IN: A Night at the Opera is the fourth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 21 November 1975 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. Produced by Roy Thomas Baker and Queen, it was the most expensive album ever recorded at the time of its release. The album takes its name from the Marx Brothers film of the same name, which the band watched one night at the studio complex when recording. A Night at the Opera incorporates a wide range of styles, including ballads, songs in a music hall style, hard rock tracks and progressive rock influences.

"Death on Two Legs" can be referred to as Freddie Mercury's hate letter to Queen's first manager, Norman Sheffield, who for some years was reputed to have mistreated the band and abused his role as their manager from 1972 to 1975. Sheffield denied the allegations in his 2013 autobiography entitled "Life on Two Legs: Set The Record Straight", and referred to copies of the original 1972 management contracts between Sheffield and Queen, which were included in the book as proof of his defence. Though the song never makes direct reference to him, after listening to a playback of the song at Trident Studios during the time of album release, Sheffield was appalled, and sued the band and the record label for defamation, which resulted in an out-of-court settlement, but also confirmed his connection to the song.  During live performances, Mercury would usually rededicate the song to "a real motherfucker of a gentleman", although this line was censored on the version that appeared on their Live Killers album in 1979. Other than on the live album, he said it was dedicated to a "motherfucker I used to know".  In the Classic Albums documentary about the making of A Night at the Opera, Brian May stated that the band was somewhat taken aback at first by the bitterness of Mercury's lyrics, and described by Mercury as being "so vindictive that he [May] felt bad singing it". After the song came together, it was agreed that the "author should have his way", and the song was recorded as written.  As with "Bohemian Rhapsody", most of the guitar parts on this song were initially played on piano by Mercury, to demonstrate to May how they needed to be played on guitar. "Death on Two Legs" remained on the setlist until, and well into, The Game Tour in 1980, and was then dropped. However, the piano introduction was played during the Hot Space and Works tours.

Did he actually treat them bad?

OUT: Sheffield denied the allegations in his 2013 autobiography entitled "Life on Two Legs:


IN: The Stylistics are a Philadelphia soul group that achieved its greatest chart success in the 1970s. They formed in 1968, consisting of singers Russell Thompkins Jr., Herb Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith, and James Dunn. All of their US hits were ballads characterized by the falsetto of Russell Thompkins Jr. and the production of Thom Bell. During the early 1970s, the group had twelve consecutive R&B top ten hits, including "Stop, Look, Listen", "

After signing to Avco, the record label approached producer Thom Bell, who had already produced a catalogue of hits for The Delfonics, to work with the group. The Stylistics auditioned for Bell, but he was initially unimpressed. He ultimately agreed to produce the group because he believed in the potential of lead singer, Russell Thompkins, Jr.'s distinctive, nasal high tenor & falsetto voice. Avco gave Bell complete creative control over the Stylistics and he proceeded to focus the group's sound exclusively around Thompkins's voice. On most of the group hits, Bell would have Thompkins sing virtually solo.  The first song recorded with Bell and his collaborator, lyricist Linda Creed, was the lush "Stop, Look, Listen". Bell imported techniques he had perfected with The Delfonics and his musical arrangements worked perfectly with Thompkins' falsetto vocals.  Their hits from this period --distilled from three albums-- included "Betcha by Golly, Wow" (U.S. #3), "I'm Stone in Love with You", "Break Up to Make Up" (U.S. #5), "You Make Me Feel Brand New" featuring Thompkins singing a rare lead vocal duet with Airrion Love, the aforementioned "Stop, Look, Listen", "You Are Everything", and the Top 20 Pop hit "Rockin' Roll Baby" (U.S. #14). "You Make Me Feel Brand New" was the group's biggest U.S. hit, holding at No. 2 for two weeks just as the spring of 1974 turned to summer, and was one of the group's five U.S. gold singles.  The Stylistics' smooth sound also found an easier path on to adult contemporary airwaves than many other soul artists and the group made Billboard magazine's Easy Listening singles chart twelve times from 1971 to 1976, with three entries ("Betcha by Golly, Wow", "You Make Me Feel Brand New", and "You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)") reaching the Top 10. Every single that Bell produced for the Stylistics was a Top Ten R&B hit, and several--"You Are Everything", "Betcha by Golly Wow!", "I'm Stone in Love with You", "Break Up to Make Up", and "You Make Me Feel Brand New"--were also Top Ten pop chart hits. The group also enjoyed commercial success with big hits with this material throughout Europe.

what happened during the Bell/Creed years?

OUT:
The first song recorded with Bell and his collaborator, lyricist Linda Creed, was the lush "Stop, Look, Listen".