A Queen Retrospective

A Retrospective: 1973-1992 Queen

A Brief History: Glam-rock/classic rock group formed in England in 1972. After lead singer Freddie Mercury’s death from AIDS in 1992, the group continued to tour and record with other singers, including Paul Rodgers (best known for his work with Bad Company) and American Idol contestant Adam Lambert. Otherwise, the band’s lineup stayed consistent throughout. The Players: Freddie Mercury (vocals Brian May (guitar) John Deacon (bass) Roger Taylor (drums) On the Web: QueenOnline.com (official site) Facebook Wikipedia

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

Compilations:

This page highlights the compilations below.

• ^UK1 Greatest Hits (UK version, 1974-1980)
• ^US1 Greatest Hits (US version, 1973-1981)
• ^US2 Greatest Hits II (1981-1991)
• ^CQ Classic Queen (1973-1991)

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The Studio Albums:

This page offers snapshots of all the studio albums below, noting those songs which appear on compilations with the codes noted above. Appearing after song titles are the songwriters in italicized parentheses, running times in brackets, and when relevant, the date the song was released as a single and its peaks on various charts. Click for codes to singles charts.

Check out a list of the top 50 songs by Queen here.

Hover over an album cover to see its title and year of release. Click on the album to go to its dedicated DMDB page.

Queen I (1973): Keep Yourself Alive (May) [3:32] (7/6/73, 89 CB, 6 CL) US1,CQ Queen II (1974): Seven Seas of Rhye (Mercury) [2:47] (3/9/74, 40 CL, 10 UK) UK1 Sheer Heart Attack (1974): Killer Queen (Mercury) [2:57] (10/26/74, 12 US, 12 CB, 11 HR, 10 RR, 2 CL, 2 UK, 15 CN, 24 AU, sales: 0.6 million) UK1,US1 Now I’m Here (May) [4:10] (1/25/75, 34 CL, 11 UK) UK1 Stone Cold Crazy (Queen) [2:15] (40 CL) CQ A Night at the Opera (1975): Bohemian Rhapsody (Mercury) [5:57] (10/31/75, 2 US, 1 CB, 4 HR, 3 RR, 1 CL, 16 AR, 1 UK, 1 CN, 1 AU, sales: 13.78 million) UK1,US1,CQ You’re My Best Friend (Deacon) [2:52] (5/22/76, 16 US, 9 CB, 15 HR, 7 RR, 2 CL, 7 UK, 2 CN, 40 AU, sales: 0.2 million) UK1,US1 A Day at the Races (1976): Somebody to Love (Mercury) [4:56] (11/20/76, 13 US, 9 CB, 18 HR, 15 RR, 2 CL, 2 UK, 5 CN, 15 AU, sales: 2.6 million) UK1,US1 Tie Your Mother Down (May) [3:45] (3/19/77, 49 US, 54 CB, 64 HR, 6 CL, 13 UK, 68 CN, 47 AU) CQ Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy (Mercury) [2:54] (6/4/77, 41 CL, 17 UK, sales: 0.2 million) UK1 News of the World (1977): We Will Rock You (May) [2:01] (10/7/77, 4 US, 44 CB, 1 HR, 4 RR, 1 CL, 1 UK, 3 CN, 8 AU, sales: 7.5 million) UK1,US1 We Are the Champions (Mercury) [3:00] (10/7/77, 4 US, 3 CB, 1 HR, 4 RR, 1 CL, 2 UK, 3 CN, 8 AU, sales: 6.84 million) UK1,US1 Jazz (1978): Fat Bottomed Girls (May) [3:22] (10/28/78, 24 US, 18 CB, 31 HR, 2 CL, 11 UK, 17 CN, 25 AU, sales: 2.2 million) UK1,US1 Bicycle Race (Mercury) [3:01] (10/28/78, 24 US, 18 CB, 31 HR, 9 CL, 11 UK, 17 CN, 25 AU, sales: 2.2 million) UK1,US1 Don’t Stop Me Now (Mercury) [3:29] (2/10/79, 86 US, 77 CB, 84 HR, 7 CL, 9 UK, 53 AU, sales: 4.8 million) UK1 The Game (1980): Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Mercury) [2:42] (10/20/79, 1 US, 1 CB, 1 HR, 1 RR, 17 AC, 1 CL, 2 UK, 1 CN, 1 AU, sales: 1.4 million) UK1,US1 Save Me (May) [3:48] (2/2/80, 41 CL, 11 UK, 76 AU) UK1 Play the Game (Mercury) [3:33] (6/14/80, 42 US, 38 CB, 44 HR, 15 CL, 14 UK, 22 CN, 85 AU) UK1,US1 Another One Bites the Dust (Deacon) [3:36] (8/16/80, 1 US, 1 CB, 1 HR, 2 RR, 1 CL, 7 UK, 1 CN, 5 AU, sales: 7 million) UK1,US1 Flash Gordon soundtrack (1980): Flash (May) [2:48] (10/6/80, 42 US, 39 CB, 53 HR, 22 CL, 10 UK, 24 CN, 16 AU, sales: 0.2 million) UK1,US1

