Rewinding to before “Opera” began, Mercury convinced a busy John Reid, Elton John’s manager, to also manage Queen, after a bitter (legal) battle to exit from their prior “deal” was a done deal, leaving the band nervous, remaining in debt-sunk poverty (despite the lucrative worldwide success of album #3, Sheer Heart Attack? Yes, precisely). Why? The band’s unflinching insistence came with proactive harmonic actions, from invoking the right manager (before), the right muse (during production), and the right, or perfect, DJ (the advance vinyl product, delivered in person, just in case it was a “go”, and it did, through the airwaves). It didn’t stop certain turntables from turning (or 45 RPM’s from pressing). (and so obviously too weird, and radio-unfriendly, right?). Relief arrived in record time, despite the executive decision (or indecision) to not relieve, or release, as a single, the six-minute song of languid balladry to rhapsodic sections, etc., etc.
Too many of this eclectic set of songs failed to “rock”, or pop-out, commercially speaking (or hearing). The final deliverable left UK EMI execs nervous it was the result of an unprecedented financial gamble. Of course, "A Night at the Opera”’s moniker was lifted from the 1935 Marx Brothers comedy movie classic (let’s call it “Opera”, moving along …).Ĭommercially, given its musicality, “Opera” was a major risk. It’s mock-opera, thus its high drama is seriously comedic, like a scene from a comedy movie, “Wayne’s World”. The epic song put the “opera” in “A Night at the Opera”, sorta. Of course, it is Freddie Mercury’s song, “ Bohemian Rhapsody“ that has broken its share of records during its 43-year-history as of late 2018, upon the release of the biopic of the same name. It’s not Queen’s biggest-selling LP that distinction would result from 1977’s News of the World unless “Queen’s Greatest Hits” counts, one of the world’s best-sellers, period. The general consensus: Queen’s 4th studio album, “A Night At The Opera” is their magnum opus.
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