Queen

The Making Of A Night At The Opera Queen

The fourth Queen album released in late 1975 has long been regarded as a classic. The brilliant mix of hard rock, pop, opera, music hall camp and traditional folk, utilising multi layered guitars, crunching riffs, vocal harmonies, piano flourishes, a harp, a ukulele and 'no synthesisers' all combine to make it one of the great albums of the last three decades. Their faultless musicianship, with the 'Sonic Volcano' rhythm section of Roger Taylor and John Deacon, Brian May's guitar virtuosity and the spectacular Freddie Mercury up front, led to Queen being crowned as one of the greatest rock acts of all time.

This programme is the story behind the conception and recording of this remarkable album and the dramatic transformation in Queen's career that took place following its release. By use of interviews, musical demonstration, acoustic performance, archive footage and returning to the multi track tapes, we discover how Queen created the songs and sounds with the assistance of Producer Roy Thomas Baker. Added comments from rock stars Ian Hunter and Joe Perry, key music commentators, Bob Harris, Mick Rock, Anthony DeCurtis and John Ingham and music industry veterans Jac Holzman and Joe Smith puts the album into its rightful place in rock history.