Brian May and Roger Taylor make huge Queen announcement over 50 years in making | Music | Entertainment

A couple of years ago, Sir Brian May and Roger Taylor announced a remixed, remastered and expanded version of their band’s self-titled debut album, Queen I.

And now the two active members of the band have done the same with their second record, Queen II.

This ultimate edition of the band’s iconic 1974 second album features a brand new 2026 mix of previously unheard studio outtakes, demos, live tracks and BBC sessions.

Widely considered Queen’s heaviest album and the band’s first true masterpiece, the 5CD+2LP Queen II Collector’s Editions box set also comes with “a 112-page book featuring previously unseen photographs, handwritten lyrics, diary entries, and special memorabilia, as well as memories of writing and recording the album from the band members.”

Sir Brian May shared: “Queen II was the single biggest leap we ever made. That’s when we really started making music the way we wanted to, rather than the way we were being pushed into recording it.”

Roger Taylor added: “With Queen II, I couldn’t believe how much work we put into it. 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.”

And at the time Freddie Mercury said: “I wanted to give it everything – to be self-indulgent. 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.”

One particular highlight is set to be CD2’s sessions which is “a treasure trove for Queen fans, presenting a completely different and 100% previously unreleased version of every song from the album in the form of outtakes from the original Trident sessions, complete with false starts, guide vocals, the odd mistake, and some fabulous studio banter between the four band members.”

Queen II Collector’s Edition will be released on March 27 and can be preordered here.