GREATEST HITS III

Let me start off by saying this is not a greatest hits album. It's just a compilation of Queen and Queen-related material.

"Greatest Hits III" contains some of the worst Queen material I've ever heard, plus some of the greatest. Another One Bites the Dust and Under Pressure have been remixed by rap/dance/disco artists and have completely destroyed some classic Queen songs. On the other hand, some great Queen songs are featured here including Las Palabras De Amor, the only good song on Hot Space (excpet for Under Pressure) and Too Much Love Will Kill You which was featured on both the Made in Heaven album and guitarist Brian May's solo album Back to the Light.

Also appearing on this album are a great version of The Show Must Go On from the Innuendo album recorded after the death of Freddie with Elton John on vocals. There's also a not so good version of Somebody to Love with George Michael singing which doesn't even compare to the original.

The gems on this album are Thank God It's Christmas (Queen's only A-side not featured on an album), No One But You (a tribute to Freddie sung by Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor), and Barcelona (a duet with Freddie Mercury and opera singer Montserrat Caballe).

This is anything but a greatest hit album, but that doesn't prevent it from being a great collection of songs. Just be prepared to wretch every time Under Pressure and Another One Bites the Dust roll around.

Now this is dire. This collection represents Queen's collaborations, a few naff singles and some Freddie Mercury solo pieces. From Queen singing with cheesy pop star George Michael, to Freddie's pseudo-opera to cheesy ballads, this album has it all if you have no musical taste and like the listen to third rate garbage that's an insult to the legend that this band was. And what's with the Freddie tribute 'No One But You', I'm sure Mercury would rather be remembered by a complex operatically arranged masterpiece a la 'March of the Black Queen', 'Bo Rhap', or 'Innuendo' than this piece of commercial clap. Then there's the lowest of the low: a Queen collaboration with Wyclef Jean. Someone RAPPING over the immortal bass line of 'Another One Bites the Dust'. As a musci fan, a Queen fan, a musician, and a human, that track is an insult to my ears. Now I've got that out of my system, I would like to recomend this album to people without ears. Enjoy.

God help us. A "greatest hits" collection containing some of the worst material this group ever put out there. From the pop of "Under Pressure" to the disco crap of "Another One Bites the Dust" with rapping, yet! All the excess and commerical selling out is here. Sure they made a billion dollars, pounds, euros, zlotney, whatever...but at what cost? The magic of "Orge Battle", "Father to Son", "Bohemian Rhapsody", etc..is the price. Come on! George Michael? Elton John? Please....How to suck the soul out of a once great band. In 17 easy lessons. 1 star because the site won't allow 1/2 star.

After the very successful Greatest Hits I and II it was inevitable that there would be a release of what was left and here it is. It should be retitled "Queen: Hits that were not good enough to be released on the first two compilations". In all honesty this is quite a nicely packaged album as far as the artwork and liner notes are concerned but none of these tracks can really measure up to the classics of the first compilations. Queen purists may be interested but there is nothing of major value here on offer apart from a few tracks that are already on many other compilations.

The tracks that measure up are The Show Must Go On with Elton John, and Under Pressure with David Bowie. Undoubtedly they are masterfully executed and will always be remembered by the music community. I am also a massive fan of Princes Of The Universe, the Highlander theme. I absolutely love it for all its pompous bombasity and oversaturated production value.

What we are then left with is a lot of Freddie Mercury solo material, that I honestly cannot get into. Also the other Queen tracks are lesser known and mainly flopped on the charts. There is even a Brian May solo single Driven By You, a decent track with nice lead guitar. Another One Bites The Dust returns but this time with Wyclef Jean. It ends with Thank God It's Christmas, which is as corny as it sounds.

There are a lot of great Queen compilations out there to revel in. Unfortunately this is not one of them. Definitely for collectors or completists only.