This got lots of FM airplay when released (little if any AM, I think, though I never listened to AM after discovering my local progressive FM station*). FM audiences being more appreciative of long-form music, it was definitely well-received. *Progressive radio was a format in which DJs could play whatever they liked, not what corporate suits were telling them to play. It wasn't limited to progressive rock, though they played a lot of that. Sadly, this format faded out when AOR stations appeared in the late 70s. These were programmed by corporate suits, but unlike AM, tracks longer than 3 minutes were included. Closest thing to prog radio nowadays would be small college stations run by students.
when bohemian rhapsody came out we were already in love with Queen, so when we first heard this i was 16 years old, i fell in love witih queen even more, the response was great in the 70s!!!!!! it was played on every station!!!! as popular today as it wass then!! AND no i cannot Turn off Bohemian rhapsody if i'm flipping thru radio stations lol!!! in fact i'm sorry i missed part of any of the song if i just caught it playing!! and i'm 63 years old!!! i also play this track on my piano. I haven't recorded it yet the vocals will be the devil in the details :;p
Hi I first heard Bohemian rhapsody in 1976 on the radio at the age of 11 and I will never turn it off but I will always turn it up, the louder the better. The music from the 1970's is still some of the best music ever, very underrated. From glam rock, disco, punk and many more different types of music all playing on my little transistor radio. What a great time to live through.
You have to remember the time period when this came out. There was so much exceptional music being made from the late sixties through the mid seventies that, while Queen was popular and had a goodly number of proponents that would have placed this album in their personal top ten , "Night at the Opera" didn't initially make all that big of a splash. There were probably four dozen groups and individual artists releasing fresh and innovative work right then that were just as popular and more well known. Fleetwood Mac was dominating the airwaves. Billy Joel had released "Piano Man' and "The Stranger". Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin were still firmly ensconced at the top of the heap. Bowie was at the top of his form. Yes, ELP, Rush, Kansas, Jethro Tull, Supertramp, The Alan Parsons Project: Prog Rock was everywhere. Southern Rock was becoming a popular thing in the States. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were releasing solo work, in fact most of the big singer-songwriters from the sixties were still releasing albums. Heavy Metal was being born. Meanwhile, when this came out the entire Disco phenomena was busy going on to the point where dance clubs were replacing bars in all the cities. Queen was a mostly a favorite of professional musicians and the musically inclined at the time. They really only gained notoriety and then went on to gain massive popularity after the AIDS epidemic claimed the life of Freddy Mercury, when the group became a 'cause celebre' for all 'right thinking' liberals.
Their 'Greatest Hits' album had sold a gazillion copies way before Mercury's demise. You think you have Queen sewn up, when you basically don't have a clue!
The first time I saw Queen was on this tour in February of '76 in Madison.. It sold out fairly quickly. So their popularity was well established way before the AIDS thing came around. They may have taken awhile to conquer the rest of the world, but they were mega stars in the US once this album came out.
@@Drummingvulture They were popular and got a good bit of airplay on AOR radio, but groups like the Who and the Stones were for the most part way more popular. Like I pointed out, top forty radio at the time was dominated by Disco, R&B, one hit wonders, and various groups and singer-songwriters left over from the sixties and early seventies..
@@Owlstretchingtime78 Yeah... "Queen's Greatest Hits" eventually sold 25 million globally and is #39 on the best selling albums of all time... significantly behind the soundtrack albums for "Grease" and "Titanic". But it was released in 1981 and took decades to get to those numbers. "Night At the Opera" only made it to #4 on the billboard charts when it was released and is #77 of the best selling albums of the seventies with three million units sold at the time. In comparison, "The Wall" (#1) sold 23 million, Led Zeppelin IV (#2) sold 22 million, "Rumors" (#3) sold 19 million. It was outsold in the seventies by both of the albums by The Cars (#28 and #49) and "Silk Degrees" by Boz Scaggs (#43). While it has certainly stood the test of time and is one of my top fifty albums of the time, it was not especially well reviewed when it released. It's not even Queen's best selling album of the seventies. "News of the World" topped it by reaching #54.
The reception at the time, as I recall, is that "Night at the Opera" and "The Original Soundtrack" by 10CC were the two albums with production that blew everybody away. Same year 1975. Not sure if you've reacted to 10CC. BTW, since you mentioned the piano, I read on Wikipedia that it was the same piano Paul McCartney played on "Let it Be" and Rick Wakeman played on "Life on Mars?" A curio tidbit.
Most radio stations refused to play the song - it was "too long". In protest, legendary DJ Kenny Everett played the song every hour for a few days, and it became popular through word of mouth. Eventually the other stations had to play it. As far as big prog hits, don't forget Pink Floyd! I'm pretty sure "God Save the Queen" was added to the end of the album because up until the 1970s cinema and theatre performances (possibly including opera) in the UK often ended with the playing of the national anthem.
Please please please do Queen 2 next. This song had a massive amount of airplay when it first came out. At least in Cleveland. If you want a good laugh, watch the video for William Shatner’s version. So weird.
I remember exactly where I was when I heard Bohemian Rhapsody for the first time. I was awestruck, as was everyone else I knew. It spent nine weeks at #1 in the UK singles chart until the baton was passed to ABBA with Mama Mia. An epic track!
This masterpiece is absolutely timeless, and then Brian's version of God Save the Queen which was played at the end of their concerts. The reception of Bo Rhap was great, everyone knew it was a masterpiece.
A generational WTF moment. This song was another one of those recordings that opened wide the expectations within the perceived limitations of this teen music called rock n roll.
I love this song and have since it was released, I just never get tired of it for some reason. When this song dropped in the US, I think the first thing that was different and remarkable was that the song was so long, most songs were 3 minutes or less to be played on the radio. So that was something that got our attention but the dynamics and dramatics in the song were also something unique and different so the song became all the buzz among all of us. I was already like 25 when it was dropped but I was hanging around with a lot of musicians and young people who liked to go out to listen to music so there was a lot of chatter about the song and we all thought it was amazing and outstanding. We also all had heard the rumors that the members of the band were actually opera singers who were dipping their toes into the waters of rock which made them seem that much more interesting and exciting. Bear in mind that in those days, the radio stations that were devoted to rock and roll were playing all of it, from the 50's though the current time of the mid 70's so we all had a lot of musical progressions in rock and roll to whet our palate for what was now the bolder side of rock and roll, to emerge. We had Hendrix, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Cream, etc. so to have Queen stepping outside the box and stretching the genre was both normal and unique. Thank you for your reaction.
I was a freshman in college when this song was playing on AM and FM radio. At college, I was arrived to one college class and sat next to someone I graduated from high school with, and he was self absorbed, eyes closed, and quietly singing "Because it's easy come, easy go, little high, little low ...".
What more can be said - this is one for the ages. This will be listened to and enjoyed for hundreds of years, by many. Just like the best of the classical music repertoire. Will it ever be performed? I don't really see how, these guys are all such unique talents, especially Freddy & Brian. It will be attempted I'd bet, and adapted, but never reproduced. Fortunately, recording technology had by then just barely gotten good enough to capture what they did, with their copious innovations, as you mention. Is it overplayed? I think not - just justifiably still played a lot, just like Stairway to Heaven and a handful of other classics of that stature. It's perennial. I can never turn it off, and I never tire of it - sounds as fresh as the day it was released. The very definition of masterpiece.
