Queen - Queen II

Virtually flawless

There are more good songs on this album than most bands write in their entire careers. I am quite partial to early Queen, and this is some of their better early work. If you like hard rock, this is as good as it gets. June 19, 2008

Good instrumentation, but the tracks just didn't bowl me over

Looking back at the 1970s, sometimes many forget how big the band Queen was. Even as Queen moved into the 1980s, while their popularity did slightly decline in the United States, it continued to be very high in Europe. Their performance at Live Aid is widely considered one of the greatest of all-time and their subsequent "Magic" tour is considered one of the all-time greatest concert tours. If it weren't for Freddie Mercury's death in 1992, we might still be talking about Queen being as big a band as the Beatles. When Queen released their 1973 self titled debut album, it showed all of the signs of greatness to come. This album would show how the band embraced a "theatrical" feel to their music (which was something seen by other bands such as the Kinks) as well as embrace a sound which would evolve into what would become Heavy Metal. I expected the follow-up album, "Queen II" to continue much of what "Queen" had started. While "Queen II" continues down the road of theatrical music, overall this album just didn't capture my interest as much as the first album. This review may not make many core Queen fans happy - but while there is some good music on this collection, I just wasn't bowled over.

Queen is an example of the sum of the parts actually being greater than the whole. However, if you take each of the four members of Queen, they easily stand on their own as a top musician in their profession. Freddie Mercury is easily known to be the emotional and flamboyant lead vocalist of Queen who indeed has a legendary voice. Brian May is the legendary lead guitarist and probably the second most popular member of the band. Roger Taylor and John Deacon go extremely underrated. Listen to Taylor's thundering drumming in the studio or live and one can easily understand why he was asked to participate in an All Star Drum Jam (The S.O.S. All-Stars) at the Live Earth concert. As for John Deacon, he might be one of music's all-time underrated bass players. Many of his bass lines have proven to be the foundation for Queen's musical sound. In addition to being top musicians, all four members play integral roles in the songwriting. Although I don't rate this as one of Queen's better albums, one cannot argue about the quality of the instrumentation by the band.

Here is a track by track synopsis of the collection.:

"Procession": This is a short instrumental to start the album. It has a theatrical theme. I believe the majority of this is recorded by Brian May on the guitar. It has a nice segue to "Father to Son".

"Father to Son": This is one of the better tracks on the album. It continues the theatrical feel from "Procession". I particularly felt that Roger Taylor's drums stood out on this particular track, but Brian May's guitar takes center stage toward the end. The lyrics "Kings will be crowned" set a medieval theme to this album. The medieval theme was something that also was found on the debut "Queen" album.

"White Queen (As it Began)": This is one of those tracks where I appreciated the instrumentation, but the song didn't carry me. Most particularly it's May's guitar work that intrigued me - as it took on a Middle-Eastern sound.

"Some Day One Day": Brian May has proven to be a good vocalist and this track is one great example of it. This is a pretty good song - although it deviates from the theatrical theme. May also does a terrific job at integrating electric and acoustic guitar sounds with the end result being outstanding.

"The Loser in the End": This track showcases Roger Taylor's vocals. Taylor has proven he can showcase high vocal ranges. While I like Taylor's vocals on this track and this track has its good moments, I'll say this still falls short of being a great track.

"Ogre Battle": The album returns to its theatrical roots with Freddie Mercury on lead vocals. The beginning of the track showcases some of the heavy metal sound that was found on "Queen". Good track, just didn't capture my imagination.

"Fairy Feller's Master Stroke": This track is all about Mercury as he showcases his incredible vocal talents. The track has a full theatrical feel to it. Again, while I Iiked Mercury's vocals, the track just didn't do much for me.

"Nevermore": This is a short track. It has a theatrical feel to it. Taylor and May provide background vocals to Mercury's lead on this one.

"The March of the Black Queen": Another theatrical-styled track and might be one of the most theatrical sounding compositions by the band. I believe the end of this track was re-used in the classic Queen composition, "Bohemian Rhapsody".

"Funny How Love Is": I liked this track. In particular the chorus really is catchy. I like how Mercury slowly changes his vocal range as this track goes on. Like many of the other tracks, there is a theatrical element.

"Seven Seas of Rhye": On Queen's first album, this was an instrumental that was basically incomplete. Like the first album, this song is also the last track of the album - however this time the band adds lyrics to it. The more complete version definitely outshines the version found on the original Queen album. This is a very unique example on how a band evolves a song.

Overall this was not a bad collection, but I wouldn't rank this as one of the stronger Queen albums. You will continue to see the great instrumentation of the band. While there are some good tracks, overall this album just did not have me doing handstands. Core Queen fans will really like this collection, however casual Queen fans might want to consider some of the band's other work before this album. June 8, 2008

Queen's progressive concept album

There are many Queen fans who absolutely worship this album. While I certainly agree that it has many fine moments, the "progressive" conceptual ideas of the album kind of box them in. The trademark layered production is certainly here, but the album lacks the incredible variety of styles that would turn up on "Sheer Heart Attack" and "A Night at the Opera." The album opens with a brief instrumental, then heads into the folk-rock singalong of "Father to Son." Split pretty evenly between Brian May and Freddie Mercury-penned songs (with Roger Taylor adding one), I'd have to say Mercury definitely has the stronger batch here, especially with the classic "Seven Seas of Rye" and the brief but effective tearjerker "Nevermore." Many of these songs are fantastical in nature, so if you're into dueling queens, fairies, and ogres, you may love this album a bit more than I do. Still, it's a fairly strong album, and definitely ahead of its time production-wise. May 25, 2008

Perfection

After listening to Queen Greatest Hits II in an audio cassette I thought Queen was a truly special band and decided to buy all of their albums. At the time it was as huge step to me because the money to buy a record was a really big issue.

Queen II was the 2nd Queen album that I bought (and the 3rd in my life), and I was terribly disappointed after listening to it. I just found a group of songs with no melody at all and a sound with no shape. I felt Queen was not the great band I thought it was and I wanted my money back.

It took me some weeks to like this CD and many many months just to start seeing all the infinite perfection, beauty and complexity that this album is. Even now (years after) I found that this wonderful piece of art keeps growing and growing in me and I never finish to understand it fully.

Many things has happened / changed in my life since Queen II touched my ears (and my soul) for the first time. Musically speaking, now I mostly listen avant garde and progressive music and I have found incredible pieces out there, but nothing ever surpassed Queen II.

Queen II its not music, Queen II is not just the best album of the best band, it's much more than that, its something that goes far away from any genre or description, it is just perfection, something that only God is supposed to create.

Thanks to Brian, Freddie, John and Roger for this... March 4, 2008

A Serious Work

This is the only Queen album where the tongue in cheek humor makes no appearence, the affect of this is important.
This is their most dramatic and emotional album.
That could be a bad thing, sometimes revisiting Queens music one must admit it is a bit bombastic, sometimes a little too precious and self important.The transformation that punk brought to the musical worldview threatens to marginalise any music of this genre...
The thing is, this is so damn good.
The boys are almost mining King Crimson terrain here.
Musicianship, originality and conviction peak for the band right here! Buy this forgotten masterpiece! February 16, 2008

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