Queen II

As a wide-eyed, prog-worshipping 17 year old who thought fantastical lyrics and complex song-structures were the be-all-and-end-all, "Queen II" went straight to the top of my list when I first heard it, alongside "A Night at the Opera". I'm still sentimental about this album now, even though I appreciate Queen wouldn't peak until a year or so later. Rather than the eclectic range and impressive genre experimentation the band would later display, this album is grounded in hard-rock and proto-metal riffs, some innovative and some derivative. "Father to Son" contains some transparent Zeppelin/Sabbath homages, while Roger Taylor's "The Loser In The End" sticks out like a sore thumb on the first side. He obviously hadn't got the memo of mythical fantasy, and opts for a disappointing blues-rock number. These comments aside, there's a mountain of precocious talent on show here. It's not Queen at their most commercial or recognisable, but the hallmarks of their appeal are here: Freddie Mercury's dazzling, theatrical vocals, Brian May's multi-layered guitar wizardry, the intricate arrangements across the board. "Queen II"'s crowning achievement is something the band would never attempt again: an almost side-long suite of songs, in keeping with the prog-rock of the early 1970s. I adore the sequence beginning with Ogre Battle and ending with "Funny How Love Is..." with "Seven Seas of Rhye" as an encore. It has scope, ambition, rise and fall, light and shade. From the aching ballad "Nevermore" to the camp humour in "Fairy Fellers Master Stroke" to the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink showstopper "March of the Black Queen", it's a perfectly paced run of tracks. As if that weren't enough, "Seven Seas of Rhye" is a giddy glam greatest hit to close proceedings on a high. The iconic piano intro, the opening drum roll, the decisive and commanding lyric, the country-inflected "sister" middle eight, the singalong outro: it all just works. The first half of the album is nowhere near as strong, though I've always had a soft spot for the folksy "Some Day One Day", May's first turn at lead vocals in the band. While the magical lyrics seem a little dated when revisiting them now, musically I was still enthralled by most of the album. Virtuoso talent, distinctive melodies, cohesive storytelling: hearing "Queen II" today made me fall in love with Queen all over again.

If you insist on creating albums like the blueprints for a large civil engineering project, your fussiness is gonna bleed through--and fussiness is boring, however histrionic you are. With that ogre guarding the gates to this supposed castle of pleasures, I couldn't even begin hearing the dorkiness on offer, but I'm guessing it was very dorky. Get over yourselves, lads, and shake it loose.

You ever type out a word, know it’s spelled correctly, but when you look at it, it looks…wrong? Is there a name for that, because I’m having that right now with word “Queen”. I don’t know why, but those two “e’s” seem out of place. Maybe it’s because as I write this, Queen II is playing (I write these reviews in real-time as I listen to the records) and while the sound is familiar, something feels off. I’m not really a Queen fan, so this is my first listen to Queen II. Obviously, I am familiar with Queen’s hits, but as far as the catalog goes, I’m mostly unfamiliar. This might be the first time I’m hearing a Queen album in full. What’s making me feel like I’ve entered another dimension, is that this record feels more like an off-brand Peter Gabriel-era Genesis record, than what I know Queen to be. It’s kind of a lite-prog/early metal record. What I’m getting at is this sounds like Queen, but it also doesn’t. They’re clearly still figuring things out, but it’s not bad….just weird. “Nevermore” is the first one that really felt like a full-fledged “Queen” song to me. Props to them for the title “The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke”, though - quite a song title. A lot of this record doesn’t work to my ears, so I’m a little surprised by its inclusion. The vocals are the clear highlight. The production is weirdly muddy at times and a lot of the guitar overdubs come in way too hot. The song construction is kind of a mess - a lot of changes for the sake of changes. These songs are really busy, but not in a good way. It was funny to hear Freddie Mercury sing about Ogres, though. This record is so fucking weird, bro. I don’t know what else to say.

For as popular as Queen is, I’d say they’re still somehow underrated. They’re a pretty different band than their singles let on. This album is very cool and it’s not even their best one

Immer wenn ich Queen höre, denke ich: "Ich sollte mehr Queen hören."

