The March of the Black Queen
 
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Queen II
Queen II cover
Studio album by Queen
Released UK March 8, 1974
USA April 9, 1974
Recorded August 1973
Trident Studios
Length 40:42
Label EMI/Parlophone (Europe)
Elektra/Hollywood (USA)
Producer See Personnel
Professional reviews
Queen chronology
Queen
(1973)		 Queen II
(1974)		 Sheer Heart Attack
(1974)
Singles from Queen II
  1. "Seven Seas Of Rhye"
    Released: February 23, 1974

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].

Contents

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 ditty 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. 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 one "White"

  1. "Procession" (May) – 1:12
  2. "Father to Son" (May) – 6:14
  3. "White Queen (As It Began)" (May) – 4:33
  4. "Some Day One Day" (May) – 4:21
  5. "The Loser in the End" (Taylor) – 4:01

Side two "Black"

  1. "Ogre Battle" (Mercury) – 4:08
  2. "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke" (Mercury) – 2:41
  3. "Nevermore" (Mercury) – 1:17
  4. "The March of the Black Queen" (Mercury) – 6:33
  5. "Funny How Love Is" (Mercury) – 2:48
  6. "Seven Seas of Rhye" (Mercury) – 2:48

Bonus tracks (1991 Hollywood Records CD reissue)

  1. "See What a Fool I've Been" (Original B-side of Seven Seas of Rhye) (May)
  2. "Ogre Battle" (1991 Remix by Nicholas Sansano)
  3. "Seven Seas of Rhye" (1991 Remix by Freddy Bastone)

Song information

Procession

"Procession" is a short instrumental song 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 and features heavy metal sections as well as a quiet piano part, which May played. It is written in the father's perspective when talking or thinking about his son. Queen added "Father to Son," "Ogre Battle" and "Procession" to their live setlists immediately and toured extensively.

White Queen (As It Began)

"White Queen (As It Began)" was composed by May. It concerns his feelings about a girl whom he had a crush on; he never had the courage to express his feelings to her.

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. 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. 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 beginning of the song is the end of the song played backwards including the final gong which when played backwards at the start of the song creates the building wave sound.

The song is one of Queen's heaviest works. The guitar riff along with Roger Taylor's drumming give it a very "thrash" sound. It 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

The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke by Richard Dadd.
The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke by Richard Dadd.

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

Mercury composed it at the piano in 1973, and the song is the only Queen song containing polyrhythm/polymeter (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. Also the riff before the end of the song that's lead to"Forget your sing-alongs..." was also used in Bohemian Rhapsodycitation needed

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 article: 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. May 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 May's official website[3]. May said he planned to contact their estates to work out the long-overdue royalty issues.

Queen about the record

“ For some strange reason, we seemed to get a rather different feel on the album because of the way we were forced to record it, and even allowing for the problems we had, none of us were really displeased with the result.

Led Zeppelin and The Who are probably in there somewhere, because they were among our favorite groups, but what we are trying to do differently from either of those groups [is] this sort of layered sound. The Who had the open chord guitar sound, and there's a bit of that in "Father To Son", but our sound is more based on the overdriven guitar sound, which is used for the main bulk of the song... but I also wanted to build up textures behind the main melody lines. To me, Queen II was the sort of emotional music we'd always wanted to be able to play, although we couldn't play most of it onstage because it was too complicated. We were trying to push studio techniques to a new limit for rock groups — it was fulfilling all our dreams, because we didn't have much opportunity for that on the first album. It went through our minds to call the album Over the Top.

 ”

—Brian May
“ We took so much trouble over that album, possibly too much, but when we finished we felt really proud. Immediately it got really bad reviews, so I took it home to listen to and thought, 'Christ, are they right?'. But after hearing it a few weeks later, I still like it. I think it's great. We'll stick by it.

Considering the abuse we've had lately, I'm surprised that the new LP has done so well. I suppose it's basically because people like the band.

 ”

—Roger Taylor
“ Well... that was a concept that we develop in that time was... it doesn't have, any special meaning. But we were fascinated with this type of things... the wardrobe that we used at the time described it perfectly well... ”

—Freddie Mercury[4]

Charts

Charts Sales
Country Peak position Weeks Certification Sales
United Kingdom 5 29 Platinum[5] 350.000
Norway 19 2
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."[6]

Sounds: "Simply titled Queen II, this album captures them in their finest hours."[6]

Disc: "The material, performance, recording and even artwork standards are very high."[6]

Record Mirror: "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."[6]

New Musical Express 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."[6]

Personnel

Equipment

  • Percussion
  • Guitars
    • 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)

Further comments

  • The album was cited by Axl Rose, singer of Guns N' Roses, as a source of inspiration in an interview with Rolling Stones magazine on August 10, 1989: "With Queen, I have my favorite: Queen II. Whenever their newest record would come out and have all these other kinds of music on it, at first I'd only like this song or that song. But after a period of time listening to it, it would open my mind up to so many different styles. I really appreciate them for that. That's something I've always wanted to be able to achieve".

External links

References

  1. ^ Queen Biography 1974
  2. ^ Outline Page
  3. ^ Untitled Document
  4. ^ Conecte
  5. ^ BPI – Certified Awards.
  6. ^ a b c d e 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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