Their first 4 albums were all really, really good, imo. All 4 records had some really great highlights and surprizes at the time, they were pushing the envelope. It was exciting in those days listening to the band. I was disappointed in A Day at the Races though, my first Queen disappointment! Queen II is my favourite, but the production on it is terrible.
I’m not sure if it’s the production or the mix. There’s so much going on and I believe it was only recorded on 8 track so a lot of bouncing down of tracks was involved which would invariably lead to mushiness. I loved it as a kid though and never really noticed the density at the time. As you say, it was exciting listening to those albums in real time. I retained the excitement up to The Game, then I started to wobble, although I held on throughout the 80s.
3.5 is what I'd give it. There 4 songs that are boring to me or don't seem to go anywhere/don't "say" anything.
I mostly agree with you. I think A Night at the Opera is often hailed as their masterpiece by default. One of their albums must be a masterpiece, right? This one has "Bohemian Rhapsody" so it is the consensus pick. I don't believe that every band/artist has a "masterpiece" and Queen would be one of those bands. I very much enjoy the music of Queen and I own all of the albums circa 1973-1995 but, to me, their albums had too much filler for any of them to be a masterpiece. I'm not sure if this is an unpopular opinion but my favourite Queen album is News of the World. That is the one with the most "album cuts" that I enjoy.
I have a few variations of this album, including an unopened DCC version. Which I've always heard is one of, if not the best version of this album. Not sure I should crack it open or not. other versions I have: blu-ray dvd-audio original US vinyl box set vinyl 30th CD 2011 CD (not my picture)
Queen II was recorded on 16 track. They only had to do some backing tracks on 8 track due to studio booking conflicts.
They are incomplete indeed but that's a certain someones idea of democracy. Where a different/ negative opinion is equated with trolling. Bizarre, eh?
Yes, I agree. Opera is treated as their 'masterpiece' because they're a huge band and so they have to have one. It has Bo Rhap, and that makes people think this is Queen's 'masterpiece' - even though at least three of their other albums are actually much more consistent, and feature more great songs than Opera does. They never really made a 'masterpiece', but if you take away Bo Rhap it becomes pretty clear that there are stronger candidates among their albums than Opera, including the two albums before and the two albums after.