I don't really like queen so an album with none of their hits was only going to go one of two ways. It's not gone well for Brian, Roger, Freddie and whoever the fuck the other guy is.

Queen. Fantasy inspired songs. Some of the best guitar work I've heard in years. Need I say more?

Ashamed to say seven seas of rhye was the only one I knew on this

Father To Son- 9.0 White Queen (As It Began)- 8.6 Some Day One Day- 7.2 The Loser In The End- 8.1 Orge Battle- 9.2 The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke- 8.1 Nevermore- 8.0 The March Of The Black Queen- 9.6 Funny How Love Is- 7.0 Seven Seas Of Rhye- 9.7 It's a 4.5 out of 5 overall

Discovering albums like this are what this project is all about. Somehow never heard any of these songs but liked it. Definitely a more classic hard rock sound than some of their later more famous stuff. You can still see the theatricality, particularly in the march of the black queen.

The one thing that is missing is any semblance of a pop sensibility. This hits like heavy metal but has an art-rock sensibility through and through, which also means that it has no true hook in for those who don't want to succumb to Queen's world. But that kind of insular drama is quite alluring in its own right, which is why Queen II is one of the favorites of their hardcore fans.

No, thank you. The algorithm followed this up with Spinal Tap, which seems appropriate

I like Queen a lot, but I never really listened to this album but "Seven Seas of Rhye" is just meh for me on its own. But after listening to this album I am OBSESSED with it. The first half is amazing, and I kept having to force myself to listen to the next song because I just wanted to repeat the one I had just listened to. I even kind of like "Seven Seas of Rhye" now because it fits in so well with the rest of the album. I wish I hadn't slept on this for so long because it's so good.

This album has your typical Queen operatic flow. The songs don’t give you much “thinking room” between songs as they seem to just move from one to another. The 1st noteworthy song is The Loser in the End and that’s not even Freddie singing. This is the 2nd Queen album that has left me with something to be desired. There just isn’t anything special to it. Maybe I was spoiled by cutting my teeth on their greatest hits. Choice cut: The Loser in the End

So I’m a big Queen fan, and am well-versed in their catalog – and have to say that this is among their weakest efforts… I get that this album changed a lot for them in terms of their maturing in the studio… Sorta like Neil Peart the drummer from Rush always used to say that they never would have gotten to “2112” – the album that broke the band big-time, without all that they learned from creating their album “Caress Of Steel” (i.e. which is really NOT a very good album at all…) – so I get that… At the end of the day however, I judge these albums by the quality of the material… To be honest, other than the “White Queen” & “Black Queen” songs – along with “The Seven Seas Of Rhye” – there is not a lot on here to like… Yes – I enjoyed hearing the evolution of their sound – especially on the longer pieces, but other than that – it really left me wanting – and I’m a big rock guy… Really thought I would enjoy “Ogre Battle” as I had heard so many praise it over the years, but I’d probably only give that a 3-stars out of 7-stars on my little ratings scale… Glad I listened, as I had never run this one all the way through before, but was a bot disappointing, as compared to what I was expecting…

A masterpiece.

Grandios

It's not the typical sound of Queen we are used to.

never listened to a full Queen album, only knew maybe 1 song off this. super good!

Tja, SO macht man ein Rock-Album. Nach all dem Schrott in den letzten Wochen ein Highlight. Kannte ich natürlich wieder nicht.

I can't stand Queen. This over dramatic album confirms why. The Loser in the End was listenable.

I will not waste my time on these shitmunchers.

Freddie Mercury is my hero

so good. so so good

Now this though. All time classic and my introduction to Queen (thank you Christine Ward’s brother).

Easy to forget with where they later went that in the early days Queen were a terrific rock band. Quality, start to finish.

Good intro, seamless transition to next song A great album overall, also great for listening top to bottom

My most-listened-to Queen album

Listen, I already know I like Queen. I know I've heard this album a few times, but am not super familiar with any of the songs. I'm looking forward to the re-listen. Almost done with the album now, I'm so happy this was today's album. It's so easy to work to since I don't know the specific songs that well but love the band. Yup, I love Queen.

