Queen "A Night at the Opera" [1975]

Hard as it is to believe (or stomach), the mathematical equation for this album appears to go like this: "A Night at the Opera" = "Sgt. Pepper's" - (John + George) / Deep Purple x Elton John(2) x "Jesus Christ Superstar"(10). Notice "Tommy" nowhere in there; "A Night at the Opera" leaves that steaming dump of pretension in the dust. This is the bejeweled golden calf of 70s AM-radio pomp-rock. Fuckin'-a, it's gag-inducing just writing that phrase… So this is lead-singer-a-flambe Freddie Mercury's major "achievement" -- recording vocal overdubs until they inexplicably disappear off the tape, stringing horrid partial songs together drenched in echo and "look at me" insecurity and demonstrating to fellow pomp-pricks Styx, et. al. that no amount of glitz and glitter is too much. Apparently the Western world had been desensitized into the dirt by the time this monstrous hit record came out, but all "A Night at the Opera" managed to do was dig everyone a six-foot ditch. This album is worth studying if you're interested in hearing every last ill-advised impulse English music ever indulged in throughout the 20th century, from Gilbert & Sullivan to Yes. Otherwise, avoid this at all costs and sleep securely with the knowledge that pop music has indeed already hit its absolute low point.