Recommendations of the Editorial team
Queen’s second album Queen II, home to the single “Seven Seas of Rhye” and Mick Rock’s iconic cover photo, will be expanded as a lavish box set this spring. Included are previously unreleased versions of the album songs, a version of the album with only backing tracks, live recordings from the BBC and live versions of the songs recorded in front of an audience. The Queen II Reimagined: Deluxe Collector’s Edition box set will be released on CD and LP as well as digitally on March 27th.
Remix with new sound clarity
The centerpiece of the release is a remix of the original album by three sound engineers: Justin Shirley-Smith, Joshua J Macrae and Kris Fredriksson. The new mix is intended to clean up places where the sound of the instruments in the original mix overwhelmed the studio technology at the time. “Rather than adding, we wanted to expose more of what was already there and achieve that desired sound,” Shirley-Smith said in a statement.
The album, originally released on March 8, 1974, found the band more focused on making big, overarching statements than in the previous year’s work “Queen”. It opens with “Procession”, a guitar symphony with volume swells constructed by May, and the following songs move between heavy metal and progressive rock, divided on the original LP into “Side White” and “Side Black”.
“Ogre Battle” and “White Queen (As It Began)” remained fixtures on setlists until the late 1970s. “Seven Seas of Rhye,” featuring Freddie Mercury’s piano fanfares, became the band’s first hit in the United Kingdom. Later, the album gained avid following including Axl Rose, Billy Corgan and Rob Halford of Judas Priest, all of whom publicly praised it.
“The biggest step we have ever taken”
“‘Queen II’ was the single biggest step we’ve ever taken,” May said in a statement. “That’s when we really started making music the way we wanted to, rather than the way we were pressured to record it.”
“With ‘Queen II,’ I couldn’t believe how much work we put into it,” said drummer Roger Taylor. “I think we felt like we were developing our own sound. We were pioneers of this kind of multitracking. It opened up a huge spectrum, huge choral effects with just the three of us as singers.”
Alternative takes, demos and BBC sessions
The collection includes alternate sessions and outtakes from the Trident Studios recording sessions, as well as special features such as guide vocals and studio banter. Notable tracks include Brian May’s “As It Began,” a 1969 recording that later became “White Queen,” and two Taylor demos for “Loser in the End.” Also included is “Not for Sale (Polar Bear),” a song the band worked on during the Queen II sessions but never finished. May hinted at it on a radio show around Christmas.
The “Backingtracks” CD presents versions of all songs without vocals to highlight the band’s musicality. The “At the BBC” CD contains sessions with John Peel and Bob Harris from 1973 and 1974. The final CD collects every song from “Queen II”, recorded live at concerts in England in 1974 and 1975. The collection also contains a 112-page book with outtakes from Rock’s cover shoot as well as photos of handwritten lyrics, notations, diary entries and letters to friends and memorabilia from the time.
Looking into the future
Last fall, May and Taylor spoke to Rolling Stone about the making of another masterpiece, Bohemian Rhapsody. In the interview they also hinted at what could be on the horizon for the band. “I’m very interested in the Sphere,” May said. “It gets my head spinning. I was sitting there and saw the Eagles and thought, ‘We should do that. What we could put in there would be stupendous.’ So yes, I would like to do that. We’re having conversations.”
