QUEEN II

Not content with a scorching debut album, Queen returned in 1974 with a truly masterful album. The two sides of Queen II were subtitled Side White and Side Black, and the album was divided roughly along those lines with Brian May penning almost all of Side White (drummer Roger Taylor wrote and sang The Loser In The End) and Freddie Mercury enjoying all of Side Black to himself.

What this potentially divisive move did was produce an amazing album that brims over with great progressive music. From the opening beats of the instrumental Procession to the closing singalong that concludes the amazing fantasy single Seven Seas Of Rhye, Queen II will have you on the edge of your seat. May has two wonderful tunes in the hard-rocking Father To Son and the incredibly moving White Queen (As It Began) which has some tear- jerking moments on guitar. As if to counter the power of White Queen, he handles lead vocals for the first time in the charming but relatively forgettable Some Day One Day (You've never heard my song before, the music was too loud" he sings) before The Loser In The End closes Side White.

Mercury's side goes even further, with some of Queen's greatest ever songs. The ultra- agressive fantasy metal piece Ogre Battle fairly takes one's breath away with amazing vocals, lyrics and powerful guitar-riffing from May. It's followed by the harpischord driven curiousity The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke which segues into a really beautiful but incredibly brief piano ballad Nevermore. All this is then topped by The March Of The Black Queen (which I believe stands alongside My Fairy King, Father To Son, The Prophet's Song and Bohemian Rhapsody as Queen's great prog epics). A dark-piano driven multi-part piece, it has all the hallmarks, fantasy lyrics, outstanding harmony vocals, twists and turns that range from storming hard rock to music hall choruses (dance with the devil, beat with the band, ahh!) . Funny How Love Is provides a little bit of light relief before the glorious Seven Seas Of Rhye (which offers a lesson in how to do a prog masterpiece in less then 3 minutes) closes one of the outstanding, underrated albums in prog. ... 93% on the MPV scale