My nephew did the sound for that. He said it was one his scariest gigs, such high profile and one chance to get it right while trying manage a makeshift rig up on the palace roof. All went well in the event 😊.
This song changed my life. I was raised in a household in which there was Classical music, big band music, a little folk music, barbershop music, & 50's rock. I bought Queen's Greatest Hits & when I got to this song I stopped the record & listened to Bo Rhap again. And again. And again. I think I probably listened to Bo Rhap for an hour solid. It let me know rock music could be 'more'. In my humble opinion arguably the greatest rock song ever written.
Every december there's a Top 2000 in the Netherlands on the radio. Year after year this song is no. 1! I think there's few people that don't know this song... Needless to say when this song was released in the Netherlands it was no. 1 on the charts almost immediately. On another list in the Netherlands, Bohemian Rhapsody has been in the top five of the annual year's end "Top 100 Aller Tijden" ("All-Time Top 100 [Singles]") since 1977, topping the list eight times, more than any other artists. For me it opened the doors to something different than what was usual on the charts. From then on I started looking for what was called then Symphonic Rock (now Prog Rock). This song was beyond fun, it was exciting and longer than the standard 3 minute-songs.
People forget that for the general public, that scene in the Wayne’s World movie brought this song back to the forefront of cultural consciousness! I was a young kid who knew all the Queen hits from having an older brother in the 70s, but when that movie came out, everyone was doing the “head bang” thing from the scene in the car. Even The Muppets had a parody video. Bless you Mike Myers! ❤
I was 11 when it came out and I can remember everyone in my class knowing all the words to it and we all watched the video on Top of the Pops on a Thursday night when it was number one in the UK tracks.
I loved it the first time I heard it in 1975. Detroit had several rock stations at the time, and they weren't beholden to the usual bullshit "hits" radio rules that kept songs to a 3 minute length on 45s. A six minute Queen song? Cool. We'll play it right after a seven minute Zeppelin song like "When the Levee Breaks." Those days are long gone and are missed.
I’ve definitely changed the station many times when it came on the car radio over the years. But I loved it so much I bought the 45 and later the album with my savings when I was 12. If I’m in the mood when it comes on, I’ll crank it up. I don’t think I ever sought it out to listen to after its initial appeal because it’s been ubiquitous these past 49 years. There never seemed to be a lull. Great questions!
Hi JP. DP from UK. Just returned from my own Seaside Rendezvous on the Isle of Wight. It was so exciting at the time that Queen had spanned the gap between chart acts and our beloved rock/prog, and for this long song to be a number one single was staggering. Some say that Queen were encouraged to go ahead with this multi-part suite by hearing 10cc recording the three part One Night In Paris in the studio. And Brian May played Queen's version of our national anthem on his guitar on the roof of Buckingham Palace at one of our former Queen's Jubilee celebrations.
I remember hearing at my friends house and was blown away. And it opened the door to their future work and past tunes. It also was one of the things my mom loved. She loved Freddie. She would put the live at Wembley on the laser disc player [japanese pressing] and turn it up to 11, essentially.
There was a chart show in the UK called Top of the Pops, which ran through the songs that were climbing the charts and ending with the no. 1. I had a long commute from London while Bohemian Rhapsody was at the top. Just made it in to hear this and watch the video. Always a highlight. In terms of how people think of it today, there are videos where this is played before another band's concert and the entire crowd is singing along all the way through. That's one of the reasons it's an iconic song.
One reaction I remember was from the band The Sweet (not sure if you've reacted to anything by them?) They were pissed! Although The Sweet was a pretty decent rock band, they were best known for catchy, glam rock numbers written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman (Blockbuster, Hellraiser, Ballroom Blitz etc.); hugely successful commercially, but artistically dismissed at the time as little more than throwaway novelty hits. By all accounts, the band was constantly asking Chinn and Chapman to write them something that would better showcase their range and musical abilities, and eventually they came up with a song called The Six Teens. This was a mini pop-opera, with changes in tempo, some crunching guitar work, harmonies and anguished vocals. As far as they were concerned, this one would REALLY show the world what they were capable of... And then it was released at the same time as Bohemian Rhapsody, not just a great song, but a song that did all the same things and did them on a truly epic scale! Obviously, The Six Teens couldn't compete with a masterpiece like BH, but the band members could barely conceal their bitter disappointment that Queen had stolen their thunder and completely eclipsed everything they had tried to do!
I was 21 when it was released. Aware that there was a group called queen, vaguely aware of Killer queen, but this thrust them into everyone's consciousness. The lyrics were obscure, but the journey of musical sounds was incredible. The opera was a bit of a bemusing interlude, but the rock guitar, piano, drums, and vocals were so prog. There were other great musical sounds around at the time - Mr Blue sky, Tubular bells, Another brick in the wall... we were used to rock getting more symphonic, - until punk threw a brick at it. So it wasn't that outlandish.... just great music. It certainly woke us up to queen's existence, made us more receptive to subsequent releases. I was a bit miffed that it kept Greg Lake off the no 1 spot with his fantastic I believe in Father Christmas, that year. At any other time it would have made 1. The radio were disinclined to play such long songs, but a DJ ( Kenny Everett I think) played it repeatedly and the clamour to hear it was irresistible. Onece it was high in the charts it couldn't be ignored. Film is Bill and Ted excellent adventure. ... it think. Great piece of music. Glad you didn't skip it.
Thank you for the full reaction, including "God Save The Queen". I remember when I picked up "Greatest Hits" in 1982 in Jr High, the American version opened with "Another One Bites The Dust" and then followed with "Bo Rhap", I didn't know what to think at first listen. I was pretty stunned when I heard the compilation, I was amazed by the range of the band. I picked up every album, and never looked back.
What I like is that Mike Myers had shown the "Wayne's World" bit to Freddie Mercury and he enjoyed it. Sadly Freddie Mercury passed away no long afterwards.
This was the song that propelled the band to superstardom in the UK. I believe they had only one major hit in the UK singles chart before (Killer Queen). As someone else said in the comments, the charts were quite diverse and eclectic at the time, so this didn't seem that strange. I was still pretty young around that time, but this was a song that entered everyone's consciousness; I guess the Eagles Hotel California may have had a similar status.
I've always thought that the lyrics are Freddie coming to terms with his sexuality. 'Mama, just killed a man' is him 'killing' his old self. The opera section is him 'on trial' as he wrestles with it all and the rock section and ending is him coming to terms with it and accepting it.
@@stlmopoet It is a standard interpretation. I would say it is standard for people who, very often, perhaps don't know that much about Freddie's songwriting. If you are more familiar with Queen's history then the song could have many different means. Personally I think it is a song about the music business or entertainment industry in general. Or about being an entertainer, Freddie took that task very seriously. Freddie wrote a few songs that deals with these issues. "Scaramouche, can you do the fandango?". That is someone asking or instructing a clown to do a dance, or for entertainment. In another song that Freddie wrote, "It's Hard Life", with some similar chords to Bohemian Rhapsody, he actually directly copies the start of the opera aria, "Vesti La Giubba". Here is a great explanation of Vesti a Giubba: ruclips.net/video/roRvsyS3IfY/видео.htmlsi=gOct4DFUMh7hQcWk I think Bohemian Rhapsody has a very similar meaning than Vesti La Giubba. Freddie also covered the song, The Great Pretender, which also refers to acting like a clown. But that is just my opinion. The song could have any meaning, Freddie liked it when people attached their own meanings to songs.
