QUEEN: A Night at the Opera

QUEEN: A Night at the Opera

1. Death On Two Legs

   • piano, generic rock instruments, vocals, backing vocals | close 4 part harmonies | ADT | heavy metal style, hints of music hall - piano | contrapuntal texture? vocals & accompaniment | strophic structure | intro - sirens and tritones | reverse cymbals | distortion | aggressive vocals - written by Freddie Mercury about ex-manager Norman Sheffield

2. Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon

   • piano, generic rock instruments, vocals, backing vocals | music hall style | close 4 part barber shop quartet harmonies | bike bell | guitar solo - key change: Eb - D (solo starts with a triton Eb-A) | mic in bucket to create old radio sound | very short | rubato

3. I'm In Love With My Car

   • piano, generic rock instruments, vocals, backing vocals | Heavy Rock | strophic | guitar fills between phrasing | reving engines | segues from previous song | 6/8 | written & sung by Roger Taylor about roadie's obsession with his car

4. British rock band, formed in 1970 | Freddie Mercury (lead vox) Brian May (guitar) John Deacon (bass) Roger Taylor (drums) | A Night at the Opera - 1975 | sold over 3 mil copies | Title from 1935 film by Marx Brothers | Inspired by Sergeant Pepper | Heavy Metal | Glam Rock | Country & Western | Music Hall | Skiffle | Pseudo-Operatic | Dixieland Jazz | Prog Rock |

5. You're My Best Friend

   • pop rock & ballad style | synthesiser & sci-fi sounds| Freddie Mercury lead vocals | written by John Deacon about wife | accompaniment in comping style | overdubbing | tonic & dominant chords - basic harmony

6. '39

   • country & skiffle style | acoustic guitar, generic rock instruments | Brian May lead vocal, written about time dilation | tritones in bridge | falsetto harmonies - progressive | 39th song chronologically | texture is thick with strummed guitar

7. Seaside Rendezvous

   • Music Hall (20's) | piano, generic rock instruments, vocals, backing vocals | countermelodies in backing vocals - descant | contrapuntle | splash cymbals | vocals imitating instruments (scat) | comping | thimbles on desk = tap dancing | whistling

8. Prophet Song

   • progressive rock | generic instruments + acoustic guitar and toy koto (japanese string) | wind effects at beginning | acoustic beginning and ending using pentatonic arpeggios | panning | vocal canon | middle section in minor subdominant key | about Noah's Ark - Brian May had dream| classically influenced

9. Sweet Lady

   • Glam Rock style | generic rock instruments | rich guitar textures | primary & some secondary chords | written by Brian May | ends with extensive electric guitar solo | 3/4 moves to 4/4 at bridge | distortion

10. Love Of My Life

    • vocals, piano, harp, acoustic guitar, generic rock instruments NO DRUMS | ballad, classical styles | piano intro | melody & accompaniment | plagal cadence at end = II - IVmin - I | electric guitar is multi-tracked

11. Good Company

    • jazz guitar made to sound like ukelele, vocals, generic rock instruments | dixieland jazz style | comping crotchet rhythm | vocals in crooning style | sung & written by Bryan May | F#major | strophic | polyphonic New Orleans style ending | inspired by George Formby | use of Rubato

12. Bohemian Rhapsody

    • pseudo-operatic progressive | through composed | 5 main sections : A. barbershop quarter B. ballad/aria C. pseudo-operatic D. hard rock E. rock style but ends as ballad | close 4-part harmony at start; acapella | largely in Bb but begins with Gm chord and ends in F major | chromatic at times e.g. 'easy come easy go' B-Bb-A-Bb (B is Neapolitan chord) | advanced harmony with added 6ths, 7ths, 9ths | word painting with tritone on word 'devil' Ab-D | bell effect on 'magnifico' 'go' with wide vocal ranges from falsetto (taylor) to almost 2 octaves lower (may) | ADT and overdubbing | panning on 'little high, little low' and 'galileo' | wind effect | strumming guitar on 'shivers down my spine' | almost 200 overdubs in the chorus; on a 24 track recorder to make Wall Of Sound

13. God Save The Queen

    • snare drum, guitar textures, no vocals | written & performed by Brian May | inspired by Jimi Hendrix's "The Star Spangled Banner" | 30 layers at one point | tried to get the guitar to sound like a violin | outro piece to every Queen concert