2011 Universal Remaster Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating B+ Greatest Hits is a by the British rock band, released worldwide on 26 October 1981. The album consisted of Queen's best-selling singles since their first chart appearance in 1974 with ', up to their 1980 hit ' (though in some countries ', the band's 1981 chart-topper with, was included).
View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2002 CD release of Greatest Hits I II & III (The Platinum Collection) on Discogs.
There was no universal track listing or cover art for the album, and each territory's tracks were dependent on what singles had been released there and which were successful. Queen's Greatest Hits was an instant success, peaking at number one on the for four weeks. It has spent 833 weeks in the UK Charts, and is the of all time in the UK, selling over six million copies. It is certified eight times platinum in the United States, and is Queen's most commercially successful album worldwide with over 25 million copies sold, making it one of the. Guitarist hailed the UK edition of Greatest Hits as 'impeccable' and 'absolutely genius', while British journalist called it the greatest album of all time. Contents. History There was no universal track listing or cover art for the Greatest Hits album, and 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, and a few album tracks were used as filler. Some examples of these were ' and ', neither was released as a single in any country, but appear on some regions' 1981 Hits release. In the UK and the US, where solid numbers could be collected, the album included only top 20 hits. The US ended up with its original edit of Queen's first single release, ', which had been re-released in the US in 1975 (original release was 1973) after the success of '. The US version also added ', Queen's collaboration with, which was released the same week as Greatest Hits and subsequently topped the and reached the top ten in many charts around the world.
However, the song was not included on the European versions of Greatest Hits – according to Queen's business manager Jim Beach, this was because the longer manufacturing time required to press records in Europe meant that several hundred thousand copies of the album had already been pressed up before the song had been recorded. In Argentina and Brazil, the LP edition included the same list of UK Greatest Hits minus ', and including 'Love of My Life' ( version). CD version is the same as the British. The cover photo that appeared on the UK and US release was taken by at his home studio using only natural light. For the 1981 release the photo was skewed but later presented as it was originally taken for the 2011 re-release. In 1991, Queen sought to issue a collection worldwide, this time with a standard track listing. However, the band had just changed record labels in the US, from Capitol to, who were 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 (despite being Hollywood's US licensee). Hollywood Records decided to not release Greatest Hits II to the US market, but instead created their own collection, (1992), peaking at no. 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 (' and '). Some tracks were not even singles in the US (') or anywhere ('). Though well received, this collection would eventually pose the problem of overlapping track lists in the future. Hollywood Records, later that year, re-released a companion collection 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 features most of the '70s tracks absent from Classic Queen (including 'Another One Bites the Dust' 1980, 'We Will Rock You', 'We Are the Champions' and 'Killer Queen'). 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. Commercial performance By 2006, 25 years after its first release, Greatest Hits had become the best-selling album in the UK and the first album to sell more than five million copies there.
In 2014, it became the first album in the UK to sell over six million copies. In the United States, the album has sold eight million copies, making it the band's best-selling album there. Track listing This section includes the track listings for the original Greatest Hits in its various forms. For other compilations, including the and Greatest Hits albums, see the relevant articles. On the 17-track UK editions, was the writer of ten of the songs, five and two.
Had not written any songs that had been released as singles for the band at that point. 1981 UK edition (EMI) & 2011 UK edition (Island) Has a photograph of the band as its cover. Title Writer(s) Length 1. ' (from, 1975) 5:57 2. ' (from, 1980) 3:36 3.
' (from, 1974) Mercury 2:57 4. ' (single version, from, 1978) 3:22 5. ' (from Jazz, 1978) Mercury 3:01 6. ' (from A Night at the Opera, 1975) Deacon 2:52 7. ' (from Jazz, 1978) Mercury 3:29 8. ' (Single Version on 1981 Release only, from The Game, 1980) May 3:48 Side two No. Title Writer(s) Length 9.
