'''Queen II''' is the second album by
English rock band Queen, originally released in 1974. It was recorded at
Trident Studios,
London, England in August 1973, and engineered by
Mike Stone. 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 white or in black on either side of the record's label face. The album is also a loose concept album, with the white side having songs with a more emotional theme and the black side almost entirely about fantasy, often with quite dark themes.
Mick Rock's
album cover photograph was frequently re-used by the band throughout its career, most notably in the music video for the song "
Bohemian Rhapsody" (1975). There are two versions of this photograph, one with black for the background and foreground (right), the other with a brown foreground.
Numerous problems beset the album's release. Its completion coincided with the
1973 oil crisis and consequently, government-enforced measures for
energy conservation delayed its manufacture by several months. Once the long-overdue first pressing arrived in record shops, the band noticed a spelling error on the sleeve, and had to complain persistently to correct it.
[1]
The lead-vocalist Freddie Mercury composed the entire "Black" side, contributing virtuosic
piano and
harpsichord pieces and a wide range of distinctive vocal performances. The "White" side is very diverse: four of the five numbers were composed by
Brian May, where one is instrumental, one is sung by Mercury and Taylor (with May at the piano), the next is sung by Mercury, and the last by May. The closing track of The "White" Side is Taylor's only composition in the album.
John Deacon played
acoustic guitar as well as
bass on most of the album, except the songs "White Queen" and "Some Day One Day", which were performed by May — partly on an inexpensive Hairfred guitar that he had owned since his childhood.
Although the album was largely panned by critics, it is included in the book ''
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''
[2].
History
With their
debut album recorded and mixed by the end of November 1972, Queen set about touring and promoting it. Management problems forced the album to be released under the independent Trident label, but only after eight months had gone by since completion. During that time, Queen were writing new material and anxious to record it. Several new songs were written immediately after the first album, and some dated from even earlier. "See What A Fool I've Been" was left over from the Smile days (and was actually built around May's recollection of a blues diddy he had heard on a television program; the song was "That's How I Feel" by
Sonny Terry and
Brownie McGhee, which May finally re-discovered in 2004 after an eager fan tracked it down for him). "Ogre Battle" was written during the debut album sessions, as was "Father To Son", but the band decided to wait on recording them until they had more ample studio time.
August 1973 found the band back in Trident, now allowed to book proper hours there, with an album under their belts. For what is generally considered a complex album (with layered vocals, harmonies and instruments), it took a very short time — only one month — to record ''Queen II''. A full version of "Seven Seas of Rhye" was laid down, recorded with the specific intention of being the album's leading single. After the commercial failure of "Keep Yourself Alive", which was taken from the first album, Queen decided it needed a single that did not take "too long to happen" (without a lengthy guitar intro). So, Queen and Baker made sure that "Rhye" began in a way which would grab people.
Mythology and art were passions of Mercury's, and Richard Dadd's painting "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke" (which currently hangs in the
Tate Gallery) sparked his creativity. This scene from Dadd's imagination was inspired by characters from
faery myths, which in the painting are gathered around the Feller of Trees to watch him crack a walnut for
Queen Mab's new carriage.
Mick Rock was employed to do the photography for the album's artwork. Mercury was inspired by a picture of
Marlene Dietrich looking into a white spotlight in the dark, as smoke from her cigarette swirled about her. This single picture of Queen, used on the ''Queen II'' album cover, would become one of the band's most iconic images, revisited and brought to life for the "Bohemian Rhapsody" promotional film.
Robin Cable, with whom Mercury had worked during the "
I Can Hear Music" session, was recruited to reproduce the Spector production sound for "Funny How Love Is".
The album was completed by the end of August 1973. Queen added "Ogre Battle", "Procession" and "Father to Son" to their live setlists immediately and toured extensively. Once again, however, Trident delayed the record since Queen's first album had only just been released in the UK and had yet to be issued in the US. ''Queen II'' finally entered stores in the UK on March 8, 1974.
The only single released from the album worldwide in 1974 (February 23rd in the UK) was "Seven Seas Of Rhye", with the non-album
B-Side "See What A Fool I've Been" in most territories. Japan's B-Side was album track "The Loser In The End".
In 1977, ''Queen's First E.P.'' was released, featuring a version of "White Queen" which is a
stand-alone version, eliminating the segue (from "Father To Son") which appears on the album.
In 1987/1988 the UK three-inch
CD single reissue of "The Seven Seas Of Rhye" featured "See What A Fool I've Been" and a unique edit of "Funny How Love Is" (featuring the last verse of the album track "The March Of The Black Queen" as an intro).
In 1991 the same three-inch singles as previously released in the UK are issued in Japan. "The Seven Seas Of Rhye" single in this set features the standard "See What A Fool I've Been" track and a stand-alone version of "Funny How Love Is" (different from the UK CD3 release).
Also in 1991,
Hollywood Records re-released Queen II in the US and Canada with "See What A Fool I've Been" as a
bonus track plus updated remixes of "Ogre Battle" and "Seven Seas Of Rhye".
''Queen II'' was Queen's first UK Top 5 album, while it sold poorly on the US peaking in the lower reaches of the Top 100 on Billboard's album chart and remains the only 1970s era Queen album not to be certified either Gold or Platinum in the US by the RIAA.
Track listing
★ Side "White"
★ #
★ #
★ #
★ #
★ #
★ Side "Black"
★ #
★ #
★ #
★ #
★ #
★ #
★ 1991 Hollywood Records bonus tracks
★ # "See What a Fool I've Been" (May) (1991, original B-side of Seven Seas of Rhye)
★ # "Ogre Battle" (1991, Remix by Nicholas Sansano)
★ # "Seven Seas of Rhye" (1991, Remix by
Freddy Bastone)
Procession
"Procession" was performed by Brian May on multi-tracked guitar. He recorded it by playing overlapping parts on the
Red Special through John Deacon's custom-made amplifier (the
Deacy Amp).
Father to Son
"Father to Son" was written by May, being musically influenced by
The Who. It features
heavy metal sections as well as quiet piano parts, some of which May played (Mercury took over for more complicated work).
White Queen (As It Began)
"White Queen (As It Began)" was composed by May while he was studying
astronomy at
Imperial College. It concerns his feelings about a girl whom he had a
crush on; he never had the courage to express his feelings to her.
Contrary to what many people believe it was never performed by
Smile, May and Taylor's previous band.
Some Day One Day
May got the inspiration for "Some Day One Day" from the idea of a place where relationships could be perfect. May would revisit that theme many years later on his solo record ''
Another World''.
This is the first song sung entirely by May on lead vocals. It features May on acoustic guitar and
electric guitar and the last
guitar solo (during the
fade-out) features three solo guitars. This kind of complex guitar arrangement is typical of May, however, usually the guitars are harmonious, but in this case all the guitars are all playing different parts. It almost sounds like the guitar plug is being plugged into the guitar as the last solo begins just before the fade-out.
The Loser in the End
"The Loser in the End" was Taylor's sole contribution on the album both as a songwriter and lead singer. Although ''Queen II'' is not a true
concept album, all of the songs seemed to be connected, either lyrically or in general tone (or both), this one seems to be lone track lacking either attribute.
Ogre Battle
Mercury wrote "Ogre Battle" on guitar in 1972 and played it remarkably fast in its original form. The band didn't want to record it for their first album, but rather waited until they could have more studio freedom to do it properly. The
ogre-like screams in the middle are Mercury's, and the high harmonies at the end of the chorus
hook are sung by Taylor. The introduction is simply the last few bars of the song played in reverse.
As the title suggests, it tells the story of a battle between ogres, and features a May guitar solo and
sound effects to simulate the sound of a battle. The
guitar riff along with Roger Taylor's drumming give it a very "thrash" sound. It is one of Queen's heaviest works.
The song is complex musically including an acyclic structure and complex harmonic modulations. For the recording sessions many progressive effects were included at the request of Mercury to producer Roy Thomas Baker. Those effects include reversed snare rolls, wild screaming, and a heavily reverbed gong.
The song was a longtime live favorite, although on stage Queen played it a lot slower than in the studio. They stopped playing the song somewhere around 1977-1978, playing it on almost every concert up until then.
The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke
Mercury was inspired to write "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke" after seeing
Richard Dadd's painting ''
The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke''. For the intricately-arranged studio recording, Mercury played harpsichord as well as piano, and Roy Thomas Baker played the
castanets. Taylor called this song Queen's "biggest stereo experiment", referring to the intricate use of
panning in the mix.
