GREATEST HITS

Fabulous compilation album, it came in different guises over the years, some releases had a slightly different trak list (I know of one release where Under Pressure was added as 18th song, and there even is a version (Hollywood records I believe) that left out Bohemian Rhapsody in favour of the totally unsuited I Want Too Break Free, which has nothing to do with the covered time period.) But the track list as presented here is the one that I consider to be original (which of course it is).

The title of the album is Greatest Hits, and don't expect anything else, no album tracks involved, only top 10 chart successes are incorporated. Unfortunatly that leaves out the for us most interesting aspects and period of Queen's music. The songs however are great, and provides for a pleasant listening.

On a compilation scale I would rate it 5/5 for it really is one of the best 'Greatest Hits' albums of all time. This however is a progressive rock site, and progressive is not the first word that springs to mind when listening to this album (3-4 prog songs and some progressive elements is not enough).

I refrase. A Brilliant pop/rock gem, but for us the original albums are far more interesting, 5 stars on a song based analysis, 2 on the progressive scale, thus averages between 3 and four. I'll leave it at three stars.

INHO Queen is just a very pompus rock band with a little prog elements here and there. This is thier first Greatest Hits compilation, of at least three if I'm not wrong.

It starts of with their most well known song, Bohemian Rhapsody, whicch may be quite proggy. Another one bites the Dust is an awful disco song, Killer Quenn a pure rock song and so is most of the rest, some of them maybe have something of interest for the prog fan. It all ends with their two most overblown and pompous songs, We will Rock You and We are the Champions. None of them prog but both of them, as said, extremly pompous.

Instead of buying this, buy the original albums.

Single minded

Queen are one of the few bands listed in this site who have genuinely had a long run of "Greatest hits" in terms of singles success. This, the first of three Greatest Hits collections, gathers together 17 of their singles from the "Queen 2 " album, through to "The game" and the film soundtrack "Flash".

The track list pretty much selects itself, and all the songs will be entirely familiar to those who were around during their most successful years. The only semblance of order to the tracks is that they are presented with the casual shopper in mind, i.e. their best known songs are at the start and end of the album, with "Bohemian Rhapsody" being the first cab off the rank.

In prog terms, after the first track, there is nothing of any relevance here, any prog inclinations the band had being strictly confined to their albums. For those looking for the cream in terms of top quality pop though, this is an essential collection.

A nice Greatest Hits album.

To be honest with you, today i was sweeping and cleaning my room, and putting my CD`s, tapes and Vynils in order, between my tapes (which i listen to in rare occasions) i found this legendary Greatest Hits album by the legendary band called Queen, so i put it on my stereo and enjoyed it, at the point that i decided to review it.

Being this a Greatest Hits album, i think is not neccessary to review song by song, first of all because it contains 17 songs, and because it wouldn`t help or not in your decision of buying it or not.

Queen has been a controversial band in this site, specially because we could cound with one hand fingers their prog albums, in fact their real prog songs are very few, so much people hated the decision of including them here, so much people supported it and were (are) thankful with it`s addition, the most progressive period was in the 70`s specially with albums like Queen II and A Night at the Opera, sadly we wont find some of that great songs here, but at least we will find the most reppresentative Queen`s songs in that era.

Starting with Bohemian Rhapsody which has become a worldwide hymn, and which in my opinion is the best song that Queen ever created, can makes us happy when we listen to it, im sure if you arent a fan of Queen, when this song finishes you might skip them, listen to a couple more and turn off the radio. What i mean is that this is a true Greatest Hits talking about rock pop and commercial things, Queen is a band loved all around the world, and not for it`s progressiveness, but for their several songs which has been placed in our memories.

"Another One Bites the Dust", "Bycicle Race", "Killer Queen", "Somebody to Love", "Play the Game" are my favorite songs, and actually are songs that i love and that i really enjoy when i listen to them, one thing of Queen`s songs is that the most of them are catchy songs, to sing loud and happy, the vocal harmonies is excellent, one of the best bands doing that, what more can i say, Mercury`s voice is unique and awesome, and musically nothing superb (maybe Bohemian Rhapsody) but very easy to listen.

A huge recommendation to any Queen fan, or not fans who like to remind those catchy and cool songs, but not recommendable to strict people who is looking for progressive rock, i like it so much, my grade will be 3 stars.

This compilation, although of no significant importance for progressive rock world, is best selling album of all times in UK (according to the Official Charts Company, November 2006), beating The Beatles, Oasis, Dire Straits, ABBA, PINK FLOYD's "Dark Side Of The Moon", Michael Jackson and Madonna. It was sold in more than 5,400,000 copies.

So, what each one of these copies could possibly offer to a listener?

There are 17 greatest hits from first half of the QUEEN's career (1973-1981). However, the tracks differs from version to version, it's quite possible that American fan will notice the lack of "Keep Yourself Alive" and "Under Pressure", Japanese fan will probably wonder where "Teo Toriatte" is gone, Aussies will ask the same for the "Tie Your Mother Down" and so on. Some versions do not list "Another One Bites The Dust" or "Bohemian Rhapsody"!

