Queen II is the second studio album by the British rock band Queen. It was released on March 8, 1974 by EMI Records in the UK and Elektra Records in the US. It was recorded at Trident Studios and Langham 1 Studios, London, in August 1973 with co-producers Roy Thomas Baker and Robin Geoffrey Cable, and engineered by Mike Stone. It is significant for being the first album to contain elements of the band’s signature sound of multi-layered overdubs, vocal harmonies, and varied musical styles.
Described as “arguably the heaviest Queen album”, Queen II marked the end of the first phase of the band’s career. The album combines a heavy rock sound with art rock and progressive rock elements, and has been called “a pillar of grandiose, assaultive hard rock” by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Queen II is a concept album set in the same medieval faery-realm as their first album, following a royal line’s magical battle against forces of darkness. The two sides of the original LP were labelled “Side White” and “Side Black” (instead of the conventional sides A and B), with corresponding photos of the band dressed in black on the front cover and white on the inner gatefold. The white side has songs with a more emotional theme and the black side is almost entirely about fantasy, often with quite dark themes. Mick Rock‘s cover photograph was frequently re-used by the band throughout its career, including the music videos for the songs “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975) and “One Vision” (1985).
Released to an initially mixed critical reception, Queen II remains one of the band’s lesser-known albums. Nonetheless, it has retained a cult following since its release, and garnered praise from critics, fans, and fellow musicians alike.
Rather than the conventional Side 1 and Side 2, the album was split into “Side White” and “Side Black”, dominated by May and Mercury compositions respectively. Although some have interpreted it as a concept album, Queen biographer Georg Purvis stated that it is “not a concept album but a collection of songs with a loose theme running throughout.” Mercury later confirmed this in a 1976 Sounds interview, citing that “it just evolved to where there was a batch of songs that could be considered aggressive, or a Black Side, and there was a smoother side”.
The “White” side is very diverse: four of the five numbers were composed by Brian May, one of which is an instrumental. Freddie Mercury sings two songs; May sings one; and Roger Taylor sings the closing track, which is his only composition on the album. John Deacon played acoustic guitar on “Father to Son” in addition to normal duties on bass guitar. Mercury composed and sang all six songs on the “Black” side.
Rock photographer Mick Rock was engaged to create the album’s artwork. In Rock’s words, the band wanted to “graft some of (the trademark) decadent ‘glam’ sensibility” of his previous work with artists such as David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed. According to Rock, Queen were looking to grab people’s attention with the cover, especially since their first album had failed to do so. “They realised that if you could catch people’s eyes you could get them interested in the music.”
Tracklist:
Side White
A1. Procession
A2. Father To Son
A3. White Queen (As It Began)
A4. Some Day One Day
A5. The Loser In The End
Side Black
B1. Ogre Battle
B2. The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke
B3. Nevermore
B4. The March Of The Black Queen
B5. Funny How Love Is
B6. The Seven Seas Of Rhye
Queen
Freddie Mercury: lead vocals (2, 3, 6–11), backing vocals (2–4, 6–11), piano (7–11), harpsichord (7)
Brian May: electric guitar (all), backing vocals (2, 4, 6–11), acoustic guitar (2–5, 10), lead vocals (4), bells (9), piano (2)
Roger Taylor (credited as Roger Meddows-Taylor): drums (all but 8), backing vocals (2, 4–11), lead vocals (5), additional vocals (9), gong (3, 6), marimba (5), tambourine (2, 11) percussion
John Deacon: bass guitar, acoustic guitar (2)
Additional personnel
Roy Thomas Baker: production, castanets (7), stylophone (11)
Robin Geoffrey Cable: production
Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991)