Could not believe my ears when hearing for first time on car radio after a football game sophomore year in college. My cousin was riding with me and we were both "turn int up !"
For "God Save The Queen", Brian May used the Deacy Amp on his guitar. Bass guitarist John Deacon, having an electronics engineering background through college, built the amplifier out of a salvaged circuit board he found in a dumpster at a construction site. The Deacy Amp is used on many popular Queen songs.
I love this song for coming on the radio and grabbing my undivided attention which led to my buying the album, totally connecting with the style of the band and being a fan of them for the rest of my life. I'm not one to say the band could do no wrong. Once the 80s came I still bought every album as it came out, but I didn't play them to the point of wearing them out like I did the previous records. There is very little music that makes me happier than seventies Queen.
In response to your question about initial response to Bohemian Rhapsody, I was a young teenager at the time, not yet in High School. I heard this on the radio on a Friday afternoon (a weekly pop music programme I was beginning to listen to). I was blown away. I thought it was the most incredible pop song I had ever heard. I taped it and listened to it again and again. Very soon, I was out to the shops and "Night of the Opera" was the first album I ever bought. Thanks for the review! 😎😎
Interesting interview on RUclips this week with Andy Scott from UK glam rockers The Sweet who believes the rock section in BR borrows from The Sweet's summer 1975 hit *Action* . He recounts a meeting with Brian May where May admits he really liked Action. Playing the two back-to-back the likeness is uncanny!
This sounded like nothing else when I first heard it aged nine in 1975. It still does. The word iconic is overused, but not here. ps - and yes it used to get plenty of airplay in full on BBC Radio 1, the UK’s main music channel.
From my perspective at the time, I would say that the reception was hardly any different than today...with everyone loving it, everyone knowing every part, and even the head-banging, as shown in Wayne's World, party time, excellent. We even rode in a carpeted van, we called a travelling motel. The Prophet's Song had a similar, though slightly less, effect on people...not being on the radio. The classic proggers had absorbed symphonies into their works, and Queen brought opera to pop music, and brilliantly.
What it was like when it was released: I was 13 years old when it was released. I bought the single and loved it and it was very popular but to be honest it became more of a cultural phenomenon after it was used in Wayne's World. So it was popular for sure but it wasn't that big of a deal actually. After it topped the charts, it was relatively forgotten about like every other big hit until Wayne's World.
I was fifteen when this came out. I didn’t like it that much then. I was very much into hard rock and symphonic rock and this sounded a bit too different for me. Later I began to like this song more and more. It’s a real classic.
I was five when this album came out. My brother had it on vinyl and I was just mesmerized by the piece when I first heard it. I kept asking him to replay it. When he wasn’t around enough to fulfill my demands, I decided to take the album from his record collection. I eventually felt guilty enough to get my own version of the album a few later years later. I never did return his album because I was concerned that I had ruined it and he would get mad at me. I confessed my crime about 10 years ago. We both had a good laugh about it. He thought he loaned it to a friend and never got it back and eventually forgot about it. I should probably buy him a new vinyl. 😂
I worked for my Dad at a gas station detailing cars and I “found “ a cassette of Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon under the seat of a car I was cleaning. I was underpaid and overworked… it’s not an excuse though. Uhh, I feel better.
You really need to check out Roxy Music ‘ Song for Europe ‘ and ‘Mother of Pearl ‘ from their Stranded album released in 1973 , two years before this behemoth .
It was a huge hit and completely different than anything else played on the radio. It was way bigger than other songs by Rush or Genesis at the time. Critically, Queen wasn't taken all that seriously and was more thought of as glam than prog.
In a musical world filled with synth pop, alt rock and prog rock, came Queens' rock opera, magnus opus! They tried to ban this for being too long, too complex and too outside their genre but people who liked Queen already knew they were hearing a winner.
A unique song released at the perfect moment in rock history. Prog was at it's peak so you could get away with a six minute epic that included operetta and two guitar solos without a chorus. If it had been a year later punk would have been in full swing and BoRhap would have sounded out of date. Queen had only one major hit before this, Killer Queen, which reached number 2, but their albums had built a fan base. This song despite or because (I don't know) of its unconventionality made Queen mainstream overnight. Their '76 tour was the first I caught. The ticket cost me £2.75 at a time when albums were around £3. Try to see a well known band for less than the cost of a CD these days and let me know how you get on.
We were all transfixed at the time by this huge epic, it was No.2 for over two months being repeated on TOTP over and over and over again, just freakish. I find it funny that critics were mixed 'cos the UK public obviously went nuts. The pop video was blisteringly out there too, looks a bit silly now, but hey, the 70's!!!!
When it was first released in the UK (ahead of the album), everyone was dumbfounded as they'd never heard anything like it being released as a single. Nevertheless, it was hugely popular and, as you mentioned, it was number one in the UK charts for 9 weeks, including Christmas. I was at school at the time and, already a huge Queen fan, eagerly tuned in to the weekly chart announcement to see how long it could stay top of the charts for. I was amazed that it ended up being number one for so long. Now it is legendary of course and will deservedly be forever so. You should definitely follow this up with a reaction to The March of the Black Queen though. If you do, you'll quickly understand why! Then again, Queen II is absolutely deserving of a track by track run through like you've done with A Night at the Opera, so I'm conflicted here! 😃
I'm just old enough to "should have" known a world, the UK before its release, but... can't remember it. Listening to Mums copy of Night of the Opera, and somehow around 87, as I started going to the pub with friends, hearing Fuzzbox's acapella version on Annie Nightingale's request show, and people in a pub I was a regular at frequently ending the night with singing as a chorus while standing on their chairs (Odd pub, piano man who murdered songs to request! or an Rock/Indie/Alternative DJ depending on which Friday night we gathered there). Somehow... It entered into a weird place of having always been there, always been loved for it's ridiculousness yet perfect execution. And yes, I wore out Mum's copy of the album and had to get her a replacement, Prophet Song may have suffered the worst 😉
Its impossible to not of heard this song before. Ok so 1976 was best time to of heard it as the singles were released ahead of the albums and got the debut plays on the radio. Queen were like doing a similar sound to the "Sweet" with the group harmonies around then . They had the ball rolling at that time and it was an instant TOTP sensation coupled with the video.
Don't ask me how I got it, but I do have a digital copy of a master tape of this song. It is all 24 tracks (Track 1 Piano, Track 2 Bass, Track 3 Drums, etc.), but the piano and drum sections are mostly recorded in mono due to being only one track per instrument. There are multiple tracks for overdubs of the drum parts during the latter third of the song. The guitar tracks all have the overdubs and layering completely intact, including all of the vocal tracks as well. There's no doubt in my mind that it is legit; when you play it all back in a DAW, it has that professional studio master tape sound that I just can't describe in words. Almost like it's louder and more saturated than the finished product you get on record or tape or CD. I imported all the tracks into Audacity and with a bit of playing around got it to sound just like I expected to sound like: Awesome! I can mute tracks and just hear the vocals or just Brian's guitar layers or whatever to get a perspective no one else but those in a recording studio would get.
@@minty_Joe It’s ok, and it’s probably better than it was, I used it a few times or tried. Just bad memories. I like other DAWs that are free now. To each his own.
