Album
Queen II
Queen II is the second studio album by Queen, released on 8 March 1974 through EMI in the UK, with Elektra handling the US release the following month. It was recorded in London at Trident Studios and Langham 1 Studios in August 1973, with Roy Thomas Baker and Robin Geoffrey Cable co-producing and Mike Stone engineering. It closed the first phase of the band's career, and it is the record where the multi-layered overdubs, vocal harmonies and shifting styles that define their sound first come together in earnest.
It is arguably their heaviest album, blending hard rock with art rock and progressive touches. The original LP swapped sides A and B for "Side White" and "Side Black". The white side leans towards emotional themes, while the black side dives into dark fantasy. Mick Rock's black-clad band portrait on the cover turned up again in the videos for "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "One Vision". Reviews were mixed at first, and it remains one of the band's lesser-known records, but it rewards anyone ready to hear Queen at their most grandiose.
Queen II: tracklist, credits and charts
11 tracks · 40:55Tracklist
- 1ProcessionBrian May1:13
- 2Father to SonBrian May6:16
- 3White Queen (As It Began)Brian May4:36
- 4Some Day One DayBrian May4:25
- 5The Loser in the EndRoger Taylor4:03
- 6Ogre BattleFreddie Mercury4:07
- 7The Fairy Feller’s Master‐StrokeFreddie Mercury2:42
- 8NevermoreFreddie Mercury1:19
- 9The March of the Black QueenFreddie Mercury6:08
- 10Funny How Love IsFreddie Mercury3:15
- 11Seven Seas of RhyeFreddie Mercury and John A. Glover-Kind2:51
- Produced by
- Roy Thomas Baker, Robin Geoffrey Cable, Queen
- Recorded at
- Trident Studios (London)
- Recorded
- 5 August 1973 – 20 February 1974
- Engineered by
- Mike Stone
- Labels
- EMI, Elektra
- Length
- 40:55
Line-up
- Brian May · guitar, piano, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, background vocals, lead vocals
- Roger Taylor · bass drum, drums (drum set), background vocals, marimba, lead vocals, gong, other vocals, percussion, tambourine
- John Deacon · bass guitar, acoustic guitar
- Freddie Mercury · piano, background vocals, lead vocals, other vocals, harpsichord
- Roy Thomas Baker · castanets · guest
Singles
- “Seven Seas of Rhye” · 22 February 1974
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1974 | 5 |
| US Billboard 200 · 1974 | 49 |
| German Rock & Metal Albums (Offizielle Top 100) · 2026 | 3 |
| Croatian International Albums (HDU) · 2026 | 6 |
| Austrian Albums · 2026 | 7 |
| German Albums · 2026 | 7 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 2026 | 10 |
| Dutch Albums · 2026 | 10 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 2026 | 13 |
| Norwegian Albums · 1974 | 19 |
All 17 charts
| Swiss Albums · Combined | 21 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI) · Combined | 26 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1974 | 26 |
| Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ) · Combined | 30 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1974 | 40 |
| Poland 2 · Combined | 45 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1974 | 79 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Canada · 1977 | Platinum |
| Japan · 1975 | Gold |
| Poland · 2009 | Platinum |
| United Kingdom · 1975 | Gold |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
72.0
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
4.0k
ListenBrainz listeners
259k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
1.3k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Also released on 8 March
Every year →
More from Queen
Full discography →
Queen
1973
Sheer Heart Attack
1974
A Night at the Opera
1975
A Day at the Races
1976
Queen’s First E.P.
1977
News of the World
1977
Jazz
1978
Live Killers
1979
The Game
1980
Flash Gordon
1980
Greatest Hits
1981
Hot Space
1982
The Works
1984
A Kind of Magic
1986
Live Magic
1986
Hungarian Rhapsody: Live in Budapest
1987
The Miracle
1989
At the Beeb
1989
Innuendo
1991
Greatest Hits II
1991
Box of Tricks
1992
Classic Queen
1992
The 12″ Collection
1992
Live at Wembley ’86
1992
Five Live
1993
The Greatest 3
1995
Made in Heaven
1995
Queen Rocks
1997
The Crown Jewels: A 25th Anniversary Celebration
1998
Greatest Hits III
1999
Highlander
2000
Greatest Hits I, II & III: The Platinum Collection
2000
We Will Rock You
2002
Jewels
2004
We Are the Champions: Final Live in Japan
2004
Queen on Fire: Live at the Bowl
2004
Stone Cold Classics
2006
The A–Z of Queen, Volume 1
2007
Rock Montreal
2007
The Singles Collection, Volume 1
2008
The Singles Collection, Volume 2
2009
Absolute Greatest
2009
The Singles Collection, Volume 3
2010
The Singles Collection, Volume 4
2010
Deep Cuts, Volume 1 (1973–1976)
2011
Deep Cuts, Volume 2 (1977–1982)
2011
Deep Cuts, Volume 3 (1984–1995)