The song, like most of the songs on the album, features medieval fantasy-based lyrics, and makes direct reference to the painting's characters as detailed in Dadd's poem, such as
Queen Mab, Waggoner Will, the Tatterdemalion, and others. Apparently whenever Queen had
spare time, Mercury would drag them to the
London's
Tate Gallery, where the painting was, and still is today.
The complex arrangements are based around a backing track of piano, bass guitar and drums, but also included harpsichord, multiple vocal overdubs, and overdubbed guitar parts. The lyrics follow the claustrophobic atmosphere of the painting, and each of the scenes are described. The use of the word "Quaere" has no reference to Mercury's sexuality, according to Taylor. The band never performed this song live.
Nevermore
The previous track ends with a three-part vocal harmony from May, Mercury, and Taylor which flows into Mercury playing the piano on this track. All the vocal parts were by Mercury, who added some contemporary piano 'ring' effects as well. These effects were widely suspected to be
synthesizers, however they were created by someone plucking the piano strings while Mercury played the notes. Nevermore is quite a short ballad about the feelings after a heartbreak.
The March of the Black Queen
Many point to this song as evidence that Queen has always been a
progressive rock band; it changes mood and
tempo numerous times throughout, contains fantastic lyrical themes and is over six minutes long. Because of this and the complex vocal and guitar harmonies many compare it to their hit "
Bohemian Rhapsody".
Mercury composed it at the
piano in
1973, and the song is the only Queen song containing
polyrhythm (two different
time signatures simultaneously 8/8 and 12/8), which is very rare for popular music.
The full piece was too complicated to perform live by the band, however the uptempo section containing the lines (sung by Taylor) ''"My life is in your hands, I'll foe and I'll fie..."'' etc was sometimes included in a live medley during the 1970s.
The song segues into the next track, "Funny How Love Is". This song ends with an ascending note progression, which climaxes in the first second of the following track.
Funny How Love Is
"Funny How Love Is" was born in the studio. Mercury wrote it and played the piano while Robin Cable produced. It was produced using the "
wall of sound" technique. The song was never performed live.
Seven Seas of Rhye
Main articles: Seven Seas of Rhye
"Seven Seas of Rhye" had been half-written at the time of recording for Queen's first album, so a short clip of it was included there. However, when Queen finished the song, it ended up being much different from what they'd first envisioned. It was the band's first
hit single, peaking at #10 in the UK charts.
The song, like "My Fairy King" from the debut album, is about Mercury's childhood fantasy world named Rhye. The song became a live favourite throughout Queen's existence. It features a distinctive arpeggiated piano introduction — on the ''Queen II'' recording, the arpeggios are played with both the right and left hands, an octave apart, whereas on the ''Queen'' recording, and most live performances, Mercury played the simpler one-handed version of these arpeggios. The theme also appears at the end of "It's a Beautiful Day (Reprise)".
This version ends with a cross fade, instruments blending into a "singsong"-style rendition of "I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside".
The Seven Seas of Rhye are also mentioned in another Queen song, "Lily of the Valley" from Sheer Heart Attack; in the lyric "Messenger from Seven Seas has flown/To tell the king of Rhye he's lost his throne".
Non-Album B-Side
"The Seven Seas Of Rhye" single featured the first of several non-album b-sides released during Queen's recording career. This song dated from the pre-Queen band
Smile. May heard the song "That's How I Feel" by Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee on a TV program, but at the time he never caught the name of the song or band. He remembered the riff and some lyrics and brought them to the band, then proceeded to write "See What A Fool I've Been" around it.
"That's How I Feel" lyrics:
You don't believe,
Don't believe I love you
Look what a fool I've been,
oh, Lord, God knows what a fool I've been
"See What A Fool I've Been" lyrics:
Well, she's gone,
Gone this morning
See what a fool I've been,
Oh Lord, I said, what a fool I've been
It wasn't recorded until the ''Queen II'' sessions, though it was a live staple since Queen's formation. The B-side version features a vocal delivery from Freddie Mercury that could be best described as
burlesque in nature, rather than the more straightforward delivery of the live and BBC versions which are yet to be officially released. Also, there are lyric changes between the B-side, BBC and live versions (with references to a "train to Georgia" and a "Greyhound bus at dawn" not heard in B-side version, whereas the live versions have no "sailor boy" or "barking dog" lyrics). The reason for these differences has never been explained.