In the world of the "ultimate collections", "the very bests" and "golden hits", I'm very glad that QUEEN didn't release loads and loads of compilations, actually, the number of their hit compilation is hilariously small if you compare them to any band of much smaller caliber.

There are only two consistent, official, well-known, "real" compilations in QUEEN's catalogue: "Greatest Hits" and "Greatest Hits II", the next one covering the rest of the band's career.

This compilation ( I will stick to the most common, UK release listed on this site) contains loads of good and enjoyable tunes, but not much from the progressive rock milieu. Of course, there are "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Bicycle Race", "Killer Queen", "Somebody To Love", "Good Old-fashioned Lover Boy" and "Flash", several song within or bordering progressive genre. The rest is high quality rock (and occasionally pop).

All of these were huge, successful hits, remaining on charts for days. Publisher's intention was not to make the compilation of Queen's most diverse, progressive or daring compositions, and indeed nobody can blame the publisher for that, certainly not in 1981. Emphasis is, of course, on money, therefor the most known and easy-accessible songs are here. But the major difference between QUEEN and the majority of other rock or pop bands lies in the fact that the guys from the band were able to write best-selling tunes of highest quality. For example, quite poppish "Bicycle Race" is not progressive song itself, but it contains probably the biggest number of changes in a musical (pop) piece, all packed in three minute format.

This compilation is a good starting point for a newbie. A die-hard fan will purchase this compilation because of completing the collection, and for the alternative take of "Flash" and different version of "Fat Bottomed Girls" as well. A fan of progressive rock should avoid this one, because it's not a good start from prog point of view. It's far better to get any of their unique albums.

Each of this songs are actually GREAT HITS that Queen had during their first years. I find not that surprising that This album has been announced to be the greatest selling album in the UK of all times.. why? because each of this songs are hyper famous.

Now, talking in a more "objective" point of view and considering we're in a prog rock web page, this album is not that good: it has many radio friendly, simplistic songs that even though I love as I'm sure a lot of you guys who are reading this also do, they are not super-innovative or mind blowing music.

This album is definitely an excellent addition to any Prog fan's colletcion, why? Because even though this album does not contain the most "proggressive" Queen songs, this album englobes many sides of this band, the "poppish" cheesy melodies on some songs, and some excellent tracks that demonstrate that this guys really revolutionized the concept of music with mind blowing tracks like the bohemian rhapsody. In other words, this album contains the many sides of Queen as a band and that's what makes it valuable.

Since I love this band so much, and for the value that this album may add to any prog rock collection (for the reasons exposed above) I'm giving this album 4 stars.

This is one of those rare compilation albums that gets away with it. Excellent choice of tracks and if you wanted an all round release of their most commercial tracks this is highly recommended and won't let you down ( with the exception of ' Flash'). From ' Bohemian Rhapsody', ' Another One Bites The Dust', ' Your'e My Best Friend' to ' We Are The Champions', this compilation has all the commercial tracks you need. Good for spinning at parties! A worthy three star compilation.

Well, I'm a bit hesitant reviewing this band because I believe Queen is plain pop, quite good of course and can be placed in prog related, I'm ok with that but still, it feels as if I'm suddenly a pop reviewer and I don't really like the idea. From their highlight period, the 70's and 80's I just have some singles (Now I'm here, Bohemian Rhapsody) and the two greatest hits compilations. That sais it all in fact because I don't want any more eventhough I could be missing out on a great album. But I will leave those for the fans. I'm very ambivalent about Queen, there are at best 10 songs I really love but there are more than 10 I can't stand or dislike. Therefore I will review their best of's and only with rating for the individual songs so at least one will know where I stand with Queen.

1. Bohemian Rhapsody: 3 stars. Of course a fantastic song but too much played on the radio over the years

2. Another one bites to dust: 2,25 stars. Original song, strong lyrics but not my cup of tea musicwise

3. Killer Queen: 2,75 stars. When it was a hit I liked it. From then on it faded away from me.

4. Fat bottomed girls: 2,5 stars. Hardly know this one. Not that interesting I guess.

5. Bicycle race: 2,25 stars. See comment second song (more or less).

6. You're my best friend: 3 stars. Likable track. But no more than nice.

7. Don't stop me now: 3,5 stars. One of my favourites. Real energetic.

8. Save me: 3 stars. Emotional song, but not too special

9. Crazy little thing called love: 1 star. Always hated this one, to me their worse ever.

10. Somebody to love: 3 stars. Another (even more) emotional track. Also heard it too often alas.

11. Now I'm here: 4,5 stars. Perhaps my all time favourite by this band. It really rocks brilliantly !

12. Good old fashioned lover boy: 2,5 stars. Was this a hit ? I can't remember, so not too special.

13. Play the game: 2,75 stars. One of their typical hit songs. Lyrics dominant here.

14. Flash: 3 stars. Like the title suggests. But not in the sense of dazzling or something like that.

15. Seven seas of Rhye: 2,5 stars. Can't say too much about this one either. Hardly interesting.

16. We will rock you: 2,5 stars. A classic of course but it got boring when footballclubs started using it.

17. We are the champions: 2 stars. That also goes for this one but even more !

This summing up can only lead to one conclusion. It deserves 3 stars. Rounded up from 2.68.

