Coming up on today’s edition of the 50 Albums That Changed Your Life, two albums which enjoyed a surge in popularity amongst younger viewers, along with a record which was key to the Punk/New Wave Movement.
‘A Night At The Opera’ – Queen
By the time November 1975 arrived, Queen had already established themselves as one of the most powerful rock bands on the planet.
‘A Night At The Opera’ was the fourth studio album from Freddie Mercury and co, and it was the fourth of what were four amazing albums, which already included ‘Queen’, ‘Queen II’, and ‘Sheer Heart Attack’.
The album was released via Elecktra Records in the US, becoming Queen’s first Platinum selling record over there.
Released via EMI in the UK, ‘A Night At The Opera’ reached number 4 in the Billboard 200.
Along with being a classic Queen track, ‘Bohemien Rhapsody’ earned two Grammy Award nominations following its release.
However, it was the 2019 Freddie Mercury biopic of the same name, starring Oscar winning actor Rami Maleek, which helped to inspire a younger generation to listen to classic rock music.
It is a track which you can also tune into from 10am, right here on Nova!
‘A Night At The Opera’ really brings out the personality in each band member, from the late Freddie Mercury to John Deacon, whose Fender Rhodes piano riff shines through on ‘You’re My Best Friend’.
Check that out out here on Nova too.
‘Born In The USA’ – Bruce Springsteen
Another album which helped to appeal to a younger generation of music lovers is Bruce Springsteen’s seventh studio album, ‘Born In The USA’.
With seven of the tracks reaching the top 10 in the singles charts, it was the accompanying music videos which helped to introduce Springsteen’s music to a younger generation of music fans.
For example, ‘Dancing In The Dark’, featured footage of actress Courtenay Cox dancing on stage with Springsteen. A video which reached further heights as Cox began starring in popular US sitcom, Friends, in subsequent years.
Elsewhere, ‘Born In The USA’, included footage of working class Americans, establishing a connection with its use of oil refineries, Amerasian children, Vietnam veterans, cemeteries, as well as Springsteen posing alongside a USA flag.
‘I’m On Fire’ shows the singer as a working class mechanic, receiving keys to a vintage thunderbird owned by an attractive, upper class married woman.
The video also shows Springsteen about to open her front door with his key, however he changes his mind and walks away.
You can check out these tracks from 1pm here on Nova, and find out why Springsteen became the first artist to have seven tracks in a top 10 singles chart from one album.
‘Outlandos d’Amour’ – The Police
Coming up at 4pm, we will be giving airplay to another album from the Police, this time their debut record, ‘Outlandos d’Amour’ from 1978.
An album which has been hailed as one of the finest debut records to come out of the 1970s Punk/New Wave Movement, it has also been credited as a breakthrough album for the movement itself.
It is also a record which cemented the ingenius songwriting of frontman, Sting. This is clear with track’s ‘Roxanne’, ‘I Can’t Stand Losing You’ and ‘So Lonely’.
Incidentally, ‘Roxanne’ was reportedly inspired by the band’s trip to the Paris Red Light District. A piece of context which led to it being banned from airplay by most BBC Radio stations.
However, a reissued version of the track saw it reach the UK Top 20 in 1979. Check out that track and others from 4pm here on Nova.