Alot of songs are great but you have an idea what they are going to do. I can only think of back when Beatles songs like A Day in the Life and I am The Walrus appeared on the radio they were not like other songs. For my time period listening to the radio it was Bohemian Rhapsody and even for me more with YES Roundabout. They sounded like they were from another planet.
The music was so varied at the time (some of it outstandingly good, some of it mediocre to awful) that Bohemian Rhapsody fitted in well, and didn't seem so much of an outlier. It did stand out as being superior all of the singles out at the time, the video was unusual for the time. Even my mum, who was anti heavy rock, prog rock, and most 60's rock band music, liked this one. So it did have an impact way beyond the usual heavy rock, glam rock, prog rock listeners of Queen. But in terms of being struck by the Queen sound or music, that happened to me much earlier when I first heard the album Queen II, so when Bohemian Rhapsody hit, I was ready...... .....March of the Black Queen was already under my belt. BR actually seemed a bit of a throwback to Queen II, and slightly different from the general musical trend they were going in at the time (I thought A Night at the Opera when I first bought and played it, was weaker in comparison to Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack). Not that long after, such musical excesses were replaced by New Wave and Punk, so it is almost capping the era of prog and glam rock in all its glory. In terms of unusual singles the early 70's was full of them from the likes of (early) Roxy Music, Cockney Rebel, Bowie, T-Rex, Slade, Sweet, Mott the Hoople, Sparks - BR was part of all that, not an isolated event.
I don't think it's the best track on the album (but will concede that I might be wrong about that), and I don't go seeking it out, since other media will find it for me without my asking, but no, I have not yet reached the point where I can switch it off. It may be hyped up, but even if you "drop it down to somewhere under the hype-level", it's still a very enjoyable song. The lyrics have always felt to me to be a bit of a parody. They're something that "sounds like opera". Operatic stories are not meant to be subtle and delicate, and the lyrics here supply plenty of necessary indelicacy. If they were more restrained, it would sound a bit stupid calling it something from an opera. It's funny. The song has an "operatic feel" to it (no soprano breaking wine glasses, etc, but it's a good impressionistic impression all the same), and when I was little I couldn't stand opera. My folks loved it. My dad's treat if he got a day off on the weekend was to fill the whole house with the sound of the opera, and my little brother loved the music so much, he could go and curl up right in front of the speaker, and fall asleep, the way one sometimes can do, just out of enjoyment. Me and the dog? We had nowhere to hide. So I should detest Bohemian Rhapsody for being the operatic part of Night at the Opera, but I don't. I haven't even gotten bored with it. And because it has those elements, it's made me a bit more open minded about opera. Still don't go seeking it out, but at least it doesn't hurt any more. :D
Thank you for reacting to this, after a few elbows in the ribs, it’s finished. Day At The Races is pert near as good. Just sayin’. I’d enjoy visiting the Rock Monument… and no, I don’t turn it off or skip it. Those who do are doomed… Freddy’s waiting for you.
By 1975 I was into proto punk, Krautrock and prog such as King Crimson and Van der Graaf Generator, so Bohemian Rhapsody did not sound that startling although it was clearly a memorable song
a lot of my highschool classmate loved queen and this song in particular so at the time i really liked it. But when i started to actually listen to rock music (van der graff generator, talking heads, king crimson, yes, soft machine etc) i quickly stopped listening to it and also i fucking hate it being on the top 5 of EVERY fucking best rock song of all time list.
Yes, people did the Wayne's World thing to this song, years before Wayne's World. That's why it was such a relatable moment in the song. IIRC the CBC used to play God Save The Queen at the close of broadcasting . I wonder if they did the same in Great Britain. In my mind the song is about him killing his straight self and becoming a gay man.
One of the few songs I never listen to if I can help it. Interesting the first time I heard it back in November 75, not so much after it had been played on pub juke boxes eight or nine times a night for months on end - and it's not the kind of music my brain can tune out. Putting that aside, it's a decent album track though the lyrics are a bit weak and like a lot of Queen's stuff the production gives it an artificial feel apart from the brief up-tempo section where they actually sound like a band.
Bah! Bohemian Rhapsody would not have existed if 10CC had not created "I'm Not In Love" and another song that escapes me now. 10CC broke all barriers in recording and Queen only copied them. At the time 10CC was UK's #1 band (I don't know why, but it is true). BR copies 10CC's recording pioneering (up to 256 overdubs using submixes if memory serves), BR copies 10CC's story song progression on another song. They even admitted it. Fie! JP, this was not the first song/tale/story progression song. And some people believe that Queen invented all these overdubs and submixes. People are stupid. Or at least ignorant.
Queen recorded BR onto 24-track master tape and did a lot of ping-ponging the footage (combine the sounds of grouped tracks together and record them to 2 open unused tracks, before wiping the original tracks...or in some cases, leaving them in-tact for posterity). This technique, along with multitrack recording were actually pioneered by Les Paul and Mary Ford back in the 1950s. This was partly one reason why the original tape had concerns early on about "wearing out" (the iron oxide layer deteriorating because of too much playback or recording over the same spots repeatedly).
Well that movie is one of the reasons I am even a Queen fan at all. I have heard all their stuff now and love of it and it started when I heard Bohemian on that movie as like a 5 year old. So its a reason I am even a fan.
@@RobotWillie I can understand your origin story but ours is different… we are pre- WW and it was a double edged sword. I am glad you’re into Queen. We’re not saying we are better.
Agree. I bought the single and the album as they came out (age 15), still love the album (played very occasionally), but can't bear to hear BR any more!
This got lots of FM airplay when released (little if any AM, I think, though I never listened to AM after discovering my local progressive FM station*). FM audiences being more appreciative of long-form music, it was definitely well-received.
*Progressive radio was a format in which DJs could play whatever they liked, not what corporate suits were telling them to play. It wasn't limited to progressive rock, though they played a lot of that. Sadly, this format faded out when AOR stations appeared in the late 70s. These were programmed by corporate suits, but unlike AM, tracks longer than 3 minutes were included. Closest thing to prog radio nowadays would be small college stations run by students.
when bohemian rhapsody came out we were already in love with Queen, so when we first heard this i was 16 years old, i fell in love witih queen even more, the response was great in the 70s!!!!!! it was played on every station!!!! as popular today as it wass then!! AND no i cannot Turn off Bohemian rhapsody if i'm flipping thru radio stations lol!!! in fact i'm sorry i missed part of any of the song if i just caught it playing!! and i'm 63 years old!!! i also play this track on my piano. I haven't recorded it yet the vocals will be the devil in the details :;p
Hi I first heard Bohemian rhapsody in 1976 on the radio at the age of 11 and I will never turn it off but I will always turn it up, the louder the better. The music from the 1970's is still some of the best music ever, very underrated. From glam rock, disco, punk and many more different types of music all playing on my little transistor radio. What a great time to live through.
