Queen is King

Everyone knows the legendary band Queen and their greatest hits. Everything from the simplistic beats of psychage that come from "We Will Rock You" to the victorious theme of "We Are the Champions;" from the tune that emphasizes women with large rear ends "Fat Bottomed Girls" to the one that cries out for love in "Somebody to Love." And who could forget the iconic riff of the bass in "Another One Bites the Dust." But perhaps one of their most famous, and my personal favorite of theirs, is the most musically intensive and well written of them all.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a great song that exhibits some of Queen's best qualities. The song starts with a five-part harmony among the group members, remaining mostly a cappella with a light piano background joining in halfway through the intro. The song continues into a ballad, ending with a guitar solo that leads into a key change from B♭ to A major. The second part in the new key also switches styles from ballad to operatic and reincorporates a liberal use of harmonies. The voices that generate the harmonies somewhat battle with the lone voice of Freddie Mercury, Queen's lead singer. After this, they lead into a style closer to the style of the era, a hard rock sort of feel, going back to and ending with the original ballad feel it started out with.

One thing about Queen that they do really well in their music that prominently stands out, in this song especially, is how well they showcase the talents of all their members. Roger Taylor (drummer) and John Deacon (bass) are both featured throughout, mostly in the rock section of the piece. Brian May (guitar) shines through in one of the greatest solos in rock history at the end of the ballad portion as well as the hard rock section and transition back to ballad. And Freddie Mercury shows off not only his piano skills, but his amazing five octave vocal range. The other part of this that adds to the overall musicality of the song are the dynamics. Vocals get soft when they need to be soft and increase in volume when it needs an increase in volume. It gives the song that much more power and emotion that sets it apart from most other songs.