BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
“Bohemian Rhapsody” is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band’s 1975 studio album A Night at the Opera. The song consists of several sections: a ballad segment ending with a guitar solo, an operatic passage, and a hard rock section. At the time, it was the most expensive single ever made. When it was released as a single, “Bohemian Rhapsody” became a commercial success, staying at the top of the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks, eventually becoming the UK’s third best-selling single of all time. The single was accompanied by a promotional video, which many scholars consider ground-breaking. In 2012, the song topped the list on an ITV nationwide poll in the UK to find “The Nation’s Favourite 70’s Number One” over 60 years of music. (More from Wikipedia)
Even progressive rock bands whose albums sold well from the beginning often didn’t reach their creative peak for awhile. The magnum opus for Emerson, Lake and Palmer, “Karn Evil 9” was on their fifth album, Brain Salad Surgery. Jethro Tull’s classic album Aqualung was their fourth album. This also applies for several rock bands of the same time period that do not truly fit the progressive rock category. It was Queen’s fourth album, A Night at the Opera that included their unforgettable “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Canadian hard rockers Rush came up with 2112 as their fourth album (that title is exactly 100 years from now, as it happens). The Dark Side of the Moon – Pink Floyd’s space-rock masterpiece that took up near permanent residency on the Billboard album charts – was the band’s eighth album. With Trillion though, the band was never given the opportunity to develop an audience or to refine their sound.
(October 2012)
