Album - Queen II

Queen II was the second album by Queen and was released in March 1974. The album was recorded at Trident Studios, London, in August 1973 with co-producers Roy Thomas Baker and Robin Cable, being engineered by Mike Stone.

The two sides of the original LP were labelled "Side White" and "Side Black" (instead of the conventional sides "1" and "2"), with corresponding photos of the band dressed in white or in black on each side of the record's label face. It is a concept album, with the white side having songs with a more emotional theme and the black side almost entirely about fantasy and often with dark undertones. Mick Rock's album cover photograph was frequently re-used by the band throughout their career, most notably in the music video for the song "Bohemian Rhapsody" (1975).

Released to an initially mixed critical reception, Queen II remains one of the band's lesser-known albums. Nonetheless, the album has retained a cult following since its release and has in recent years been cited by a number of music publications, fellow artists, and fans, as one of Queen's finest works.