Queen II vs. A Night At The Opera

[QUOTE]

[b]GratefulFan wrote: [/b] It's interesting as I feel exactly the opposite. I think Queen II is very much of it's time, in a wonderful way, where the particular brilliance of many Opera songs confers that sense of timelessness that great artistry so often has.[/QUOTE]

I agree. Queen II is clearly a product of the early 70s whereas although ANATO is also clearly a product of that decade it has a timeless quality to it. It's more of a feeling than something I can put into words. I also think QII has prog rock elements e.g. being complicated for the simple joy of being complicated,  an emphasis on musicianship, different time signatures and inventive lyrics, a non-cyclical song (March of the Black Queen), and songs which (mainly) are not derived from blues-rock. This was not a pub band cranking out simple R&B. As for which is better, who cares really, but if I had to choose I think our Canadian Guitar Hero chum has already said everything that needs to be said, and I agree entirely.

to be honest with everyone

I think the reason ANATO stands tall and mighty above all the albums, is that yes! creatively its their best album with something for everybody ( not to say that all of their albums were not like that)!! But in a way i guess it signifies just how great they are, All 4 members of the band wrote number 1 singles, something only The Beatles could only aspire to, and im not sure if this is a appropriate comment to make, but up until ANATO we hadn't heard much at all from Deacy, and he came out with Your My Best Friend, of course Freddie Wrote Bohemian Rhapsody and created a song that probably will last forever, Brian wrote Good Company, how he got those flute sounds to come out the Red Special i dont think we'll ever know! and of course Roger wrote I'm in love with my car,

So in a nutshell i guess what im trying to say is, for this album it highlights the strengths of all the songwriters the best.... phew :P