QUEEN "A Night At The Opera" 1975 UK EMI 1st PRESS NM

	£		51
	$		68

  QUEEN "A Night At The Opera" 1975 UK EMI 1st PRESS NM -2/-2 (Blairs), EMBOSSED G&L GF, w/ CUT CORNER INNER
QUEEN
A Night At The Opera


ORIGINAL UK EMI (EMTC 103) FIRST PRESSING (November 1975) OF QUEEN'S CLASSIC "A Night At The Opera" LP - IN BEAUTIFUL, BARELY PLAYED CONDITION

PRESSED ON QUALITY MID-WEIGHT WHICH DELIVERS STUNNING AUDIO WITH A CRYSTAL CLEAR, RICH, WARM AND POWERFUL CUT
THE LP HAS THE FIRST EMI PICTURE LABELS
FIRST ISSUE MATRICES: YAX 5063 - 2 / YAX 5064 - 2 (with "BLAIRS" etched on both run-offs) (the earliest set for this LP)
AND IS HOUSED IN THE ORIGINAL EMBOSSED GATEFOLD SLEEVE WITH INTERNAL LYRICS, PRINTED BY "Garrod and Lofthouse Limited" WITH FACTORY SEALED AND FOLDED UNDER LEFT SIDE EDGE
COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL FIRST ISSUE SQUARE CUT CORNER PICTURE INNER SLEEVE

THIS REALLY IS A BEAUTIFUL UK *COMPLETE* FIRST ISSUE AND I THINK A FINER COPY WOULD BE VERY HARD TO LOCATE INDEED - VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Queen were straining at the boundaries of hard rock and heavy metal on Sheer Heart Attack, but they broke down all the barricades on A Night at the Opera, a self-consciously ridiculous and overblown hard rock masterpiece.
Using the multi-layered guitars of its predecessor as a foundation, A Night at the Opera encompasses metal ("Death on Two Legs," "Sweet Lady"), pop (the lovely, shimmering "You're My Best Friend"), campy British music hall ("Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon," "Seaside Rendezvous", "Good Company"), and mystical prog rock ("'39," "The Prophet's Song"), eventually bringing it all together on the pseudo-operatic "Bohemian Rhapsody."
No one in the band takes anything too seriously, otherwise the arrangements wouldn't be as ludicrously exaggerated as they are. But the appeal — and the influence — of A Night at the Opera is in its detailed, meticulous productions.
It's prog rock with a sense of humour as well as dynamics, and Queen never bettered their approach anywhere else.

Track Listing:
Side 1: Death On Two Legs (Dedicated To...) (3:43) / Lazing On A Sunny Afternoon (1:08) / I'm In Love With My Car (3:05) / You're My Best Friend (2:50) / '39 (3:25) / Sweet Lady (4:01) / Seaside Rendezvous (2:13)
Side 2: The Prophet's Song (8:17) / Love Of My Life (3:38) / Good Company (3:26) / Bohemian Rhapsody (5:55) / God Save The Queen (1:11)

LABELS: The labels are CLEAN and BRIGHT with NO unwanted marks/writing and just a couple of light, barely noticeable spindles - BEAUTIFUL BARELY PLAYED COPY
VINYL Visual: The vinyl still retains its DEEP, GLOSSY SHEEN, is UNMARKED and shines LIKE NEW
VINYL Audio: The audio is OUTSTANDING THROUGHOUT - CRYSTAL CLEAR, SHARP, STRONG and VIBRANT. On playback at a LOUD volume (which is how I always listen to my records prior to listing) there are NO scratches, NO sticks/jumps, NO clicks/pops or surface noise and it SOUNDS STUNNING playing to an extremely high standard with NO groove-wear or distortion. Graded a very strong NEAR MINT for audio - THIS IS A BEAUTIFULLY CLEAN PRESSING
SLEEVE: The 1st issue THICK CARD gatefold sleeve with EMBOSSED Queen Crest is in GREAT condition. Being predominantly white this is a very difficult sleeve to find in anything even approaching MINT condition but this is one of the finest and CLEANEST sleeves I have seen in a while with only extremely light marking. There is practically NO wear to its edges or spine - where all text is CLEAR and BOLD and the whole sleeve has a CRISP, SHARP, FRESH feel. Critically graded a strong EXCELLENT+
INNER SLEEVE: The original first issue THICK CARD square corner cut inner (with EMTC 103 (1) text) is also EXCELLENT+ with just some light creases to the edges but most importantly there are NO splits to any of the edges (which is very rare to find on these original inners). The LP is now housed - and will be posted in - a new inner to prevent any 'knifing' damage to the original during transit

