1974's 'Queen II' was a heavy metal masterpiece. It's genre was unclassifiable rock, if I should put it. It's Queen just rocking out and doing what they did best during the 1973-1982 period.

That's exactly why this is one of Queen's finest album -- it's heavy, and it's got the screeching guitars that make 1970s heavy metal great. It's got the piano-metal numbers here ('Seven Seas Of Rhye,' one of my personal favorites), the mini-operas ('Ogre Battle') and the early Elton John-esque numbers ('The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke') and just about everything else that makes a metal album, well, great.

I prefer this over the '73 debut. 'Queen II' is an amazing album, and the group (May, Deacon, Taylor and Mercury) are in top form here. It's a great album to listen to, and I strongly recommend 'Queen II' for any Queen fan.

While Queen would really gain momentum with their next album, 'Sheer Heart Attack,' this proves Queen rocked very early on.

Overall, I can highly recommend this to any Queen fan. It's just too good to pass up if you are a Queen fan. It's great stuff.

ENJOY!!!

For fans of the more mainstream pop-rock sound of late 70s and early 80s Queen, this album may come as a bit of a shock. Whilst it is far from from being uncommercial, its densely layered, textured sound and wildly meandering time signatures mark it out as a very different beast. You have to listen to this album many times to really appreciate how great it is, but then like many truly classic albums you keep on finding new things to appreciate and new ways to appreciate tracks you may have listened to many times.

What is often forgotten is how instrumental Queen were to the development of metal for want of a better term. By metal I don't just mean power riffing - although there is a fair bit of that on this album - but the ability to use that as a base and build up an unbelievably powerful and musically overwhelming form around it - the magnificent harmonies, wistful, folksy interludes, the neo-classical guitar and piano arpeggios. It's also surprisingly modern. As you are listening to it, you will instantly be connected to modern bands like Metallica and Muse.

I won't go into individual tracks as other reviewers have served us well in that regard.

Listeners just have to delve in, be patient at first and I promise you it will grab you and take you in almost to transcendence.

The difference between Queen and Queen II is really nothing short of amazing. While the first album was a pretty auspicious debut from a nervy prog-rock band, the second album comes off as a band thoroughly settled into its own personality and letting every idea flow free to the recording studio tapeheads. While not completely rid of seventies prog-cliches, this semi-conceptualized album set Queen apart from the pack.

Queen split the original album into a white and black half, with the white half dealing with the regal issues ("Procession" "White Queen As It Began") and the black being the harder rocking ("Ogre Battle" "March of The Black Queen"). You also get a clearer picture of the band's blueprint for extravagance (the really heavy vocal arrangements) along with Brian May's unique guitar sound. Freddie Mercury is already pushing the classical/theatrical piano playing to the front of the band, and once again, Mercury, May and drummer Roger Taylor vary the lead vocal chores.

Still, Queen II had yet to buck the Medieval themes (castles, ogres and - heh heh - fairy fellers put in their appearance all), but the band's assertive musicianship made this a solid album. An interesting thing about this album is that it had no real `hit' songs or Queen classics, but it - in my opinion - was the Queen album that had the best song-flow overall. The following Sheer Heart Attack would finally break Queen in the USA with a hit single, but "Queen II" was Queen's proclamation that they were prepped and ready for world domination.

There are more good songs on this album than most bands write in their entire careers. I am quite partial to early Queen, and this is some of their better early work. If you like hard rock, this is as good as it gets.

Looking back at the 1970s, sometimes many forget how big the band Queen was. Even as Queen moved into the 1980s, while their popularity did slightly decline in the United States, it continued to be very high in Europe. Their performance at Live Aid is widely considered one of the greatest of all-time and their subsequent "Magic" tour is considered one of the all-time greatest concert tours. If it weren't for Freddie Mercury's death in 1992, we might still be talking about Queen being as big a band as the Beatles. When Queen released their 1973 self titled debut album, it showed all of the signs of greatness to come. This album would show how the band embraced a "theatrical" feel to their music (which was something seen by other bands such as the Kinks) as well as embrace a sound which would evolve into what would become Heavy Metal. I expected the follow-up album, "Queen II" to continue much of what "Queen" had started. While "Queen II" continues down the road of theatrical music, overall this album just didn't capture my interest as much as the first album. This review may not make many core Queen fans happy - but while there is some good music on this collection, I just wasn't bowled over.

