QUEEN II

Queen II has a legendary respect-awaking album cover. Interestingly, Queen II has songwriting split into the May's first side and Mercury's second. Since 1973, the band evolved in terms of sophistication, ambitions and songwriting. They slowly start going beyond conventional rock and explore other territories like folk, classical music, glam rock and prog. The start is on an elegant note with May's guitar layers. After that you would expect a hard-rock number by May but what comes is a soft-rock beginning with vocal harmonies which at 2:30 evolves into a hard-rock wilderness thanks to busy drumming and raw riffing. "White Queen" is a magnificent ballad with some mellow (acoustic and/or jazz guitar sounding) and loud instrumentation. Would be interesting to hear the author (May) sing it as it seems to be personal. Then comes a folk-rock tune which is a bit monotonous but suits May's vocal well. Taylor has an improved contribution (over their previous album) with a really memorable drum intro, modestly interesting melody and decent singing. Though it's a slow track, guitar riffing and decoration keeps it in the realm of hard rock. The first Mercury penned "Ogre Battle" has plenty of great riffing and a particularly well done instrumental intro with waves of guitar attacks. One of the heaviest tracks in the band's catalogue.

The first really eclectic almost ingenious track is a short "The Fairy Fellers Master-Stroke" with incredibly rich vocals, songwriting surprises and a masterful melody reminding me of classical music and it could have been connected to the following "Nevermore".

The flagship on this album is depicted in the "March of the black queen". It used to be my favourite album track but in the course of years I think it is not as creative as some other tracks here because it merely combines typical Queen licks like melodic guitar soloing, bombastic moments and crescendos. Either you've heard them before or you'll hear them on following Queen albums recycled (Bohemian Rhapsody, Killer Queen etc.). Despite that, it can be considered the first Queen mini-opera.

The last tracks are of average quality but won't bite you.

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