Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor are serving as executive producers on a brand new Queen II reissue, set to arrive on March 27. The album, originally released in 1974, has been re-mixed by Justin Shirley-Smith, Joshua J Macrae, and Kris Fredriksson.
The 5CD+2LP Queen II Collector’s Edition box set features the 2026 mix of the album, plus audio of Queen in the recording studio, previously unheard outtakes and demos, live tracks, and radio sessions.
The Queen II Collector’s Edition box set also arrives with a 112-page book featuring previously unavailable photographs, handwritten lyrics, diary entries, and special memorabilia, as well as recollections of the writing and recording process from the band members.
“Queen II was the single biggest leap we ever made,” says Brian May. “That’s when we really started making music the way we wanted to, rather than the way we were being pushed into recording it.”
“With Queen II, I couldn’t believe how much work we put into it,” adds Roger Taylor. “I think we felt we were evolving our own sound. We were pioneering this sort of multitracking thing. It gave you a tremendous pallet, massive choral effects with just three of us singing.”
This notion was something the group’s late, great bandleader Freddie Mercury discussed during the era in which the album was released. “I wanted to give it everything – to be self-indulgent,” he explained. “But the whole band in particular, we don’t go in for half-measures and I’m pretty hard with myself. There are no compromises.”
This was something Justin Shirley-Smith and Joshua J McCrae wanted to emphasize in the mixing process of this new edition. “The idea was to reveal more of the clarity of the songs,” says Shirley-Smith. “Rather than add anything, we wanted to reveal more of what was there and get that desired sound.”
“The lengths the band went to achieve what they achieved with the technology they had at the time was incredible,” adds Joshua J Macrae. “Some of it is so ahead of its time. Working on this was like entering a room of fabulousness.”
Buy the Collector’s edition of Queen II here.