Queen is an example of the sum of the parts actually being greater than the whole. However, if you take each of the four members of Queen, they easily stand on their own as a top musician in their profession. Freddie Mercury is easily known to be the emotional and flamboyant lead vocalist of Queen who indeed has a legendary voice. Brian May is the legendary lead guitarist and probably the second most popular member of the band. Roger Taylor and John Deacon go extremely underrated. Listen to Taylor's thundering drumming in the studio or live and one can easily understand why he was asked to participate in an All Star Drum Jam (The S.O.S. All-Stars) at the Live Earth concert. As for John Deacon, he might be one of music's all-time underrated bass players. Many of his bass lines have proven to be the foundation for Queen's musical sound. In addition to being top musicians, all four members play integral roles in the songwriting. Although I don't rate this as one of Queen's better albums, one cannot argue about the quality of the instrumentation by the band.

Here is a track by track synopsis of the collection.:

"Procession": This is a short instrumental to start the album. It has a theatrical theme. I believe the majority of this is recorded by Brian May on the guitar. It has a nice segue to "Father to Son".

"Father to Son": This is one of the better tracks on the album. It continues the theatrical feel from "Procession". I particularly felt that Roger Taylor's drums stood out on this particular track, but Brian May's guitar takes center stage toward the end. The lyrics "Kings will be crowned" set a medieval theme to this album. The medieval theme was something that also was found on the debut "Queen" album.

"White Queen (As it Began)": This is one of those tracks where I appreciated the instrumentation, but the song didn't carry me. Most particularly it's May's guitar work that intrigued me - as it took on a Middle-Eastern sound.

"Some Day One Day": Brian May has proven to be a good vocalist and this track is one great example of it. This is a pretty good song - although it deviates from the theatrical theme. May also does a terrific job at integrating electric and acoustic guitar sounds with the end result being outstanding.

"The Loser in the End": This track showcases Roger Taylor's vocals. Taylor has proven he can showcase high vocal ranges. While I like Taylor's vocals on this track and this track has its good moments, I'll say this still falls short of being a great track.

"Ogre Battle": The album returns to its theatrical roots with Freddie Mercury on lead vocals. The beginning of the track showcases some of the heavy metal sound that was found on "Queen". Good track, just didn't capture my imagination.

"Fairy Feller's Master Stroke": This track is all about Mercury as he showcases his incredible vocal talents. The track has a full theatrical feel to it. Again, while I Iiked Mercury's vocals, the track just didn't do much for me.

"Nevermore": This is a short track. It has a theatrical feel to it. Taylor and May provide background vocals to Mercury's lead on this one.

"The March of the Black Queen": Another theatrical-styled track and might be one of the most theatrical sounding compositions by the band. I believe the end of this track was re-used in the classic Queen composition, "Bohemian Rhapsody".

"Funny How Love Is": I liked this track. In particular the chorus really is catchy. I like how Mercury slowly changes his vocal range as this track goes on. Like many of the other tracks, there is a theatrical element.

"Seven Seas of Rhye": On Queen's first album, this was an instrumental that was basically incomplete. Like the first album, this song is also the last track of the album - however this time the band adds lyrics to it. The more complete version definitely outshines the version found on the original Queen album. This is a very unique example on how a band evolves a song.

Overall this was not a bad collection, but I wouldn't rank this as one of the stronger Queen albums. You will continue to see the great instrumentation of the band. While there are some good tracks, overall this album just did not have me doing handstands. Core Queen fans will really like this collection, however casual Queen fans might want to consider some of the band's other work before this album.