Legendary Queen guitarist Brian May has revealed the band's best album ever, and it isn't A Night At The Opera, which contains their iconic track Bohemian Rhapsody. In his opinion, the album which preceded that, Queen II, is actually their greatest work. The 78-year-old rock behemoth made the assertion as he continued to work on remastering the 1974 LP. Taking to Instagram, Brian shared a clip from the studio in which he was working on the track Funny How Love Is and he penned a lengthy note to fans.
"OK - please rotate your phone 90 degrees anticlockwise - and come up close for another carefree journey - back into the world of Queen II - surely the best Queen album EVER!!!" He exclaimed. "Just having fun here, switching things in and out so we hear things we never really noticed before. This new stereo mix is quite adventurous - and, rendering the impossible complexity of these tracks, the new clarity is astounding," he wrote.
"Thanks to the meticulous and inspired work of our Queen sound team - Justin, Kris and Josh - this ancient work, from when we were still just learning how to reach for the stars, will open up a new world to many who care about these arcane dreams as much as we do.
"On this track we very consciously channelled the magical 'Phil Spector Wall of Sound' - with banks of acoustic guitars, castanets, and big roomy drums - even to the point of speeding up Freddie's vocal slightly to make him sound younger - or maybe it was so he would sound like Ronnie Spector!" He revealed.
"Love this song - originally piloted by guest producer Robin Cable in Trident Studios - it's like a wheel endlessly turning but always bringing new surprises.
"Can't wait to share the new mixes with you when we are done ... and ... OMG!!! When we get to the Dolby Atmos surround mixes, I will be in Heaven!!! Because we'll finally be able to do justice to all the multiple layers in these tracks - a mere 52 Years later !!! Cheers! Bri," he signed off.
Brian previously revealed that the band, which also comprises singer Freddie Mercury, drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Deacon, intends to release a new Queen II box set, following the recent release of the Queen I box set in October 2024, which saw them clean up tracks and include demos and additional material.
Although no date has been set for the release, he is clearly making headway in editing the tracks, as this is the second teaser he has posted from the project.
As the title suggests, Queen II was the band's second album. It contains one of their most iconic cover images, which was recreated for the opening of the famous Bohemian Rhapsody video a year later.
The album contains the track Seven Seas of Rhye, which became their first top 10 single and went to number 5 on the UK charts. It also gave them their first whiff of US success when it charted at number 49.
