Yeah, Queen II is an awesome record. Everything from Queen II up through News Of The World was golden in my book. I just heard Bohemian Rhapsody at a restaurant yesterday, I sang along with the whole song, but quietly so no one else would have to listen. I even sang part of the guitar solo, but had to drop out because my server came up to take my order, so I had to tell her what I wanted to eat. Fortunately, she was done and stepped away just as the opera section started.
The only thing about Queen II is they recorded it on 8-track, which would have been fine if they had been using a conventional approach to recording rock music, i.e. just the occasional doubletracked vocal or guitar part. But the heavy use of overdubs stretched the limits of what you can do with that medium. Plus, the band were, I think, still recording whenever there was open time at Trident studios (which was run by their original managers, the guys Freddie later wrote Flick Of The Wrist and Death On 2 Legs about), sometimes late at night, so they didn't have time to dial in guitar tones, drum sounds, etc. That's why the production on that record (and the first album for that matter) is so flat sounding. But musically, it's brilliant.
By contrast, by the time they made Sheer Heart Attack, they had a hit single (Seven Seas Of Rye) under their belts, so EMI were willing to give them a budget to record their music, their way, properly. So they were able to move up to using 16 track, so they could do more overrdubs without having to bounce stuff down, and they were given the time to make the drums and guitars and everything sound the way they really needed to.
Originally Posted by Crawford Glissadevil
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), the Brian May actor is even more of a clone.
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