Greatest Hits Queen

Released: November 3, 1981 Recorded: 1973-1981 Peak: 11 US, 14 UK, 4 CN, 2 AU Sales (in millions): 8.0 US, 6.0 UK, 27.6 world (includes US and UK) Genre: glam rock/classic rock

Tracks (UK version): (1) Bohemian Rhapsody (2) Another One Bites the Dust (3) Killer Queen (4) Fat Bottomed Girls (5) Bicycle Race (6) You’re My Best Friend (7) Don’t Stop Me Now (8) Save Me (9) Crazy Little Thing Called Love (10) Somebody to Love (11) Now I’m Here (12) Good-Old Fashioned Lover Boy (13) Play the Game 914) Flash (15) Seven Seas of Rhye (16) We Will Rock You (17) We Are the Champions Tracks (US version): (1) Another One Bites the Dust (2) Bohemian Rhapsody (3) Crazy Little Thing Called Love (4) Killer Queen (5) Fat Bottomed Girls (6) Bicycle Race (7) Under Pressure (with David Bowie) (8) We Will Rock You (9) We Are the Champions (10) Flash (11) Somebody to Love (12) You’re My Best Friend (13) Keep Yourself Alive (14) Play the Game Total Running Time: 58:19 (UK version), 47:48 (US version)

Rating: 4.561 out of 5.00 (average of 17 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About Greatest Hits: The UK and U.S. versions of Queen’s first compilation differed with the former highlighting 17 songs and the latter including only 14. The U.S. version includes twelve of the songs featured on the UK version plus “Under Pressure” and “Keep Yourself Alive.” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “Save Me,” “Now I’m Here,” “Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy,” and “Seven Seas of Rhye” are unique to the UK edition. In 2004, the UK version was released in the U.S. as Greatest Hits: We Will Rock You with “I’m in Love with My Car” and live versions of “Under Pressure” and “Tie Your Mother Down” from 2004.

Hot Space (1982): Under Pressure (Queen, David Bowie) [4:05] (with David Bowie, 10/26/81, 29 US, 22 CB, 26 HR, 23 RR, 7 AR, 1 CO, 1 UK, 3 CN, 6 AU, sales: 3.41 million) US1,UK2,CQ

