Review Summary: Good for casual fans along with Greatest Hits, but if you're serious about Queen don't buy it.
After the untimely death of Freddie Mercury in 1991, Queen simultaneously released Greatest Hits and Classic Queen. Greatest Hits did not include Queen's greatest hit, Bohemian Rhapsody, or the masterpiece collaboration Under Pressure. So basically, if you buy those two cds you have the complete Queen compilation. Unfortunately, they released a greatest hits (titled We Will Rock You) prior to this and many, many compilations after this.
What I liked
This is a more unique compilation. Instead of being a generic collection of all the songs you hear most often on the radio, this has a bit of flavor to it. Not only are these songs a bit more uncommon, they are just plain better than the ones on Greatest Hits. Of course Under Pressure and Bohemian Rhapsody are amazing, but there are probably a few you've never heard. Hammer To Fall is heavy, hard rocking power. May's guitar soars while Roger lays down some heavy beats. The songs that I really like though, are Keep Yourself Alive and Headlong. The former from the first release, the latter from the final album. Keep Yourself Alive has everything, good rocking power and great guitar, with perfect Queen vocal harmony. Headlong is a bit early 90's/late 80's sounding (mainly the drums), but it does not fail to rock. Once again, I have to say I cannot get enough of Brian May's power. Most of these come from Queen albums that you won't find in stores.
What I didn't like
First of all, some of these songs are just bad. Just because they were released as singles does not make them classics. A Kind Of Magic is terrible at best, a 5 minute snoozefest leading up to the Rhapsody of a very recycled bass line and lyrics that sound just like the ones from One Vision. One Year Of Love is a boring, cliche soundtrack love song with some terrible saxophone. It's probably the slowest song Queen ever made and the worst I've ever heard. With the song I Want It All, I just plain can't stand the group chant during the chorus. It's very un-Queen like.
Conclusion
This album has some great music on it, don't get me wrong, but for any serious Queen fan this is a joke. But then again, how many Queen fans do you know that actually collect all the studio albums?
Top 5 Tracks
Under Pressure
Bohemian Rhapsody
Keep Yourself Alive
The Show Must Go On
Radio Ga Ga
