Queen 2

Thrill Yeti wrote:

I'm in the minority here, but I don't think it's THAT brilliant. It's really ambitious, and brave, and wonderfully creative, but I don't think it's as melodic as the stuff that came shortly after, and ultimately great melodies are my favourite part of Queen.

Side 1 - Father to Son is a decent heavy song, but it's no It's Late. White Queen is touching, though melodically doesn't do it for me. Some Day One Day is boring. . .

Side 2 is better, for sure. However, I can't get on board with the lyrical themes of Fairy Feller; Seven Seas is good, though probably the weakest lead single they released until Jazz came along; MOTBQ is great, and brilliantly ambitious, but it doesn't have the impact of Bohemian Rhapsody (I'd probably take The Millionaire Waltz over it, too, if we're comparing those kinds of Freddie songs).

Nevermore is beautiful. . .

Please don't hate me.

I'm afraid I disagree.

I think the song writing and production is amongst the most adventurous ever put out, with real depth and breadth.

I love It's Late but it's a much simpler sounding melody, arrangement and lyric than Father To Son.

Listening to the album it's pretty clear Seven Seas Of Rhye is the obvious and probably only choice for a single, but being early in their career it would be pretty bad If itwas the strongest single ever.

The album paved the way for things like Bo Rhap. I really like the unpredictable direction the writing and arrangements take the listener. A great album that goes far deeper than catchy melodies and chorus lines.

No hate here....we all have different taste and I could understand a person not liking those first 2 albums. It's mostly in fantasy land. My Fairy king and Black Queens, lol. It's awsome though. I still like the hits as well, but stuff like Queen and Queen 2 are brilliant in my opinion. Father to son is Just as good as It's Late in my View. I might even like it better. Great vocals, love the guitar solo and it gets pretty heavy and melodic at the same time.

Thing is, I wouldn't say catchy melodies and depth are mutually exclusive. My favourite Queen songs are probably the ones that have both.

I agree that Queen II paved the way for the stuff that came after, but it does feel like a stepping stone to me, in a way.

Fairy Feller is definitely doing some adventurous and skillful things, I'm just not sure it all amounts to that much. Death on Two Legs has similar complexity, but it adds up to make a much tighter and better song, in my opinion. Basically I feel like they applied all that creativity a bit better for the following three albums.

Weirdly, I probably like Queen 1 almost as much as Queen II, if not equally. KYA, Doing Alright, Liar and Night Comes Down are all great. I'd take Liar over Father to Son anyday actually, as a 6 minute heavy song.

Considering they recorded most of Queen 2 just weeks after releasing Queen, they managed to record one one orgasm after another. John's bass sounds amazing.

And after releasing those first 2 albums within months, both great albums, they release Another Gem in Sheer Hear Attack in the same year as Queen 2. Back in those days most bands released albums every year, but 3 strong albums in a 2 year period is Impressive.

mike hunt wrote:

And after releasing those first 2 albums within months, both great albums, they release Another Gem in Sheer Hear Attack in the same year as Queen 2. Back in those days most bands released albums every year, but 3 strong albums in a 2 year period is Impressive.

Actually it is 3 albums in 16 months ...