Queen II

1974 Iconic sound. 4/5

I'm more familiar with their later songs.

Another one I enjoyed more than I thought I would. Moody and proggy. And ogres.

3/4/24. New week kicking off with the legends: Queen. It was cool to hear this album for the first time without the band's biggest hits, and all the songs still carry themselves really well. Good, fun glam rock with Freddie's strong vocals and unique composition.

Not really any explaining to do

It's like if bohemian rhapsody were a whole album. Had only heard two songs on this album before, and they made no sense as singles. Grew on me a ton by the third listen through

Three tracks in particular point the way, The Fairy Feller, Nevermore, and March of the Black Queen show you where this band is headed. Great album full of songs I had never heard.

Absolutely delightful 80s rock.

Epic queen. Beautiful melodies, and I didn't know any of the songs, but I enjoyed it. Production sounded a little muddy, but will spin again!

I have listened to Queen a lot but never got round to listening to this particular album yet. I love Queen so it was a fun and easy listen. The song that spoke the most to me was: White Queen. But I was dancing along to most of the other tracks. Will definitely listen again!

Queen... die Anfänge. Man spürt schon das da was großes kommt.

Banger

Nice rock ballads. I bet if I could pay attention to lyrics that there's a pretty good story in there, too.

Queen has always been more of a greatest hits band for me. I enjoy their music, but I haven't explored their discography much. The only song on this album I was already familiar with was "Seven Seas of Rhye." That said, I enjoyed this album quite a bit. And I think it's because it's more diverse than a lot of their stuff (at least side A). Freddie was amazing, no argument there—but he sure could suck all the air out of a room. It's easy to forget just how great the other guys in the band were too. With all the overdubbing and vocal layering of Freddie's voice, you could be forgiven for not remembering how much the other guys added to the choral effects of "Bohemian Rhapsody" and other classics. You get to experience their individual contributions on this album, with Roger and Brian each taking lead vocal duties on a song and a more varied sound on the first half of the album. The first instrumental song is a throwaway (sorry, Brian). Luckily, it's short. Then we're on to two great songs with Freddie at the helm that are very Queen, but also have shades of Led Zeppelin. The acoustic guitar solo on "White Queen" is fantastic. The fourth song wouldn't be out of place on one of Zeppelin's folkier albums, and it really showcases what a great voice Brian has. The closing track of side A is a bittersweet ode to mothers with Roger taking lead on vocals. The song is heavier, with echoes of both Zeppelin and The Who. Again, it's easy to forget that Roger has a great voice too, even with all the harmony work he did with Freddie. The second half of the album is much more standard Queen—all the songs feature Freddie on lead vocals, and there's a lot more of the melodrama and theatrical flair the band is most known for. It's still an enjoyable listen, but, if I'm honest, it can get to be a lot after a while. Whereas the variety on the first half of the album was refreshing and gave me a chance to cleanse my palate, so to speak, the second half is like an unstoppable onslaught. Still fun, and it's interesting to hear Queen's take on some of the dark fantasy themes popularized by bands like Zeppelin. But after a while, the songs started to run together. I'll give this album a 4. It's not perfect, but I'd enjoy repeat listens.

Etheral Good song continuity Like -Loser in the End -Funny How Love Is Ogre Battle starts harsh Freddie Mercury's voice is golden

"arguably the heaviest Queen album"

For an album with no hits songs, it's quite good. I didn't know someone besides Freddie sang lead. Whoever it was sounded good, kind of like Roger Daltrey. Might go up to a 5/5 after I listen to it again.

An amazing album! You definitely hear how their sound started and would continue to develop. Absolutely loved the second half of the album especially, though every song had its charm. The Fairy song was probably my fave.

Early Queen is "harder" rock than their later material, making it further from my "sweet spot". This album also has little that I'm familiar with, although I recognize the unmistakable sound (including Freddy's vocals). I loved the vocals in the last few minutes of Father to Son. Didn't enjoy White Queen, Some Day One Day, or The Loser in the End so much. Ogre Battle is an awesome title for a good song that lives up to the promise of its title. I also enjoyed The Fairy Feller's Mission. There was a passage in the last minute of The March of the Black Queen that felt like a precursor to Bohemian Rhapsody.

The fact that all but one song on this album could be described as deep tracks is telling. This is an album not without considerable charms, but it's overshadowed by much of the rest of Queen's discography. It's an odd thing, a well-made album that has so much skippable material on it. I mean, the elements are all here, the wildly adventurous instrumentation, the creative use of studio effects, a lead singer for the gods, big flashes of brilliance peppered throughout. What's missing though is the hook. A lot of these songs are fun enough to listen to, but not especially memorable. The exception of course is "Seven Seas of Rhye," which is a sonic delight and blast to sing along to. This album belongs to Brian May. Intricate, adventurous and heavy as hell, May's doing things here with a guitar that few others can touch. The combination of that early, heavy May sound with Freddie Mercury's heavenly tenor and what would become the band's signature use of massive vocal layers... it's almost jarring. But this is still very much a band developing their sound here and the quality from song to song is a bit uneven. The lyrics are frequently silly, and mostly without enough substance to grab onto as a listener. A middling Queen album is still a pretty great album though. Fave Songs: Seven Seas of Rhye, Nevermore, The March of the Black Queen, Ogre Battle, White Queen (As It Began), The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke

Great album throughout Standout songs: Father to Son Ogre Battle March of the black queen

It was very good and had lots of cool harmonies.

Great album. I thought the two sides (white and black) were unique from each other and I loved that there were songs on each side that represented different points of view (White Queen, March of the Black Queen.) There were some riffs that felt like they were clearly inspiration for some of Queen's more popular songs later on ("Bicycle" and "Bohemian Rhapsody").

While I love Queen, I was not very familiar with this album. Seems like a kind of strange deep cut when “A Day At The Races” was omitted from this list. Nonetheless, it was fun to listen to an album of early and unfamiliar tracks. It feels like Queen knew they were going to go on to do great things, but hadn’t quite figured out their sound or identity yet. Sure, the operatic harmonies and overdubbed guitar parts remained, but this feels more like a prototype for “Sheer Heart Attack” which came out later that same year. Still, without knowing what Queen was to become, I probably would have given this album 4.5 or 5 stars. So though I don’t think it’s necessarily an album of theirs that I would include on the list, it’s only because they would go on to become even better. And so, I’m giving it 4 stars.

Incredible album that displays so much of the talent with more of a conceptual vibe. Still not sure how Roger Taylor’s effort fit inside the scope of this with its more distinctive Zep sound but altogether, it’s clear how they used the songs here as a way of moving their sound forward.

Queen are one of the most famous bands of the 70s and 80s, and although I was only alive during the later stages of the latter decade, for me Queen's best known work is super-glam. I enjoyed this album as it feels pre-stadium era, a little less polished and a little truer. RIP Freddie

Still good but not my favorite. Queen is a good band though so even that’s not saying much.

Queen!

