Queen – A Night At The Opera

To add to the long list of variants, my matrix numbers are:
Matrix / Runout (A-side runout variant 1): YAX 5063-2 L O 3 BLAIR'S
Matrix / Runout (B-side runout variant 1): YAX 5064-2 I I T I BLAIR'S
The Is could be 1s, I'm not sure.

The hype is real on those UK queen records. Forget almost everything you heard before. I hope I'll get them all someday.

My copy is old and battered (especially the sleeve) but I can only agree with everyone else about the sound quailty of this pressing. So good, so clear. Top quality stuff.

Next year is the 50th anniversary!
but we certainly won't see a quality audiophile reissue from some craft vinyl factory like Mobile Fidelity Sound...
:(

Stunning pressing, but my DCC vinyl copy is my favorite of this album. It is just perfect

When it comes to this album I doubt anything could come close to the sound of a good UK first-press. Absolutely fantastic.

Folded by managerial tribulations and resentment over lack of profit despite their ascending career, the band relies on new manager John Reid and delivers its best album, experimenting beyond the recording techniques possibilities and unraveling in the most disparate musical genres. The lp marks the full maturation of Brian May's identitary skills, suring himself in a painstaking guitar work, with which he demonstrates his total mastery over the instrument effects. This album is treated with so much care to appear lighter than Queen's previous records. The hard rock theatre of "Death on two legs" releases all its acrimony toward Queen's past manager Norman Sheffield, with big dramatic choirs and a razor-sharp guitar that build a riotous misleading atmosphere. "Lazing on a sunday afternoon" is a quiet '20s styled interlude about a fantasized dandy's chronicle. In "I'm in love with my car" Roger Taylor finally finds his authorial dimension, building an epic with this telling of an obsessive love for a sport car, one of the juvenile fetishes the drummer has treated about in that rock'n'roll decantation which was his main concern in early Queen's outings. The marital reliance of "You're my best friend" confirms John Deacon's melodic acumen, while "'39" is a poetic country-folk that differs treating a unusual sci-fi topic, in a relaxed, busking styled mood. "Sweet lady" is a polished hard rock pièce that touches Jimi Hendrix's "Crosstown traffic". "Seaside rendezvous" is another Belle-Epoque oldie with a playful fingertips tip-tap. In "The prothet's song" May conveys japanese koto, dropped D guitar and ever-changing chord solutions in the fulfillment of a grandiose musical statement. "Love of my life" is a pianistic minuet with a perfectly orchestrated lead guitar, embellished by harp flourishes. "Good company" showcases the vast catalog of May's guitar timbres, with an overflowing dixieland finale. The album manifesto remains "Bohemian Rhapsody", landmark of Freddie Mercury's ambition and ego. Its production took weeks of hard, mad work and more than 180 vocal overdubs to the point of risking the consumption of the recording tape. 5/5.

This LP sounds wonderfully alive & dynamic, with good clarity, nice bass & a wonderful stereo soundstage. Viva Queen! Viva Freddy!

Wow, Freddie sounds like he's right there. Standouts are Death on Two Legs and Love Of My Life

Fantastic sounding record. Balanced and loud. Much better than the 2008 reissue I have.