As a refinement and extension of what they had introduced on their debut album, Queen II is both remarkable in its own right and a kind of a road not taken, as they’d never quite be so heavy metal as such, stop to start, again. All four of them even sound like stronger performers, with Roy Thomas Baker’s producing partnership producing more dividends. The high speed bravura of “The Seven Seas of Rhye” gave them their first big UK hit, while songs with amazing titles like “The Fairy Feller’s Master Stroke” show they were already in their own universe.

A favorite of noted rock scholars like Rob Halford, Axl Rose, and Billy Corgan, Queen’s second set of fairy tales remains one of the lesser-celebrated (pre-80s) entries in their discography. It was their first big step towards the over-the-top sound that would soon make them critical and commercial darlings, but it doesn’t have the big hits. That said, “Seven Seas of Rhye” remains one of their most rollicking voyages, “Father and Son” one of their most heartfelt operettas, “Ogre Battle” so dynamic there’s a Japanese strategy game named after it. The reflected dichotomy between their white and black queen songs remains an impressive feat. They’d go on to bigger and better things but they’d never go weirder.