2011
Icon
2013
Live at the Rainbow ’74
2014
Queen Forever
2014
A Night at the Odeon
2015
Bohemian Rhapsody: The Original Soundtrack
2018
Riffs
2025
Pop
2025
Anthems
2025
Ballads
2025
The best of 1974
All of 1974 →More on EMI
The label →
The Number of the Beast
Iron Maiden · 1982
A Night at the Opera
Queen · 1975
Piece of Mind
Iron Maiden · 1983
Powerslave
Iron Maiden · 1984
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden · 1992
Hot Space
Queen · 1982
Somewhere in Time
Iron Maiden · 1986
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Iron Maiden · 1988
The Works
Queen · 1984
A Kind of Magic
Queen · 1986
13
Black Sabbath · 2013
Dance of Death
Iron Maiden · 2003
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + wikidata; also seen: 1974-04-09 (musicbrainz)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 9 April 1974 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 8 March 1974 | |
| Wikidata | 8 March 1974 | |
| US release | 9 April 1974 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 1974 | earliest UK or European date |
65 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | CA | Hollywood Records | 00050087240684 | remaster |
| — | CA | A&M Records | 72061612322097 | other |
| — | XE | Island | 602527638881 | other |
| — | CA | Hollywood Records | 00050087240691 | remaster |
| — | XE | EMI | 5099915755346 | other |
| 1974 | GB | EMI | other | |
| 1974 | GB | EMI | other | |
| 9 April 1974 | US | Elektra | original | |
| 1976 | JP | Elektra | other | |
| 1984 | GB | EMI | 5099941309919 | other |
| 1984 | GB | EMI | other | |
| 1986 | XE | EMI | 077774620529 | other |
| 1 December 1986 | GB | EMI | 077774620529 | other |
| 22 April 1987 | JP | EMI | 4988006612181 | other |
| 1991 | US | Hollywood Records | 720616123220 | other |
| 12 April 1991 | JP | EMI | 4988006657663 | other |
| 22 October 1991 | US | Hollywood Records | 720616123220 | other |
| 22 October 1991 | US | Hollywood Records | 720616123220 | other |
| 1992 | XE | EMI | 077774620529 | other |
| 1994 | XE | Parlophone | 077778927525 | other |
| 1994 | NZ | EMI | 077774620529 | other |
| 1994 | GB | Parlophone | 077778927525 | other |
| 18 May 1994 | JP | EMI | 4988006695702 | other |
| 1998 | US | Hollywood Records | other | |
| 6 November 1998 | JP | EMI | other | |
| 6 November 1998 | JP | EMI | 4988006760806 | other |
| 21 November 2001 | JP | EMI | 4988006796157 | remaster |
| 4 February 2004 | JP | EMI | 4988006818118 | other |
| 4 February 2004 | JP | EMI | 4988006818118 | other |
| 20 April 2008 | ES | EMI | 8423793300218 | other |
| 2010 | US | Hollywood Records | other | |
| 2011 | — | EMI | 602557028201 | remaster |
| 2011 | US | Hollywood Records | 050087240691 | other |
| 2011 | AR | Island | 602527642505 | other |
| 2011 | — | EMI | 00602527642499 | remaster |
| 14 March 2011 | GB | Island | 602527638881 | remaster |
| 14 March 2011 | XE | Island | 602527642505 | other |
| 14 March 2011 | — | EMI | 602527642451 | remaster |
| 14 March 2011 | GB | Island | 602527642505 | remaster |
| 16 March 2011 | JP | Island | 4988005646170 | remaster |
| 17 May 2011 | US | Hollywood Records | 050087240684 | remaster |
| 14 December 2011 | JP | Island | 4988005689887 | remaster |
| 18 December 2013 | JP | Island | 4988005798398 | remaster |
| 2014 | XW | — | 602547024541 | other |
| 2014 | XW | — | 602547025432 | deluxe |
| 27 October 2014 | US | Hollywood Records | 050087318185 | other |
| 4 November 2014 | US | Hollywood Records | 050087318178 | deluxe |
| 27 August 2015 | AR | Virgin EMI Records | 9789877350593 | remaster |
| 25 September 2015 | XE | Virgin EMI Records | 602547288240 | other |
| 2018 | JP | Island | 4988031308929 | other |
| 12 October 2018 | XW | Hollywood Records | other | |
| 2020 | ES | Virgin EMI Records | other | |
| 19 May 2021 | JP | Universal Music | 4988031426753 | other |
| 27 March 2026 | CA | Hollywood Records | 00050087598990 | deluxe |
| 27 March 2026 | XW | EMI | deluxe | |
| 27 March 2026 | XW | EMI | 00602478438578 | other |
| 27 March 2026 | XW | EMI | 602478438561 | other |
| 27 March 2026 | US | Hollywood Records | 050087593612 | deluxe |
| 27 March 2026 | — | EMI | 00602478438639 | other |
| 27 March 2026 | XW | — | 00050087598891 | other |
| 27 March 2026 | — | EMI | 602478397424 | deluxe |
| 27 March 2026 | CA | Hollywood Records | 00050087598891 | other |
| 27 March 2026 | XE | EMI | 602478438516 | other |
| 27 March 2026 | — | EMI | 602478397424 | deluxe |
| 27 March 2026 | XE | EMI | 602478397530 | deluxe |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · upscaled: minor: best source 1500x1499, upscaled to 1500 (x1.00)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 1500×1499 | upscaled: minor: best source 1500x1499, upscaled to 1500 (x1.00) |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |