March Of The Black Queen
This one starts off with a few piano notes, but soon a few droning guitar notes buzz in. Then, suddenly, it just EXPLODES with the voices of the band. It's pretty soft playing aside from that entrance, but it quickly speeds up. And then it slows down a bit again, and it stays fast, with piano, before guitar... It's hard to describe, again. It's pretty speedy for the first 2 and a half minutes, before it becomes an almost different song... and back to the minimal vocals and piano. It's very soft, kind of heavy but airy, for about a minute and a half... Then it speeds up again, though it's not as fast as eariler. So far, it's swapped between like 5 different styles. It seems to end softly... Then they come back for an encore, out of nowhere, and end the song on a high note, leading into the next song.
It begins with what seems like the lover from White Queen doubting his choice to follow her. Then... something about dying and coming back to life? Then it's a description of the Black Queen coming, with people in single file behind her. Then it goes to her regime, throwing people in the cellar and whatnot, making her prisoners making her stuff. Then she's seducing someone? I don't know. Then it shifts into what I theorise to be her thinking about her past days - as the White Queen. She seems to be thinking of her past self and her past lover. It's almost like she's reverting back to her old self... Then it goes to what I presume is the lover, who's become who he hates, drinking and gambling on his off time. He pledges to do whatever she wants (or something), then it seems to shift into a sex scene... Then in the last part, it shifts into a joyful-ish end, where the Black Queen finally takes over the land.
Funny How Love Is
March Of The Black Queen seagues directly into this one. The song starts off with what seems to be steely acoustics playing, with vocals just a bit drowned out by it. There's some piano acompanying the vocals, and a few drums, but you mostly hear the guitar(s) throughout the song.
This one was too hard for me to hear, so I'm going to read the lyrics and base this part off that. Well, according to the page I'm using... this is just a silly little song about love. "Funny how love is coming home in time for tea", etc. As such, there really isn't much for me to talk about here; it's a little bit of fluff, I guess.
Seven Seas Of Rhye
Well, it's finally time for the full Seven Seas Of Rhye. It starts off with some piano, but it's quickly joined by guitar and drums. It's a fairly fast song, and it utilizes everyone's voices perfectly; the vocal harmonies are just great. The guitar basically riffs all the way through the song, which is pretty cool. It's easy to see how this became their first hit.
The song begins with what seems to be an invasion force dropping in on a nation in Rhye, possibly the Black Queen's forces. Then it shifts to the people being enslaved, singing that they'll be loyal. This is actually a pretty depressing song. It ends with the Black Queen saying she'll destroy anyone who dares challenge her. Throughout the song, the term "Take you to the Seven Seas of Rhye" seems to be a euphenism for killing people. And for some reason, the song ends with the band members singing "Oh, I do love to be beside the sea side", which I took as a piece of Black Comedy.
Final Thoughts Of Side Black: These ones were okay, but a little dense (for lack of a better word). Everything seemed so heavy and lumped together, and it's like this side is trying to tell a story. It might just be the quality of the MP3s or my headphones, but I couldn't make out all the words and got lost a bit in there. I liked the music a lot, but the lyrics... Meh.
Next time, I listen to both Sides back to back, and give my final verdict.
