A Night at the Opera

Queen首发于1975年的这张《歌剧院之夜》可能是摇滚乐历史上最华丽的篇章，把摇滚歌剧这个概念发展到前所未有的高度，奢华无比。主打歌Bohemian Rhapsody被滚石杂志的编辑称为有史以来最“歌剧化”的摇滚歌曲，简直就是个小型歌剧，并且打破了当时英国单曲排行榜上冠军时间最长记录。不过这首歌，乃至这张专辑都有点晦涩灰暗，有人说常听Queen的东西会发疯，我不能确定，但不可否认这首在整个摇滚历史上都很有影响的歌曲在华丽的编曲之外，歌词其实是非常阴暗的。这张制作成本非常夸张的专辑在美国也大卖300万张。

这张专辑在滚石杂志选出的500张历代最强专辑中排名第230位。

Queen were straining at the boundaries of hard rock and heavy metal on Sheer Heart Attack, but they broke down all the barricades on A Night at the Opera, a self-consciously ridiculous and overblown hard rock masterpiece. Using the multi-layered guitars of its predecessor as a foundation, A Night at the Opera encompasses metal ("Death on Two Legs," "Sweet Lady"), pop (the lovely, shimmering "You're My Best Friend"), campy British music hall ("Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon," "Seaside Rendezvous"), and mystical prog rock ("'39," "The Prophet's Song"), eventually bringing it all together on the pseudo-operatic "Bohemian Rhapsody." In short, it's a lot like Queen's own version of Led Zeppelin IV, but where Zep find dark menace in bombast, Queen celebrate their own pomposity. No one in the band takes anything too seriously, otherwise the arrangements wouldn't be as ludicrously exaggerated as they are. But the appeal -- and the influence -- of A Night at the Opera is in its detailed, meticulous productions. It's prog rock with a sense of humor as well as dynamics, and Queen never bettered their approach anywhere else. [In 2005, Hollywood Records released a two-disc, remastered 30th Anniversary CD/DVD of A Night at the Opera that included a DVD featuring original and new videos, as well as audio commentary from the band.]