There’s always a little bit of arrogance that comes with being in any great rock band. No one is ever going to listen to an artist based on the idea that they are just OK, and while it normally leads to artists getting a massive ego, sometimes that ego can be warranted. Although Freddie Mercury had more charisma and stamina than any other frontman who walked the Earth, he was still most proud of himself as a musician, and he still thought ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was the kind of song that no one would be able to match.

It would be easy to just say Mercury is right and call it a day, but why does ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ work so well? It’s still one of the most celebrated rock songs of all time and one of the most expert-level tracks for anyone to try to sing at karaoke, but it’s still one of the most unconventional pieces to ever become a hit.Because what Mercury created was basically three different songs smushed together. There are the makings of a few different hits spread throughout the work, but to understand what it’s about, you have to look at the way that they overdubbed everything.

While A Night at the Opera was already shaping up to be one of the most expensive records in British history, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ could take a third of that based on how much was layered on. No one was going to sit down and try to perform the operatic section in one go, and no matter how much he tried, Roger Taylor’s massive high note right before the guitar riff came in probably required multiple takes and perhaps a few kicks in sensitive areas to get right.
From The Vault
Cutting Room Floor
Freddie Mercury – Queen(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Music » From The Vault
The Queen song Freddie Mercury thought no artist could do: “Name one group”
Tim Coffman
@timmusic13
Thu 2 May 2024 17:14, UK
There’s always a little bit of arrogance that comes with being in any great rock band. No one is ever going to listen to an artist based on the idea that they are just OK, and while it normally leads to artists getting a massive ego, sometimes that ego can be warranted. Although Freddie Mercury had more charisma and stamina than any other frontman who walked the Earth, he was still most proud of himself as a musician, and he still thought ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was the kind of song that no one would be able to match.

It would be easy to just say Mercury is right and call it a day, but why does ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ work so well? It’s still one of the most celebrated rock songs of all time and one of the most expert-level tracks for anyone to try to sing at karaoke, but it’s still one of the most unconventional pieces to ever become a hit.

Because what Mercury created was basically three different songs smushed together. There are the makings of a few different hits spread throughout the work, but to understand what it’s about, you have to look at the way that they overdubbed everything.

While A Night at the Opera was already shaping up to be one of the most expensive records in British history, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ could take a third of that based on how much was layered on. No one was going to sit down and try to perform the operatic section in one go, and no matter how much he tried, Roger Taylor’s massive high note right before the guitar riff came in probably required multiple takes and perhaps a few kicks in sensitive areas to get right.

The label may have resisted when they wanted it out as a single, but Mercury stood his ground, recalling later, “Who can you compare that to? Name one group that’s done an operatic single. You know, we were adamant that it would be a hit in its entirety. We have been forced to make compromises, but cutting up a song will never be one of them.”

Despite having all the hallmarks of a traditional progressive rock song, I wouldn’t exactly call ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ prog in the traditional sense. Mercury wasn’t looking to make his answer to a band like Yes or Genesis, and chances are that even the prog rock giants couldn’t have made something this bold right out of the gate, especially with the millions of overdubs tacked on at the end.

In fact, the only other band that could match this kind of song again in the studio was Queen decades later. After making the best pop music of the 1980s, Mercury’s final album during his lifetime, Innuendo, boasted the title track that may have been complex enough to rival their signature hit, featuring a tamer section with flamenco-style guitar before building up to a roaring finish by the end of the piece.

And it’s not like the rest of the world hasn’t taken note. Beyond just rock music, artists from the modern age have found ways to put different pieces together just like Mercury did, from Thom Yorke making a mini-epic on Radiohead’s ‘Paranoid Android’ to the various musical motifs going on throughout Childish Gambino’s ‘This is America’. Mercury had few artists who could compete with his masterpiece, but it also bred some of the most ambitious songs of the last half-century.