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Rating: Less than a month after the release of the first chapter, the Queen return to the studio to start throwing down the material that will end up on their second album. The UK charts fully embrace the debut mostly made of reminiscences of the beginnings, leaving the second chapter with the difficult task of bringing out the quality music that they had in mind, which was just waiting to be played. The operational base is still the Trident Studios in Soho, where the four musicians pour themselves into creating a work reflecting a further step forward compared to the previous record, both in terms of integrity and musical innovation. The two months granted by the record label are invested prioritizing experimentation, also based on a certain progressive awareness that has always been part of the band’s personal learning journey.
The regal notes of "Procession" gently lead us into listening to "Father To Son", a track where the powerful introduction allows through the see-sawing atmospheres propelled by Mercury's voice, a journey into a musical whirlpool made of classic and modern elements intertwined into one. For "White Queen (As it Began)", the creative vein of the young guitarist May leans towards a melody that captivates instantly, just like the sultry vocal interpretation capable of stirring emotions with simplicity. A certain relaxation of atmosphere is brought by the alluring flow of "Some Day, One Day" (sung by May) which, alongside the urban rock of "The Loser in the End" composed and performed by the drummer Roger Taylor, guides us to the end of the White Side. The fury of "Ogre Battle" is a true restart in every sense and brings us back to sustained rhythms, showcasing those vocal harmonies capable of evolving and becoming one of the band’s trademarks.
An album that, as one listens further, does not decrease in tone in the slightest and does not show even a moment of fatigue. A sequence of tracks that manages to happily merge the diverse creative souls of a cluster of (barely) budding musicians, able to best express the need to be essential without lacking originality. And if it is originality that emerges once more in the theatrical "The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke" where, through dizzying vocal acrobatics, the characters of the famous painting by Richard Dadd are described by art-student Mercury, in "The March of the Black Queen", prepared by the touching "Nevermore", one can savor a masterful pot-pourri of sound that at first might appear as a slow song with predominantly operatic traits, not hiding a certain glam taste either. The wistful "Funny How Love Is" which nods to the sunniness of the Beach Boys, leads us straight to the grandeur of "Seven Seas of Rhye" that closes a second side conceived entirely by the brilliant inclination of a singer skillfully out of the ordinary.
It is the record where all tracks are an expression of a deep yet singular artistic vein, simultaneously presenting itself as the epitome of a luxurious and imaginative combination between a fresh and immediate sound and operatic opulence, which no one had yet brought to life. The volume of the instrumental competence of the four is even more amplified, considering the embellishments of vocal overdubs and that multitrack recordings contribute, without ever indulging in self-admiration or vainglory. A concept album where between a white and a black side, the eternal struggle between good and evil unfolds, to which the skilful hands of the young Roy Thomas Baker contribute a balance, in a modern form of rock which has nevertheless made good use of the past.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
05 The Loser in the End (04:03)
Mama's got a problem
She don't know what to say
Her little baby boy
Has just left home today
She's got to be the loser in the end
She's got to be the loser in the end
Misuse her and you'll lose her as a friend
She's ma on whom you can always depend ooh
She washed and fed and clothed and cared
For nearly twenty years
And all she gets is Goodbye Ma
And the night times for her tears
She's got to be the loser in the end
She's got to be the loser in the end
Misuse her and you'll lose her as a friend
She's ma on whom you can always depend ooh
So listen mothers ev'rywhere
To just one mothers son
You'll get forgotten on the way
If you don't let them have their fun
Forget regrets and just remember
It's not so long since you were young
You're bound to be the loser in the end
You're bound to be the loser in the end
They'll chose their new shoes
That's not far to bend
You're ma on whom they can always depend ooh ooh
06 Ogre Battle (04:07)
Words and music by Freddie Mercury
Now once upon a time
An old man told me a fable
When the piper is gone
And the soup is cold on the table
And if the black crow flies
To find a new destination
That is the sign
Come tonight
Come to the ogre site
Come to the ogre battle fight
He gives a great big cry
And he can swallow up the ocean
With a mighty tongue he catches flies
And the palm of his hand incredible size
One great big eye has to focus in your direction
Now the battle is on
Yeah yeah yeah!
Come tonight
Come to the ogre site
Come to the ogre battle fight
Ah ah ah ah ah
The ogre men are still inside
The two way mirror mountain
You gotta keep down
Right out of sight
You can't see in but they can see out
Keep a look out
The ogre men are coming out
From the two way mirror mountain
They're running up behind
And they're coming all about
Can't go east 'cause you gotta go south
Ogre men are going home
The great big fight is over
Bugle blow let trumpet cry
Ogre battle lives for ever more
You can come along
You can come along
Come to ogre battle
08 Nevermore (01:26)
There's no living in my life anymore
The seas have gone dry and the rain stopped falling
Please don't you cry anymore
Can't you see?
Listen to the breeze, whisper to me please
Don't send me to the path of nevermore
Even the valleys below,
Where the rays of the sun were so warm and tender,
Now haven't anything to grow
Can't you see?
(Nevermore nevermore)
Why did you have to leave me?
(Nevermore nevermore)
Why did you deceive me?
You send me to the path of nevermore
When you say you didn't love me anymore
(Aah aah)
Nevermore, aah
Nevermore
11 Seven Seas of Rhye (02:49)
Fear me, you lords and lady preachers
I descend upon your earth from the skies
I command your very souls, you unbelievers
Bring before me what is mine
The seven seas of Rhye
Can you hear me, you peers and privy councilors
I stand before you naked to the eyes
I will destroy any man who dares abuse my trust
I swear that you'll be mine
The seven seas of Rhye
(Sister) I live and lie for you
(Mister) do and I'll die
You are mine, I possess you
Belong to you forever (Ever, ever, ahh)
Storm the master marathon I'll fly through
By flash and thunder fire I'll survive
(I'll survive, I'll survive) Then I'll defy the laws of nature
And come out alive
(Then I'll get you)
Begone with you you shod and shady senators
Give out the good, leave out the bad evil cries
I challenge the mighty Titan and his troubadours
And with a smile
I'll take you to the seven seas of Rhye
I'd like to be beside the seaside
I'd like to be beside the sea
Where the brass drums play
I'd like to be beside the seaside
I'd like to be beside the sea
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Other reviews
By 3poundsoflove
Queen II is indeed one of the albums to be rediscovered and considered as a true and legitimate masterpiece of rock with dark and sepulchral tones.
The March of the Black Queen encapsulates all, I say all, the band’s poetics, in a single, elusive, infinite song.
By Peppe Weapon
One of the most underrated rock works in history.
Those who hate Queen should listen to this album.
By CRITIC-MUSIC
Freddie was and still is 90% of the band’s success.
‘The March of the Black Queen’ is, in my opinion, the most beautiful song in the history of rock!
By Walterstarman1
Queen II is one of the most well-crafted and creative albums ever.
Explosion of guitar, explosion of voice, triumph of choruses. The closure is melancholy 'As it began'. Goosebump-inducing song, excellent piece.
By Starblazer
"'Queen II' is a record full of hard rock and baroque, surreal, and fairy-tale atmospheres."
"I consider it Queen's masterpiece, even more than 'Bohemian Rhapsody.'"
