Greatest Hits (Queen)

Greatest Hits is a 1981 Queen compilation. The record, released only in the United Kingdom, became that country's all-time bestseller, but subsequently went out of print. It was reissued in the UK in 1994 by Parlophone, under the same name, Greatest Hits, but with three additional songs; combined with Greatest Hits, Vol. II it became the definitive Queen compilation. It was available to United States customers only by import until the 1995 release of Greatest Hits, Vols. 1-2, which combined the two discs. The seventeen-track Parlophone Greatest Hits disc was released in the U.S. on its own for the first time, with a few bonus tracks, in 2004 under the name .

Related Topics:
1981 - Queen - United Kingdom - 1994 - Parlophone - Greatest Hits - Greatest Hits, Vol. II - United States - 1995 - Greatest Hits, Vols. 1-2 - 2004

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Here is the complete and accurate history of Queen's various Greatest Hits compilations:

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In 1981, Queen released Greatest Hits worldwide. However, there was no universal tracklisting or even cover art. Each territory's tracks were dependent on what singles were released there, and what tracks charted. In some cases, despite the band's popularity, not enough songs were issued as singles to fill a compilation album, an a few album tracks were used as filler. Some examples of these were "Sweet Lady" and "Love Of My Life", neither were released as singles in any country, but appear on some region's 1981 Hits release. In the UK and the US, where solid numbers could be collected, the standard was raised again by only including top twenty Hits. This rigid criterion was a trademark of Queen's desire to only market the best.

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Below are the track listings for the various Queen Hits (1981 onward) collections from the US and UK.

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The US ended up with its original edit of Queen's first single release, "Keep Yourself Alive", which had been re-released in the US in 1975 (original release was 1973) after the success of "Bohemian Rhapsody". Also, because of the delay in release dates between the UK (out first) and the US (almost a month later), the US was able to add "Under Pressure" (Queen's duet with David Bowie) to its Hits collection, as it was released during that interim.

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Jumping ahead to 1991, Queen sought to issue a second Greatest Hits collection worldwide, this time with a standard track listing. However, the band had just changed record labels in the US, from Capitol to Hollywood Records, who keen on a massive promotion of the band's back catalogue. The problem was that Elektra still held the US rights to that first 1981 collection. Hollywood Records decided to not release "Greatest Hits II" to the US market, but instead created their own collection, "Classic Queen" (1992). This compilation was made up of tracks such as "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Keep Yourself Alive" and "Under Pressure" (which had already appeared on the Elektra 1981 "Hits" collection) as well as newer tracks ("A Kind Of Magic" and "Radio Ga Ga"). Some tracks were not even singles in the US ("One Year Of Love") or anywhere ("Stone Cold Crazy"). Though well received, this collection would eventually pose the problem of overlapping track lists in the future.

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Hollywood Records, later that year, released a companion collection "Queen Greatest Hits" with similar artwork (on a red background, where "Classic Queen" was on royal blue). Commonly referred to as the "Red Greatest Hits", it feature most of the '70s tracks absent from "Classic Queen" (including "Another One Bites The Dust" , "We Will Rock You", "We Are the Champions" and "Killer Queen". This collection was also well received on the US market and as a pair are a solid set.

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In 1995, Parlophone (Queen's UK distributor) released "The Gold Collection" which was simply the UK Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2 repackaged. Imported to the US, it sold reseasonably well, until Hollywood Records in the US released it in November of 1995 in the US. In Canada, PolyGram Canada issued a two disc set titled "The Very Best Of Queen" which was track listing for track listing the same as "The Gold Collection", and much cheaper. Fortunately, "The Very Best..." was a limited time release and disappeared not long after, while import and US editions of "Gold" stayed on the shelves.

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In 1997, Queen released a non-Hits collection, called "Queen Rocks", which feature many of their hard-rock tracks (some Hits, some album cuts). It also featured a newly written and recorded song, "No One But You (Only The Good Die Young)", as a send off to Freddie and others who died before their time.

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1999 saw a worldwide release of "Greatest Hits III". This time, adding to the confusion, Hollywood records released it straight, track listing intact. This would have seemed ideal, except that at least one track on "Hits III" appeared on "Classic Queen": "These Are The Days Of Our Lives". Only those who'd bought "The Gold Collection" or "The Very Best..." would benefit from no double tracks in purchasing this collection.

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2000 saw the release of "The Platinum Collection" to replace "The Gold Collection", now featuring the three UK "Hits" albums. "Platinum" received US release as well in September of 2002, and landed on the shelves next to "the Red Hits", "Classic Queen" and "The Gold Collection". Newcomers to the band's music now had a difficult choice to make as to where to begin and what collection suited their needs, as several had the same tracks.

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In 2004, to promote the Las Vegas production of the musical "We Will Rock You", Hollywood Records released "Greatest Hits: We Will Rock You Edition" which was the UK "Greatest Hits" with three bonus tracks.

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