of doom, warning humanity about its self-destruction and failure to heed wise warnings. It feels biblical, epic, and tragic - almost like a rock opera version of a doomsday prophecy. 

Parallels can probably be drown to the story of Noah’s Ark. A prophet warns the people of an impending disaster - a flood or cleansing, but no one listens. There's a clear sense that the "prophet" is frustrated - he's seen what's coming, he begs people to listen, but humanity remains blind or arrogant. The lyrics hint at a repeating history - man builds, man destroys, and refuses to learn.

"Oh people of the earth, 'Listen to the warning', the seer he said...". 
"Now I know, now I know, now I know that you can hear me..."

These lines hit hard - the prophet is literally pleading but being ignored.

The vocal canon is incredible – nothing heard like this before: That haunting middle section, where Freddie's voice echoes itself in layered harmonies - it's a vocal round, almost hypnotic. It mimics the chaos and isolation of a prophet speaking into the void. And even more, heavy guitar riffs and folk elements make the song extra haunting: It mixes pastoral acoustic parts with thunderous electric guitars - the beauty and horror of the world colliding.

"The Prophet's Song" is like a rock epic biblical warning - complex, philosophical, and emotionally intense. I think the song is much relevant today with tensions around the world: The song asks: What happens when humanity ignores wisdom? And the answer, judging from the song, is: Nothing good.

Queen showed the world they could do anything. Nearly 50 years later, it still sounds like a band taking flight. In a time of streaming algorithms, quick skips and endless playlists, “A Night at the Opera” still asks to be played all the way through - and it’s worth it. Turn it up on your Surround Sound System, and remember what music can be when nothing holds it back.

Stein Morten Lund, March 2025

Additional information
In 1977, "Bohemian Rhapsody" received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus and Best Arrangement for Voices. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it at number 230 on its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, number 231 on its 2012 list, and number 128 on its 2020 list. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2018 (Wikipedia).

Queen Extravaganza - Celebrating 50 years of Bohemian Rhapsody (2025). The only official tribute Queen band. Their show is designed to celebrate the legacy of Queen for fans of all ages.

Mojo Magazine. MOJO 378 – May 2025: Queen. Fifty years since Bohemian Rhapsody cemented their flamboyant mastery, Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor explore the sonic step-changes of rock’s most daring and varied band. COVER STORY: QUEEN Brian May and Roger Taylor pick apart the Odd Quartet’s hitmaking brilliance, from Keep Yourself Alive to These Are The Days Of Our Lives. Plus: Freddie – the art school years; inside Under Pressure; and more!

“Bohemian Rhapsody” is a 2018 biographical musical drama film that focuses on the life of Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of the British rock band Queen, from the formation of the band in 1970 to their 1985 Live Aid performance at the original Wembley Stadium.