In 2004, May was contacted by a fan who had discovered which song "See What A Fool I've Been" had been based on, as it had long been a mystery. Brian officially confirmed "That's How I Feel" as the inspiration after the fan sent him the recently released CD containing the song (along with a note explaining how it was tracked down by looking up song lyrics rather than listening to every recording by Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee). The explanation of the song's history appears on the February 2004 Soapbox entry of Brian's official website''
[3].
Brian said he planned to contact their estates to work out the long-overdue royalty issues.
Unreleased songs
Unreleased songs from these sessions include Deacon's first song, titled "Fly By Night", as well as two songs called "Deep Ridge" (by May) and "Surrender To The City" (by Mercury). It can be inferred that "Surrender To The City" became the ending to "The March of the Black Queen" as the line "Surrender to the city of the fire flies" is very similar to that title. Initial ideas for "
Brighton Rock" and "
The Prophet's Song" were laid down during these sessions.
Queen about the record
Charts
| | Charts | Sales |
|---|
| Country | Peak position | Weeks | Certification | Sales |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 5 | 29 | Platinum | 350.000 |
| Norway | 19 | | | |
| Japan | 26 | | | |
| United States | 49 | 13 | Gold | 700.000 |
Press reviews
Melody Maker: "It's reputed Queen have enjoyed some success in the States, it's currently in the balance whether they'll really break through here. If they do, then I'll have to eat my hat or something. Maybe Queen try too hard, there's no depth of sound or feeling."
[4]
Sounds: "Simply titled ''Queen II'', this album captures them in their finest hours."
: "The material, performance, recording and even artwork standards are very high."
: "This is it, the dregs of
glam rock. Weak and over-produced, if this band are our brightest hope for the future, then we are committing
rock and roll suicide."
on the single ''Seven Seas Of Rhye'': "This single showcases all their power and drive, their writing talents, and every quality that makes them unique."
Personnel
★ Freddie Mercury: Lead vocals,
background vocals, piano, harpsichord, organ.
★ Brian May: Guitars, bells on "The March of the Black Queen", lead vocals on "Some Day One Day", background vocals, some piano on "Father to Son."
★ Roger Taylor: Drums,
gong,
marimba, background vocals, lead vocals on "Loser in the End."
★ John Deacon: Bass guitar, acoustic guitar.
★ Roy Thomas Baker: Castanets on "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke."
★ Robin Cable: Piano effects (with Freddie Mercury) on "Nevermore."
★ And nobody played
synthesizer
All songs produced by Queen and
Roy Thomas Baker excluding:
★ "Nevermore" and "Funny How Love Is": Robin Cable and Queen.
★ "The March of the Black Queen": Roy Thomas Baker, Robin Cable, and Queen.
Equipment
★ Percussion
★
★
Ludwig Superclassic drum kit: 13" x 9" rack tom, two
floor toms (16"x 16" & 18"x 16") and 26" x 14"
bass drum.
★
★ Ludwig and
New Era tambourines and
cowbells
★
★ Paiste Symphonic
Gong
★
★
Musser Marimba and Bells
★
★
Ludwig Castanets
★ Strings
★
★
Fender Precision Pre-CBS
Electric Bass, Orange OR120 amplifier
★
★ Martin D-18 Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar ("Funny How Love Is")
★
★ Hairfred Acoustic Guitar ("White Queen")
★
★ Ovation Pacemaker
12-String Acoustic Guitars (elsewhere)
★
★
Red Special Electric Guitar, using John Deacon's homemade bespoke amplifier (for guitar choirs and effects) and
Vox AC30 Amplifiers (for solos and straight rhythm parts)
★ Keyboards
★
★
Bechstein D Concert 9'2" Acoustic Grand Piano, recorded via Neumann U87 mics
★
★ Harpsichord (unknown brand)
★
★
Hammond Organ
External links
★
Tate Gallery: Richard Dadd's "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke"
★ Queen Picture Hall:
''Queen II''
★ Queenpedia:
''Queen II''
★
Melody Maker, August 14, 1993: ''Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins talks about the records that changed his life''
References
1. http://www.queenzone.com/queenzone/bio_view.aspx?q=6
2. http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/steveparker/1001albums.htm
3. http://www.queenvault.com/infoseewhatafool.html
4. Quoted in Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins (1992): ''Queen. As It Began.'' London: Sidgwick & Jackson, pp. 75-77. ISBN 0-283-06052-2
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