I was 6. One of my earliest memories ❤
You have to remember the time period when this came out. There was so much exceptional music being made from the late sixties through the mid seventies that, while Queen was popular and had a goodly number of proponents that would have placed this album in their personal top ten , "Night at the Opera" didn't initially make all that big of a splash. There were probably four dozen groups and individual artists releasing fresh and innovative work right then that were just as popular and more well known. Fleetwood Mac was dominating the airwaves. Billy Joel had released "Piano Man' and "The Stranger". Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin were still firmly ensconced at the top of the heap. Bowie was at the top of his form. Yes, ELP, Rush, Kansas, Jethro Tull, Supertramp, The Alan Parsons Project: Prog Rock was everywhere. Southern Rock was becoming a popular thing in the States. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were releasing solo work, in fact most of the big singer-songwriters from the sixties were still releasing albums. Heavy Metal was being born. Meanwhile, when this came out the entire Disco phenomena was busy going on to the point where dance clubs were replacing bars in all the cities. Queen was a mostly a favorite of professional musicians and the musically inclined at the time. They really only gained notoriety and then went on to gain massive popularity after the AIDS epidemic claimed the life of Freddy Mercury, when the group became a 'cause celebre' for all 'right thinking' liberals.
Their 'Greatest Hits' album had sold a gazillion copies way before Mercury's demise. You think you have Queen sewn up, when you basically don't have a clue!
The first time I saw Queen was on this tour in February of '76 in Madison.. It sold out fairly quickly. So their popularity was well established way before the AIDS thing came around. They may have taken awhile to conquer the rest of the world, but they were mega stars in the US once this album came out.
@@Drummingvulture Respect. 👍
@@Drummingvulture They were popular and got a good bit of airplay on AOR radio, but groups like the Who and the Stones were for the most part way more popular. Like I pointed out, top forty radio at the time was dominated by Disco, R&B, one hit wonders, and various groups and singer-songwriters left over from the sixties and early seventies..
@@Owlstretchingtime78 Yeah... "Queen's Greatest Hits" eventually sold 25 million globally and is #39 on the best selling albums of all time... significantly behind the soundtrack albums for "Grease" and "Titanic". But it was released in 1981 and took decades to get to those numbers. "Night At the Opera" only made it to #4 on the billboard charts when it was released and is #77 of the best selling albums of the seventies with three million units sold at the time. In comparison, "The Wall" (#1) sold 23 million, Led Zeppelin IV (#2) sold 22 million, "Rumors" (#3) sold 19 million. It was outsold in the seventies by both of the albums by The Cars (#28 and #49) and "Silk Degrees" by Boz Scaggs (#43). While it has certainly stood the test of time and is one of my top fifty albums of the time, it was not especially well reviewed when it released. It's not even Queen's best selling album of the seventies. "News of the World" topped it by reaching #54.
The reception at the time, as I recall, is that "Night at the Opera" and "The Original Soundtrack" by 10CC were the two albums with production that blew everybody away. Same year 1975. Not sure if you've reacted to 10CC. BTW, since you mentioned the piano, I read on Wikipedia that it was the same piano Paul McCartney played on "Let it Be" and Rick Wakeman played on "Life on Mars?" A curio tidbit.
Thanks for the headphones! So necessary to appreciate this masterpiece.. the official video is also awesome..enjoyed your reaction!
Most radio stations refused to play the song - it was "too long". In protest, legendary DJ Kenny Everett played the song every hour for a few days, and it became popular through word of mouth. Eventually the other stations had to play it. As far as big prog hits, don't forget Pink Floyd! I'm pretty sure "God Save the Queen" was added to the end of the album because up until the 1970s cinema and theatre performances (possibly including opera) in the UK often ended with the playing of the national anthem.
Please please please do Queen 2 next. This song had a massive amount of airplay when it first came out. At least in Cleveland. If you want a good laugh, watch the video for William Shatner’s version. So weird.
I remember exactly where I was when I heard Bohemian Rhapsody for the first time. I was awestruck, as was everyone else I knew. It spent nine weeks at #1 in the UK singles chart until the baton was passed to ABBA with Mama Mia. An epic track!
I was 8 and totally amazed. Both the music and the video made a huge impression on me.
This masterpiece is absolutely timeless, and then Brian's version of God Save the Queen which was played at the end of their concerts. The reception of Bo Rhap was great, everyone knew it was a masterpiece.
What can you say about Bohemian Rhapsody... If there ever was a song that spoke for itself, it's this one.
You sure it doesn't insist on itself?
(Thanks Peter Griffin)
A generational WTF moment. This song was another one of those recordings that opened wide the expectations within the perceived limitations of this teen music called rock n roll.
I like that! Can I borrow your sentiments for future arguments / discussions with Millennials and Gen Z-ers?
I remember hearing this on the car radio riding with my parents when it was new. It was so distinctive and recognizable!
I love this song and have since it was released, I just never get tired of it for some reason. When this song dropped in the US, I think the first thing that was different and remarkable was that the song was so long, most songs were 3 minutes or less to be played on the radio. So that was something that got our attention but the dynamics and dramatics in the song were also something unique and different so the song became all the buzz among all of us. I was already like 25 when it was dropped but I was hanging around with a lot of musicians and young people who liked to go out to listen to music so there was a lot of chatter about the song and we all thought it was amazing and outstanding. We also all had heard the rumors that the members of the band were actually opera singers who were dipping their toes into the waters of rock which made them seem that much more interesting and exciting. Bear in mind that in those days, the radio stations that were devoted to rock and roll were playing all of it, from the 50's though the current time of the mid 70's so we all had a lot of musical progressions in rock and roll to whet our palate for what was now the bolder side of rock and roll, to emerge. We had Hendrix, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Cream, etc. so to have Queen stepping outside the box and stretching the genre was both normal and unique. Thank you for your reaction.
that little shiver was done by brian may on his very own guitar!! belive it or not lol
I was a freshman in college when this song was playing on AM and FM radio. At college, I was arrived to one college class and sat next to someone I graduated from high school with, and he was self absorbed, eyes closed, and quietly singing "Because it's easy come, easy go, little high, little low ...".
What more can be said - this is one for the ages. This will be listened to and enjoyed for hundreds of years, by many. Just like the best of the classical music repertoire. Will it ever be performed? I don't really see how, these guys are all such unique talents, especially Freddy & Brian. It will be attempted I'd bet, and adapted, but never reproduced. Fortunately, recording technology had by then just barely gotten good enough to capture what they did, with their copious innovations, as you mention. Is it overplayed? I think not - just justifiably still played a lot, just like Stairway to Heaven and a handful of other classics of that stature. It's perennial. I can never turn it off, and I never tire of it - sounds as fresh as the day it was released. The very definition of masterpiece.
Brian May played this arrangement of God Save the Queen from the roof of Buckingham Palace to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's golden jubilee.
My nephew did the sound for that. He said it was one his scariest gigs, such high profile and one chance to get it right while trying manage a makeshift rig up on the palace roof. All went well in the event 😊.
Yeah, sometimes he's just an idiot!
This song changed my life. I was raised in a household in which there was Classical music, big band music, a little folk music, barbershop music, & 50's rock. I bought Queen's Greatest Hits & when I got to this song I stopped the record & listened to Bo Rhap again. And again. And again. I think I probably listened to Bo Rhap for an hour solid. It let me know rock music could be 'more'. In my humble opinion arguably the greatest rock song ever written.
I love hearing these obscure deep cuts! 😂
😆😆
Yeah, it never got any airplay - too many notes.
@@Escapee5931 Mozart agrees.
LOL.
