GREATEST HITS

I have mixed feelings about compilation albums. I think it's okay for some bands like ZZ Top, Status Quo or AC/DC. They've always stayed true to their style and roots, they weren't very diverse, they didn't create conceptual albums, and many of their established hits often rock the listeners just as much as the tracks on the album next to them. In my opinion, starting your first acquaintance with their music with such a compilation is ideal.

It's completely different with bands like Yes, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, ELP. How can you make a guide to their work if many of their outstanding compositions last longer than 10-15 minutes? Theoretically, it's possible, but how will it work in practice? Such songs will be taken out of context, and this will not give a full understanding of the album and period of the band's work from which they were taken. It's like reading Stephen King's Dark Tower in separate chapters. Or even fragments of separate chapters.

There are some nuances with Queen Greatest Hits (I and II). The mention of the word Hit in the title immediately warns that the songs selected here are those that occupied the top lines of the charts, were released as singles and were frequent guests on radio broadcasts. This is logical for promoting the album. But it does not give a full picture of Queen's very diverse creative heritage. I think that it is better to listen to this group as albums to perceive their music more fully. And if someone starts getting to know their music with this collection, they will form the wrong opinion about the group - well-made pop music with separate forays into the territory of more complex musical forms, for example. Of course, this is not really the case. To be convinced of this, it is enough to listen to their classic albums Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack, A Night at the Opera in their entirety. Some songs from that albums are presented on this collection, but even the great Bohemian Rhapsody cannot fully represent the album A Night at the Opera.

Finally I will say that I do not have an answer to the question of how I see the ideal collection of Queen songs. I think it is impossible to compile such a collection. At least for the most interesting period of the band's work before the early eighties. The albums of the band are best listened to in their entirety up to and including The Game. I think that the rating of three stars perfectly corresponds to my conclusion.