Aunque todavía no es Queen en su máxima expresión, ya se deja ver en este disco su sonido tan característico, con letras y música muy teatrales. 10000/10

Heel veel nummers die ik nog nooit gehoord had en die hier een mooi geheel vormden. De betere kant van Queen.

It doesn't get any better than this. Honestly. Lay me down with Queen's II and SHA. Thank you.

Un milagro. Un disco de Queen que SÍ me gusta. Es pesado, tiene grandes riffs, solos increíbles, es medio proggy y pretencioso y absolutamente ridículo. Me encanta.

Definitely epic music. I can't really say no to slapping a five on this bad boy.

This is exactly what you would expect from a queen's album

Shame on me for not knowing more of these songs. I need to do better.

This was UNREAL

you already know

Good album from start to finish. I especially like the last song.

I really like this as well, I think it might be a little bit worse than the night at the opera. I don't like the Roger Taylor one on here as much as the other on, but the Brian May is great again (and the guitar work is obviously top notch). Some of the theatrical ones work really well and some are just so tacky, but I guess that isn't just this album. Favourite songs: Father to son, white queen (as it began), some day one day, the march of the black queen, funny how love is, seven seas of rhye. Overall around 7/10

Despite me being a Brit who grew up on Queen, thanks to my parents being a fan and going through a "le wrong generation" phase, I had never listened to this album all the way through. From how it had been described to me in the past, I expected two sides full of Prog epics. What I got instead was... a Queen album. Freddie's voice is a bit softer, the guitar overdubs are a bit less obvious, and the drumming is a bit more conventional than later on. But the parts are all there, apart from a John Deacon song. If it wasn't for the fantasy elements, this could have easily been their breakthrough album In the end, it wasn't. But due to Brian May's hepatitis, they had the chance to record another album in 1974, Sheer Heart Attack. Thanks Hepatitis!