Absolutely love this song ever since it was released in new Zealand many eons ago
Every december there's a Top 2000 in the Netherlands on the radio. Year after year this song is no. 1! I think there's few people that don't know this song... Needless to say when this song was released in the Netherlands it was no. 1 on the charts almost immediately. On another list in the Netherlands, Bohemian Rhapsody has been in the top five of the annual year's end "Top 100 Aller Tijden" ("All-Time Top 100 [Singles]") since 1977, topping the list eight times, more than any other artists. For me it opened the doors to something different than what was usual on the charts. From then on I started looking for what was called then Symphonic Rock (now Prog Rock). This song was beyond fun, it was exciting and longer than the standard 3 minute-songs.
Never get tired of listening to this ❤
Amen.
People forget that for the general public, that scene in the Wayne’s World movie brought this song back to the forefront of cultural consciousness! I was a young kid who knew all the Queen hits from having an older brother in the 70s, but when that movie came out, everyone was doing the “head bang” thing from the scene in the car. Even The Muppets had a parody video. Bless you Mike Myers! ❤
I was 11 when it came out and I can remember everyone in my class knowing all the words to it and we all watched the video on Top of the Pops on a Thursday night when it was number one in the UK tracks.
I loved it the first time I heard it in 1975. Detroit had several rock stations at the time, and they weren't beholden to the usual bullshit "hits" radio rules that kept songs to a 3 minute length on 45s. A six minute Queen song? Cool. We'll play it right after a seven minute Zeppelin song like "When the Levee Breaks." Those days are long gone and are missed.
Every time I hear this i always hear something i hadn't heard before
I’ve definitely changed the station many times when it came on the car radio over the years. But I loved it so much I bought the 45 and later the album with my savings when I was 12. If I’m in the mood when it comes on, I’ll crank it up. I don’t think I ever sought it out to listen to after its initial appeal because it’s been ubiquitous these past 49 years. There never seemed to be a lull. Great questions!
That first guitar solo is so iconic....
isn't there just one solo?
Brian has only talked about one
Hi JP. DP from UK. Just returned from my own Seaside Rendezvous on the Isle of Wight. It was so exciting at the time that Queen had spanned the gap between chart acts and our beloved rock/prog, and for this long song to be a number one single was staggering. Some say that Queen were encouraged to go ahead with this multi-part suite by hearing 10cc recording the three part One Night In Paris in the studio. And Brian May played Queen's version of our national anthem on his guitar on the roof of Buckingham Palace at one of our former Queen's Jubilee celebrations.
Nice Dave! Hope you had a good time!
I remember hearing at my friends house and was blown away. And it opened the door to their future work and past tunes. It also was one of the things my mom loved. She loved Freddie. She would put the live at Wembley on the laser disc player [japanese pressing] and turn it up to 11, essentially.
There was a chart show in the UK called Top of the Pops, which ran through the songs that were climbing the charts and ending with the no. 1. I had a long commute from London while Bohemian Rhapsody was at the top. Just made it in to hear this and watch the video. Always a highlight. In terms of how people think of it today, there are videos where this is played before another band's concert and the entire crowd is singing along all the way through. That's one of the reasons it's an iconic song.
Up until 4:11 you could say it's relatively straightforward.
One reaction I remember was from the band The Sweet (not sure if you've reacted to anything by them?) They were pissed!
Although The Sweet was a pretty decent rock band, they were best known for catchy, glam rock numbers written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman (Blockbuster, Hellraiser, Ballroom Blitz etc.); hugely successful commercially, but artistically dismissed at the time as little more than throwaway novelty hits.
By all accounts, the band was constantly asking Chinn and Chapman to write them something that would better showcase their range and musical abilities, and eventually they came up with a song called The Six Teens. This was a mini pop-opera, with changes in tempo, some crunching guitar work, harmonies and anguished vocals. As far as they were concerned, this one would REALLY show the world what they were capable of... And then it was released at the same time as Bohemian Rhapsody, not just a great song, but a song that did all the same things and did them on a truly epic scale!
Obviously, The Six Teens couldn't compete with a masterpiece like BH, but the band members could barely conceal their bitter disappointment that Queen had stolen their thunder and completely eclipsed everything they had tried to do!
...Justin - watching you listening to this has been one of the best things on your channel so far 🤣
Hahaha ty Jorn!
I was 21 when it was released. Aware that there was a group called queen, vaguely aware of Killer queen, but this thrust them into everyone's consciousness. The lyrics were obscure, but the journey of musical sounds was incredible. The opera was a bit of a bemusing interlude, but the rock guitar, piano, drums, and vocals were so prog. There were other great musical sounds around at the time - Mr Blue sky, Tubular bells, Another brick in the wall... we were used to rock getting more symphonic, - until punk threw a brick at it. So it wasn't that outlandish.... just great music. It certainly woke us up to queen's existence, made us more receptive to subsequent releases.
I was a bit miffed that it kept Greg Lake off the no 1 spot with his fantastic I believe in Father Christmas, that year. At any other time it would have made 1.
The radio were disinclined to play such long songs, but a DJ ( Kenny Everett I think) played it repeatedly and the clamour to hear it was irresistible. Onece it was high in the charts it couldn't be ignored.
Film is Bill and Ted excellent adventure. ... it think.
Great piece of music. Glad you didn't skip it.
Thank you for the full reaction, including "God Save The Queen".
I remember when I picked up "Greatest Hits" in 1982 in Jr High, the American version opened with "Another One Bites The Dust" and then followed with "Bo Rhap", I didn't know what to think at first listen. I was pretty stunned when I heard the compilation, I was amazed by the range of the band. I picked up every album, and never looked back.
What I like is that Mike Myers had shown the "Wayne's World" bit to Freddie Mercury and he enjoyed it. Sadly Freddie Mercury passed away no long afterwards.
This was the song that propelled the band to superstardom in the UK. I believe they had only one major hit in the UK singles chart before (Killer Queen). As someone else said in the comments, the charts were quite diverse and eclectic at the time, so this didn't seem that strange.
I was still pretty young around that time, but this was a song that entered everyone's consciousness; I guess the Eagles Hotel California may have had a similar status.
this was their 4th album
seven seas of rhye was no 10
then KQ no 2
following year Bo Rap no 1 for 9wks!
well I think it was a bit different!
I used to sing the guitar solo at karaoke (along with the rest of the song). It was always a crowd pleaser!
Always a fun time!
I've always thought that the lyrics are Freddie coming to terms with his sexuality. 'Mama, just killed a man' is him 'killing' his old self. The opera section is him 'on trial' as he wrestles with it all and the rock section and ending is him coming to terms with it and accepting it.
I've heard many, many people give this interpretation of the song. I think it's the standard understanding.
@@stlmopoet It is a standard interpretation. I would say it is standard for people who, very often, perhaps don't know that much about Freddie's songwriting. If you are more familiar with Queen's history then the song could have many different means. Personally I think it is a song about the music business or entertainment industry in general. Or about being an entertainer, Freddie took that task very seriously. Freddie wrote a few songs that deals with these issues. "Scaramouche, can you do the fandango?". That is someone asking or instructing a clown to do a dance, or for entertainment. In another song that Freddie wrote, "It's Hard Life", with some similar chords to Bohemian Rhapsody, he actually directly copies the start of the opera aria, "Vesti La Giubba". Here is a great explanation of Vesti a Giubba:
ruclips.net/video/roRvsyS3IfY/видео.htmlsi=gOct4DFUMh7hQcWk
I think Bohemian Rhapsody has a very similar meaning than Vesti La Giubba. Freddie also covered the song, The Great Pretender, which also refers to acting like a clown.
