Queen - Queen Greatest Hits 1 (18 tracks) +Album Reviews

Marred by 2 live cuts

T. C Lane | Marina, CA USA | 08/18/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This should've been a slam dunk, but the compilers decided to stick on 2 live cuts of Queen classics, "Under Pressure"(live 1982 WITHOUT David Bowie), and a 1982 live "Tie Your Mother Down". So my suggestion: download those and eliminate the 2 live ones, and you'll have the ultimate single Queen hits CD. But shouldn't the compilers have done that instead? Sneaky record company Greatest Hits CD tricks. Song by song info are the only liner notes. A good starter for those interested in Queen. But take my advice on the 2 live ones."

It's the Greatest, all right

Braeden P. Jeffery | Melbourne, VIC Aus | 11/07/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First off - if you've already got the UK version of "Queen's Greatest Hits" in some form or another, then you don't need this. This is the UK version - with bonus tracks. People who only have the undercooked USA compilation will find this a delightful purchase, as their theoretical "Greatest Hits" was a bit lacking.

This album features Queen's chart hits from 1973-1981 - yes, this means that the three singles from this era that did relatively poorly on the charts - "Keep Yourself Alive", "Tie Your Mother Down" and "Spread Your Wings" - have been culled (though "Mother" is now added as a live bonus track, along with "Under Pressure", both lifted from the new "On Fire At The Bowl" Cd/DVD). Despite this, we have seventeen classic tracks - all hits in their own right. As was typical of the Queen of the age, they range in style - from simplistic ditties ("Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "You're My Best Friend"), to hard-rocking live faves ("Now I'm Here", "Another One Bites The Dust") and even one or two songs that defy conventional description ("Bohemian Rhapsody", "Play The Game"). But every single bit of it is great - there's not a disappointing song on there, and you'll be singing along to the lot in no time. My personal favourites are the beautiful "Somebody To Love", with Roger, Brian and Freddie multi-tracked to the point of sounding like a gospel choir; and Brian's emotive "Save Me" - with it's stunning and heart-wrenching lyrics. Possibly the best ballad they ever released as a single.

At least one of the prior reviewers has grumbled that Queen are just being cash-cows and are out to make a bit more money by releasing the same stuff over and over again in different boxes. I seriously doubt that anyone who already has "Greatest Hits" was ever going to buy this anyway, unless they're a massive collector. But, if you haven't got it already in one form or another, then this one is fine to get - plus the added bonus tracks make it just a little bit better. (And by the way - something tells me that it's less Queen trying to make a bit of money and more their American record label - most of the reissues (like this one) are commerically released in the USA only.)

A brilliant album, and well worth the money - unless, of course, you've already got a copy of it.

SONGS OF NOTE - Somebody To Love, Save Me, Fat Bottomed Girls, Crazy Little Thing Called Love"

AWESOME!

T. C Lane | 08/15/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great way for people to be introduced to the band that is Queen. I'll rate each song and tell what kind of music it is(since they covered so many styles).

1. Bohemian Rhapsody 6/5 Soft Rock,Opera(don't ask!),Hard Rock.

2. Another One Bites The Dust 5/5 Dance,Funk

3. Killer Queen 5/5 Classical,Classic Rock

4. Fat Bottomed Girls 5/5 Country, Rock

5. Bicycle Race 3/5 I'm not quite sure what it is...

6. You're My Best Friend 5/5 Soft Rock

7. Don't Stop Me Now 4/5 Soft Rock

8. Save Me 4/5 Soft Rock

9. Crazy Little Thing Called Love 5/5 Rock and Roll

10. Somebody To Love 5/5 Gospel

11. Now I'm Here 3/5 Soft Rock

12. Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy 5/5 Classical, Soft Rock

13. Play The Game 4/5 Soft Rock

14. Flash 2/5 Film Music

15. Seven Seas Of Rhye 5/5 Hard Rock

16. We Will Rock You 5/5 Hard Rock

17. We Are The Champions 5/5 Soft Rock

18. I'm In Love With My Car 5/5 Hard Rock

19. Under Pressure 4/5 Soft Rock

20. Tie Your Mother Down 4/5 Hard Rock"

When Will They Get It Right?

Joe | Denver, CO | 09/28/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"It's a tragedy that Hollywood Records ever got a hold of the Queen collection because they've done nothing but screw it up. First they put out that original greatest hits CD, which unbelievably didn't even have Bohemian Rhapsody on it. No accident of course, just a little scheme to try to force you to also buy "Classic Queen". Then they ruined one of my all time favorite albums, the classic "The Game", by adding that terrible, awful, disgusting bonus remix version of Dragon Attack. And to top it all off I can't even replace my awesome greatest hits tape from the eighties. I loved that tape! It had all the best songs, including Bohemian Rhapsody and Keep Yourself Alive, and no bad songs at all.

At first it looked like this CD might have been what I was looking for, but it has two major flaws. The most important one is that you can't even record the songs to your own computer. One reviewer mentioned that you can record it in WMA format, but that's useless if your entire music collection is in MP3 format. The other mistake is the addition of the three live tracks, which really bring down the overall quality of the CD. They put a song on there just because it was used in a commercial? Are you serious? Who cares if the song was in a commercial. It sucks!

If you want all of Queen's greatest hits and don't want to spend a fortune and need to have the songs on your computer, I would recommend just buying the original Queen Greatest Hits CD. Then use file sharing to get Bohemian Rhapsody, Keep Yourself Alive, and whichever other of your favorite Queen songs they left out. That way you really do have all the greatest hits and you don't have to be a total slave to the record company."

An Ideal Collection For Those Who Want Only Queen's Early Ma

Anthony Nasti | Staten Island, New York United States | 10/06/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Queen is, undoubtedly, one of the greatest bands of all time (the greatest in my opinion). As with all great bands, Queen has an unseemly amount of greatest hits collections in their catalogue. On August 17, 2004, a new Queen compilation was released entitled "Queen - Greatest Hits ("We Will Rock You" Edition). How does it hold up? Read on for my review.

Actually, it is not a new compilation, so to speak. It is a mere repackaging of their first compilation releaed in back around 1981 and later remastered and repackaged as a dual compilation along with "Greatest Hits, Vol 2" and repackaged agan about five years later as part of a three disc collection entitled "The Platinum Collection". The catch? This new edition comes with three bonus tracks. How does it hold up? Read on.

Positives:

-If you're only a fan of Queen's early work (their first album up to the "Flash" soundtrack), than this collection is ideal. All the classics from the early half of Queen's career are on here, including "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Killer Queen", "You're My Best Friend", "Another One Bites The Dust", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Somebody To Love".

-A few underrated gems are included as well, such as "Don't Stop Me Now", "Save Me" and the live staple "Now I'm Here".

-The song do indeed sound fantastic.

-Very affordable.

Negatives:

-One of the bonus tracks is "I'm In Love With My Car", one of the weakest tracks in the Queen catologue.

-The two live tracks are pale shadows of the original versions.

-If you buy this collection, you're missing out on all the great stuff Queen did in their later years. No Queen collection is complete without "These Are The Days Of Our Lives", "Radio Ga Ga", "The Miracle", "Hammer To Fall", "The Show Must Go On" and "I Want It All", to name a few of the great tracks from their later years

Overall, if you're only interested in Queen's early years and Queen's early years alone, than this is an ideal collection. But if you want more, there are better collections on the market."

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