' (from The Game, 1980) Mercury 2:42 10. ' (from, 1976) Mercury 4:56 11. ' (from Sheer Heart Attack, 1974) May 4:10 12. ' (from A Day at the Races, 1976) Mercury 2:54 13. ' (from The Game, 1980) Mercury 3:33 14. ' (single version, from, 1980) May 2:48 15.
' (from, 1974) Mercury 2:47 16. ' (from, 1977) May 2:01 17.
' (from News of the World, 1977) Mercury 3:00 Total length: US and Canada edition No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. 'Another One Bites the Dust' 3:37 2.
'Bohemian Rhapsody' 5:58 3. 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' 2:44 4. 'Killer Queen' 3:02 5. 'Fat Bottomed Girls' 3:23 6. 'Bicycle Race' 3:01 7.
' (later included on, 1982) Queen, 4:05 8. 'We Will Rock You' 2:02 9. 'We Are the Champions' 3:01 10. 'Flash' 2:49 11. 'Somebody to Love' 4:58 12. 'You're My Best Friend' 2:52 13.
' (single version in mono, from, 1973) May 3:32 14. 'Play the Game' 3:30 Total length: Japan edition No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. 'Bohemian Rhapsody' 5:55 2. 'Another One Bites the Dust' 3:33 3.
'Killer Queen' 3:00 4. 'Fat Bottomed Girls' 3:22 5. 'Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy' 2:32 6. 'Don't Stop Me Now' 3:28 7. 'Save Me' 3:48 8. 'Under Pressure' 4:05 9.
'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' 2:42 10. 'Somebody to Love' 4:55 11.
'Now I'm Here' 4:15 12. ' (single version, from A Day At The Races, 1976) May 5:00 13.
'You're My Best Friend' 2:50 14. 'Play the Game' 3:28 15.
'Flash's Theme A.K.A. Flash' 2:47 16. 'We Will Rock You' 2:00 17. 'We Are the Champions' 2:58 Total length: US edition (Hollywood Records) Has a red cover with the Queen crest design. Title Writer(s) Length 1. ' (LP version)' 4:16 7. ' (from Hot Space, 1982) Mercury 4:33 14.
' (single mix, from, 1984) Deacon 4:22 Total length: US edition ( Greatest Hits: We Will Rock You) Same track listing as UK 1981 edition, followed by three additional tracks. Title Writer(s) Length 18. ' (rare original single mix, from A Night at the Opera, 1975) 3:12 19.
'Under Pressure' (from, 2004) 3:39 20. ' (from Queen on Fire – Live at the Bowl, 2004) May 3:52 Total length: Japan reissue edition From the bonus track for Japan, available on iTunes. Title Writer(s) Length 18. ' (From A Day at the Races, 1976) May 5:07 Total length: 63:00 In addition to the variations above, the official biography Queen: As It Began by Jacky Gunn and Jim Jenkins states the following variations on the original UK track listing:. Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela had 'Love of My Life' (live version) instead of 'Seven Seas of Rhye'. Belgium and Spain had 'Spread Your Wings' as an extra track. Australia was identical to the US version, but had 'Tie Your Mother Down' as an extra track.
Bulgaria had 'Death On Two Legs' and 'Sweet Lady' as extra tracks. Canada, France, Germany, Israel and Netherlands had 'Under Pressure' as an extra track. Germany also added 'Spread Your Wings' on some first pressing copies.
's greatest-hits collections have contained different track listings throughout the world. In the band's native England they scored more hits than anywhere else, hence their compilations are usually more extensive. When Hollywood Records purchased the U.S.
Catalog in the early '90s, the label reissued the long out of print album (basing the track listing on the 1981 British album of the same name but with a few changes), and released a companion album entitled. The rest of the world received in 1991, which contained their U.K. Hits from 1981-1991 ( contained tracks by the band from all eras).
Sensing that completists in the U.S. Would want both British-only releases for their collection, Hollywood released the two-CD in 1995. Most of the tracks are available on the U.S. Versions, but is the only compilation that includes such tracks as 'Innuendo,' 'Breakthru,' 'It's a Hard Life,' 'The Invisible Man,' and 'Friends Will Be Friends.' The set also comes with a special 40-page booklet.