Fun album

Queen has always been *that* band, whose songs I've been enjoying for as long as I can remember (since I was 6 or 7). Their bigger songs "Somebody to Love", "Under Pressure", and "Don't Stop Me Now" were absolute staples for me as a child and some of my earliest memories of music enjoyment as a whole. So, when I saw this album had none of the many songs I've recognized from Queen, I was a bit wary but made sure I still went in with an open mind. It's admittedly a very early release in their discography, released in 1974 far before any of their big singles (like Killer Queen on their follow-up). I love the booming guitar portion on Father to Son, courtesy of Brian May and the closing vocals by Mercury were incredible. Generally, the songs have varied instrumentation and theatrical aspects not unlike progressive rock songs at the time mixed with hard rock and ballad passages. By looking at the song titles alone, I knew I was in for something fantastical, whimsical, and grand. The highlight though, as I had expected, was Freddie Mercury. His melodies, vocal passages, and large vocal range make or break the songs here. His outro on White Queen for example is enchanting and gorgeous. The backing harmonization is another Queen staple and despite being milder than I remember, I find them very enjoyable when they do crop up. My enjoyment unfortunately dwindles whenever the band strays from the progressive sounds on this album or their traditional glam rock and ballad style. The "Hard Rock" inspired "The Loser at the End" despite it showing off Mercury's range, is very dull and one-note for me. There's a big chunk of songs near the middle of this album that I'm quite ambivalent towards. The album regains its footing on the short piano ballad "Nevermore" as it leads into the incredible "The March of the Black Queen". I hadn't heard this song before this album but my god, is it a perfect Queen song. The band plays to their strengths highlighting everything that made the band so enjoyable for me so many years back with a dizzying number of switches and phases. Freddie's lyrics are cryptic but the imagery he paints alone more than makes up for it. The fact that he's able to switch between all these new melodies so rapidly, is astonishing. All the instruments on this track blend beautifully; the mastering is superb. The medley-like nature of this closing part of the album followed by "Seven Seas of Rhye" works very well in closing off this overall enjoyable Queen album. 7/10

a classic fairy rocker, way before queen's pop days, i wish i listened to all of this

Sonido muy Queen, nunca decepciona.

I mean, it's Queen. How can you go wrong?

First time listening to a full queen album. Felt very story driven

Wie immer operngleich!

While Queen II is an album with no recognizable 'hits' the sound is locked in and probably one of their better albums. Freddy's vocals, Brians distinct sound pair perfectly. 4/5.

Phenomenal album. Lost a little bit in the middle but finished very well. Listened to it multiple times immediately. Tough between 4 and 5 stars. Another one where I would go with a half if possible.

Classic rock bliss! Fun fresh deep tracks and all bangers

Great album. Not quite as iconic as some of their other ones, but can't go wrong with Queen.

Good

Not their best album, not their worst

Might have changed my mind about queen?

Pretty interesting album that I did not know. As it's Queen, it can get a little exhausting to hear anthem after anthem, but these guys were fun in their prime.

Really enjoyed

Incredible. Father to Son an amazing song.

Although I’m a fan of some different Queen songs, didn’t care for a number of ones on this album. Perhaps after listening to more of these “new to me” songs, I might change my mind and grow to enjoy them. That said, I can understand how they became so popular.

Good music but I definitely prefer the hits I know

Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the fandango?

El primer disco que compré con mi (poco) dinero de preadolescente fue un grandes éxitos de Queen, así que estoy un poco condicionado. Cierto es que este álbum (del que no conocía ninguna canción) aún mo está al gran nivel al que llegarían un poco después, pero es una maravilla de 40 minutos que merece la pena.

Has an almost royal feel to it, particularly in the first couple of tracks almost feeling like a fanfare of sorts. Excellent guitar work. The fairy feller's master-stroke, standout track. A very certain album, knows exactly what it is and is produced accordingly with a style that is unique to them.

First time listening to it again after 40 years. Brought back memories of my 20s.

A lot more rock and dirty than I expected.

I was honestly debating whether it’s a 3 or 4. It starts off pretty weak to me and didn’t have that signature Queen sound until you get Ogre battle and it’s like OK they definitely switched to a higher gear. All the songs after Ogre battle redeemed this album and bumped it up a star. Except White Queen I liked that one.

We're starting to get into second albums of bands I've heard on here once. Stepping back in time for Queen II (1974). A Night at the Opera (1975) is a phenomenal album, so this was going to be tough to live up to. While it isn't as good as ANATO, this was still an enjoyable listen. This rocks a little harder than ANATO (and harder than most Queen albums from what I'm reading). There are less standout songs, but I feel like this is a pretty solid and consistent Queen sound. "Nevermore" is great but super short, and "Seven Seas of Rhye" was a catchy way to end it. The critics seem to be all over the place on this one, but I thought it was a reasonably strong album. Even when not at their very best, Queen is a fun listen. Favorite song: Nevermore Other: Father To Son, White Queen (As It Began), Some Day One Day, Ogre Battle, The March Of The Black Queen, Seven Seas of Rhye 12/26/23

Wow - Queen - really great!!!

Queen has always been hit or miss for me, and that was true even within this album. I think they're at their best when they go for really big, grand ideas. There were a few of those here that were awesome, but the lulls here and there kept me from really loving this one

Queen

Outstanding

I always go into Queen albums thinking "there can't be anything good besides the hits." I need to stop being so stubborn and admit they're a quality band. Sheer Heart Attack and Night at the Opera were both incredible from start to finish, and this is no exception. As usual, prog from the era is sensory overload. It can be a lot with how much songs transition every few seconds. The record's so consistent that it almost plays like one huge song. I tried "liking" a few songs but they cut off at the very end. A bit annoying like Pink Floyd medleys for playlists but it's a worthy sacrifice to look back on these highlights. Plenty of strong moments with just as many that don't hit as hard but still interesting and unique. It grows on me each listen as I'm more used to everything going on. Favorites: White Queen, Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke, March of the Black Queen

It starts out as a sort of glam Led Zeppelin but you can literally hear them figuring out how to Be Queen as the album progresses. Maybe part of that is the bold/insane choice of putting all the Brian May songs on the A side and all the Freddie Mercury songs on the flipside but it has the effect of making Queen's evolution in sound part of the subtext in a satisfying way. Also, Ogre Battle fucking whips.

4. doesnt slaps as hard as their other albums. last song is really good though!

Como una rock-opera de Queen. Ningún megahit. Un 4 por ser Queen.

Good album. Second half in particular.

A strange (but solid) look into Queen before they knew what direction the band was going to take. It has a lot more in common with Peter Gabriel era-Genesis than it does with Queen’s later music, with songs about ogres, faeries, mystical lands and all other sorts of fantasy and whimsy. Great if you don’t mind some prog in your rock, and a fantastic listen if you’ve never heard Queen past the hits and want to see the sort of depth they have.

Not the best Queen album, but still fantastic

This is certainly a side of Queen I wasn't familar with. What a great fun 70s rocking vibe. Faves: Father To Son, The Loser In The End.

I'm a bit non plussed by this album being on the list, given I've already had "Sheer Heart Attack" which covers the same ground and was released in the same year!? It seems that nothing after "A Night At The Opera" was included on the list? Dimery, you hack, you have neglected to include any albums of Queen being Queen! Why do I need to hear two proto-Queen albums where they sound like a Led Zeppelin cover band in places!? Anyway, it's perfectly serviceable hard rock with a few clues as to what they'd become, so I won't penalize the score. Fave track - "The March of the Black Queen"

It’s Queen. What can I say?

Queen II" is a pivotal album that showcases Queen's evolution from progressive rock to a more radio-friendly sound. Released in 1974, it marked a shift in the band's musical style, combining elements of heavy metal, glam rock, and camp theatrics. 1. Lyrics The lyrics of "Queen II" are poetic and often convey a sense of sadness, particularly in ballads like "March of the Black Queen"[1]. The storytelling is intricate, contributing to the album's conceptual nature. 2. Music The album features a diverse musical landscape, ranging from gentle ballads to heavier moments. Notable tracks like "White Queen (As It Began)" showcase the band's musical prowess and Freddie Mercury's vocal range. 3. Production "Queen II" demonstrates meticulous production, with a focus on instrumentation. The album's layers contribute to its rich and dynamic sound, enhancing the overall listening experience. 4. Themes The album explores various themes, including fantasy, mythology, and introspection. Tracks like "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke" and "The March of the Black Queen" exemplify Queen's inclination towards imaginative storytelling. 5. Influence "Queen II" has left a lasting impact on the rock genre, showcasing the band's ability to blend different styles. Its influence on subsequent generations is evident in the diversity of Queen's fanbase and the continued appreciation for the album's experimental approach. Pros Diverse musical styles Intricate storytelling in lyrics Meticulous production Cons Conceptual nature may be challenging for some listeners Heavier moments may not appeal to those seeking a more conventional sound

This one is probably where I'll go higher than everyone else because I do like Queen quite a lot, they're stupidly bombastic in lots of ways but part of that is their charm and what made them what they are, though I can never attribute that adjective to Freddie because he was anything other than empty in his showmanship and character. This'll never be a widely-loved album because it lacks their most famous work but it's a great sound and does some really interesting stuff.

Fun to listen to, definitely hints of songs to come in future albums. Not my favorite of theirs, but still very good nonetheless.

The whole thing was very enjoyable, always have been a queen fan but this definitely exposed me to some new songs of theirs I really like

White Queen Nevermore Seven Seas Of Rhye

Queen are such an incredible band, hadn't heard any of the songs prior to this but what a top album. Best song - father to son

Standard Queen

Love the prog, the vocals from may are just so so, surprised how few singles are there.

Top Lads

as familiar as I am with Queen's hits, this is the first time I'm listening to an album in full and it was fairly good. Definitely interesting to look at the bands more "underrated" tracks. favourite track : 'The March Of The Black Queen'

"BIG" sounding album, pretty hard for a Queen album. Enjoyed the fantasy/lore aspects of some of the songs. Solid listen.

Ogre battle maakt het 4 sterren

Queen!

A quintessential Queen album. While a fan of Queen, many of the songs didn't connect with me. Perhaps I need to listen to it more for it to connect.. it sounds wonderful, it sounds like a fantastical dnd campaign musical. Queen rarely if ever misses, and they didn't miss with this album. It just didn't stick with me, but even then I recognize it's a wonderfully made record

This would have been a 4 if we stopped letting drummers write songs.

While not a fan of each track, those I am are really strong. Standouts include Father To Son, White Queen, Some Day One Day, The Loser In The End, and Seven Seas Of Rhye.

The second half is very fun. Mostly I appreciated the vocals. Favourites were Nevermore and the Black Queen one. I’d give it 3.5.

I thought I knew a good bit of Queen, but looking over the tracklist, I don't think I know any of these songs? I guess my classic rock education needs more work. But thats what this project is for, right? First Impressions: Very dramatic opening, with the heartbeat and the building instrumentals setting the stage for the vocals to burst in. I love me a good "doo-doo-do-do-doo" so this first track has me pretty well hooked and ready to listen to more.

The beginning of Queen. I liked Father to Son

I enjoyed this more than I had expected

so interesting- a couple times I thought that apple music had switched to a newer album while listening to this one. they were ahead of their time. Sometimes I hear rough drafts of their most famous music, but this felt like a complete album experience.

Not their best, but still...

Consistently enjoyable. Unmistakable Queen sound.

This prog/baroque rock intro reminds me of Switched on Bach and Moog music generally - the novelty of electrified instruments playing formerly acoustic music was clearly in the zeitgeist. Father to Son is a beautiful love letter to the their contemporaries. I can hear the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd. This song is dusty, though - there's hair on every track, nothing like the shimmering clarity and crunch of those other bands' hits. White Queen is such a beautiful prog fantasy. The melodrama drips from every word and reverberates with every drum hit. I can hear Led Zeppelin IV so clearly in it. Some Day One Day is an interesting psych folk piece. They're trying out some fascinating vocal effects and comps, with lots of phasing and stereo panning. It's gorgeous - I still hear a ton of Led Zeppelin electrified folk in this, but the phasing vocals remind me more of John Lennon trying to sound like a Himalayan Guru than Robert Plant croons. The Loser In The End sounds like David Bowie meets a Beck - some incredibly forward thinking use of delay on drums and gritty yelling from Freddie Mercury has it sounding like ground breaking 2000s dirt rock more than baroque prog. Fuck, those drum fills during the outro jam are DIRTY. Ogre Battle has one of the best song-played-in-reverse executions I've ever heard - the beginning is epic, disorienting, overwhelming. Then it turns into a frankly corny song - though the studio tricks throughout still delight. The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke is the first most obviously original, iconically "Queen" song on the album. Melodramatic, beautiful, rock-operatic. It and the next song, Nevermore, are really a single song with two movements that take the listener on a beautiful journey, guided by Freddie Mercury's golden siren song. The March Of The Black Queen continues the rock opera of what I assume is the second side of the album. It's gorgeous and complex, a fully developed crystal of a style and mood. I will have to revisit this again to fully appreciate it - my notes can't keep up with my thoughts keeping up with my ears. These chaps know what they're doing. The transition into Funny How Love Is is straight out of Abbey Road, but the song itself sounds like the Beach Boys meets Neil Young. Not my favorite of the album - feels more like an interlude than a full song. And the album comes to a close with Seven Seas Of Rhye - a total barn burner, although the cheeky sea shanty transition at the end kills its momentum. I bet it was a treat to hear live! And on the album, it leaves the listener raring for more.

Des paillettes partout ! Excellent album de Queen, avec des guitares nerveuses, un chant impeccables, des thèmes qui partent dans la fantasy. Would sail the seven seas of rhye again

Seven Seas of Rhye and Nevermore were my standout favourites. You can really hear every flavour of Freddie’s voice on this album.

It's not my favorite Queen album, but it's still good.

Yes

It’s nice to get a record from a band that you know but haven’t listened to for no good reason. Discovering some songs from long gone band is a neat thing. This album is one of those for me. I enjoyed this a lot.

Easy 4, starred out a little boring, but it picks up around ogre battle and it finishes really strong. As an album,ni find it well put together.

Funnily enough, literally yesterday evening someone recommended that I listen to Queen II as I might enjoy it. I took a quick look at the Wikipedia article, saw the only song I recognised on the track listing was Seven Seas of Rhye, then worried that it might come up on 1001 albums. I played some Starfield instead and went to bed. The very next day..! Well yes, I did like it very much. I grew up with Queen in the charts and vaguely remember Bohemian Rhapsody being played on TV when I was very young. My parents wanted me to come out to the car and I was hanging back to listen to the song. I said, "just this one song" and they agreed - then regretted this decision. Then Queen changed into their 80s form and I lost interest, just another stadium pop/ rock band who sang songs that were big hits, but didn't really interest me in any way. Lots of "ga ga do do" nonsense mixed with silly videos that were funny a few times but got stale quick. This album however was definitely a blast. I liked the fantasy lyrics, the ones that I guess many people don't like. The muddy production was only a problem for the first five minutes or so. I didn't love the harmonizing vocals in some places, but it worked in others when it wasn't so heavy-handed. Lots of Led Zeppelin influences, some enthusiastic guitar solos (some of which were also okay technically, others not so much), and a few progressive rock elements all add up to a pretty great album. Not perfect, but definitely a strong 4 stars as I will definitely listen to this again.

Fantastic album

- It's Queen and I love a lot of them - not their best album, still okay to listen

Classic Queen, can't hate it 1 bit. Great album overall and is a classic. I really liked March of the Black Queen for some reason, and the 2nd half feels stronger than the 1st half.

Delightfully nerdy. Maybe not the best Queen, but still Queen.

This is a prog-rock concept album, not exactly what you would hear from Queen as time went on. Although it doesn’t have any of the hits, it’s remarkably focused and there isn’t a bad song on the album. “Nevermore” has hints of Bohemian Rhapsody and “Funny how love is” sounds like it was produced by Phil Spector.

I think it was a pretty solid album but not really my thing. Maybe like 3.5?

Not the best Queen Album imo, still one of the best in the world though.

I only knew Seven Seas of Rhye from this one, but most of this was pretty enjoyable. I liked Some Day One Day especially.

Les plus : White Queen (As It Began) : sitar, grandiose, prog-rock, transition avec Some Day One Day et son explosivité. Les moins : ventre mou fin de face A / début de face B, manque de ce petit truc qui fait d’un album de Queen un album de Queen. Freddie timide, qui se cherche, dans les prémices du grandiose à venir. A un poil du classique. Les 4 premiers sons mettent en jambe et sont très plaisants à écouter, milieu un peu mou par la suite. Mais les titres s’embriquent et se suivent divinement bien. Un véritable opéra-rock. N’oublions pas qu’il ne s’agit là que de leur second album ! Des précurseurs. Quels génies de la composition. The March Of The Black Queen est un exemple parfait du style typique de Queen. L’album fini en trombe avec l’hypnotisante Funny How Love Is et l’explosif Seven Seas Of Rhye. Globalement, on a ici un album savamment construit, très intelligent, audacieux et sombre dans la gaieté. Un léger manque de maturité qui viendra plus tard dans la discographie du groupe.

Old fashioned 70s rock! Besides the obvious hits, Uncle Salty and Big Ten Inch Record don’t disappoint. You can tell by these songs they were still a little rough around the edges, but then you hit Sweet Emotion and you remember why they are legends. I like the roller coaster in Disney to.

Never actually given this a full listen. It feels like Queen finding itself amidst the changing rock landscape of the 70s. But when it hits, it hits beautifully. Happy to put it into the library.

When Queen were like... prog-metal? Glam? Honestly think this has some of the best Queen features of tunes without being 'over popified'. Of course Queen were the band they are for those tunes, but its easy to understand their strangely broad fanbase. Especially people of a certain age. Brilliant musicians, great songwriting. Great band. Though this album doesnt have those big pop hits. This is Queen. 4/5

Favorite Tracks: Father To Son, White Queen (As It Began), The Loser In The End, Ogre Battle, The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke, Nevermore, The March Of The Black Queen, Seven Seas Of Rhye

Already a Queen fan, so this one gets to be ranked high. Alot of songs on here are absolute bangers.

8/10 — far from Queen’s best, but still pretty darn good

A whole album of Queen where I didn't recognize a single song! Definitely a cool find for me, and interesting to learn more about how Queen got their start. This had a strong rock opera feel.

Not bad. Of its time. Quite enjoyed.

Back when Queen was more of a prog band! Freddie is stellar as usual, and we have a good track list here. It’s good Queen, but not the BEST Quee

Ew

I enjoyed this album the further I made it through the tracklist. Was the perfect soundtrack to a lunchtime walk through the city

One of my favorite albums. Great start to this journey!

This Queen record is very underrated. When talking about Queen albums, many focus on Sheer Heart Attack or A Day At The Races (my personal favourite) but this album very much has a place with those albums. The front cover is very iconic. The production is very nice and very early Queen - this Is thier 2nd album, so obviously it feels like it. None of these songs are very iconic (apart from Seven Seas Of Rhye), which is probably the reason it's heavily underrated. Each of these songs though, are amazing. Some of the Storytelling is really well done. This 1974 album doesn't really feel that dated. The songs that stand out are: Ogre Battle, Seven Seas Of Rhye, Father To Son and The March Of The Black Queen. Very fun album. I would definitely reccomend. 🌕🌕🌕🌙/🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 (3.5/5)

An oddly conservative-sounding record for Queen. You can tell this is very early in their career. It's a solid album, reminiscent of very early 70s Rush. Not bad, but nothing that special either. Ogre Battle is best track on this record.

Classic Queen. This album almost runs seamlessly from one track to the next. Fantasy and early folk influences in some songs. Only marred by Roger Taylor writing and singing a track on the album for me.

Hlustaði fyrir kannski tveimur þremur árum og var lítið hrifinn. Hlustaði í dag og var lítið hrifinn framan af, en svo vann hún aðeins á. Setti aftur í gang og finnst þetta skemmtileg. Svolítil tilgerð, vantar slagara, en margt skemmtilegt og töff.

I think I like this best of the two ‘74 Queen albums. A little more bombastic and theatrical. Some just unreal performances on here but no real hits. Feels a bit more like a concept album.

Was interesting not what I would have expected and that’s a good thing, will be back for more

I don't think I've ever heard any of these songs before. This album did not disappoint either. Definitely not their most popular work, but that's OK because some of their most popular is some of their most overrated. I dig the proggy, almost poppy art rock vibe of this. I'll probably end up coming back to this. 4/5

Good album. I guess I'm a bit of a sucker for 70s prog rock. This was more than just prog rock though, it gave it an arena rock/opera feel to it as only Queen can do.

First looking at the track list i was expecting a resident sleep, but this album was actually jam packed w bops.

Iconic sound. An album without any hit singles and the only song that it among the typical lists of greatest Queen songs, is Seven Seas of Rhye. The album does stand out as uniquely Queen. The guitars of Brian May and the Vocals of Freddie Mercury are undeniable! Standouts: Seven Seas of Rhye, Father to Son, White Queen (As it Began), The Loser in the End, Funny How Love Is. 4/5

It sounds and feels more epic that you're use to rock sounding which is the best part.

Interesting selection - very early Queen with none of the typical hits you hear 5x/day on "CLASSIC KROK 93.9!" - haven't heard this in decades but I'm still familiar with a few of these cuts... It's cool to think about how different these guys must have sounded when emerging out of the early 70s. Queen at some point became (and still is) "QUEEN™" and became instantly recognizable by/for their sound or for Freddie's voice but here they're kinda just starting out (with admittedly hilarious/odd topics for lyrics - ogres/paintings/fantasy worlds - hey you gotta have some fun so screw you, punks) and the symphonic and layered sound with progressions that bear some resemblance to classical forms was really revolutionary. As legitimately legendary as Freddie was, I actually love hearing Brian May sing on occasion as well - not sure he could really carry an album but his gentle voice is a real nice contrast at times which gives this record more of a flow (e.g. "Some Day One Day"). [...although in contrast, despite his excellent and essential background vocals I'm not a big fan of Roger Taylor taking lead vox ("Loser In the End")] It was a bit weird (re)listening to this album ... I gave it 2 full listens because the first one didn't catch me at first and i suspect it's because of the unfamiliarity with the songs relative to the *very* familiar Queen "sound" - which created almost a wash over me; i.e. there's a comfort that almost prevented me from actually hearing the songs as individual units. Upon 2nd listen more songs popped out, esp. "The March of the Black Queen" which will probably be dismissed as "old rock" but holyshit think of 1974 here - this was brand new. These vocal layers? The massive guitar harmonies? Dynamics and tempo-shifts? This was and is complex material and truly creative/imaginative. Sum: Not yet ready for the stadiums without the killer (pun) Queen hits but this is a *dense* album that showcases the genius musicianship, creativity, and imagination of all 4 musicians. A great document of a talented band just on the verge of becoming one of the largest acts of all-time. 7/10 4 stars.

I love Queen... but there is a reason not many of the songs on this album are played on radio.

4/5

Best Queen. Super proggy.

You can very much tell that this is Queen before they've hit their stride. If this were a lesser band, this would be seen as a great insult, but because this is Queen, this is still a decent album all things considered.

I LOVE Queen. They were one of my favorite bands as a kid, though I mostly listened to their two greatest hits albums. This record has basically one big hit "Seven Seas of Rhye." This record was actually a bit better than I expected not knowing many of the songs.

If you were basing things off the cover, you'd think that Bohemian Rhapsody was here... that's furthest from the case. The second (and last) installment of the Queen album series sees the band exalt themselves towards a new terrain, taking extravagantly huge steps towards becoming the band they were meant to be. While they may tone these stylistic tastes down to a palatable degree, it is still a rather fascinating look into who they initially were and how they weaved the talents they already had into such significant shapes. Favorites: Father to Son, White Queen (As It Began), The Loser in the End, Ogre Battle, The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke, The March of the Black Queen, Funny How Love Is, Seven Seas of Rhye.

The Fairy Feller és a The March Of The Black Queen, egyiket sem ismertem korábban, de ezeket emelném ki, elkapott mindkettő :)

Sounds great

freddy’s screams and screeches scare tf outa me. other than that, good album just long

4.0

About as good as I expected, which is pretty good! I'd say the second half is stronger, but both are very enjoyable. I've always meant to listen to more Queen, so this was nice. My favourite songs were The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke, Nevermore, and The March of the Black Queen.

Lekker ruig, zeker voor Queen. Ook een beetje rommelig.

Interesting! Being what I would describe as a casual Queen fan for most of my life, I can't believe I wasn't already familiar with a single song on this album. Very Zeppelin-esque in parts, but you can also hear the signature Queen sound coming out. The March of the Black Queen sounds like a precursor to Bohemian Rhapsody. I enjoyed this a lot. 4 stars.

This was a fun listen, probably my favorite "hard rock" album off the list so far. Although I'd call it more like theatrical prog/glam with a sprinkle of hard rock, myself. But yeah, fun and not boring or bland. Nice.

Seven Seas of Rhye is one of my favorite Queen songs. Great album!

Great album!

Very well balanced. The somewhat toned down May songs on side I are a nice counterbalance to the extravagant Freddie songs on side II. Makes for a great total package.

Although I like quite a few of Queen's songs, I don't recall hearing any of these songs in the past. This album very much sounds like Queen -- they always have a signature sound, which is great -- and I enjoyed it. At times, I hear elements of progressive rock, maybe more so here than I usually hear in their music, and overall the album is a good reminder for me just how skilled this band is both as composers and as performers.

I hadn't heard any of these songs before but this album was a blast! The more traditional Queen songs somehow worked so well with the "Ren faire" songs and the music and vocals were on point

An entire album of Queen songs I have never heard and they are all great. What an awesome album!

This album reminds me that Queen had some weird stretches musically. But the drumming on display here was top notch.

Never heard this album before and all the songs were new to me. Really enjoyed it!

Own this one A bit surprised to see it here but it's a good one.

Lots of solid tracks with character and energy this is lacking from most rock albums at that time.

Great album. Not sure I've ever listened to this one. I've always listed to the best of or Inuendo or A kind of magic. This was a fun listen.

weird cover tho

Great Queen effort

Muy buen álbum

To make it clear this is a fantastic record, a truly powerful and dynamic piece of art. Now something that appeared in my head that i wont be able to get rid of is that this record sounds like a soundtrack for a fairy tale amazing nonetheless best song: the march of the black queen worst song: some day one day overrated song: none underrated song: funny how love is

Even though it's the beginnings of Queen, you can't mistake their sound with any other band.

Another Queen album without any big hits. The overall style is also not massively like any of the hits. It is proggy and fantastical, with the iconic Brian May guitar sound turned up to the max. I enjoyed this. Minor technical point: You are Queen. Your lead singer is Freddie Mercury. The decision to let Roger Taylor sing a song is, therefore, mental. Rating: 4/5 Playlist track: Seven Seas of Rhye Date listened: 09/04/23

I absolutely adore Brian May's crunchy overdriven guitar tones. Glad that you get to hear that pretty quickly here. His solo on track two, "Father to Son" at around 2:36 is so sick. Love the fuzz tone here mixed with the whammy bar pitch dives. VERY cool sound. I love the state of photo manipulation tech showing itself here in the album cover. They have this grey-ness around them and then a pure black background behind them and it looks funny to me. There's no blending going on or anything and I bet at the time this cost a lot of money to do (and to meticulously crop the photo around their wild hair). This is a great record. I'm not really familiar with a lot of the tracks but you can tell this one is killer.

Good soup

Shows what a strong album act Queen were before they went worldwide. Not their finest, there are clunky moments in May's half which misunderstand the album's tone, but overall, this is the Queen album I never knew I wanted. A great record.

Vanmetin plata.

I mean it's Queen, so it's hard not to love. I think the only thing holding back 5 stars is the lack of their well known hits, it's definitely a deep cut collection. But its a lot of fun, with masterful musicianship and fun sonic experimentation.

hadn't listened to this one before.

sloppy toppy on my ears

it's good

I grew up listening to Queen; they were my first CD and to this day they occupy a very special place. Their fearlessness in occupying the space between glam, opera, dance, and hard rock is inspiring. This lesser known album is the first to really sound like Queen. The layered vocals and instrumentation are present here and hint at what's to come. The music itself is very prog/art rock and doesn't lean heavily on commercial viability. That's another reason to love this album; it is taking a risk. During the mid-70s, releasing an album that focuses more on fantasy themes and art music than pop sensibility would have been career suicide. Thankfully, this was not the case here. Though this album has very niche appeal, it is a fundamental step in the realization of Queen's potential, and it is one I find very compelling.

queen rocks

When I first saw which Queen albums were on the list, I was kind of shocked, because most of the picks certainly weren't the big ones but after listening to this album, I can kind of see why this was picked over others, as this feels a lot more like an fully realized album, rather than just an album of attempts at the next hit maker. That does benefit that album, feeling pretty consistent throughout, and enjoyable in such. Nothing crazy amazing, but very good, looking forward to Sheer Heart Attack, as I assume its more similar to this? Perhaps not, we'll see.

Did I know any of these song? No. But Queen II is a decent album that truly showcases the arrival of Queen and their unique sound. With guitar work that feels inspired by Led Zeppelin and vocals that are at times reminiscent of The Who, Queen II melds different musical influences into something that's distinctly Queen. Every song on this album is a standout, from the epic opening track "Procession" to the powerful closer "Seven Seas of Rhye". The harmonies and complex arrangements are impressive, and the album as a whole is a testament to the band's musical talent. Queen II is not a must-listen, but it does demonstrate the birth of one of the most iconic bands in rock history and their lasting legacy.

4 Welp, this album confirms a theory I’ve had about Queen - their best songs aren’t their hits. Somebody to Love, Another One Bites the Dust, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Don’t Stop Me Now? Skip, skip, skip, and skip for me. (Yeah fine I’ll admit Bohemian Rhapsody and Under Pressure are great, though tbf that second one is 50% a David Bowie song) But goddamn, almost immediately, Father To Son went harder than anything else I’ve heard by the band - and then it just proceeded to keep going hard from there. I was half convinced I was listening to a Who song when The Loser in the End came on, so I had to look it up on Google to confirm I wasn’t hearing a Roger Daltrey cameo (it’s Roger Taylor). The second half of the album leans slightly off of the harder rock elements of the first, and more into a theatrical and operatic direction, which in hindsight feels like foreshadowing to the future ventures of the band. That change in tone made a lot of sense when I learned Brian May composed the majority of the first half (Side White) and Mercury the second (Side Black). Each side is absolutely fantastic though and complements the other nicely, highlighting the strengths of both songwriters as well as the band as a whole and results in an overall consistently enjoyable and balanced listen. I’ve never claimed to be the biggest Queen fan, so I didn’t expect to enjoy this one as much as I did. People are sleeping on Queen II.

Father and son, fave song

I’m too maistream about Queen. Didn’t know any of these songs. Great album

The classicest of Rocks

This Queen album has grown on me over the years, I now love the faerie themes and over-the-top glam elements. Nevermore, what a song, I wish it was three times longer.

I appreciated the chance to discover Queen songs I didn't know before. Especially, White Queen (As it began) was really good and surprising for me.

Favorites: -Ogre Battle -The march of the black queen -Funny how love is -Seven seas of rhye

A classic glam rock album, Queen never disappoints. 4/5. Favorite Track: Ogre Battle

Honestly wouldn't have guessed this tracklist, a fair number of tracks I'd never heard before. A rockier/less cheesy affair than some of their output, and I loved it.

Uhm that RIPPED. I love Queen but this album has somehow missed my ears until now. March of the Black Queen had me headbanging en route to work, so goood. 4.5/5

Loved it 4.7/5

Great album, I enjoy it a lot.

Queen is underrated. I know what I typed.

I have never heard any of the songs in the album before. In some way the songs seem FRESHER as I am not really used to them. Especially the first couple of songs that does not really focused on Freddy's vocal. The guitar works are superb and I started to really appreciate Brian May's style now. 3.9/5

Great band, great album - always a good listening experience

Definitely not my favorite queen album but it still has some great tracks on it.

Brilliant album, proper talents and fantastic production for its time

there wasn’t many songs that i’d listen to on their own, but the album as one long project is very good

Never heard any of these songs. All of Queen's hits are awesome but so overplayed. It was refreshing to just hear Queen being awesome.

I am a big Queen fan and this is an album I haven’t listened to much. It’s good but I like their next album, Sheer Heart Attack much more.

A lot of fun, enjoyed the comparative lack of bombast - felt like a working band rocking hard

No songs particularly stood out to me, but none of them distracted me at all. I might use this album for studying in the future.

I like plenty of Queen songs but I rarely listen to entire album but this one of them. Sure there's no big hits, Seven Seas of Rhye perhaps but it's just consistent and quite heavy. Ogre Battle is one of my all time favorites. This Album, the Game and occasionally Sheer Heart Attack are the only Queen albums I listen to start to finish.

I just love Queen.

Queens one of my favorite groups. Interesting how hit free this one is. I really enjoy that because its not immediately contextualized as the song from might ducks or wayne's world or whatever.

Always going to love a Queen album!! This one is very epic I actually haven't listened to all of these tracks before as it's only their second album and not exactly packed with their top hits. But it's real classic early Queen glam rock which I wouldn't really want to listen to from any other band particularly. You can't beat the genius and creativity of Freddie but all of them really together. Also bonus that I watched Bohemian Rhapsody film very recently which is amazing so nice timing to then listen to this album. It's brilliant.

Good stuff. I never really listen to Queen, but obvs know a lot of their stuff anyway so it was nice to actually sit down and listen to this

It's Queen, do i need to explain?

Interesting how the band's evolution from a rougher rocknroll sound to the operatic bombast we know and love occurs roughly mid-album.

For those used to singles and greatest hits - here's an album for you. And for me! Did I recognise any of the tracks? Not really (all Queen tracks sounds vaguely familiar though so you're never sure). This album to me just served to remind me what a great ROCK band they were/are. Each track is so polished, so noisy, and so Queen.

Refreshing to hear new Queen songs as i only knew one song. Listened to the album a few times, which does not happen a lot in the 1001. I like this early queen sound.

Used to be a 5 star album for me in the 80s but listening to it again now I was less impressed. It still has some great moments, but fall short of 5 stars.

An album replete with signs of what was to come. I wish I had heard Queen's albums in their release order, but unfortunately that was not the case (The first I heard was A Night at the Opera). This is from the days when Queen were unquestionably a Rock band, but the transition to being full blown Queen is evident in tracks such as The March of the Black Queen. As ever, with them, there is a variety of musical styles as the songwriting is split amongst the band (Principally Mercury and May, but with contributiond fro Taylor), however in this case it was distinctly divided between the white (A) and Black (B) sides of the album. The majority of the material will be new to non afficionados - the exception being Seven Seas of Rye which was written specifically to be a single. Not their best album (the world will never agree on which is their best - but it is not this) but even so it is still an impressive piece of work

Very good. Just what you'd expect of Queen, with hints and echoes of what was coming.

OG queen, det er flamboyant, poppet, rocket, energisk

Gather round, everyone, as I tell my Queen Origin Story... It was the summer of '92. I had just graduated from high school, and was living in that dreamy, undefined interspace between being a high school kid and a college "adult". And I was working at Super Saver Cinema's 8 in the Brice Outlet Mall in Columbus OH. Except when a kid threw up, this job rocked. Unlimited free movies and pop (not soda up in OH), even if the movies were second run and the pop wasn't always mixed correctly. Basically getting paid to hang out with your friends. We even had a softball team that played against other movie theaters, with the losers buying Waffle House steaks (the only place open when you were scheduled to close down the theater). There was the week of tornado warnings every night around the 4th of July, the world's best french fries at the Chinese place in the mall (really), and there was Wayne's World. I'm not ashamed to say that I really didn't give Queen much thought before Wayne's World graced the screens of the ole' Super Saver. But after you've seen Wayne and Garth head banging to Bohemian Rhapsody (or as Barry Goldberg would call it, Rap City), there's no going back. All of a sudden, Classic Queen showed up in the theater's 5 disc changer, on rotation for an entire summer. I still remember at least three of the other albums - some Steve Miller Band's Greatest Hits, INXS X (the first CD, and if you opened in the morning, you knew you were on when you heard the beautiful opening notes of Suicide Blonde)...and Classic Queen. I don't remember the other two discs - there may have been a C&C Music Factory in there somewhere. But I digress... Listening to Classic Queen all summer was inspiring. "Under Pressure"? Holy cow - Vanilla Ice didn't write that hook (who knew?)! "A Kind of Magic"? Yes, indeed! "One Vision"? Wait, wait...was that the song from Iron Eagle? Damn straight! Doug and Chappy to the rescue! I even spent some of my hard earned cash on a used copy of the CD (to go with my new CD player that I got for graduation - no more BMG tapes for this guy!). That lead to Queen's Greatest Hits, with its matching red album cover. I HAD heard lots of this album - you didn't go to a sporting event in the 80s without "We will rock you" or "Champions". Some of it was out there - was I allowed to like "Fat Bottomed Girls"? "Radio Gaga" from Classic Queen was (and still is) really, really strange, but damn it's catchy. It was the summer of Queen, the soundtrack to my days and nights. It would soon be replaced by the soft strumming of Toad the Wet Sprocket (what is this new madness?) and my freshman roommate's penchant for classic Fleetwood Mac (how had I missed this??), but every so often I come back to Queen, and "One Vision" is still my go to ping pong song. All this to say, I hadn't listened to this album, although I feel like the cover is really famous. It was good. It was Queen, no doubt. Was it "Classic" or "Greatest Hits" Queen? Not by a long shot. But you can definitely hear what they will become. Now, back to work...Alexa, play "Under Pressure"....

early Queen kicks ass

Excellent

Absolutely loved Queen growing up, thinking about it I mainly listened to their greatest hits. As such most of this album was a discovery for me. More prog rocky than I associate with Queen and perhaps not their campy best but certainly enjoyable. 3.9

Não reconheci nenhum hit, mas sim a potência do rock pesado bem executado.

Definitely one of the most straightforward Queen albums. Solid quality, clean hard rock / heavy metal with some eccentric touches here and there, but nothing close to their later experimentation. It's good music, good musicianship, good songwriting. However, it simply isn't all that interesting (yet). It doesn't have any of my favorite Queen tracks on it (Sevens Seas Of Rhye is very good, but not quite a favorite) but on the positive it doesn't have any of their unfortunately horrendous hits either (like the horrible We Will Rock You or the even more horrible We Are The Champions *shudder). Wrapping up: good music, good album but by a band that definitely could and did do better.

Ok

14th October 2022 Listened throughout the day while working from home and on the west back from seeing Nick cave at the literature festival. I mean it’s Queen.

Kinda rocked with this one… decent 4

HL: “Father to Son”, “Seven Seas of Rhye”, basically the whole crazy 2nd half For some reason, of all the classic rock bands (Led, Floyd) I was big on as a kid/teenager, I never explored Queen’s catalogue like those other bands. Which means I went into this almost blind, and what a treat! If there’s one thing modern rock lacks, it’s fairies & ogres 👺 October 14, 2022

I think this is my fav queen album

I’m not really a big Queen fan except for those first few albums. Yes, even as a total weirdo, I prefer when they were a proto-metal band than their later theatrical leanings. I guess I’m just a metalhead first. But this stuff mostly rocks, and stays at a strong pace throughout. There are a couple of hints at their later influences which I’m mixed on, but it all mostly works for me. B

One of the albums that does not get a lot of love from the band or its fan, Queen ventures more into an era that many fans didn't expect: prog. There's a lot of nods to progressive rock tropes: fantasy, fast / complex riffs, bombast (ok, Queen always did THAT well anyway). There's always that one album by a band that just doesn't go over well, and the next album goes over huge. For Queen, it was this one which then made them go to "Sheer Heart Attack." Rush had it with "Caress of Steel" which then made them go to "2112." But this one has a lot of songs I always enjoyed: "Ogre Battle" and "Father To Son" are two pretty solid tracks. "See What A Fool I've Been" (a b-side) is a throwaway blues-y track, but they still make it fun. "As It Began" shows that they can do a nice gentle song, which they perfect in later pieces. In fact, a lot of other pieces seem to be staging pieces for what is to come. "Ogre Battle" is a precursor to "Brighton Rock," "The Loser In The End" a precursor to some of Roger Taylor's vocal work. So yeah, I dig this album a lot. It's an underappreciated album of theirs. I

Wow. You really have to listen to this album more than once to appreciate it. I'm not saying it's a stunner, but it's a real solid album. At some points it's almost as heavy as a Sabbath album, particularly the Black side which I like more than the White side. Father to Son (white) is a little softer (still good) in the first and last third but the middle third is almost as pulsing & heavy & awesome as Ogre Battle (black). The song transitions are almost seamless, which gives it a really cool, proggy feel despite the shorter song runtimes. It's a bit mystical at times, which is sometimes weird (less accessible) and yet sometimes wonderful. Funny how Seven Seas of Rhye was the lead single and is the only song anyone remembers from this album. It's good but lacks depth and is bested by others. This is an album whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

For a band transitioning into a different phase of their career, this shit is solid. 4 stars.

classic for a reason. Just really solid rock and roll. Seven Seas of Rhye has long been a favorite track from Queen.

classic operatic medieval prog-rock goodness

Awesome guitars played with reckless abandon while being conscious of making listenable melodies instead of carpet bombing us with notes. Retro synths galore! And of course, Freddie Mercury. Amazing and big vocal harmonies and creative, unpredictable chord progressions. Makes me want to listen to more Queen, I only know the hits. Hints or Beach Boys, and reminds me more than a bit of Radiohead even though they are very different and from different eras. The drums would sound great a bit bigger and with more modern production, but it is similar to the production of other albums of the era. This, and some of the songwriting sound experimental and dated, but nothing else sounds like Queen, and they were definitely trendsetters.

Mas bueno que malo Best song: The loser in the end Worst song: White Quenn (as it began) Calificacion: 79/100

A great listen. Busy day, no story attached

Very good, some song stand out more than others. I had to listen to it twice and will be listening to it more in the future.

Procession- intro song Father to son- Standard theatrical queen fare. Nice guitar solo White queen- interesting song with almost lady of shallot like qualities👍 Some day one day- a Brian May vocal. Quite twee The loser in the end - Roger Taylor song ö Quite heavy instrumental Ogre battle- fairytale tunes for quite a few songs now. Pretty novel and also good instrumental.👍 The fairy fellers master stroke- once you see the painting makes more sense. Very inventive to take inspiration from obscure painting👍 Nevernore- seamless transition. Short and Sweet👍 The march of the black queen - companion piece to the white queen from side 1 . Another impressively put together song👍 Funny how love is - very Sharp turn into Beatles b sidesesque. Quite grating Seven seas of rye- only song I've listened to before. Catchier than l remember👍 Second side of the record is much stronger, apart from penultimate song• All in all creative and listenable , concepts built upon in subsequent albums 4/5

¿Casualidad o algo planeado? En la semana del aniversario de Freddy Mercury nos tocan dos discos de Queen. Este es también muy bueno, pero obviamente no le llega a Nitght At The Opera. Sin embargo es muy interesante escuchar a un Queen tan conceptual y tan metido en hacer su música con sus temáticas sin importarles mucho qué y cuánto se va a vender. Mi favorita son White Queen y March of the Black Queen, pero Seven Seas of Rhye también tiene lo suyo.

Good but didn't fully engage me, worth more listens

Never listened to this album before, only know one song! Damn! It is about time I start listening to this album! The album starts with (Father To Son) that familiar Queen sound, heavy guitar riffs which is something I love in most of their songs. The album continues with a slow ballad with also familiar guitar riffs and classic guitar included. But then the album takes a turn with songs like Some Day One Day and The Loser In The End. The first song mentioned could be a song by the Beatles! Almost no trace of Queen present in the song. Loser In The End could've been a Bowie song also not really close one to home for Queen. I understand where people get the idea this was a concept like album. Time for side Black (instead of B side) as the band has called it. This is where the band (Freddy) brings back that familiar Queen sound. It starts off with Ogre Battle an almost musical style song. The next song, Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke follows suit to the previous song with the musical feeling. Que an unnoticeable transit to a short ballad, Nevermore, to finish off the scene. Time for some more typical Queen guitar action with March of The Black Queen, packed with awesome riffs, breath catching moments followed by more riff violence. Before the finale a rather cheesy almost filler like song called Funny How Love Is. Neither a mentionable intro and outro (slow fade out) Time for the last song, a well known one, Seven Seas of Rhye. Lovely song, although nowhere near my favorite song. Also the song is rather short and doesn't really feel like the finale of the album. Ofcoure not a requisite for a last song but this is Queen, with the most previous songs considered you'd expect something big at the end. Also this song was also featured on the 1st album, but I like this version better with the sailor chanting at the end. In conclusion, I like this album alot. Especially the Black side (the 2nd half) of the album

Good enough

This version of Queen is so much better than the version i knew before (the later version). Highlight is the march of the black queen.

Pleasantly surprised to find out, after all this time, that this is not the record with bohemian rhapsody. I may have honestly never listened to this record before. Drums are nice and full. Love the Zeppelin/Beatles/far east influences on Some Day One Day. Roger Taylor annihilates track 5. Absolutely the right choice on vocals to close out the A side.

All good I’ll n my book - the bombast, the orchestration, the fantasy world mumbo jumbo that holds this almost unique prominence in British heavy rock. Good clean fun.

I love early Queen. It's very different from the Queen popular culture knows and loves (I love it too). There is some heavier and progressive sounds that disappeared by the late 70s.

Much more rock and roll than I thought!

Queen, ale taki sobie

Solid and fun album. No songs I recognize, but its the album art that I was able to immediately recall (I think it was used in the movie promo or something). Hard to compare some of the lesser known tracks from a big band to other artists. What is a 4 for Queen could be different for someone else

Queen's second album, an improvement from the first, which was a sign of things to come. Though it's not a perfect album, it's respectable and good. 'Seven Seas of Rhye' is probably the best song on the album and feels the most lively. I'm a little surprised to find this album on here because, though it was important for the development of Queen's amazing sound, it doesn't necessarily stand out super well on its own. There are some solid songs throughout, but I feel as though later Queen albums did what this album tried to do but better. A solid 4 though.

Ot gave me a headache

Je sens un certain potentiel

attentes basses et très bon résultat

Great album

Love some queen! Had only heard the hits though

fdrxfdgdfgfdfgdfg

Never listened to this and really enjoyed it. Seems very weirdly geeky at times

Rocks a lot harder than I thought it would. Pompous and great.

much preferred to a night at the opera, without any real huge hits this still felt much more like classic queen

Sweet

Solid album as always from Queen.

Amazing. Given that there aren't any "greatest hits" types songs on this album, it is suprisingly easy to immediately get into an enjoy. Queen is pretty unlike anybody else... instant rock opera vibe, varied energy with lots of melody and drama.

Very good early Queen. Leans heavily on progressive rock influences, but also has a good dose of rock & roll. Interestingly I associate the cover art with the soon to come Bohemian Rhapsody. I don't think this album is nearly as good as Night at the Opera.

This album was not made by the Queen I know. While elements of their distinctive (and too Broadway for me) sound are in here this sounded a lot more like Led Zeppelin to me. I mean that as a compliment. This rocked really hard and it was cool how all of the songs flowed into each other. I did not know any of these songs before so this was an interesting listening experience for that reason. Would probably give it a 3.5 if I could.

Pretty good, especially May’s guitar of course. A lot of these songs, to me, are new. Quite Freddie “The reason we’re successful, darling? My overall charisma, of course.”

I've listened to at least a few full albums from Queen in addition to various verions of their greatest hits. I like a lot of Queen's music. This album reminded me more of their work on soundtracks like Flash Gordon or Highlander. The music on Queen II reaches into progressive rock and follows a theme throughout the album. Each track is well suited to the rest of the album. I enjoyed hearing something different from Queen. The driving energy of "Seven Seas of Rhye" made it the track I liked the most. Because the album is different, I could imagine listening again just to see what I missed the first time.

Didn't give it that close of a listen but generally it went hard

I'd only ever really listened to Sheer Heart Attack and onwards before - the only song I knew going in was Seven Seas of Rhye - so this was very unexpected. Much more of a prog and kind of heavy approach than I expected, almost like early Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin rather than the more iconic Queen sound. Really enjoyed this one!

Vraiment solide, pas tant de moment faible sur tout l'album, définitivement à réessayer

ogre battle is such an epic name for a song

Another interesting Queen album on the list, this is the 3rd I've come across so far and once again it's got no singles I'm familiar with. I enjoyed this, really leans into their signature guitar sound and applies the fast dynamic instrumentals into fantastical lyrics about ogres and fairies. The album flows nicely with songs leading straight into one another and had a consistent theme throughout. Overall a good listen.

I must admit I went through quite a big queen thing a year ago and I still am a fan of their works so it might sound a bit over positive in some aspects, so there’s a criticism, I think queen are thematically quite weak here only relying on fantasy tropes but at least it sticks to that concept: Procession isn’t really a song just a lead in to father to son but it’s done well. I love that guitar solo in father to son and then when they go back to the chorus it goes all angelic but it does drag on a bit at 6 minutes. White queen ( as it began) is the slowest one so far but the chorus still explodes in your face like any queen song would. I like the simple little guitar work on some day one day the only thing about this one is it’s quite an uninteresting listen in comparison to before as it doesn’t explode. The loser in the end is a really solid 70s rock tune I like may’s guitar work on this one good song! Now we go into side 2 ( side black) a much more rock side of queen. Ogre battle has to be up there for one of the best intros ever fine the lyrics are probably one of the worst so far being too stuck in fantasy but it’s still instrumentally so good that the lyrics don’t matter. The fairy fellers master stroke works so well coming off the explosion of ogre battle it has some of the best piano works in a rock song it’s not that long for queen but i think it does it favours. Nevermore is so short but i do like the build up on it’s song and I think it’s only a lead up to albums magnum opus march of the black queen a song that’s so pleasing in every aspect I just wish i was alive back then as this song would be awesome live even if some little bits like the bells were gone it’s almost like a precursor to bohemian rhapsody two albums later then march of the black queen goes into funny how love is if nevermore was the intro funny how love is is the outro to this saga and while probably my least favourite on the album it does provide a solid outro… But wait they have one more song to give remember after the Jesus song on queen 1 there was a short instrumental now that’s a full blown track seven seas of rhye it feels more like a bonus then the actual albums closer but it doesn’t matter it’s such a good song and makes the first 2 queen albums feel like a full duo of albums.

Pretty great album technically, all the instrumentation and vocal work is top notch. This is a concept album, and Queen really leans into the royalty/old timey crown theme. Of course they do it very well. I could see this being more of a niche record, where you have to be a Queen fan or a fan of the style to really LOVE it. Either way, it is good music.

Just a lot of hard rock fun. Queen's theatrics and wicked riffs make for a good time all around. Sometimes it doesn't have to be that deep.

Well this started out as rather well produced meh, but rapidly shuffled through to some prog rock, then into some heavy metal and then into to just good old fashioned rock. Genuinely quite surprised by it, but I suppose I shouldn't be. Excellent drums, guitars, bass - and who can say a single solitary thing bad about Freddie Mercury's voice? Cracking. Would I listen to it again, all the way through? Well no.

The fact that this isn't their "good" stuff is amazing. Incredible sounds of course.

Not the best Queen album but still good. Operatic influence on both vocals and chord progression is amazing. Most favourite tracks: White Queen(As It Began) The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke Nevermore The March Of The Black Queen Seven Seas Of Rhye

Very good stuff, queen is so talented

None of this was familiar to me, but I thought it had a lot of the same fun and energy I know from Queen's biggest songs.

The Contrast between May's songs and Mercury's songs is incredible. Side 1 of this album is a really good hard rock band trying to find their way for their sophomore release. Side 2 of this album is fucking Queen. Favorite Tracks: White Queen, All of Side 2

Weird hearing non-hits from Queen. Definitely some good and some meh on here. Were they still finding their sound?

Strong mood. Not many tea.

o ápice ainda estava por vir

very good

Ótimo!

You would think this album was made for an 80s video game

This was good but didn’t have a certified fresh banger

Camp and pomp and kitsch, which I love, but also genuine quality, thanks to May's prodigious gifts and Freddie's once in a generation voice. This album is just a breath short of greatness. But greatness is clearly coming.

Como una rock-opera de Queen. Ningún megahit. Un 4 por ser Queen.

4.5

Just like the Pogues yesterday. Queen are absolute legends. You can never go wrong with Queen.

classic queen

I have apparently only heard Queens hits, this was brand new to me and I'm pleasantly pleased that this came up. 4.5 for sure. I suspect Queen will carry it's ranking higher than it should, so rounding down today :)

Probably the first time I've listened to a Queen album front to back. This was much better than expected, more of a straight classic rock vibe with Queen's twist rather than something fully over the top.

2021.12.20

Not as good as the "best of Queen" albums I'm used to, but it is Queen.

7/10 I’m realizing that a whole album of Queen is just a lot to listen to, overall good though.

8/10. Pretty much what I expected. No songs especially stood out, but all were solid enough.

Pretty generic compared to later queen. 7/10

I like Queen. They’ve got a fun, clean feel. Their close harmonies are always a delight, even though they may sound a bit passe today. I prefer the glam to the hard, but that’s just my sexual preference. And the iconic album art is a perfect level of retro-cheese.

Oh my God. Third Queen album in a week. This earlier album is much heavier than what came after and I like it very much for that. Still has the sweeping Queen theatrics. Album flows really well. It's a fun ride. Oh man I wish Bowie had produced this!

Great rock album! What superb production for that time in their career. Great guitar work by May, and obviously vocal work by Mercury and the signature band harmonies. There’s a bit of a dip in the song quality in the 2nd half, but overall a great rock album. It is striking how underrated I feel they are as an inspiration to later metal.

Nice combo of progressive rock's weirdness and Queen's singing quirks and harmonies

This was a lot closer to something like metal than what I associate with Queen. It’s still very much Queen though and March of the black Queen sounds like a proto bohemian rhapsody. Good album. Fav songs: fairy-fellers master stroke, March of the black Queen

A fiery and dramatic record. Queen showcase both wit and hard-rock on this album. Not every track feels meaningful though. But the tracks that hit the mark do so effortlessly. Great album that I will check out again.

I had no idea Queen could sound like this.