It is quite bizarre that this compilation reached such heights in the charts. It is the "Queen" best selling album from all time: almost thirty million copies of which over five in the UK only! It is the best selling UK album. Ever!

It holds one of the greatest songs of the band (from the rock history?) : "Rhapsody" of course.

But there are too many weak numbers here that shouldn't have been featured on this "Greatest Hits" like the poor "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy" which reached only Nr. 17 in the UK charts. "Play The Game" highest chart position is a meagre Nr. 6 in Norway! And "You're My Best Friends" is surely not the best they have written.

But since the option was to exclude album only tracks, there won't be those lovely songs as "Great King Rat", or "Liar" (just to name two from their first and great effort), nor "Father To Son" or "Ogre Battle" (from their second one) and the fabulous "Brighton Rock" (from "Sheer") is therefore omitted as well.

Needless to say that their sports anthems are included (and which I don't dislike, on the contrary). To recap : I like ten songs out of seventeen which leaves seven tracks out of my taste. This compilation is oriented for those who prefers the pop orientation of the band. But still, some great rocking numbers are available as well : "Seven Seas Of Rhye" and the fantastic "Now, I'm Here".

Three stars. I would suggest to the ones who would like to investigate in this great rock band to get their first five albums. You'll get the essence of their excellent work. What came afterwards is anecdotal IMO.

Not a bad introduction to Queen (it was mine). There's only a few bad songs on it, but it serves well to show Queen after they had only just gone commercial and were not yet terrible. Highlights are 'Seven Seas...', 'Bo Rhap' and 'Killer Queen'. If you like catchy, innoffensive, humourous anthems this is the place to look. If you want fantasy-themed, top quality Brittish hard rock, verging on the progressive side of things go straight to Queen II

This is a very good compilation. If you've read any of my other reviews of collections like this, I typically don't like them at all. This is an exception. I really like this album, and find myself listening to it a lot. That really is saying something because I typically don't like Queen. It seems like this takes the good parts out of their albums, and gets rid of the filler that seems to be on almost all of their albums. For newbies, and for people who generally don't like Queen, this is almost essential. If you're a fan there is no reason to buy this, so it does have limited appeal. One good thing about this album is that it doesn't just include songs like "We Will Rock You". It also includes the incredible "Bohemian Rhapsody" and a couple other great songs. Limited appeal, but a decent compilation.

Queen's 'Greatest Hits' album is one of the finest compilations I know, and I would be very lost without it. Through this album, I have managed to bond with my non-progressive friends in a semi-progressive way. There's no denying that on more than a few of these songs, Queen show some very progressive tendencies, whilst keeping the music radio-friendly. I've always found it odd how so many people enjoy the intricacies of songs like Bohemian Rhapsody and Bicycle Race and yet balk at the mention of Yes or King Crimson. While there is certainly a difference between Queen and the classic prog bands, this difference is not quite as profound as many people may believe.

In general, Queen's songs are extremely light-hearted affairs, but rock hard and are extremely memorable. Many of the songs on this compilation show the group getting the mixture of these different factors just right, with the result being songs that will last for generations. Queen's 'Greatest Hits' is a perfect introduction to the legendary Queen.

Oh, Greatest Hits part 1, the one that got me into Queen when I was 13. And as such, I have good memories on it. This + quality of songs here is why I'm giving

4(-) stars. After all, it's just compilation, but hell good one. Basically, you have all the good ones, the most famous songs here, starting with proggy Bohemian Rhapsody and ending with rocking tune. There's nothing bad about it, after all, we Prog lovers weren't the target audience for this one. It's consisted mostly of "middle era" - where they were leaving Prog, but not yet falling into terrible 80s, so that's why it's so good.

Killer Queen tracks on one package!

This album is found in countless households and is really a good introduction to the band in all their glory. It is all of their singles and songs that every Queen fan must have heard at some point. Some of these songs have been played to death on the radio and on MTV so are rather tough to take these days but there is no denying the power of the music and Mercury's incredible vocal register.

It begins with bonafide classic monster 'Bohemian Rhapsody' that is an indispensable rock icon. 'Another One Bites The Dust' is certainly one of the masterpieces with amazing drum power and classy vocals. 'Killer Queen' takes us to the prog early years, but I am no fan of silly ''Fat Bottomed Girls'... the song that is. 'Bicycle Race' is a wonderful song and I have a soft spot for 'You're My Best Friend' with dynamic organ and harmonies.

Other highlights are definitely 'Play The Game', the fun rollicking 'Flash', prog excess in 'Seven Seas Of Rhye', quintessential 'We Will Rock You' and barnstormer 'We Are The Champions'.

Really, there is no excuse, this is as good as it gets for a collection of Queen and one for the newbie and indeed the Queen addict who wants all the masterpieces packed on one CD.