The Works (1984): Radio Ga Ga (Taylor) [5:43] (2/4/84, 16 US, 14 CB, 22 RR, 22 AR, 2 UK, 11 CB, 2 AU, sales: 1.6 million) UK2,CQ I Want to Break Free (Deacon) [4:18] (4/7/84, 45 US, 53 CB, 3 UK, 26 CN, 8 AU, sales: 1.6 million) UK2 Hammer to Fall (May) [3:40] (4/7/84, 35 AR, 13 UK, 69 AU, sales: 0.2 million) UK2,CQ It’s a Hard Life (Mercury) [4:09] (7/28/84, 72 US, 79 CB, 6 UK, 65 AU) UK2 A Kind of Magic (1986): One Vision (Taylor) [4:02] (11/16/85, 61 US, 52 CB, 19 AR, 7 UK, 76 CN, 35 AU, sales: 0.2 million) UK2,CQ A Kind of Magic (Taylor) [4:22] (3/29/86, 42 US, 42 CB, 3 UK, 64 CN, 25 AU, sales: 0.4 million) UK2,CQ Who Wants to Live Forever (May) [5:16] (9/27/86, 24 UK, sales: 0.4 million) UK2,CQ Friends Will Be Friends (Mercury, Deacon) [4:08] (6/21/86, 14 UK) UK2 One Year of Love (Deacon) [4:28] CQ The Miracle (1989): I Want It All (May) [4:01] (5/13/89, 50 US, 3 AR, 3 UK, 34 CN, 10 AU, sales: 0.2 million) UK2,CQ Breakthru (Mercury, Taylor) [4:09] (7/1/89, 7 UK, 45 AU) UK2 The Invisible Man (Taylor) [3:58] (8/19/89, 12 UK) UK2 The Miracle (Mercury, Deacon) [5:01] (12/9/89, 21 UK) UK2,CQ Innuendo (1991): Headlong (May) [4:37] (1/26/91, 3 AR, 14 UK) UK2,CQ Innuendo (Mercury, Taylor) [6:27] (1/26/91, 17 AR, 1 UK, 28 AU, sales: 0.2 million) UK2 I’m Going Slightly Mad (Mercury) [4:22] (3/16/91, 22 UK) UK2,CQ The Show Must Go On (May) [4:37] (10/26/91, 40 AR, 16 UK, 75 AU, sales: 0.7 million) UK2,CQ These Are the Days of Our Lives (Taylor) [4:14] (12/21/91, 1 UK, 18 CN, sales: 0.4 million) CQ

Greatest Hits II Queen

Released: October 30, 1991 Recorded: 1981-1991 Peak: -- US, 15 UK, -- CN, 4 AU Sales (in millions): -- US, 3.64 UK, 22.3 world (includes US and UK) Genre: glam rock/classic rock

Tracks: (1) A Kind of Magic (2) Under Pressure (with David Bowie) (3) Radio Ga Ga (4) I Want It All (5) I Want to Break Free (6) Innuendo (7) It’s a Hard Life (8) Breakthru (9) Who Wants to Live Forever (10) Headlong (11) The Miracle (12) I’m Going Slightly Mad (13) The Invisible Man (14) Hammer to Fall (15) Friends Will Be Friends (16) The Show Must Go On (17) One Vision Total Running Time: 76:32

Rating: 4.253 out of 5.00 (average of 14 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About Greatest Hits II: Queen’s second compilation was released just weeks before lead singer Freddie Mercury’s death. It picks up where the first set left off, covering from 1981’s “Under Pressure” to the Innuendo, released earlier in 1991. The album wasn’t released in the United States where Classic Queen was released instead. The two compilations share eleven songs. Unique to this collection are “I Want to Break Free,” “It’s a Hard Life,” “Friends Will Be Friends,” “Breakthru,” “The Invisible Man,” and “Innuendo.” Classic Queen Queen

Released: May 10, 1992 Recorded: 1973-1991 Peak: 4 US, -- UK, 113 CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, -- UK, 3.5 world (includes US and UK) Genre: glam rock/classic rock

Tracks: (1) A Kind of Magic (2) Bohemian Rhapsody (3) Under Pressure (with David Bowie) (4) Hammer to Fall (5) Stone Cold Crazy (6) One Year of Love (7) Radio Ga Ga (8) I’m Going Slightly Mad (9) I Want It All (10) Tie Your Mother Down (11) The Miracle (12) These Are the Days of Our Lives (13) One Vision (14) Keep Yourself Alive (15) Headlong (16) Who Wants to Live Forever (17) The Show Must Go On Total Running Time: 75:10

Rating: 4.465 out of 5.00 (average of 6 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About Classic Queen: This was the North American version of Queen’s Greatest Hits II. It shares eleven songs from that compilation. Five songs from 1973-1981 are included here: “Keep Yourself Alive,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Stone Cold Crazy,” and “Tie Your Mother Down.” The first two were on the U.S. Greatest Hits. “Bohemian Rhapsody” was included here because of its revival in the movie Wayne’s World. This collection also includes two songs from the 1981-1991 era which weren’t on Greatest Hits II: “One Year of Love” and “These Are the Days of Our Lives.” Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Queen Wikipedia page for Greatest Hits Wikipedia page for Greatest Hits II Wikipedia page for Classic Queen First posted 3/26/2008; last updated 8/5/2021.