Queen Releases Remixed Queen II Collector’s Edition With Unheard Material

Queen dropped a remixed and remastered Collector's Edition of Queen II on March 27. This five-CD, two-LP box set packs in outtakes that no one has heard before, demos, live tracks, and radio sessions from their 1974 album.

The 2026 mix of the record also contains fly-on-the-wall audio captured while the band worked in the studio. Inside, fans can view a 112-page book stuffed with photos never shown to the public, handwritten lyrics, diary entries, and memorabilia.

Guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor served as executive producers. Justin Shirley-Smith, Joshua J Macrae, and Kris Fredriksson mixed it.

"Queen II was the single biggest leap we ever made," Brian May said, according to AntiMusic. "That's when we really started making music the way we wanted to, rather than the way we were being pushed into recording it."

The original album hit No. 5 on the UK album charts. Their lead single, "Seven Seas Of Rhye," became the group's first hit.

The reissue comes as a two-CD Deluxe Edition, a vinyl LP, a vinyl Picture Disc LP, or a CD and a cassette. All of them have the new 2026 mix.

The book inside the box set holds memories from band members about writing and recording their second studio album. Diary entries and handwritten lyrics let fans peek at the creative process behind the record.

Hollywood Records released the Collector's Edition more than 50 years after the original dropped in 1974. Critics have called the album one of the band's heaviest records and their first true masterpiece.

The recordings caught in the fly-on-the-wall audio give listeners access to moments that were locked away from the public until now. These recordings show the band at work during an important turning point.