Queen detail 50th anniversary editions of A Night At The Opera and Bohemian Rhapsody

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By ( Classic Rock ) published

"It's such an eclectic album. It's mad and it's wonderful and it's got a bit of everything in it" - Roger Taylor

Queen in 1975 (studio portrait)
(Image credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Rock titans Queen are celebrating the 50th anniversaries of 1975's classic A Night At The Opera album and Bohemian Rhapsody single by reissuing them as "opulent" new editions.

A Night At The Opera will be released on crystal clear vinyl with gold labels on October 18 in the UK (as part of National Album Day) and on October 17 in the rest of the world.

Meanwhile, Bohemian Rhapsody will be released on transparent blue vinyl in both 7" and 12" editions on October 31. It will also be available as a direct-to-consumer 12” picture disc and blue cassette single via the Queen website.

"A Night At The Opera was a hugely important album for us," says guitarist Brian May. "It opened up the world for us. We truly felt like we could try anything at that point. As songwriters, we were challenging each other and competing with each other in the best possible way.

"It really was a watershed album for us. Thanks in a large part to Bohemian Rhapsody, people knew who we were – not just in the UK, but in America, Australia, everywhere.”

"We were at the peak of our confidence," adds drummer Roger Taylor, "It felt like there wasn’t anything we couldn’t do, and it shows on that album.

“It’s such an eclectic album. It’s mad and it’s wonderful and it’s got a bit of everything in it."

At the time of its release, A Night At The Opera was reported to be the most expensive album ever recorded, but it hit the top of the UK chart, was the band's first platinum album in the US, and has reportedly now sold over 11 million copies.

Bohemian Rhapsody topped the UK charts for a then-record nine weeks in late 1975, and also hit the #1 spot in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands and New Zealand. It returned to the top of the UK chart in 1992 in the wake of Freddie Mercury's death.

"I always believed in Bohemian Rhapsody from the start," says Taylor. "The first time Fred played us his idea for it, I remember thinking, 'Oh, this is something special.' And it was."

A Night At The Opera and Bohemian Rhapsody are both available to pre-order now.

More Queen: The next issue of Classic Rock will be a premium issue with an official A Night At The Opera sticker, poster and art card. It’ll be on UK newsstands from October 10 and will be available online from Magazines Direct.

A Night At The Opera and Bohemian Rhapsody packshots

(Image credit: Universal)
Fraser Lewry
Fraser Lewry
Online Editor, Classic Rock

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.

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