A Day at the Races

Mastered by Bob Ludwig. Half-speed lacquers cut at Abbey Road Studios.

A Day at the Races is the fifth album by Queen, released in December 1976. It was the band's first completely self-produced album, and the first not to feature producer Roy Thomas Baker. As its title suggests, a companion-piece to A Night At The Opera in almost every sense: "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy" recalls the fey, music-hall spirit of the previous album's "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon", just as "White Man" echoes "The Prophet's Song". "Somebody to Love", meanwhile, attempts to outdo even the grandiosity of "Bohemian Rhapsody" - this time substituting the influence of American gospel for Italian opera, and allowing Mercury's diva inclinations to run riot. Over-the-top, undoubtedly - but the band knew it.