Editing Bohemian Rhapsody (section)

==Critical reception==
Although the song has become one of the most revered in popular music history,<ref name="Lambe">{{cite book|last1=Lambe|first1=Stephen|title=Citizens of Hope and Glory: The Story of Progressive Rock|date=2013|publisher=Amberley Publishing|location=The Hill, Stroud|isbn=9781445607375|page=58|edition=Second|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hwnXAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT58|access-date=19 November 2014}}</ref> the initial critical reaction was mixed. The UK music papers reacted with bemusement, recognising that the song was original and technically accomplished, but they mostly remained indifferent. Pete Erskine of ''[[NME]]'' observed that, "It'll be interesting to see whether it'll be played in its entirety on the radio. It's performed extremely well, but more in terms of production than anything else... Someone somewhere has decided that the boys' next release must sound 'epic'. And it does. They sound extremely self-important."<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Pete |last=Erskine |title=Platters |magazine=[[NME]] |page=19 |date=1 November 1975}}</ref>

[[Allan Jones (editor)|Allan Jones]] of ''[[Melody Maker]]'' was unimpressed, describing the song as "a superficially impressive pastiche of incongruous musical styles" and that Queen "contrived to approximate the demented fury of the [[Balham]] Amateur Operatic Society performing ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]''... 'Bohemian Rhapsody' is full of drama, passion and romance and sounds rather like one of those mini-opera affairs that [[Pete Townshend]] used to tack on to the end of [[The Who|Who]] albums", before concluding, "The significance of the composition eludes me totally, though I must admit to finding it horrifically fascinating. It's likely to be a hit of enormous proportions despite its length."<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Allan |last=Jones |author-link=Allan Jones (editor) |title=All that glitters is not...|magazine=[[Melody Maker]] |page=16 |date=1 November 1975}}</ref> Ray Fox-Cumming of ''[[Record Mirror]]'' was also left unmoved, saying, "It has no immediate selling point whatsoever: among its many parts. there's scarcely a shred of a tune and certainly no one line to latch onto. There's no denying that it's devilishly clever, encompassing everything from bits of operatic harmonies to snatches that sound like [[Sparks (band)|Sparks]] and [[David Cassidy]], but, in the end the whole adds up to less than the sum of its parts." He did, however, say that it was "unthinkable" that it wouldn't be a hit.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Ray |last=Fox-Cumming |title=Singles |magazine=[[Record Mirror]] & [[Disc (magazine)|Disc]] |page=23 |date=1 November 1975}}</ref> The most positive review came from ''[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]]'', which called it "impossibly disjointed and complex, but a dazzlingly clever epic from the fevered mind of Freddie Mercury".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Singles |magazine=[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]] |page=26 |date=1 November 1975}}</ref> ''[[Cash Box]]'' called it "a softly sung ode to the prospect of moving on from staid ways" with "good singing" and "good production."<ref name=cb>{{cite news|title=CashBox Singles Reviews|date=20 December 1975|page=28|accessdate=11 December 2021|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1975/CB-1975-12-20.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1975/CB-1975-12-20.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live|newspaper=Cash Box}}</ref> ''[[Record World]]'' called it "a majestic vocal performance that takes on operatic proportions."<ref name=rw>{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=20 December 1975|accessdate=12 February 2023|title=Hits of the Week|page=1|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/78/RW-1978-12-20.pdf}}</ref>