It is significant for being the first album to contain elements of the band's signature sound of multi-layered overdubs, vocal harmonies, and varied musical styles.

Mick Rock's cover photograph was frequently re-used by the band throughout its career, including the music videos for the songs "Bohemian Rhapsody" (1975) and "One Vision" (1985).

"Stone Cold Crazy", also from Mercury's Wreckage period, had been in the set list for years, but was held back and reworked for the third album, Sheer Heart Attack.

The band approached David Bowie to produce, but he declined because he was then recording Pin Ups and working on songs for Diamond Dogs.

[11] Robin Geoffrey Cable, with whom Mercury had worked during the "I Can Hear Music" session, was asked to produce "Nevermore" and "Funny How Love Is", and collaborate with Roy Thomas Baker on the ambitious "March of the Black Queen".

During these rehearsals, the band were interviewed by Melody Maker and told the magazine that their new album would have a theme of "good versus evil".

In early October, Queen met with photographer Mick Rock for the first time to discuss album concept art.

Martin Hayman of Sounds visited the band on 22 December while they were finishing rough mixes for "Loser In The End", "Ogre Battle", and "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke".

[6] Music journalist and author Jerry Ewing described the album as displaying a "proggy art rock tendency".

[5] Daniel Ross of The Quietus described it as "the exact intersection" between the band's "murky, metallic beginnings" and "the absolute pop perfection incarnation of Queen, leather trousers and Formby pastiches.

The song also had personal significance for May; he drew inspiration from a fellow student whom he revered and thought represented the idea of the "perfect woman".

The guitar had been given a replacement hardwood bridge, chiselled flat, with a small piece of fret wire placed between it and the strings, which lay gently above.

The fantasy-based lyrics make direct reference to characters and vignettes detailed in the painting and in Dadd's companion poem, Elimination of a Picture & its Subject—called The Feller's Master Stroke.

"[29] The multifaceted composition, the band's second longest (6:34), is one of two Queen songs (the other being "Bohemian Rhapsody") containing polyrhythm/polymeter (two different time signatures simultaneously 8/8 and 12/8) and a simpler polyrhythm around the end uptempo section, which is very rare for popular music.

[31][32][33] The opening piano piece is only known to have been played live once, at Providence Civic Center on 14 November 1978 (likely in response to a fan shouting for the song near the beginning of the concert).

This was also the final time a Queen II track would be played live until the revival of "Seven Seas of Rhye" in 1984 for The Works Tour.

Along with "Lily of the Valley" from Sheer Heart Attack, the song references a fantasy world or kingdom named Rhye.

A similar idea occurred with the old music hall song "I Do Like To Be Beside the Seaside", which is sung at the end of "Seven Seas of Rhye" here and whistled during the intro to the third album, Sheer Heart Attack.

[35] In Rock's words, the band wanted to "graft some of [the trademark] decadent 'glam' sensibility" of his previous work with artists such as David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed.

[37] The cover features a photograph described by VH1 as "Queen standing in diamond formation, heads tilted back like Easter Island statues" against a black background.

Freddie added, "It doesn't have any special meaning, but we were fascinated with this type of thing, and the wardrobe we used at the time described it perfectly well".

After the album's completion at the end of August 1973, Queen immediately added "Ogre Battle", "Procession" and "Father to Son" to their live set lists and toured extensively.

[40] On 8 November 2010, record company Universal Music announced a remastered and expanded reissue of the album set for release in May 2011.

"[18] NME opined that the record showcased "all their power and drive, their writing talents, and every quality that makes them unique,"[18] while Sounds wrote, "Simply titled Queen II, this album captures them in their finest hours.

Combined with Freddie Mercury's underrated keyboard work, Brian May's ringing leads and pristine riffs created a backdrop for songs that were by turns ferocious and elegant.

The review observed the album's heaviness and stated "this never feels as fantastical as Genesis or Uriah Heep", concluding "Queen II is one of the favorites of their hardcore fans".

[2] Pitchfork awarded the album a very positive rating of 8/10, writing, "Dizzying, overstuffed, and unflinching, Queen II is a die-hard fan favorite, and arguably the band's most underrated record.

"[6] Writing for Classic Rock in 2016, Malcolm Dome ranked Queen II as the band's sixth greatest album.

"[4] Greg Kot of Chicago Tribune offered a plain favourable rating of 2 stars, commenting the album "fused Led Zeppelin`s metallic stomp with Yes` baroque arrangements and topped it off with a dash of campiness.

[62] Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx expressed his admiration in the same publication for the album, saying "Queen II will knock your dick in the dirt every time".