Queen II
Recording Sessions
- August 1973
- Location: Trident Studios.
- Technology: 16-Track.
- Acoustic Drums
- Ludwig
- Acoustic Guitars
- Hairfred Double-Oh: White Queen.
- Ovation Pacemaker: The Loser in the End.
- Martin D-18: Everywhere else.
- Acoustic Pianos
- Jangle (unknown brand): Seven Seas of Rhye.
- Bechstein III: Everywhere else.
- Additional Percussion (various brands):
- Castanets: Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke.
- Cowbell: The Loser in the End.
- Gong: Ogre Battle.
- Tubular Bells: The March of the Black Queen.
- Tambourine: Seven Seas of Rhye.
- Electric Bass
- Fender Precision
- Electric Guitars
- Fender Stratocaster: The Loser in the End (possibly - rhythm part only).
- BHM Bespoke: Everywhere else.
- Keyboards (other than piano)
- Dubreq Stylophone: Seven Seas of Rhye.
- Goff Harpsichord: The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke.
- Microphones
- AKG C-12A (Vocals + Acoustic Guitar)
- AKG D-20 (Bass-Drum)
- beyerdynamic E-1000 (Sundry)
- Neumann KM-56 (Piano - High Range)
- Neumann KM-84 (Snare-Drum)
- Neumann U-67 (Piano - Low Range; Guitars; Bass)
- Neumann U-87 (Tom-Toms)
- Sony C-38 (Snare-Drum)
- Mixing Consoles
- Sound Techniques 24:8 (Trident 2)
- Trident A 32:24 (Trident 1)
- Tape Recorders
- 3M 16-Track
- Amplifiers
- Deacon Bespoke (Guitar Choirs)
- H|H (Bass)
- Orange AD-200B (Bass)
- Vox AC-30 (Lead & Rhythm Guitars)
- Sundry
- Dallas Rangemaster Effect Unit (Guitar)
- Dolby A Noise Reduction
- EMT 140 Plate Reverb
- fOXX Foot Phaser Pedal (Guitar)
- JBL D-175 Monitor Speakers (Trident 1)
- Lockwood-Tannoy Monitor Speakers (Trident 2)
- Maestro Echoplex (Guitar)
- Orange PPC-412 Cabinet (Bass)
- URei LA2A Limiter
- Vox AC-30 Amplifiers (Guitar)
- Vox Cry-Baby Wah-Wah Pedal (Guitar)
- Recorded
- Brighton Rock: Saved for later.
- See What a Fool I've Been: B-Side of the single.
- May or may not have been recorded, but already written
- Stone Cold Crazy
- Music composed by:
- Freddie Mercury: 54.55%
- Brian May: 36.36%
- Roger Taylor: 9.09%
- Lyrics written by:
- Freddie Mercury: 60%
- Brian May: 30%
- Roger Taylor: 10%
- Roy Baker
- Castanets: The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke.
- Stylophone: Seven Seas of Rhye.
- John Deacon
- Acoustic Guitar: The Loser in the End.
- Electric Bass: 10 tracks.
- Brian May
- Acoustic Guitar: 4 tracks.
- Acoustic Piano: Father to Son.
- Backing Vocals: 8 tracks.
- Electric Guitars: 10 tracks.
- Lead Vocals: Some Day One Day.
- Tubular Bells: The March of the Black Queen.
- Freddie Mercury
- Acoustic Grand Piano: 4 tracks.
- Backing Vocals: 9 tracks.
- Harpsichord: The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke.
- Jangle Piano: Seven Seas of Rhye.
- Lead Vocals: 8 tracks.
- Roger Taylor
- Acoustic Drums: 10 tracks.
- Backing Vocals: 8 tracks.
- Cowbell: The Loser in the End.
- Gong: Ogre Battle.
- Lead Vocals: 3 tracks (2 only partly).
- Tambourine: Seven Seas of Rhye.
- Unknown/Uncredited
- Backing vocals at the end of Seven Seas of Rhye.
- Roy Baker: 38.64%
- Freddie Mercury: 27.27%
- Brian May: 18.18%
- Robin Cable: 11.36%
- Roger Taylor: 4.55%
- Roy Baker (with Nick Bradford assisting): Father to Son & Seven Seas of Rhye.
- Mike Stone (with Neil Kernon assisting): Everywhere else.
BAND/MUSIC TROPES FOUND ON THIS ALBUM
Beyond the impossible: Some of the high notes sung on the album, notably: - A 1046.50-Hz c"' Taylor sings on The March of the Black Queen just before the slow part.
- To give you an idea of how high it is, it's the highest note usually expected from a woman!
- A 987.767-Hz b" Mercury sings during the 'battle' scene on Ogre Battle.
- Several 880-Hz a" instances:
- Funny How Love Is: Taylor.
- Seven Seas of Rhye: Taylor.
- The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke: Taylor.
- The March of the Black Queen: Taylor.
- White Queen: Mercury.
- Father to Son
- Brian May plays the piano instead of Freddie Mercury.
- Roger Taylor sings the outro.
- Some Day One Day
- Brian May sings lead vocals instead of Freddie Mercury.
- The Loser in the End
- John Deacon plays acoustic guitar instead of Brian May.
- Roger Taylor sings lead vocals instead of Freddie Mercury.
- Seven Seas of Rhye ends with the band + crew singing I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside.
- A song featuring harpsichord.
- Little to no radio-friendly material.
- The March of the Black Queen has complex form + harmony, loads of multi-tracked vocals, a guitar choir, classical-influenced piano, just like ... you know, Bohemian Rhapsody.
- Seven Seas of Rhye, at the end, has Mercury singing an octave lower than the rest of the choir (which possibly also features him, thanks to the magic of multi-tracking).
Self-backing vocalist:
- The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke: While May and especially Taylor are heavily featured on some parts, a lot of the song is just Mercury dueting with himself.
- The Loser in the End: Roger Taylor sings his own harmony.
- The March of the Black Queen: Mercury sings everything during the slow-down part.
- White Queen: Freddie Mercury sings everything: lead and multi-tracked angelical choir.
FALSE CLAIMS & URBAN LEGENDS
The Prophet's Song having been originally for this album.- It was begun and finished in 1975 for A Night at the Opera.
- 16-track, the standard of London studios at the time.
LINER NOTES MISTAKES & OMISSIONS
- No mention of the stylophone (which is technically a synth, making the 'nobody played synthesiser' claim wrong).
- No mention of the additional backing vocalists at the end of the second side.