Queen's debut album even with solid critical acclaim, could not create a mainstream sensation which did change with this sophomore release. While it still was far away from the hit that Killer Queen became later the same year but Queen II still could gather much more attention from both the people and the critics. It blends the sounds of mainstream Glam Rock with Hard Rock and at a couple of points Prog Rock as well as some Heavy Metal. This wild and eccentric mix of genres is what pretty much makes this earlier side of Queen up until their third album. The album starts with the Art Rock 'Procession' which uses the guitar to create a Funeral March effect as if it was violins playing. Added bells, harpiscord and more create a pretty interesting intro. But it still is just an intro and doesn't have much value of its own. It's alright but pretty basic in what it does for the listeners excitement. It then transitions into 'Father to Son' which wips out the Heavy Metal and Hard Rock guitar playing similar to something you'd maybe hear Black Sabbath do a couple years ago but combined with more complex ideas as well as Freddy's one of a kind theatrical and nearly operatic vocals that sting through the heaviness of the music. It's a well written and vocally great performed song but I think that the mixing is a bit too quiet and the guitar doesn't shine enough. I still think that it's a pretty good song but if the guitar was just a tad bit louder at times, it would help the track much more. 'White Queen (As It Began)' with a more tender approach as it takes away the heavy guitar and replaces it with acoustic Folk ideas together with obvious Hard Rock ideas at some parts. It turns the ideas even more Progressive by having fast changing sonic and rhythmic concepts added throughout. I do think that some of these "breaks" that turn the song back to the Folk after it exploded into Hard Rock do destroy the flow and come a little too early but the ideas are still really great especially the sitar inspired guitar work in the second half and the choral backing vocals. It's a really good song but far away from anything incredible. The Folk aspects are further extended on 'Some Day One Day' which has a fast Psychedelic Folk guitar throughout that adds some Psychedelic Rock elements in a similar fashion too its predecessor but less crazy. I do think that the song has some redeeming qualities especially the vocals which at some points, seem to appear perfectly. The starts feels a little bit rough but it gets to its fleshed out idea later on. It's an okay song that mainly looses impact from a lack of focus. The first half of the album known as 'Side White' ends with 'The Loser in the End' which is a return to heavier territory which adds a lot of Led Zeppelin inspirations in the form of a more Blues Rock sound and the vocal delivery which work perfectly with the song itself. Freddie's vocals just rip apart the entire song. It's energetic, loud and closes this first half really well and is definitely a great song. 'Side Black' starts with 'Ogre Battle' and I might be biased because I loved this song way before listening to any other song on the album but its fantastic. It's Heavy, Progressive and has some Experimental ideas as well in the form of Tape Music throughout which creates this incredible effect that makes the song so great. The songwriting is incredible and the guitar works so perfectly with the way the song builds. The backing vocals, ad libs and general vocal delivery are on point at any time the song plays. While I don't think that it's a perfect track, it's still absolutely incredible and easily one of my favourite tracks on the album. The quirky 'The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke' follows with some interesting Pop Rock ideas that are performed pretty theatrical and play around with a lot of instruments and ideas. It's a pretty cute song but I don't think that it's anything special or massivly interesting. I don't mind it but I don't exactly like it either. Just pretty average overall. 'Nevermore' feels like a short Piano Rock interlude similar to what they did later in their career but very short and not really fleshed out. It's got some nice moments but the length stops it from really doing anything much more than just an "Oh!". It's okay but with more to it, it would've been better. The albums most eccentric, most progressive, most wildly delivered song is without a doubt 'The March of the Black Queen'. It flows from one part into the next with feeling like it was too fast or like it lingers too long at other points. The songwriting is genuinely impressive as is everyone's playing and even the vocals are diverse like never before on the album. It just works together perfectly. I don't think that I go too far when I say that it's a perfect song and for me personally the only perfect song on the album. Everything about it is interesting, enjoyable and just incredible. After this beast of a track, 'Funny How Love Is' changes sounds by given a Psychedelic Sunshine Pop track that still has some nice Rock elements added. The song is alright and I don't have much to say against it except that I'm not a fan of how the drums were mixed and the lack of diversity in the songwriting but it still is pretty well performed which is why it's just a pretty average track. It overall feels very boring and even basic. I just don't care for it. The album closes with the Hard Rock and Sea Shanty inspired 'Seven Seas of Rhye' which does have some nice energy and the chorus is pretty fun but the whole make up around it feels pretty stale and just not really all that great. But I do think that the highlights are enough to make the track still a good track. favourites: The March of the Black Queen, Ogre Battle, The Loser in the End least favourites: Funny How Love Is, Procession, The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke Rating: light 7 https://rateyourmusic.com/~Emil_ph for more ratings, reviews and takes

Procession - 8/10 Solid intro. Builds your anticipation for the album Father to Son - 7/10 Vocals surprised me a little bit and then the instrumental during the first chorus was amazing. loved the guitar solo as well. Also was wondering why the song was so long. it's 6 mins long lol. Songs these days could never. so many emotions. I went from crying to jamming to crying again. White Queen (As it Began) - 7.5/10 So far, my first impression is that it's quieter than the last song but I like the drums and lonely guitar. Never mind it's getting louder in a good way! I like this one a little bit more than the last song. It's kind of nostalgic. Some Day One Day - 6/10 why is the intro giving like 2000's phone ringtone lol These songs are giving me Shrek and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Johnny Depp vers.) vibes. Oh, there's the epic guitar riff. I was waiting for that. My score is low because I was expecting more but I like the hippie vibes. The Loser in the End - 7/10 OKAY PURRR loving what I hear from the intro so far. OKAY VOCALS! OMG SHE'S RASPY TODAY! Ogre Battle - 7.5/10 Okay this is giving Curious by UNIS just the first few seconds. Anyway, needed something faster pace so this is good. Love the guitars. I'm a (fake) guitar girly so. love the harms and layers in the vocals. The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke - 7.5/10 brb gonna go twerk to this. loved the instrumental intro. The piano sounds so good here. Again love the vocals here. amazing work. Okay, Piano work. Nevermore - 7.5/10 OKAY TRANSITION! This transition puts all of those Tiktok transitions to shame. Spotify transition who? Okay, it's the vocals that are giving me CITCF vibes lol. The March of the Black Queen - 8/10 I would love it if there were modern groups out there that made music similar to this but modern. Maybe I'm just not into this scene because let's be honest, I don't go here sadly. but this song was making me hype for good music to a karaoke session in the shower. Another amazing guitar moment. Sorry piano, you're doing great too! OOH REALLY VIBING WITH the change of pace. This is the original NMIXX CHANGE UP! Funny How Love Is - 5.5/10 Okayyyyy I love me a good Boho moment. But this was so tame compared to their other songs so it's going to be ranked pretty low. Seven Seas of Rhye - 7.5/10 Intro is a good classic rock song. Good good. Another raspy moment. Good good. okay high note! Love the instrumental (mainly guitar). wait, why do I hear Gegagedigedagedago for a min here... Total: 7.18/10

This meandering silliness is fun because it is full of Queen’s heaviness, Brian May wailing, crunching, chewing the scenery with Mercury, while bass and drums stomp and swagger. Didn’t know any of these tunes aside from the closer, and enjoyed this as a heavy Queen vibes repast, garnished with orc piffle. I wrote most of the above only halfway through the album, sure that it would apply to the rest. And so it proved: a comfy time was had.

Didn’t make me feel anything, really. 4/10

Wow, and, no. WTF is going on with those lyrics? I must admit I really enjoyed the guitar on the loser in the end.

As you know, I'm pretty "prog tolerant", but this mostly sounded aimless and quite badly recorded. Seven Seas of Rhye carries the album

can not sand queen

clever-clever pompous mock-rock

I'll never understand why Freddie Mercury doesn't sing lead on every Queen song. For some reason, Brian May and Roger Taylor insisted on handling lead vocals on several songs. I mean, you've got FREDDIE FUCKING MERCURY right there. Let him wail! It's not like we were subjected to John Paul Jones or John Bonham singing lead on some deep Zeppelin cuts (although now that I think about it, I would have been all in on any song with Bonzo tackling lead vocals). This album doesn't sound like Queen. It sounds like watered down Mott The Hoople with some Led Zeppelin influence. Overall, it just doesn't work. Everything I'd heard about this album suggested it was Queen's hard-rock album. A pretty limp one if that's the case. One good song (Seven Seas Of Rhye), and even that one sounds half baked. I enjoyed the instrumental opening track, which could have been the only thing keeping this from a 1 rating (in the interest of full disclosure, I was listening with a great set of headphones where it really stood out). But this album has no business being on the list. Queen alone has at least 4 better albums.

OK...I don't like Queen, and this album did nothing to change that. In my mind it is over-wrought, over-produced, pretentiously boring, soul-less music YMMV 1 star

I love how this album has two themes to it and how Queen pulls them off. They haven’t quite become Queen at this time with this album but you can definitely see them transforming into that.

I grew up with a mom who LOVED Queen and she got see them live in Oakland. Felt great to listen to an album with songs I'm not super familiar with. Fantastic as always!

I mean, come on

This was awesome, I'd never heard any of these songs before and they work so well as a full "opera" together. The sound is so unmistakably Queen, Mercury's singing is incredible and everything just feels so huge. The entire work has a super clean production and the segues between songs feel right. I don't know if I could pick a single out of here, because the whole of it is clearly meant to be listened to all the way through. I really enjoyed this, not a bad minute in here. Lyrically it's about half dungeons and dragons and I love it.

An excellent group of songs that were all brand new to me. Really packs a punch despite not having any recognizable singles on it. Fantastic.

aaaah endlich ein Queen-Album!!! Ich liebe den warmen Gitarren-Klang, die herzzerreissenden Harmonien, die spürige Mehrstimmigkeit, die sich mit Hardrock und dreckigem Gesang abwechseln, die Rhythmen und Lyrics, kurz: die komplexe und trotzdem unterhaltsame und spannende Musik mit ihren vielen Instrumenten und Stimmen, die zu einem tollen, schönen und vielfältig wandelbaren Klang zusammenwachsen.

Queen.

👨🏻 This was so good I listened at the gym

Great album

A la base je voulais être très subjectif et mette la note de 8 sur 5. Mais comme on ne peut pas faire une telle chose et que les notes sont bridées à 5. Je suis obligé de mettre la note objective qui lui convient.

