Search - Queen :: II (24bt)

A super album with the strongest cover ever!!!!!

nadim lahham | Cairo,Egypt | 05/09/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Queen's second album has the bad reputation of being the band's worst album together with Hot Space. This is totaly wrong and very untrue. The cover is a breathtaking superb art of no one but Mick Rock himself.This is in my opinion the strongest cover of any Queen's album..i once red in an magazine that this pose was influenced by an early Marlen Detrich look...pretty fabulous.I wish i had a huge sized poster of this photo in my Queen shrine/my room.This has also been an intro to Queen legendary Bohemian Rapsody video clip..need i say more!! Brian May and Freddie Mercury share the credits for composing this album,except for one track written by Roger Taylor.There are two sides white/black as opposed to A/B. My favourite track of the white side is White Queen,its very melodic and the band even went further improvising this track while in concert at the Rainbow venue in the same year giving it a far more suitable sound..i wish they could put it on cd so we could all share it!! This particular concert on video is available by mail order only as part of the Box of Tricks. The black side is all written and composed by Freddie Mercury including heavy metal tunes like Ogre Battle/March of the Black Queen.Cooler but sader notes like Nevermore and sheerfull one like Funny how love is.But The the cream of the album is really The Fairy Feller's Masterstrock wich is the result of Freddie's rich imagination while gazing and studying a painting!! The album ends with the very well know single Seven Seas of Rhye wich previously appeared on the band's fisrt album as only an instrumental. My advise is to never underestimate the power of this super album..its a wonderfull follow up to their first album and is full of melodic heavy metal tunes a la Queen.Try and listen to it and you will see what i mean."

4.5 Stars - Queen's underappreciated second album effort

howzat | 08/21/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Queen II (1974.), Queen's second studio album



Over the years, Queen have proven themselves to be rock legends. Even people who aren't even remotely fans of rock will have heard of Queen and will appreciate how good they were; that's how popular this band is, and rightly so. Queen's great popularity is in no doubt due to albums like 'A Night At The Opera' and their greatest hits compilation, but also due the number of great singles they released during their time as a band. However, what people often forget is that Queen had been around since the start of the 70's. Queen's self-titled but lesser-known debut album was released in 1973, for me, a little imbalanced and inconsistent but showing great potential and origianality. 'Queen II', Queen's second studio album, released in 1974 is another underlistened album by the band, having been released at the time when they were beginning to gain some popularity. So does this album deserve much more recommendation than it is currently given?



For me, Queen certainly hit the mark in magnificent style with their second album release. Their first album (some people may disagree with me here) was too edgy and some of the songs did not seem to work that well however, with 'Queen II', the music flows much more easily and consistently - to put it more simply, Queen's great potential as a band became reality with this album. The album is built on a kind of mythical theme (tracks like 'Ogre Battle' etc etc) but it allows Queen to show their great originality which for me is what separates them from lots of bands. However though, this albums originality is what can cause it to be dismissed and underrated by listeners. 'Queen II' is an album were you gotta appreciate the musical genius at work from the band, and to do this you have to listen to this album a lot of times to fully appreciate it. Hence, you guessed, it is more a Queen fans album rather than a casual listeners album, because if your just expecting radio staple hits from this album, your only going to get 'Seven Seas Of Rhye'. Queen's sound is definitely much more developed with this album; the operatic-like sound is there, the songwriting is better (even if some of the themes are a bit odd) and it is one of those albums you can listen right the way through and fully enjoy, rather than skip tracks.



So how do the songs on the album play? 'Procession' is a good opener for the album; a short, majestic and instrumental track. This runs into the first epic of the album, 'Father To Son' which is a great vocal performance from Freddie Mercury; the track is quite atmospheric. 'White Queen' is much slower and reflective track with an acoustic opening which develops into quite a mystical track. Following this is the whirling opening of 'Some Day, One Day'; this song works really well with a great guitar underlay over Freddie Mercury's storytelling vocals. The music then takes a more aggressive turn with 'The Loser In The End', one of my favourite tracks on the album with a great driving guitar riff. Next up is the operatic styled 'Ogre Battle' which opens with high screams and then develops into a classic Queen sounding track, no part due to Brian Mays guitar play (think for this one in the style of 'Seven Seas Of Rhye' in parts). 'The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke' is a more light-hearted follow up with plenty of melodramactic moments thrown in. This track then cleverly blends into 'Nevermore', a short track, piano driven with more great vocals from Mercury. Another epic, 'March Of The Black Queen' is next up. Pounding drumming and fast verses makes this a great track; the instrumental section of this song is great. 'Funny How Love Is' is an upbeat song which builds up into a good climax before running into the most well-known song on the album 'Seven Seas Of Rhye'. This was Queen's first big hit and you can see why. Not fully developed for the first album, it is all here on 'Queen II'. The racy piano opening is timeless and who can forget the seaside sing along which finishes the track!



'Queen II' is the first really awesome album effort by Queen. Its sad that a lot of people won't appreciate this album but those who do will realise how masterful and original this release is. Queen would go on to release all-time classics like 'A Night At The Opera' and 'Sheers Heart Attack' but this album is not far behind them. Although the album doesn't quite for me have the 5* touch to it, it's one hell of a great listen and would be definitely worth picking up from the CD store for anyone who is a Queen fan or is open-minded about the music they listen to."

...march on queen...

rocky-o | 04/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"...i became a queen fan, back when the first album came out...i was struck by freddie mercury's vocals, and, how could you miss brian may's guitar (which is still so unmistakable today...)...but then queen II came out, and that was it...i was hooked by 'ogre battle' and especially 'march of the black queen'(which is direct predicessor to 'bohemian rhapsody'...please, any fan of 'bohemian rhapsody', give this one a listen...you'll see why you shouldn't have been so surprised with 'night at the opera'...)...'sheer heart attack returned them a little more to the harder sound of the first disc, and the rest is history...but when this one was hot wax, i saw them open for Mott The Hoople at Madison Square garden, and they were already an accomplished stage presence...please, i implore you...the radio hits are nice and fine, but this album shows queen at their raw essence and brilliance...if you want to hear 'commercial-free' freddie, this is it, plain and simple..."