But that is just my opinion. The song could have any meaning, Freddie liked it when people attached their own meanings to songs.
Could not believe my ears when hearing for first time on car radio after a football game sophomore year in college. My cousin was riding with me and we were both "turn int up !"
Nice!
For "God Save The Queen", Brian May used the Deacy Amp on his guitar. Bass guitarist John Deacon, having an electronics engineering background through college, built the amplifier out of a salvaged circuit board he found in a dumpster at a construction site. The Deacy Amp is used on many popular Queen songs.
I love this song for coming on the radio and grabbing my undivided attention which led to my buying the album, totally connecting with the style of the band and being a fan of them for the rest of my life. I'm not one to say the band could do no wrong. Once the 80s came I still bought every album as it came out, but I didn't play them to the point of wearing them out like I did the previous records. There is very little music that makes me happier than seventies Queen.
In response to your question about initial response to Bohemian Rhapsody, I was a young teenager at the time, not yet in High School. I heard this on the radio on a Friday afternoon (a weekly pop music programme I was beginning to listen to). I was blown away. I thought it was the most incredible pop song I had ever heard. I taped it and listened to it again and again. Very soon, I was out to the shops and "Night of the Opera" was the first album I ever bought. Thanks for the review! 😎😎
I can only imagine! Ty twiggly!🍃
Interesting interview on RUclips this week with Andy Scott from UK glam rockers The Sweet who believes the rock section in BR borrows from The Sweet's summer 1975 hit *Action* . He recounts a meeting with Brian May where May admits he really liked Action. Playing the two back-to-back the likeness is uncanny!
A CLASSIC.
Google "Kenny Everett Bohemian Rhapsody"
This sounded like nothing else when I first heard it aged nine in 1975. It still does. The word iconic is overused, but not here.
ps - and yes it used to get plenty of airplay in full on BBC Radio 1, the UK’s main music channel.
From my perspective at the time, I would say that the reception was hardly any different than today...with everyone loving it, everyone knowing every part, and even the head-banging, as shown in Wayne's World, party time, excellent. We even rode in a carpeted van, we called a travelling motel. The Prophet's Song had a similar, though slightly less, effect on people...not being on the radio. The classic proggers had absorbed symphonies into their works, and Queen brought opera to pop music, and brilliantly.
What it was like when it was released: I was 13 years old when it was released. I bought the single and loved it and it was very popular but to be honest it became more of a cultural phenomenon after it was used in Wayne's World. So it was popular for sure but it wasn't that big of a deal actually. After it topped the charts, it was relatively forgotten about like every other big hit until Wayne's World.
I was fifteen when this came out. I didn’t like it that much then. I was very much into hard rock and symphonic rock and this sounded a bit too different for me. Later I began to like this song more and more. It’s a real classic.
I was five when this album came out. My brother had it on vinyl and I was just mesmerized by the piece when I first heard it. I kept asking him to replay it. When he wasn’t around enough to fulfill my demands, I decided to take the album from his record collection. I eventually felt guilty enough to get my own version of the album a few later years later. I never did return his album because I was concerned that I had ruined it and he would get mad at me. I confessed my crime about 10 years ago. We both had a good laugh about it. He thought he loaned it to a friend and never got it back and eventually forgot about it. I should probably buy him a new vinyl. 😂
I worked for my Dad at a gas station detailing cars and I “found “ a cassette of Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon under the seat of a car I was cleaning.
I was underpaid and overworked… it’s not an excuse though. Uhh, I feel better.
Lol!
You really need to check out Roxy Music ‘ Song for Europe ‘ and ‘Mother of Pearl ‘ from their Stranded album released in 1973 , two years before this behemoth .
It was a huge hit and completely different than anything else played on the radio. It was way bigger than other songs by Rush or Genesis at the time. Critically, Queen wasn't taken all that seriously and was more thought of as glam than prog.
The whole opening is nothing but Freddy's vocals
In a musical world filled with synth pop, alt rock and prog rock, came Queens' rock opera, magnus opus!
They tried to ban this for being too long, too complex and too outside their genre but people who liked Queen already knew they were hearing a winner.
A unique song released at the perfect moment in rock history. Prog was at it's peak so you could get away with a six minute epic that included operetta and two guitar solos without a chorus. If it had been a year later punk would have been in full swing and BoRhap would have sounded out of date. Queen had only one major hit before this, Killer Queen, which reached number 2, but their albums had built a fan base. This song despite or because (I don't know) of its unconventionality made Queen mainstream overnight. Their '76 tour was the first I caught. The ticket cost me £2.75 at a time when albums were around £3. Try to see a well known band for less than the cost of a CD these days and let me know how you get on.
We were all transfixed at the time by this huge epic, it was No.2 for over two months being repeated on TOTP over and over and over again, just freakish. I find it funny that critics were mixed 'cos the UK public obviously went nuts.
The pop video was blisteringly out there too, looks a bit silly now, but hey, the 70's!!!!
When it was first released in the UK (ahead of the album), everyone was dumbfounded as they'd never heard anything like it being released as a single. Nevertheless, it was hugely popular and, as you mentioned, it was number one in the UK charts for 9 weeks, including Christmas. I was at school at the time and, already a huge Queen fan, eagerly tuned in to the weekly chart announcement to see how long it could stay top of the charts for. I was amazed that it ended up being number one for so long. Now it is legendary of course and will deservedly be forever so.
You should definitely follow this up with a reaction to The March of the Black Queen though. If you do, you'll quickly understand why! Then again, Queen II is absolutely deserving of a track by track run through like you've done with A Night at the Opera, so I'm conflicted here! 😃
I'm just old enough to "should have" known a world, the UK before its release, but... can't remember it. Listening to Mums copy of Night of the Opera, and somehow around 87, as I started going to the pub with friends, hearing Fuzzbox's acapella version on Annie Nightingale's request show, and people in a pub I was a regular at frequently ending the night with singing as a chorus while standing on their chairs (Odd pub, piano man who murdered songs to request! or an Rock/Indie/Alternative DJ depending on which Friday night we gathered there). Somehow... It entered into a weird place of having always been there, always been loved for it's ridiculousness yet perfect execution. And yes, I wore out Mum's copy of the album and had to get her a replacement, Prophet Song may have suffered the worst 😉
I also vote for a listen to Queen 2
Its impossible to not of heard this song before. Ok so 1976 was best time to of heard it as the singles were released ahead of the albums and got the debut plays on the radio. Queen were like doing a similar sound to the "Sweet" with the group harmonies around then . They had the ball rolling at that time and it was an instant TOTP sensation coupled with the video.
Don't ask me how I got it, but I do have a digital copy of a master tape of this song. It is all 24 tracks (Track 1 Piano, Track 2 Bass, Track 3 Drums, etc.), but the piano and drum sections are mostly recorded in mono due to being only one track per instrument. There are multiple tracks for overdubs of the drum parts during the latter third of the song. The guitar tracks all have the overdubs and layering completely intact, including all of the vocal tracks as well. There's no doubt in my mind that it is legit; when you play it all back in a DAW, it has that professional studio master tape sound that I just can't describe in words. Almost like it's louder and more saturated than the finished product you get on record or tape or CD.
I imported all the tracks into Audacity and with a bit of playing around got it to sound just like I expected to sound like: Awesome! I can mute tracks and just hear the vocals or just Brian's guitar layers or whatever to get a perspective no one else but those in a recording studio would get.
