Review Summary: That's where Greatest Hits comes in, a selection of 17 of the best songs from their first eight studio albums.
‘Queen’ was always an enigma to me. In one hand they had one of the best vocalists in the business ‘Freddie Mercury’ who could perform notes that most singers could only dream of. There was also ‘Brian May’ playing on his custom made electric guitar whilst plucking riffs with his old 10 cents piece coin that would eventually create that signature Queen sound.
As for the others ‘Roger Taylor’ was a decent if not average drummer whilst ‘John Deacon’ (bar a few classic hit tracks) was non-existent.
They all grew up with art & science diplomas & arguably one of the cleverest bands in rock, but at times they were too clever for their own good. When making their studio albums they would usually allow each member a chance to express themselves, arguably there was no actual leader when it came to making albums (Although some might argue for Brian or Freddie). It was this that at times made albums like Sheer Heart Attack & A Night at the Opera frustrating listens because the greatness was there for all to hear but so was the inconsistencies.
It could be argued though that it was their solidarity in making albums that kept them together for so long. Whilst ‘The Beatles’ undoubted leaders were Lennon & McCartney it's easy to argue that it would be their competition against each other than would cause their downfall. But the difference is although they weren't around as long The Beatles made ‘great albums’ whilst Queen did not.
That's where “Greatest Hits” comes in, a selection of 17 of the best songs from their first eight studio albums. Oh and plus Flash....
ahhh...
And the strange thing is that because each song has been carefully & thoughtfully ordered the listening experience actually feels like a studio album release & not just songs clunked randomly together.
Take “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the bands most well known song, who would have thought that the song being followed by “Another one bites the dust,” their biggest US hit, would combine together so perfectly. There are also other underrated tracks such as “Play the Game,” and “Somebody to Love,” which fit in perfectly with heavier numbers such as “Now I'm Here,” and “Fat bottomed girls.”
Indeed the listening experience for each track is superior for each song than it was ever on the studio albums they were released on. For example songs like “Seven Seas of Rhye,” Fat bottomed girls, “Bicycle race,” “Good old fashioned lover boy,” & “Don't stop me now,” actually feel like actual songs from a great album more that just random flashes of brilliance on otherwise poor releases.
What the album also proves is that Queen concentrated their studio album efforts on what they truly did best (Catchy Pop Songs) then they would have probably made that great studio album instead of creating those inconsistencies that would dog their career.
Still what Greatest Hits does have is 17 exceptional Pop Songs that are catchy & instantly likeable. It's basically Queen doing what they do best. If only they could have done something like that on an actual studio release.
