QUEEN 'NIGHT AT THE OPERA' ORIG UK 1st PRESS '75 ARCHIVE MINT EMBOSSED COVER
£
62
$
82
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Description
>Archive Copy<
Queen
'A Night At The Opera'
EMI, UK, 1975
EMTC 103
THEIR CROWNING glory...the album that really pushed it over the top elevating them from hard rock heroes to world wide mega stars. 'Bohemian Rhapsody' was mainly responsible for this acceleration of popularity, a track that pushed at the very boundaries of creativity causing a wave of adoration that has failed to evaporate even to this very day.
I saw the band in concert at the Hammesmith Odeon promoting this album and they were tremendous, feted in the music press as the next Led Zeppelin but they were always so much more than that. 'A Night At The Opera' is a milestone in recording techniques, the production (by Roy Thomas Baker) being incredibly advanced for the time giving each song a individual feeling and yet sitting proudly as a whole. Tracks suchs as 'Death On Two Legs', 'I'm In Love With My Car', 'Sweet Lady' and 'The Prophets Song' provide the blistering hard rock quotent, allowing Brian May to rip out some incredible riffs and solos whilst eslewhere the band dance on air with oddities and curios that actually enhance the bravado and bluster.
Chief amongst the lighter faire are 'Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon', the sea shanty '39' and 'Seaside Rendezvous' all helping to give the gift of brevity to what in lesser hands could've been an excersise in clumpy hard rock bluster. Even stuffy hard rocker 'The Prophet's Song' is blessed a brilliant accapella middle section, showcasing the bands flawless harmony vocals and a desire to take the track into areas not previously explored by any other band previosuly. Of course, 'Bohemian Rhapsody', remains the centre piece of the entire project but in a fair and just world that song should not be allowed to overshadow its accompanying support.
Original issue embossed cover with super low 1st run matrix and the elusive 'Blair's' mastering engineer name scratched into both sides of the run off grooves. It doesn't get much better than this!
Incredible!
Pressing: EMI, UK, 1975
Vinyl: Super clean and shiny condition. Displays a few spindle marks on the labels. Grades as a top shop fresh MINT!
Cover: Again, no signs of any use. Issued in a beautifully illustrated embossed gatefold cover. By virtue of the fact that its a bright matt white finish, these covers are impossible to find in nice condition. This one is superb - no blemishes, no dirt marks, no fingerprint/ageing, no storage wear and no grubbiness. Sharp corners, no dings, no bends, no ring wear, no split seams and no creases. Spine is stiff, straight and totally uncrushed. Beautiful and impossible to find like this 48 years after release. Looks like it just walked out of the factory. Grades as shop fresh MINT!
Inserts: Thick cardboard inner sleeve
Matrix:
1st Pressing
Side One: YAX 5063 - 4 Blair's
Side Two: YAX 5064 - 5
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