Wow. What an innovative album. Full of ups and downs and twists and turns that keeps you on your edge of your seat. It's not their best album but it's still great. They didn't have that much expectations to live up to and under the circumstance they COOKED. 5 stars

If you had only ever heard the Queen songs they play on the radio you would be super disoriented by this album. It's basically a prog rock masterpiece. I wish more people knew how great and weird Queen actually could be. Brilliant album that I'm ashamed to say I don't have on vinyl yet. 5/5

Quuen sen verran vähärmmäb paskaa kuin muu paska täällä..

Great

Early Queen is so dear to me, and this weird little album is one of my all time favourites. So happy we got this here.

Brilliant. Queen when they were still a rock band before the camp theatricals took over. Fantastic stuff. Seven Seas is their best ever.

Legendary rock, wouldn't want to listen to the songs too often as to not ruin the feeling of them.

I’ve never listened to a Queen album in full. I’ve heard the classic songs numerous times and never heard any of these songs here, but this album really caught me off guard. This is the kind of album that I wouldn’t listen to its songs individually or in a playlist but only in full, kind of like some of my favorite Pink Floyd albums. It works extremely well as a complete unit.

Fun inventive use of the two sides of the LP The white/May side is good but the black/Mercury side is really Queen coming into their own full-on. Freddie really gave a more vibrant canvas for the band to paint on. Some of these songs are every bit as good as the peak of Night at the Opera. Very glad I listened to this.

Majestic, brilliant.

5 !

Love this completely.

hell yea baby

Very good

Father to son and ogre battle are extremely underrated

Very good. 5/5

Actually thought it got better as it got going. Loved Ogre Battle. Seven Seas of Rye remains an absolute belter.

i mean yeah. it's queen. i don't think any of these songs specifically stand out to me but the album as a whole is really good

It's Queen's most Led Zeppelin-pilled album, so the easiest 5 I'll ever give. And if that ain't one of the GOAT blunt rotations. Just put down the pipe when Ogre Battle starts. Fastest way into a deep K hole known to man

Ich höre zum ersten Mal dieses Album. Einzelne Lieder kannte ich bereits. Und ich muss sagen, ich bin begeistert. Härter als ihre späteren Musikphasen. Schon der typische Queen Stil ist erkennbar. Die Kompositionen sind wunderbal und die Gitarrensoli auf höchstem Niveau. Wie gesagt, ich bin begeistert.

Ein Queen Album, auf dem man kein Lied kennt, ist schon etwas Seltsames. Ich dachte, das würde seine Gründe haben, aber nein. Es war schräg, aber unterhaltend, das Ende kam plötzlich und wurde nicht ersehnt, und das ist ein gutes Zeichen.

Queen is one of those bands that I have yet to hear a bad song from them. Their songs each feel like they’re been carefully crafted and feel very intricate. Every album feels like they’re putting on an audio show for us. Queen II is no different just a flawless listen from front to back.

The royalty of Queen wasn’t appreciated by me back then - now is a different story 🩷

Hell yeah, first Queen album of this project. Once again, incredibly biased they've been my favourite band since I was 4 and I genuinely believe they don't have a bad album, I've listened to them all.

Worst. Album. Ever.

its fuckin queen dude

Long live Queen!! What's not to love. Queen is incredible and one of my favorite bands ever. This album is great!!! More!!

Great album good to hear some of the earlier tracks that do not seem to surface as much as some of the hits they have later on.

Amazing album

How can you not love it?

Amazing album, only 1 skip not including the procession

Amazing!

Queen is one of my favorite bands of all time. Of course I will give it 5 stars.

LOVE. QUEEN. ♥

This was perfectly metal.

Fun album, I understand why queen is so highly revered now

this was always gonna be a 5 star from me. So theatrical and camp!

Every Queen album is a five star album. I particularly enjoy the breadth and variety on display on Queen II, getting away from the more "rock opera" songs we all know from Greatest Hits I. Highlights for me include The March of The Black Queen, Seven Seas of Rhye, The Lose In The End, Father to Son and the strings-like guitar of Procession.

Having been lucky enough to see Queen live with Freddie at the helm in 1986. This album could only ever be a 5. I love the early stuff, but they had to evolve and I'm so glad they did!