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

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.

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

Queen-Greatest hits (We will rock you) was released to coicide with the opening of the musical "We Will Rock You" in America. It features the same track listing as the original release (excluding Under Pressure, the studio version) in '81 but contains a few new suprises; "I'm in Love with My Car" (originally released on A Night At The Opera '75) and two live tracks "Tie Your Mother Down" and "Under Pressure" (From the upcoming DVD 'Live at Milton Keynes 1982').

The collection also has a corresponding DVD featuring 2 live performances:

Somebody to Love - Queen with George Michael at the 'Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.

The Show Must Go On - Queen with Elton John (vocals) live in '97.

Why should you buy something that has already been out there in 4 other incarnations over 20 years? Well, I'm glad you asked. Let me tell you...!

After listening to the first vocal line of Bohemian Rhapsody you can tell right away that this new collection is unique. The digital restoration of these 'seasoned' recordings has cleared up all of the original tape hiss, and it features new 'mixes' on every track. The vocals have been cleaned up and the bass has been brought up as well to make these tracks sound better in our modern stereo systems. This is most present on the new mix of "Another One Bites The Dust". Where some songs are too trebbley or have too much 'mid range', these new mixes have almost made a 'colourful' sound to each song. Even the new music of today has yet to sound this clear and crisp!!

The addition of "I'm In Love With My Car" is an odd choice, but it works. (The song has recently been used by Jaguar in a series of Television commercials bringing attention to the song once again!) Now, the live tracks sound clear, but they definately are not the best recordings we've heard from Queen. (These were released to showcase the soon to be released "Live at Milton Keynes DVD). The inclusion of the live tracks is why I have given this a 4 star rating. Your best bet for the ultimate live recordings of these songs is by picking up "Queen-Live at Wembley Stadium".

Yes, it's just another incarnation of the Queen Greatest Hits train (The 5th to be exact... '81, '91 (american version), '98 (Gold edition), and '00 (Platinum edition). But hopefully this is a precurser for all of their releases in the times to come... Lets hope they follow this up with an anthology of rarities or wonderful album cuts!

All the Best, The AndyMan!

Queen's Greatest Hits (The We Will Rock You Edition) was first released in the UK in November of 1981 and not released in its own right in the US (barring its appearance on the 1995 Gold 2-CD set and 2002 3-CD Plainum Collection along with the UK Greatest Hits II (appears on Gold and Platinum sets) and Greatest Hits III from 1999 (which appears on latter))

The UK version of Greatest Hits from 1981 differed from the US as it didn't include either the then new track "Under Pressure" or "Keep Yourself Alive" which was a hit on US rock radio.

The original UK and US versions included "Another One Bites the Dust" which was Queen's biggest US hit which hit #1 in 1980 and a rock disco classic. Plus Queen's first US Top 10 and first UK #1 in 1975 hit out of "Bohemian Rhapsody" which reached #9 here in the US in 1976 and this classic needs no explanation. We also have the band's first US #1 from 1980 out of "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" which is a classic rockabilly romp. "Killer Queen" follows and was the band's first US Top 20 hit in Spring 1975 in the US and hit #2 in the band's native England in 1974 . Included is the single mix of "Fat Bottomed Girls" which is a nice different version to the full album track and that was a Top 30 US hit in 1978 as was its A-side "Bicycle Race".

We also have "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions" which both hit #4 in early 1978 here in the US (the tracks are separate but the US record company at the time (Elektra/Asylum Records) insisted on playing the two songs back to back) and both are classic rally cry/victory cry songs and were #2 in the UK. Also included is the single mix of the song "Flash" which was the theme to the 1980 film Flash Gordon (did well in UK but not so well Stateside). Also on this is the US Top 20 hit from early 1977/UK Top 5 from 1976 out of "Somebody to Love" which was a great gospel tinged ballad. The 1976 US Top 20/UK Top 10 hit ballad "You're My Best Friend" which was the follow up single to "Bohemian Rhapsody" on A Night at the Opera is here. Plus you have the UK Top 20/US Top 50 hit "Play the Game" from 1980, great ballad.

Not included on original US vinyl LP of Greatest Hits but included on all US CD issues of Greatest Hits (including the We Will Rock You Edition of Greatest Hits) are the rock radio hit "Now I'm Here" (a UK Top 20 in 1975), the classic "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy" (a UK Top 30 in 1977 but not released as single Stateside, instead it was "Long Away" that got released and tanked), the classic "Seven Seas of Rhye" (a UK hit but stiffed here in the US in 1974)", the big UK Top 10 hit "Don't Stop Me Now" (which was well received on US rock radio but flopped on pop singles chart in 1979, Bee Gees and disco ruled the roost on singles in US) and the ballad "Save Me" (which was a UK Top 20 in 1980 but an album track here in the States as the song was not issued as a single in the US).

The disc was finally released as a CD in its own right in August of 2004 to coincide with the opening of We Will Rock You The Musical in Las Vegas. The remastering is superb (was done in 2001 at Abbey Road Studios for when the Japanese got the re-releases of the back catalog) and you get THREE BONUS TRACKS. First is the single mix of "I'm in Love with My Car" which was only on the B-side to "Bohemian Rhapsody" with a different intro and outro compared to the album version. Then there's two live tracks from the Queen On Fire Live at the Bowl double live CD and DVD (released in November of 2004) out of "Under Pressure" (which its studio counterpart was on the US edition of Greatest Hits in 1981) and "Tie Your Mother Down" (and a stellar live version from Milton Keynes 1982).

If you just want a best of Queen and close replica to 1981 Elektra Greatest Hits disc (and not want either the 1992 red hits or Gold or Platinum Collections) this is your best bet!

Highly recommended!