Queen II is a very difficult album to get to like in the first place. I think it is very dark, with thick layered arrangements and sometimes there are too many things happening at a time. Yes, it is complex and pure genius but I miss the rocking riffs and hard edged guitar sounds. I had to listen to live versions of Ogre Battle and Father to Son to even pay attention to the guitar parts.
On the other hand, Sheer Heart Attack has it all in the right doses. You have Queen's hardest riffs (SCC and NIH) and some of Brian's best guitar work (Brighton Rock), beautiful arrangements (LOTV and KQ), one of Freddie's best anthemic songs (ITLOTGr) and some very cool experiments (Leroy and ITLOTG).
Riffs are riffs, melodies are melodies, you don't have 8 different guitar settings with 4 different effects playing over the same riff, bluring the edges and making it lose its effect.
I regard Queen II as a masterpiece production and lyric wise and as a concept-ish album, but I think Sheer Heart Attack has better songs overall.
JCW
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[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Wiley wrote: [/QUOTENAME]Queen II is a very difficult album to get to like in the first place. I think it is very dark, with thick layered arrangements and sometimes there are too many things happening at a time. Yes, it is complex and pure genius but I miss the rocking riffs and hard edged guitar sounds. I had to listen to live versions of Ogre Battle and Father to Son to even pay attention to the guitar parts.
On the other hand, Sheer Heart Attack has it all in the right doses. You have Queen's hardest riffs (SCC and NIH) and some of Brian's best guitar work (Brighton Rock), beautiful arrangements (LOTV and KQ), one of Freddie's best anthemic songs (ITLOTGr) and some very cool experiments (Leroy and ITLOTG).
Riffs are riffs, melodies are melodies, you don't have 8 different guitar settings with 4 different effects playing over the same riff, bluring the edges and making it lose its effect.
I regard Queen II as a masterpiece production and lyric wise and as a concept-ish album, but I think Sheer Heart Attack has better songs overall.
JCW[/QUOTE]
I agree entirely.
On the other hand, Sheer Heart Attack has it all in the right doses. You have Queen's hardest riffs (SCC and NIH) and some of Brian's best guitar work (Brighton Rock), beautiful arrangements (LOTV and KQ), one of Freddie's best anthemic songs (ITLOTGr) and some very cool experiments (Leroy and ITLOTG).
Riffs are riffs, melodies are melodies, you don't have 8 different guitar settings with 4 different effects playing over the same riff, bluring the edges and making it lose its effect.
I regard Queen II as a masterpiece production and lyric wise and as a concept-ish album, but I think Sheer Heart Attack has better songs overall.
JCW[/QUOTE]
I agree entirely.
I like SHA better
I agree with Wiley. QII is an extremely innovative and interesting album, but it's not easy to listen to. Also, the sound is not as clear, so many details are kinda fuzzy.
SHA, on the other hand, definitely has those catchy tunes and songs. The sound is much clearer. As much as QII was innovative and experimental, the band realized it was too complex for rock audience. SHA shows the lessons learned from Queen and Queen II. In many ways, SHA is my favorite album.
SHA, on the other hand, definitely has those catchy tunes and songs. The sound is much clearer. As much as QII was innovative and experimental, the band realized it was too complex for rock audience. SHA shows the lessons learned from Queen and Queen II. In many ways, SHA is my favorite album.
I forgot to mention that, apart from She Makes Me, I absolutely love all songs on SHA and they are among my favorite Queen songs. I remember having a SHA record (vynil) and playing it over and over again. It's such a strong album. In some ways, it's even better than ANATO, though ANATO has superior arrangements and--as Freddie liked to say--'those clever bits', though SHA is not far behind. SHA has more songs that I like to listen on a regular basis than ANATO, though Death on Two Legs is probably my favorite song from these two albums.
My opinion is QII is a very personal album, probably the most characteristic, even over ANATO!
The funny thing is that there's not a whistable song from QII cos it's a hard and sophisticated set of songs.
