In late 2005 to early 2006, Queen Fans have had lots of new quality Queen products to purchase and then digest over and over. 2005, of course was the 30th anniversary of their 1975 highly acclaimed release A Night at the Opera. Obviously, fans already knew how special the band is, and only within the past couple of years - Queen and particularly this classic Classic Rock release, have only grown in appreciation within the world of classic rock and music fans in general. No more is Queen pushed aside or treated as an afterthought or unimportant, and these types of in-depth, quality products are proof of this. Typically, the world of Classic Rock would only see special releases such as these from Led Zeppelin or The Beatles, but now the status of Queen has only began to hit its stride - and I feel like a wave of DVDs and special CD releases are even yet to come.

The Classic Albums documentary is a series, based in the UK, that probably began airing their programs sporadically around 1999 on channels like the BBC network or VH1. They eventually make their way to DVD, which would usually include extra footage not shown in the original airing. The Classic Albums series has selected only a few handfuls of albums so far to honor. I bought only a very few, Steely Dan's Aja, The Who's Who's Next, Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brock Road, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and Stevie Wonder's Songs In The Key Of Life. From what I can gather, there have been 28 of these Classic Albums DVDs released so far.

Surely, I am not the most unbiased person to give this opinion, but A Night at the Opera is the most enjoyable one that I have viewed from this series. The special is complete with brand new interviews from Brian May (Queen's guitarist) and Roger Taylor (drummer). Also included were a few snippets of a Freddie Mercury (lead vocalist) archived interview from 1985. Roger and Brian go through each song and remembering how each one was written, or their recollections of the recording process and they would be the mouthpiece for Freddie Mercury or the retired bass player John Deacon.

Also, helping with the stories of the recording process, we have interviews with A Night at the Opera producer Roy Thomas Baker sharing his memories whilst sitting at the mixer, isolating Freddie's vocals more often than not and letting the viewer witness the album from a rare angle that very few people were privy to before this DVD.

Classic Albums for such albums as Who's Next or Dark Side of the Moon have archive film used of when the bands were in the studios recording the actual album which would have been absolute gold here with Queen's A Night at the Opera, but unfortunately that is not the case - I would guess that no such film exists, but then again I was surprised to see photos of the band recording. The photos were taken by famous Rock photographer Mick Rock, who also made himself available for his recollections of the album in progress.

Well, although there was no 1975 film from the studio used here, Queen can be seen in archival live in concert footage to illustrate how the songs sound along with the visual. The Bonus Footage has entire performances of Sweet Lady from London's Hyde Park concert from September 1976, a new solo performance of '39 from Brian, Love of My Life includes a live 1986 performance, and a snippet of a new Brain May performance of the song. There's also an extended version of Bohemian Rhapsody, which included some audio excerpts of The March of the Black Queen from their second studio album from 1974, Queen II.

The Prophet's Song was cut out of the original TV show, but saved and added to the Bonus Features on this DVD. The story behind this song is probably the longest on the DVD, including performance also from the 1976 Hyde Park concert, Brian plays some of the guitar parts live, and Roy Thomas Baker explaining much of the studio trickery behind some of the sound effects on the song - including the amazing vocal solo Freddie performs in the middle of the song.

Another plus for this DVD is that it is presented in widescreen, unlike most of the other of the Classic Albums series that is shown in the standard Fullscreen format. I have acquired a widescreen TV, and I'm in the process of purchasing another and it's a pleasure having the pleasure of utilizing my newest monitors while enjoying one of my favorite band's album documentary. Since I have touched upon the subject, I may as well mention that the DVD is limited to Stereo sound, not multi-channel.

Other commentators in this documentary include -
Bob Mercer, who was the Managing Director of EMI Records from 1976-1980
Gary Lyons, the album's engineer
Joe Perry, the lead guitarist from Classic Rock band Aerosmith
Joe Smith, who was the Chairman of Elektra Records from 1975-1983
Musical Journalists John Ingham and Rosie Horide
Nuno Bettencourt, the lead guitarist from Extreme
...to name a few anyway.

Aside from the great video clips of live performances peppered throughout the DVD, the greatest segments for me are the ones with record producer Roy Thomas Baker, who still has fond memories of the recording, and who is still a big fan of the album. His recollections seem clearer and easily deciphered especially when you compare them with Brian and Roger's interviews. The archived interview with Freddie speaking about the songs was also a treat. There have been a few documentaries made about Queen over the years, such as Magic Years or Champions of the World, which are no longer available for purchase because they were sub par and boring, and what The Making of A Night at the Opera does is prove that their stories are anything but boring, when the story is told right.

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~For more Queen CD Epinions from Scapp70~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Queen
Queen II
Sheer Heart Attack
A Night at the Opera
A Night at the Opera - DVD Audio
A Day at the Races
News of the World
Jazz
Live Killers
The Game – DVD-Audio
Flash Gordon Soundtrack
Hot Space
The Works
A Kind Of Magic
At the BBC
Innuendo
Headlong (CD Single)
Too Much Love Will Kill You (CD Single)
Classic Queen
Heaven For Everyone (CD Single)
The Queen Collection - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Queen Symphony
Tributo A Queen
Greatest Hits III
Crown Jewels
Stone Cold Queen – A Tribute
Greatest Hits
Queen on Fire at the Bowl
Killer Queen – A Tribute to Queen
A Night at the Opera – CD & DVD (30th Anniversary)
Stone Cold Classics


Queen DVDs

Queen - Greatest Video Hits 1
Queen - Greatest Video Hits 2
Queen + Paul Rodgers - Return of the Champions
Queen - Magic Moments: Unauthorized
Queen: A Night at the Opera - DVD Audio
Queen: The Game - DVD Audio
Queen: A Night at the Opera - 30th Anniversary CD & DVD
Queen: We Will Rock You - DTS


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD