1001 Albums Summary

Excited to listen to a Queen album that I've never heard before (besides Seven Seas of Rhye) but ultimately disappointed. Procession and Father to Son were strong starts, but White Queen caused things to drag quite a bit and that continued through the end of Side A. Side B is much more my speed, with The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke and The March of the Black Queen being stand outs. Ultimately, the album is less accessible than the Queen I'm more familiar with. Brian May's guitar tone is explosive as always, and the moments he combines with Freddie's vocals tend to be the strongest for me on the album. 3/5

The album started slow for me, but really picked up with Criminal, which is a 10/10 song. All timer. Slow Like Honey and The First Taste were also incredible. From there, the album stepped down a bit, but was still fantastic. I think what I enjoyed most about this album is how cohesively schizophrenic it seemed. The production is all over the place, but somehow makes a clear picture when viewed together. I really loved it. Looking at Wikipedia, I'm somehow shocked that Van Dyke Parks is responsible for the strings, but it also makes complete sense. A lot to revisit here. Great album.