At the start of the ‘80s, Queen was still huge, the Flash Gordon soundtrack notwithstanding. As they had more than enough for a greatest hits album, their label went ahead and released not just one, but different sequences in different countries, depeding on what qualified. And here’s where it gets confusing. In the US, side one began with “Another One Bites The Dust”, having been so huge here, before going back to “Bohemian Rhapsody”, which opened the set practically everywhere else. “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” brought it current again, then it was back to “Killer Queen”. “Fat Bottom Girls” and “Bicycle Race” are still in the wrong order to these ears, but the real draw was “Under Pressure”, the brand new (and stellar) collaboration with David Bowie. After the one-two punch of “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions” starting side two, the single version of “Flash” doesn’t sell that album very well, but “Somebody To Love” and “You’re My Best Friend” are always welcome. The single version of “Keep Yourself Alive” is still a kicker, though “Play The Game” is still kinda underwhelming. The packaging was not elaborate but still nice, with custom labels and an inner sleeve that helpfully said what songs came from what albums.
Eleven years later, after Freddie had died, their American distribution changed, and Wayne’s World revived interest in the band, the label wanted a companion to the previous year’s Classic Queen, which mostly focused on the later years of the band but still included “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Under Pressure”, and “Keep Yourself Alive”. So the updated Greatest Hits repeated and reshuffled the rest of the first one (save “Flash”) and included songs that were on the British version of the first hits album, such as “Don’t Stop Me Now”, “Save Me”, and “Now I’m Here”, but also threw in “Body Language” and “I Want To Break Free”. The older additions were welcome, but three songs stuck on the other album were missed. (New cover art underscored that this was not the original 1981 sequence.)
It wasn’t until 2004 that the original UK sequence was released in America, with three odd extras: “I’m In Love With My Car”, and two songs from that year’s release of their 1982 Hollywood Bowl concert of the album. But for those of us who loved that first US hits album, there’s always Spotify.
Queen Greatest Hits (1981)—4
Queen Greatest Hits (1992)—4
Current CD availability: none