When Queen first questioned “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” some 50 years ago, they knew they were about to change the world. It didn’t take long for the rapturous masses to catch up.
Put simply, no one has ever managed to topple the majestic heights of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ before or since, so it’s a somewhat pointless exercise even attempting to liken it to anything else. Any so-called shot at rock opera is always going to pale in comparison because they don’t have a maestro like Freddie Mercury at their helm, and any further lacklustre job is only going to be seen under the lens of an insulting imitation.
But even with all this said, there’s something far more ethereal and sparking of the imagination within ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ than the bones of the song itself. Ultimately, it’s a six-minute potted rollercoaster; it would be naive to suggest that nothing embodies that same thrill or exhilaration in the half a century that has ensued, although it may follow a different track.
Indeed, equivalents of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ can be found far more in that essence of thrill than they can be in simple overlays of piano or electric guitar. Switching to this view opens up a whole new kaleidoscopic world of opportunities.
You could pick out a whole host of examples from over the years that bottle that cocktail of adrenaline-pumping intoxication, whether it’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’ by Led Zeppelin or even ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’ by My Chemical Romance. But that would almost be forgetting what we have on our doorsteps right now, because the 2020s are not to be overlooked in terms of the excitement that is coming out of the music industry. Just take the case of Wolf Alice.
In itself, their most recent album The Clearing, released in August this year, stands as its own version of an ode to the classic rock wonderworld, all with a modern day twist. The references and intimations to rock’s golden titans can be found everywhere on the record, but it’s the zany euphoria of ‘Bread Butter Tea Sugar’ that screams with the most exuberant likeness to what ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ once paved.
On a surface level, some may baulk at the comparison of a classic like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ to a current song that clocks in at only half its length, but in a lot of ways, it’s a much greater testament to Wolf Alice that they are able to pack so much into a far tighter timeframe. There’s a lot to be said in the way that both songs use the piano and electric guitar as their basic cornerstones – of course, a lot else is thrown into the mix in the meantime, but the rocket launch is geared on strong foundations.
The constant exhilaration of the tempo changes throughout ‘Bread Butter Tea Sugar’ also bears an obvious similarity to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, but it’s clearly not done in a way to reflect a mirror image. In the world of Wolf Alice, life is frivolous, flavourful, and roaring with fun – Mercury himself would have certainly found those as words to live by, but like his 2020s counterparts, nothing was ever done without some serious intention behind it.
Naturally, this is not a call to arms for every song to now take on the challenge of rock opera and produce something mind-bending like we’ve never heard before. There is a point where taking yet another bite from that cake just becomes too rich. But when it unexpectedly strolls along every once in a while, perfectly packaged in this instance in the form of ‘Bread Butter Tea Sugar’, it’s enough to let our indulgent spirits dive straight in.
Whether it’s operatic or classical, theatrical or just a good old orchestral vamp, there’s something we all love about the utter wildness of rollercoaster songs like these. Sure, nothing is ever going to beat the feeling of minds being blown all over the world when ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ first blasted over the airwaves all the way back in 1975, and it’s become a life’s mission to capture that feeling, even in some small way, ever since.
Wolf Alice themselves may have mixed feelings over the comparison – it’s obviously nice to be chalked up to rock and roll mastery, but it’s also important to stand on their own two feet. Of course, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘Bread Butter Tea Sugar’ are not two peas in a pod, but the latter could certainly be seen as an extension of that original ride, taking it all the way up to the soaring heights of the loop-de-loop.
