QUEEN II

I can't say I was looking forward to spending time with this cd but this has turned out to be a nice surprise. I actually only got this a couple of years ago when my daughter was getting rid of her cd collection and gave me first crack at it. Might have got ten or so including this one. "II" is very consistent which I like. I feel like I grew up with this band but they were never a friend, more like an acquaintance that would frequent the same parties as I.

The two things that made this band great, the guitar of May and vocals of Mercury just didn't jive with me. And back then for me the lead guitarist and the vocalist were the two most important band members and I just never liked May's tone, he uses a coin for a pick. So gifted too. Freddie hits all kinds of octaves like Demetrios Stratos but in both cases I struggle to enjoy such vocal exploits. But hearing and loving many songs on the radio made me respect them I just never bought their music in real time. There were a few songs that I really disliked as well, again all from the radio for me.

And in the liner notes "...and nobody played synthesizer...again" makes me smile because I was all for no synths back then and to a point still feel this way. It was also interesting to see them show the cover arts for the single "Seven Seas Of Rhye" in the liner notes of this 1991 re-issue I have with four versions shown all different from Germany, The Netherlands, Japan and Yugoslavia. After that brief one minute intro track this recording starts very strong with four straight killer tunes. I like "March Of The Black Queen" on the second half as well, a strong top five right there.

As good as advertised, their best, and a solid 4 stars