Queen guitarist Brian May is giving a preview of the in-the-works reissue of the band’s seminal sophomore album, Queen II.
In a video shared on social media, May takes viewers inside the legendary Abbey Road Studios, where he’s hard at work on the reissue. He showed viewers a “work-in-progress Dolby Atmos (surround) rebuild of ‘PROCESSION,'” which is the first song on the album.
“I’m inviting you in because I want you to be as excited as I am when this becomes available for streaming very soon, and when the Dolby Atmos Blue-Ray (sic) comes out,” May states with three exclamation marks. “It will sound about 50 times better than this.”
Queen’s Brian May Shares Behind-the-Scenes Clip From ‘Queen II’ Reissue
After the Dolby upgrade, he says listeners “will be effectively sitting inside the guitar ‘orchestra'” and that the album will sound like nothing before.
In June 2025, Queen reissued their self-titled debut, so this is in line with that development. As with the Queen II release, the reissue of the self-titled debut included a mastering with Dolby Atmos for the first time.
Dolby Atmos, according to Dolby’s official website, “has reinvented how entertainment is created and experienced, allowing creatives everywhere to place each sound exactly where they want it to go, for a more realistic and immersive audio experience.”
The website adds, “Whether you’re gaming, watching your favorite movie or show, or listening to that new track on repeat, Dolby Atmos transports you into a spatial sound experience that draws you in deeper, so you hear more and feel more.”
Queen II is the sound of a band realizing they don’t have to play small. It’s theatrical, layered, a little dangerous in its ambition. Instead of chasing tidy rock songs, Queen built something sprawling and dramatic, split into light and dark, stacked with harmonies that feel almost operatic. You can hear the risk in it. They weren’t aiming for safe. They were aiming for myth.
There’s a confidence running through Queen II that still feels electric decades later. It’s not just a great early album — it’s the moment Queen decided to become larger than life, and actually pulled it off.
Anne Erickson started her radio career shortly after graduating from Michigan State University and has worked on-air in Detroit, Flint, Toledo, Lansing and beyond. As someone who absolutely loves rock, metal and alt music, she instantly fell in love with radio and hasn’t looked back. When she’s not working, Anne makes her own music with her band, Upon Wings, and she also loves cheering on her favorite Detroit and Michigan sports teams, especially Lions and MSU football. Anne is also an award-winning journalist, and her byline has run in a variety of national publications. You can also hear her weekends on WRIF.