QUEEN II

This is not entirely prog rock, however most if not all prog rock fans will like it. If you like Uriah Heep, you will probably love this album. It starts off with the awesome instrumental Procession, in which May's guitar sounds a bit like an organ (to me, anyways). This leads into the awesomeness that is Father to Son, one of the best on the album. It features great melodies and lyriocs, along with some heavy guitar riffs. The lyrics are a bit fantasy- based, which I love. Whit Queen (As it Began) is my all time favorite Queen song, both from this album and overall. it features a moody acoustic intro, then an awesome acoustic guitar solo, then it comes in with what one reviewer up there called a Guitar Orchestra which I think is a perfect description. Some Day One Day, while it may geta tad boring after repeated listenings, is a great little ballad, with great lyrics and vocals from Brian May. The Loser in the End closes the white side of the album perfectly, with all its rocking goodness and great vocals from Roger Taylor.

Side Two, The Black Side, opens up with the epic fantasy metal of Ogre Battle, with its superb lyricss, vocals, guitar riffs, and just terrific playing from everyone. This segues into harpsichord driven weird medievalness of Fairy-Feller's Master Stroke, which gets a bit goofy at times, though not enough to ruin the song. Its a good listen, and it leads into Nevermore, a great piano ballad with great lyrics and melodies. Then comes the epic prog (metal) of March of the black Queen, which I find to be a bit overrated. The heavy parts are good, and the beginning is terrific, but some of the parts are rather goofy, but they aren't terrible. Its a good song though, and is placed perfectly on the album. The dark mood of the album is lightened by the extremely catchy pop tune, Funny How Love is, which is a great, although it may be the worst on here. The album closes with the uplifting but hard rocking piano/heavy metal guitar marriage that is the Seven Seas of Rhye. This song si very progressive, and it just dominates all others.

So all in all, not strictly prog stuff on here, but a good amount of it is. Highlights are Procession/Father to Son, White Queen (As it Began), Ogre Battle/Fairy Feller's Master Stroke/Nevermore, and The Seven Seas of Rhye. Although the other songs are great too.