As was related in the episode in Season 5 of this podcast on Queen’s debut album, the delay in its release meant that the band had already moved on from those songs by the time it was released, and had already not only been writing new material but playing new material in their live sets. The first recording sessions for this album actually came less than a month after the first album’s final release, such was the desire of the band to move on from that experience and begin creating even more elaborate and complex songs that their first experience in the studio had been incapable of producing.
Having spent their time on the debut album recording in off hours of Trident Studios to save on costs, this time the band insisted on being able to use the studio during more regular hours. They also had a number of songs already written, but because of their complexity, and the desire of the band to make sure that they were given the time they deserved, they had held them back to be recorded at a time when they had greater freedom to express themselves in the studio, something they had created for themselves with the delivery of that first album.
Recording took place over a number of months, interspersed with short tours in support of bands such as Mott the Hoople as well as their own shows. Their record company wanted to hold back the release as long as possible, as the debut album had only come out recently in some territories and they did not want to overlap the sales of that album with the release of the follow up. It became one of the most ambitious projects of the band’s career, providing such a unique collection of tracks and wall of sound recording techniques that it not only inspired a new generation of recording artists with its sound, but found a fan base that accepted its virtues without really being sure of how they felt about it.
The band's little gimmick for this album was that rather than have the album with Side A and Side B, they chose to have Side White and Side Black, which also had differing personalities of the music as a result. The White side of the album was almost completely composed by Brian May, apart from the last song which was composed by Roger Taylor, while the Black side was completely composed by Freddie Mercury. It’s interesting that they claimed that this was because of the style of music rather than the composer, something that would surprise those that know the style of music each artist preferred to write.
After opening with the instrumental piece "Procession" the album moves into "Father and Son". There are so many pieces to this song that it is hard sometimes to take it all in. There are the quiet, slower parts where the piano or acoustic guitar may be playing, with Freddie's mellow voice singing his sweet vocals over the top, and other pieces where Roger's drums and Brian's guitar crash in and play in an almost heavy metal way, before coming to a conclusion in a more typical Queen type atmosphere. There's a bit of everything here, and it is not the only song that has this. "White Queen (As It Began)" was apparently written some years earlier by Brian, and once again mixes a multitude of guitars and slightly heavier moments with greater moments of acoustic guitars and of reflection from Freddie. It is interesting listening to these songs given Brian’s and Roger’s preference for more uptempo and guitar/drum invested hard rock. "Some Day One Day" is another of Brian's songs, the first to have Brian on lead vocals for the entire song. Again, the acoustic guitars dominate, while another mix of many electrified guitars punctuate through the middle and end of the song. The closing song of the White side is Roger's "The Loser in the End", on which he also sings lead vocal throughout. I always enjoy Roger’s contributions to Queen albums, and when he sings lead vocal as he does here it adds to the depth of the album.
The Black side of the album continues the rare mix of acoustic and electrified timing changes along with the multi-layered instrumentalising that preceded it, but perhaps with a greater frenzy. "Ogre Battle" would be a case in point. The beginning of the song is actually the end of the song in reverse, before bursting into a heavy drum beat and guitar riff from Brian and John. Freddie and Roger's vocal melodies scream over the top, while the middle of the song is a cacophony of guitars and Freddie 'ogre' screams. An ogre battle indeed, this ranks as one of Queen's heaviest songs. This then segues into "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke", by which Freddie was inspired by the painting of the same name by Richard Dadd. The chaotic and frenetic qualities of the song could be accurately portrayed by the painting itself, which surprisingly when you look at it you can feel the way Freddie wrote this song. Terrific. Another segue moves into "Nevermore", another quieter and soothing song following the energy that has been used in the previous two tracks. This short break is then followed by "The March of the Black Queen", where the sound levels are cranked up again, unleashing the boundaries of Queen's every resource. Fast and heavy drums and guitars mix with quiet vocal melodies over acoustic guitar, and multi layered guitars and vocals blend into piano driven choirs of tunes. As they were to do again in the future with similar success, several different pieces of music has been fused together to create a spectacular piece. This is still an amazing song, and when you listen to it you can understand why it just couldn’t be reproduced to be played live on stage. It is a production in itself, a song that for a band’s second album is truly remarkable. "Funny How Love Is" follows this, built around a wall of multi-tracked vocals, piano and guitar, with Freddie's lead standing out at the front of the song. To complete the album is the brilliant and timeless "Seven Seas of Rhye", now in its completed form with lyrics, after an uncompleted section appeared on their first album. This was the only single lifted from the album and was the band's first Top Ten single in the UK.
For those who are paying attention to my Queen album retrospectives, you already know that my discovery of Queen came by the radio singles, and then the arrival of “The Works”, which recently received its own episode here on this podcast. And it wasn’t for a few years after that moment that I went back to listen to all of the albums from the 1970’s rather than concentrate on the “Greatest Hits” album and the “Live Killers” album. And it is fair to say that when I got around to “Queen II” for the first time, it was completely different from anything I expected. And it still is today. There’s no ‘singles’ being written for radio airplay here. This is an album that utilises every recording technique that can be found in the studio (no synths though! - that much is made clear in the linear notes). The songs rise and fall, fade and then bounce back hard in your face. Guitar on guitar on guitar, vocals layered time and again. A cacophony of sound, coming at you out of the speakers. It was all a lot to take in those first number of times I listened to the album, and perhaps it isn’t a surprise that it didn’t grab me at first. In fact, it took quite a while to grow on me. I went through much of the remainder of the band’s catalogue, and knowing what I liked and didn’t like, before I finally settled on “Queen II” again, and listened to it again. And, perhaps finally, having it on my stereo, and just sitting back and appreciateing it rather than playing the album while doing other things, and looking to radio songs to sing along to, is where I found my goal. The amazing way the band has constructed the album, to appreciate their incredible musicianship throughout, and enjoy the way the songs opened themselves out. Yes, it really did take me some time to get this album, but once I did, I discovered something unique and special, something that in the years since has allowed me to marvel at this album along with those who have always marveled at its wondrous sounds.
Along with the debut album that followed it, “Queen II” was the opening act of Queen’s career, as they experimented with their own influences to make a sound that was uniquely theirs, something with which they succeeded. From “Sheer Heart Attack” onwards there was a more structured way about the songs the band wrote (albeit still in a unique and multi-faceted way). What you have here is a band that was willing to do things their way, and record songs in a way that emphasised and utilised their many boundless talents to create an album that sounded bigger than an album with four members had any right to be. While it made playing some of the songs live an impracticality, it makes for an amazing sounding album. Not everyone will get it or perhaps be able to appreciate it for its brilliance, and of course it took me a long time to discover this myself. I for one now continue to marvel at the techniques used here, and the material that it provides.
Along with the debut album that followed it, “Queen II” was the opening act of Queen’s career, as they experimented with their own influences to make a sound that was uniquely theirs, something with which they succeeded. From “Sheer Heart Attack” onwards there was a more structured way about the songs the band wrote (albeit still in a unique and multi-faceted way). What you have here is a band that was willing to do things their way, and record songs in a way that emphasised and utilised their many boundless talents to create an album that sounded bigger than an album with four members had any right to be. While it made playing some of the songs live an impracticality, it makes for an amazing sounding album. Not everyone will get it or perhaps be able to appreciate it for its brilliance, and of course it took me a long time to discover this myself. I for one now continue to marvel at the techniques used here, and the material that it provides.
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