PLEASE HAVE A LOOK AT MY PICTURES - I USUALLY TAKE QUITE A FEW SO YOU CAN GET A CLEAR INDICATION OF EVERY DETAIL OF THE ITEM
I HAVE UPLOADED AS MANY PICTURES AS I CAN BUT I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SUPPLY ANY ADDITIONAL PHOTOS ON REQUEST
THIS REALLY IS AN OUTSTANDING UK FIRST PRESSING WHICH DELIVERS SENSATIONAL AUDIO THROUGHOUT, AND COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL FIRST PRESS INNER - VERY SCARCE IN THIS CONDITION
AS WITH ALL MY RECORDS THIS HAS A LOW START PRICE AND NO RESERVE
PLEASE CHECK OUT MY OTHER AUCTIONS FOR MORE RARE AND COLLECTABLE VINYL
AND PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT ME WITH ANY QUERIES YOU MAY HAVE
THANKS FOR LOOKING, CHEERS

PLEASE REFER TO MY 'ABOUT ME' PAGE FOR MORE DETAILED INFO ON MY PLAY-GRADING, EQUIPMENT USED, P&P etc

POST & PACKING
UK: 1st Class: FREE or £1.00 (recorded delivery)
EUROPE: Airmail: £5.00 or £8.50 (International Signed For delivery with tracking)
INTERNATIONAL: Airmail: £9.00 or £12.50 (International Signed For delivery with tracking)
***Any record (or combination of records) which sells for more than £40 MUST be sent by a trackable method ie INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR or RECORDED (UK)

UK bidders: PayPal or Cheque
INTERNATIONAL bidders: PayPal ONLY

REDUCED POSTAGE FOR MULTIPLE ITEMS (EACH ADDITIONAL LP: EUROPE & INTERNATIONAL £2.00)
I will combine postage for items purchased within any 10 day period. However, at the end of each 10 day period, all outstanding items will need to be paid for in full and will be posted to you. Any items purchased after payment will be included in the next 10 period. I am continually adding new items which may be of interest to you and it is impractical for me to allow payment to be postponed indefinitely in the expectation that you might wish to bid on future items. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation
Guarantee: I endeavour to be as accurate and honest as possible when describing the condition of any LP but of course if you feel that I am mistaken and the description is inaccurate I will offer a complete, no quibble refund (through Paypal) upon return of the item.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Due to a recent spate of bidders with no feedback not paying for records I must insist that all bidders with 0 feedback contact me first before bidding to confirm their genuine intention to buy the record otherwise their bid will be cancelled and they will be blocked. Sorry to sound so authoritarian but non payers are a real waste of not only my time but genuine eBayers

ALL RECORDS ARE PROFESSIONALLY CLEANED BEFORE DISPATCH AND PACKAGED WITH THE VINYL OUTSIDE OF THE SLEEVE TO PREVENT ANY 'KNIFING' DURING TRANSIT
A PROTECTIVE POLY SLEEVE, QUALITY CUSTOM WRAPRO MAILER AND STIFFENERS ARE ALWAYS USED TO ENSURE THAT YOUR RECORD ARRIVES SAFELY I will email you when payment has been received to let you know when the item will be posted. Please leave feedback upon receipt of the item so that I know you have received it safely. Any problems please email me. Thanks  308 (GS 5.3.7 (308))