QUEEN II

Queen's second album brought us what is probably in my opinion the most complete and best composed album of the quartet. Just 8 months after the release of the first album of the group, we find a compositional maturity and suddenly before one of the most relevant moments in terms of the musical value of his work.

The white side (A) shows four compositions of Brian May, in a striking creative maturity, starting with the dreary and deep Procession, with that guitar so characteristic of May, the almost confessional and melancholy Father to Son, White Queen and Some Day One Day, with the guitarist singing and demonstrating that not only a guitar master. The white side ends with Loser in the End, composed and sung by drummer Roger Taylor, his compositional contribution to the album.

But the best version of the group, would appear in a superlative way on the black side (b), which finds its climax from the beginning of the side with the super rocker Ogre Battle with a clean and clear Mercury vocal record, giving clear signs of power his privileged voice, going through the dynamic and convoluted The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke, the minute and seconds of Mercury on piano playing the wonderful Nevermore with the coral funds towards the end of it, and ending with what could clearly consider the proud predecessor of Bohemian Rhapsody, the extraordinary The March of The Black with its choral passages, the power of Brian May's guitar and his infinite and dramatic changes of time in his 6 minutes that pass like a sigh between the rise and fall of nuances. Funny How Love is followed, a correct version, and the side concludes with the most popular song on the album, Seven seas of Rhye. All the compositions on this side are the work of Freddie Mercury, demonstrating not only his extraordinary voice but also his ability as a composer.

A fact to highlight and that gives even more value to the album, is the non-inclusion of synthesizers, where the recreated sounds respond to elements developed with guitar effects. Over time Queen included the use of synthesizers.

Queen II has not aged, and is a clear example of its value, 45 years later. Recommended for those who wish to explore Queen's mother music beyond their great successes of the late 70's and 80's.