I love QII, indeed there's a lot of wonderful sounds, expecially for a band came at the second act.
On the other hand sheer heart attack gave Queen their first top ten with KillerQueen and the sound of the album has a more commercial style.
QII amd SHA are the two side of Queen trademark.
bye
Claudio
The funny thing is that there's not a whistable song from QII cos it's a hard and sophisticated set of songs.
I love QII, indeed there's a lot of wonderful sounds, expecially for a band came at the second act.
On the other hand sheer heart attack gave Queen their first top ten with KillerQueen and the sound of the album has a more commercial style.
QII amd SHA are the two side of Queen trademark.
bye
Claudio
Time to share my opinion:
What I see is that 'II' is tad overrated as "complex", when it's actually (from a musical perspective) not as layered as others. No song on 'II' has got as many guitars as 'Millionaire Walz' or as many voices as 'Prophet's Song'. 'Black Queen' may be complex and layered but its functional harmony is less advanced than some songs in Sheer, Opera or Races.
Another point is that Sheer Heart Attack is more technically demanging: 'Brighton Rock' drumming is more difficult than anything in 'II' (except perhaps 'Loser') and so is the piano in 'Lap' or 'Leroy'.
John and Roger evolved notably as songwriters and the songs are indeed quite broad in instrumentation and arrangements: 'Killer Queen' has (besides bass, drums and jangle piano) loads of voices (on slightly more creative arrangements), triangle, chimes, several guitar layers (better to hear on DTS) ... so the album does include many different things at the same time as well as 'II', and sometimes doing more difficult parts. So the actual achievement was that the band could become more complex and at the same time more accessible.
What I see is that 'II' is tad overrated as "complex", when it's actually (from a musical perspective) not as layered as others. No song on 'II' has got as many guitars as 'Millionaire Walz' or as many voices as 'Prophet's Song'. 'Black Queen' may be complex and layered but its functional harmony is less advanced than some songs in Sheer, Opera or Races.
Another point is that Sheer Heart Attack is more technically demanging: 'Brighton Rock' drumming is more difficult than anything in 'II' (except perhaps 'Loser') and so is the piano in 'Lap' or 'Leroy'.
John and Roger evolved notably as songwriters and the songs are indeed quite broad in instrumentation and arrangements: 'Killer Queen' has (besides bass, drums and jangle piano) loads of voices (on slightly more creative arrangements), triangle, chimes, several guitar layers (better to hear on DTS) ... so the album does include many different things at the same time as well as 'II', and sometimes doing more difficult parts. So the actual achievement was that the band could become more complex and at the same time more accessible.
I agree with you, Sebastian. You just said what I had in mind, but you know about music much more than I do so you could express it better.
I think Queen II was an experimental record. They grew tremendously as compared with the debut album, but the songs were not as accessible as the next 3 or 4 albums. On SHA they learned how to make accessible songs with nice, catchy melodies, while retaining the complexity and uniqueness of the Queen sound.
Again, in spite of the problems they had prior and during recording the album (Brian was ill, they didn't have enough time to practice as a band), SHA is a tremendous album. In my opinion, it had more good songs that ANATO, though ANATO is more polished and has several gems that SHA can't reach.
I think Queen II was an experimental record. They grew tremendously as compared with the debut album, but the songs were not as accessible as the next 3 or 4 albums. On SHA they learned how to make accessible songs with nice, catchy melodies, while retaining the complexity and uniqueness of the Queen sound.
Again, in spite of the problems they had prior and during recording the album (Brian was ill, they didn't have enough time to practice as a band), SHA is a tremendous album. In my opinion, it had more good songs that ANATO, though ANATO is more polished and has several gems that SHA can't reach.
I like em both...Queen II seems to be a more serious album, VS. Sheer Heart Attack, which seemed a little more laid back, all about having fun!!
