Review Summary: What makes this compilation different from others is that it doesn’t necessarily contain the obvious big hits, but some of their best non-single tracks.
In ‘1997,’ two years after the success of “Made in Heaven,” the remaining members of ‘Queen’ ‘Brian May,’ Roger Taylor,’ and ‘John Deacon,’ recorded the song “No one but you (Only the good die young), with both Brian and Roger on vocals. It was written as a kind of double tribute, first obviously to the already departed lead singer ‘Freddie Mercury,’ second to the recently deceased ‘Princess Diana.’
The song itself is a lead on from their UK ‘top 10 hit’ “Let me Live,” but minus the unnecessary choir. It opens with the line:
“A hand above the water,
An angel reaching for the sky,
Is it raining in heaven?
Do you want us to cry?”
Eventually the chorus goes to the crescendo:
“One by one,
Only the good die young,
They’re only flying too close to the sun,
Life goes on without you.”
It is probably going to end up being the last real great Queen Song.
Accompanying the song was the compilation album “Queen Rocks,” which is basically as the title says, a series of hard rocking ‘Queen Tracks.’
What makes this compilation different from others is that it doesn’t necessarily contain the obvious big hits, but some of their best non-single tracks such as “Tie your mother down,” “Stone Cold Crazy,” “I’m in love with my car,” and “It’s Late.”
It also has an added bonus of including the bands first single release “Keep Yourself Alive,” which is also not available of any “Greatest Hits Compilation,” because it was originally a flop upon release.
And even the songs that are on other compilations such as “I want it all,” “Fat bottomed Girls,” “Hammer to Fall,” and “One Vision,” they are still worth a listen, mainly because unlike their single-edit version on the Greatest Hits editions they have been made to album length here, and actually therefore superior.
There is also a newly ‘harder rocking’ version of the song “I can’t live with you,” which was originally released on the ‘1991’ album “Innuendo,” that is surprisingly superior to its original version.
The rest is admittingly a mixed bag.
“We will rock you,” “Seven Seas of Rhye,” “Now I’m Here,” and the pompous “Headlong,” are available on superior compilation albums, whilst “Tear it Up,” and “Put out the fire,” were always average filler at best. It also contains one of the bands worst songs in the form of ‘1977’s’ “Sheer Heart Attack,” from their awful “News of the World” era.
Despite this “Queen Rocks” is still a great release, and is a must for people who already have the first two Greatest Hits compilations and are wanting that little bit more. The album includes some of their best non-single releases.
3.5/5