Audacity, you made me cry…
Audacity is a great app to create, edit and polish music you make.
@@minty_Joe
It’s ok, and it’s probably better than it was, I used it a few times or tried. Just bad memories. I like other DAWs that are free now. To each his own.
You've got Jethro Tull's Heavy Horses!!! Yay!
🐴
Alot of songs are great but you have an idea what they are going to do. I can only think of back when Beatles songs like A Day in the Life and I am The Walrus appeared on the radio they were not like other songs.
For my time period listening to the radio it was Bohemian Rhapsody and even for me more with YES Roundabout. They sounded like they were from another planet.
Thing is, great as this is, it's not my favourite Queen track. That would be Brighton Rock.
I recall Kenny Everett (UK DJ) being played it and asking whether to trim it - he advised against, and I think he pushed it
(Disclaimer: dodgy memory)
I seem to recall that also.
The music was so varied at the time (some of it outstandingly good, some of it mediocre to awful) that Bohemian Rhapsody fitted in well, and didn't seem so much of an outlier. It did stand out as being superior all of the singles out at the time, the video was unusual for the time. Even my mum, who was anti heavy rock, prog rock, and most 60's rock band music, liked this one. So it did have an impact way beyond the usual heavy rock, glam rock, prog rock listeners of Queen. But in terms of being struck by the Queen sound or music, that happened to me much earlier when I first heard the album Queen II, so when Bohemian Rhapsody hit, I was ready...... .....March of the Black Queen was already under my belt. BR actually seemed a bit of a throwback to Queen II, and slightly different from the general musical trend they were going in at the time (I thought A Night at the Opera when I first bought and played it, was weaker in comparison to Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack). Not that long after, such musical excesses were replaced by New Wave and Punk, so it is almost capping the era of prog and glam rock in all its glory. In terms of unusual singles the early 70's was full of them from the likes of (early) Roxy Music, Cockney Rebel, Bowie, T-Rex, Slade, Sweet, Mott the Hoople, Sparks - BR was part of all that, not an isolated event.
#30 on my Top 100 list. Nuff said.
Galileo! Galileo! Galileo! Galileo! Figaro!
I was 9 when this came out. This isn't old timey to me.
I don't think it's the best track on the album (but will concede that I might be wrong about that), and I don't go seeking it out, since other media will find it for me without my asking, but no, I have not yet reached the point where I can switch it off. It may be hyped up, but even if you "drop it down to somewhere under the hype-level", it's still a very enjoyable song.
The lyrics have always felt to me to be a bit of a parody. They're something that "sounds like opera". Operatic stories are not meant to be subtle and delicate, and the lyrics here supply plenty of necessary indelicacy. If they were more restrained, it would sound a bit stupid calling it something from an opera.
It's funny. The song has an "operatic feel" to it (no soprano breaking wine glasses, etc, but it's a good impressionistic impression all the same), and when I was little I couldn't stand opera. My folks loved it. My dad's treat if he got a day off on the weekend was to fill the whole house with the sound of the opera, and my little brother loved the music so much, he could go and curl up right in front of the speaker, and fall asleep, the way one sometimes can do, just out of enjoyment.
Me and the dog? We had nowhere to hide. So I should detest Bohemian Rhapsody for being the operatic part of Night at the Opera, but I don't. I haven't even gotten bored with it. And because it has those elements, it's made me a bit more open minded about opera. Still don't go seeking it out, but at least it doesn't hurt any more. :D
Thank you for reacting to this, after a few elbows in the ribs, it’s finished. Day At The Races is pert near as good. Just sayin’.
I’d enjoy visiting the Rock Monument… and no, I don’t turn it off or skip it. Those who do are doomed… Freddy’s waiting for you.
Comfort food for breakfast, yes
How have I never heard this song?!!
Beyond me! 🤔
Pardon?!!!
By 1975 I was into proto punk, Krautrock and prog such as King Crimson and Van der Graaf Generator, so Bohemian Rhapsody did not sound that startling although it was clearly a memorable song
Made a splash at the time, but grew old quickly, for me at least. These days i'd rather listen to Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody, No.2 :)
a lot of my highschool classmate loved queen and this song in particular so at the time i really liked it. But when i started to actually listen to rock music (van der graff generator, talking heads, king crimson, yes, soft machine etc) i quickly stopped listening to it and also i fucking hate it being on the top 5 of EVERY fucking best rock song of all time list.
@@tuskact4overheaven873 I know what you mean :)
Was there any need, me old son? There are amphibians under rocks in the Amazon who've heard this! 😛
Unlike the millions in America, who are still reacting to it every day!
Theres a lil' pangolin somewhere that still hasn't heard it :D
@@JustJP 🤣
Yes, people did the Wayne's World thing to this song, years before Wayne's World. That's why it was such a relatable moment in the song. IIRC the CBC used to play God Save The Queen at the close of broadcasting . I wonder if they did the same in Great Britain. In my mind the song is about him killing his straight self and becoming a gay man.
The man he killed was himself....it's a song about coming out of the closet. Dam good song about it I have to say.
One of the few songs I never listen to if I can help it. Interesting the first time I heard it back in November 75, not so much after it had been played on pub juke boxes eight or nine times a night for months on end - and it's not the kind of music my brain can tune out. Putting that aside, it's a decent album track though the lyrics are a bit weak and like a lot of Queen's stuff the production gives it an artificial feel apart from the brief up-tempo section where they actually sound like a band.
Decent song. I’ll definitely have to check this band out.
This little indie band may make a splash someday! :D
Bah! Bohemian Rhapsody would not have existed if 10CC had not created "I'm Not In Love" and another song that escapes me now. 10CC broke all barriers in recording and Queen only copied them. At the time 10CC was UK's #1 band (I don't know why, but it is true). BR copies 10CC's recording pioneering (up to 256 overdubs using submixes if memory serves), BR copies 10CC's story song progression on another song. They even admitted it. Fie! JP, this was not the first song/tale/story progression song. And some people believe that Queen invented all these overdubs and submixes. People are stupid. Or at least ignorant.
Queen recorded BR onto 24-track master tape and did a lot of ping-ponging the footage (combine the sounds of grouped tracks together and record them to 2 open unused tracks, before wiping the original tracks...or in some cases, leaving them in-tact for posterity). This technique, along with multitrack recording were actually pioneered by Les Paul and Mary Ford back in the 1950s. This was partly one reason why the original tape had concerns early on about "wearing out" (the iron oxide layer deteriorating because of too much playback or recording over the same spots repeatedly).
Wayne's World did their best to kill this song. Hate it when people act like this song came from the movie.
It’s not anything I can’t get over but it annoyed me then and now. Fer shurr.
@@-davidolivares Can't believe I finally someone who thinks like me. Thought I was the only one.
Well that movie is one of the reasons I am even a Queen fan at all. I have heard all their stuff now and love of it and it started when I heard Bohemian on that movie as like a 5 year old. So its a reason I am even a fan.
@@RobotWillie
I can understand your origin story but ours is different… we are pre- WW and it was a double edged sword. I am glad you’re into Queen. We’re not saying we are better.
OMBLAHBLAHBLAH!
Its good but completely overplayed on adverts, films, tv. I dont need to listen to it again ever.
Agree. I bought the single and the album as they came out (age 15), still love the album (played very occasionally), but can't bear to hear BR any more!