Queen II - QUEEN*****

Procession/Father To Son/White Queen (As It Began)/Some Day One Day/The Loser In The End/Ogre Battle/ The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke/Nevermore/The March Of The Black Queen/Funny How Love Is/Seven Seas Of Rhye

Queen II achieved the commercial breakthrough for the creative rock band Queen fronted by the flamboyant vocalist Freddie Mercury. Features the UK top ten hit single Seven Seas Of Rhye. (US:49 UK:5)

“Perhaps eager to prove that they were more than a straight-ahead rock group Queen II was an exceptional flight of fantasy full of colour and drama. Queen fused together their hearty tales with fine musicianship that formed a complete cohesive work.”

“Queen have always been amazing in the studio. The way that they record their instruments and their vocals, and layer them over each other in a thousand ways, to get the sound onto their albums in the way that they do is remarkable.”

“Another fantastic, underrated Queen album that shows they weren't all radio-friendly hits. It is full of great, heavy, epic tracks, showcasing the band's penchant for theatrical arena rock. Mercury's voice is once again impeccable.”

“Another strong album from Queen, oozing bombast and reverb from every pore. The first five or so songs are mostly composed by Brian May about emotional and passionate topics of one sort or another. The second half consists of six heavy prog tracks written by Freddie Mercury, who indulges his love of fantasy to the hilt.”

“The music sits somewhere between theatrical rock, progressive rock and hard rock. A really eclectic mix of music styles and ideas, the musicianship is outstanding throughout. Convincing and adventurous instrumental delivery by all involved and out of this world vocals by Freddie Mercury.”

“It has everything that made Queen awesome: insanely tight arrangements, ridiculously over the top vocals and just a pure joy in trying everything once. Add some prog in the Queen pot and you get Queen II.”

“The album frequently contrasts dark and light, elegant and naughty, with brash and soft moments, added to the hyper-complexity of the arrangements which still leave room for ethereal, angelic melodies and vocal harmonies, all in Queen's unique, classicism-drenched style. All this makes for a tantalizing, spellbinding wonder.”