Published on Oct 12, 2004
Although not a great success at the time, Queen’s 1973 debut had
created a stir. Their sophomore release would add more fuel to
their fire, scoring them a supporting gig with Mott The Hoople on
their American tour that would lead to even more exposure in the
states. Back home in the U.K., They got even bigger with a little
help from an unlikely single, the hard-rocking “Seven Seas OF
Rhye,” which would reach #10, driving the album itself to reach #5
on the British charts.
Queen’s beautifully bizarre mix of musical influences is no less
bizarre on this outing. The album has two distinctively different
sides, Brian May pens all but one track of side one, with Roger
Taylor filling in the last slot. Side two, is exclusively the
territory of Freddie Mercury compositions, featuring lyrically
dense songs steeped in fantasy and mythology.
Side one starts off with some throwaway instrumental doodling on
“Procession” which introduces the tasty power-balled, “Father To
Son.” “Father To Son” is classic Queen, with it’s soaring
instrumentation, punctuated with the great vocal harmonies Queen is
known for. Although it does suffer from excessive repetitions of
the chorus at the end, it’s still a solid track. Next up, “White
Queen (As It Began)” is pleasant little tune that sounds OK, but it
doesn’t really engage me and doesn’t go anywhere except to slow the
mood down nicely to segue into the next track. Guitarist Brian May
pulls a rare lead vocal on “Some Way One Day,” an acoustic ballad.
May’s wispy tenor fits very nicely with the acoustic arrangement of
this song. Drummer Roger Taylor closes side one, providing lead
vocals on his ode to good ol’ mum, “Loser In The End.” Taylor’s
gravely garage-band growl is perfect accompaniment for the gritty
blues laid down by May and bassist John Deacon.
Side two is where things get strange. Enjoyable to be sure, but
Mercury’s mythology drenched fantasy trips have mystified me for
many years. According to legend, Mercury created a fantasy based
mythology that assimilates bits of Greek and Druidic myths, fairy
tales, Shakespeare and who knows what else. Allegedly there’s a
common thread within Mercury’s compositions throughout the entire
Queen catalog that amounts to a collective set of songs telling the
history of this mythology.
True or not I don’t know, but the songs on side two are cool,
and the first five songs do amount to what is basically a suite
about all manner of fantastical characters. Ogres, fairies, and an
evil Queen make up just part of the cast. Mercury’s lyrical fantasy
trip is sung with many different voices (most of the them
Freddie’s), and at all manner of different time signatures. The
variation in instrumental and vocal themes within the individual
tracks give the songs a much deeper texture and color that if they
had been sung in standard rock fashion. Starting with the heavy
“Ogre Battle” the songs meld into essentially one long track,
continuing through the hyper-kinetic “The Fairy Feller’s Master
Stroke,” into the more peaceful “Nevermore” and the menacing “March
Of The Black Queen,” and finishing up with the oddly out of place
ballad “Funny How Love Is,” which doesn’t seem to fit in with the
first four tracks. The songs don’t really break until the final
track, the aforementioned “Seven Seas Of Rhye.”
Sonically, the production sounds a little thin and lacking in
bottom, but the propensity for ultra-high vocals and May’s style of
playing tend to drive their music into those upper registers.
That’s doesn’t prevent it from being a very good album. I have
always found this a great listen, and an overlooked gem of the
period.