Queen & A Night at the Opera: 50 Years

by Gillian G. Gaar

Authoritatively written and featuring rare photography and memorabilia, this beautiful slipcased hardcover is the only illustrated gift book to examine Queen’s most iconic album, A Night at the Opera.

In 1975, Queen released what would become their best-selling album, which also happened to introduce their most enduring song, “Bohemian Rhapsody.” A Night at the Opera has gone on the sell over 11 million copies worldwide and counting. In Queen and a Night at the Opera, rock historian Gillian Gaar takes a deep dive into the legendary English band’s most famous album on its 50th anniversary. Chapters
  Queen’s formation and history up to A Night at the Opera, including the three albums that preceded itThe recording sessions that resulted in the albumTrack-by-track analyses of each sideThe tour to support the album, and awards and accoladesThe band’s career after the album—and after the death of Freddie Mercury
In addition, numerous sidebars cover topics such as the “Bohemian Rhapsody” video, producer Roy Thomas Baker, Brian May’s “Red Special” guitar, and more. There are even capsule bios of Mercury and May, as well as bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor.

IIlustrated with performance and off-stage photography as well as images of rare memorabilia, Queen and A Night at the Opera is a definitive and beautifully produced tribute to a legendary album from a legendary performer and artist.

The Great Albums series presents authoritative explorations of rock’s most revered records, beautifully packaged for fans to treasure. Delve into even more groundbreaking releases Pink Floyd and The Dark Side of the Moon, The Who & Quadrophenia, Prince and Purple Rain, and Bruce Springsteen and Born to Run, with more to come.

176 pages, Hardcover

Published April 1, 2025

About the author

I write regularly about music, entertainment, and travel. I enjoy taking pictures for my articles and books as well. My very first book was "She's A Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll," first published in 1992, and updated in 2002; Yoko Ono wrote the book's preface, and it still gives me a thrill to see her name on the cover. Other areas of expertise include Nirvana, the Beatles, and Elvis, all of whom I've written books about. I've also written for a variety of publications around the world, including Mojo, Rolling Stone, Goldmine (where I had regular Beatles and Elvis columns), and many others. I was also a senior editor at legendary Seattle music publication "The Rocket."

Reviews

[*TUDOR^QUEEN* · Rating 4 out of 5]

The song "Bohemian Rhapsody" made a huge impression on me growing up in the seventies. Of course, I had the single, and would write out the lyrics to anyone who asked in my grammar school class (a lot did). I eventually bought the album and it became one of those gems that you could listen to in full, singing and dancing along with lead singer Freddie Mercury. This book commemorates Queen's iconic album "A Night at the Opera"- its 50th anniversary.

There are many color photos of the band, concert posters/advertisements, and memorabilia throughout the book. It gives a history of how the band formed and their recording output both before and after the album "A Night at the Opera". It focuses heavily on this particular album's recording processes, an analysis of each track, the struggle to get "Bohemian Rhapsody" airplay (as it was quite lengthy), touring schedules, and how the band survived following the death of their riveting frontman Freddie Mercury. The book is just over ten inches in size and 176 pages. There are large color photo spreads encompassing this book, so it's not a deep forensic dive into this legendary band, but a pretty solid overview of their history- with special focus on this album that made the world take notice.

Thank you to the publisher Motorbooks / Quarto Group who provided an advance reader copy via Edelweiss.

[Kevin Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun information, albeit written in an amateurish style.