Queen II (1974)

Queen II is the second studio album by the British rock band Queen. It was released on 8 March 1974 by EMI Records in the UK and on 9 April 1974 by Elektra Records in the US. It was recorded at Trident Studios and Langham 1 Studios, London, in August 1973 with co-producers Roy Thomas Baker and Robin Geoffrey Cable, and engineered by Mike Stone. It is significant for being the first album to contain many elements of the band's signature sound of multi-layered overdubs, vocal harmonies, and varied musical styles.

Described as "arguably the heaviest Queen album", Queen II marked the end of the first phase of the band's career. The album combines a heavy rock sound with art rock and progressive rock elements, and has been called "a pillar of grandiose, assaultive hard rock" by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Queen II is not a concept album but a collection of songs with a loose theme running throughout. The two sides of the original LP were labelled "Side White" and "Side Black" (instead of the conventional sides A and B), with corresponding photos of the band dressed in black on the front cover and white on the inner gatefold. The white side has songs with a more emotional theme and the black side is almost entirely about fantasy, often with quite dark themes. Mick Rock's cover photograph was frequently re-used by the band throughout its career, including the music videos for the songs "Bohemian Rhapsody" (1975) and "One Vision" (1985).

Released to an initially mixed critical reception, Queen II remains one of the band's lesser-known albums. Nonetheless, it has been praised by critics and fans..

Background and recording

Queen performed their first gig on 27 June 1970, but did not finish their self-titled debut album, Queen, until November 1972. In the interim, the band had developed other, more complex material but elected to wait to record it until they had more freedom and experience in the studio. "Father To Son", "Ogre Battle" and "Procession" had all been premiered as early as 1972. "Seven Seas of Rhye" dated to Freddie Mercury's Wreckage days in 1969. "See What a Fool I've Been", the B-side to the "Seven Seas of Rhye" single and "White Queen (As It Began)" were left over from the Smile days. "Stone Cold Crazy", also from Mercury's Wreckage period, had been in the set list for years, but was held back and reworked for the third album, Sheer Heart Attack. Portions of "The Prophet's Song" were also rehearsed during the Queen II sessions, but the song was not completed until the fourth album, A Night at the Opera. Queen insisted that Trident Studios allow them to record at regular hours instead of studio down-time, as they had for the first album. The band approached David Bowie to produce, but he declined because he was then recording Pin Ups and working on songs for Diamond Dogs. Robin Geoffrey Cable, with whom Mercury had worked during the "I Can Hear Music" session, was asked to produce "Nevermore" and "Funny How Love Is", and collaborate with Roy Thomas Baker on the ambitious "March of the Black Queen".