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]RETROLOVE<h6>The Black Queen wrote: [/QUOTENAME]I like em both...Queen II seems to be a more serious album, VS. Sheer Heart Attack, which seemed a little more laid back, all about having fun!! I loooooved how Tenement Funster goes into Flick of the Wrist on S.H.A. I like Father to Son on Queen II[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Sebastian wrote: [/QUOTENAME]so the album does include many different things at the same time as well as 'II', and sometimes doing more difficult parts. So the actual achievement was that the band could become more complex and at the same time more accessible.[/QUOTE]
Bingo.
Bingo.
"She Makes Me" is a real fave of mine. I suppose everyone has the long shot requests of songs for Brian to sing live, and this is mine.
She Makes Me is an abmysal bore-fest.
Queen II is the best album ever, and Sheer Heart Attack is the fifth among Queen-albums. Queen II, Opera, Races and News of the World are superior. But damn, to have five masterpiece albums in a row...
Queen II got some of Queen's heaviest music ever. Well, it got the middle section of Father to Son and Ogre Battle. Then it got a ton of ballads (White Queen and Nevermore are masterpieces), some progressive mumbo-jumbo and that great hard rock. The only thing that I don't like is Funny How Love Is. Hell, is that even a Queen-song? This silly little pop song seems so out of place on this dark fantasy album that it's crazy. And, it sounds horrible. And the "lyrics" are horrible. Hell, even Freddie's voice is annoying on this song. It makes me want to kill small animals everytime I hear it.
SHA feels unfocused somehow, but who cares: It sounds great. Except of She Makes Me.
Queen II is the best album ever, and Sheer Heart Attack is the fifth among Queen-albums. Queen II, Opera, Races and News of the World are superior. But damn, to have five masterpiece albums in a row...
Queen II got some of Queen's heaviest music ever. Well, it got the middle section of Father to Son and Ogre Battle. Then it got a ton of ballads (White Queen and Nevermore are masterpieces), some progressive mumbo-jumbo and that great hard rock. The only thing that I don't like is Funny How Love Is. Hell, is that even a Queen-song? This silly little pop song seems so out of place on this dark fantasy album that it's crazy. And, it sounds horrible. And the "lyrics" are horrible. Hell, even Freddie's voice is annoying on this song. It makes me want to kill small animals everytime I hear it.
SHA feels unfocused somehow, but who cares: It sounds great. Except of She Makes Me.
I love SHA, and to this day it´s my favorite right next to Innuendo.
I think it´s more appealing to youth than QueenII. The songs are catchy, yet complex like Killer Queen. It´s the perfect hard-rock album!
Def Leppard guitar player say it´s his Queen favourite.
Metallica´s cover of "Stone Cold Crazy" has guive a new audience for it- heavy metal fans. This song as since become an heavy-metal classic, and acording to a guitar mag (i´m talking from memory-right now i can´t tell each one) this song has one of the first heavy riffs ever, competing to an Aerosmith(?) song.
It´s a well balanced album and it has great songwriting from all the members. Excellent!
QueenII is excelent too, but not so melodic as SHA.
Take care
I think it´s more appealing to youth than QueenII. The songs are catchy, yet complex like Killer Queen. It´s the perfect hard-rock album!
Def Leppard guitar player say it´s his Queen favourite.
Metallica´s cover of "Stone Cold Crazy" has guive a new audience for it- heavy metal fans. This song as since become an heavy-metal classic, and acording to a guitar mag (i´m talking from memory-right now i can´t tell each one) this song has one of the first heavy riffs ever, competing to an Aerosmith(?) song.
It´s a well balanced album and it has great songwriting from all the members. Excellent!
QueenII is excelent too, but not so melodic as SHA.
Take care
Yeah, Sheer Heart Attack is an easier album, I admit that I liked Sheer Heart Attack much more than Queen II (back in the days when A Kind of Magic was my favorite... I admit it), because Queen II was just some strange, fucked up noises in my ears back then. Now I "understand" Queen II (not that you can understand nonsense, but anyway..) and I love it above everything else. Procession/Father to Son, White Queen, Ogre Battle, Nevermore, March of the Black Queen and Seven Seas of Rhye... Masterpieces.