QUEEN ROCKS

"Queen Rocks" is a compilation album of Queen that was released in 1997. The remaining three members chose to record it as a bookend for the career of Queen. It was the last recording with Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor and the first one without Freddie Mercury. It was the last to feature Deacon, who subsequently retired from public life.

"Queen Rocks" has eighteen tracks. "We Will Rock You" is from "News Of The World". It's a great rock song that soon became one of the best known and most popular songs of Queen. This is a powerful short song that works well on that album. "Tie Your Mother Down" is from "A Day At The Races". It's a good hard rock guitar based song, where Brian May shines. It was a big success on the rock radios. This is the single's version. "I Want It All" is from "The Miracle". This is a great rock song full of mood changes and nice guitar solos. It's a classic Queen's hard rock song that satisfies almost all rock fans. This is a hybrid album/single's version. "Seven Seas Of Rye" is from "Queen II". It's the final track on the first two Queen's albums. On this album, the song is lengthier than the version on their debut, and it has vocals. This is a good song that closes well "Queen II". "I Can't Live Without You" is from "Innuendo". It's a happy rock song with a simple structure, different from many songs on that album. This is one of its less attractive songs, but it still is a good song. "Hammer To Fall" is from "The Works". The song harks back to Queen's old sound, built around a hard and muscular guitar riff. It became one of their live favourite songs. "Stone Cold Crazy" is from "Sheer Heart Attack". It's a heavy metal rock song with many and sudden changes and a great guitar work. This is a great rock song. "Now I'm Here" is from "Sheer Heart Attack". It's a song with great vocal harmonies. This is a powerful rock number with a great riff, heavy beat and some nice and catchy vocals. "Fat Bottomed Girls" is from "Jazz". It's a good rock song with an open tuning guitar riff based in blues and hard rock. It has also a great choral work. This is a great song with a slight country touch and excellent vocal harmonies. "Keep Yourself Alive" is from "Queen". It's an energetic rock piece that shows Brian May's distinct and typical guitar sound. We are in presence of a straight forward rock song with different and unexpected changes in tempo, with great guitar and a nice vocal work. "Tear It Up" is from "The Works". It's a hard song in the same vein of some of the old songs of the band. It's a typical Brian May's song. The final result is a nice and good rock song very pleasant to hear. "One Vision" is from "A Kind Of Magic". It's a well known song with mysterious distorted vocals in the beginning. This is an excellent pop rock song powerful and pleasant to hear. It's one of the best songs on that album. "Sheer Heart Attack" is from "News Of The World". It's a heavy punk rock song, probably the heaviest song that Queen ever wrote. It should have been the title track for "Sheer Heart Attack", but it seems they didn't finish it in time. I don't like very much of this song. "I'm In Love With My Car" is from "A Night At The Opera". It has its lyrics inspired and dedicated to one of the band's roadies, Jonathan Harris, whose car was the love of his life. This is a great rock song, simple and catchy, one of Roger Taylor's most famous songs in Queen's catalogue. This is a hybrid album/single's version. "Put Out The Fire" is from "Hot Space". This is a traditional Queen's song. It has lead vocals by Freddie Mercury with Brian May singing lead vocals in falsetto at the end of the verse. It has a nice guitar solo by Brian May. It isn't a bad song, but it's a bit repetitive and I don't like of the Bee Gees' vocal parts. "Headlong" is from "Innuendo". It's a fast rock song with great guitar solos and a nice vocal performance. This is one of the heaviest songs on that album that proves they were still capable to write some amazing new material. "It's Late" is from "News Of The World". It's one of the four best moments on "News Of The World". This is a classic rock Queen's song with excellent melody and great individual performances by all band's members. "No-One But You (Only The Good Dye Young)" isn't properly a Queen's song. It was recorded by the three remaining members in 1997 following the death of Freddie Mercury. Originally, this song began its life as a track for Bryan May's second studio album "Another World" released in 1998. Despite the song came after the death of Diana, it was dedicated to Mercury and to all those that died too soon.

Conclusion: Like ZowieZiggy wrote, this is also, for me, exactly the same type of compilations that appeal to me. It has all the exact ingredients that a compilation must have. The album is a selection of songs from Queen's heavier side that revisit practically all Queen's studio albums with Freddie Mercury still alive. From those all albums, only three were left out, but in reality only "The Game" was forgotten because "Flash Gordon" and "Made In Heaven" are two very special albums in Queen's discography. "Flash Gordon" is a soundtrack album and "Made In Heaven" was released after Freddie's dead. Of course, many of the songs on this compilation aren't properly progressive songs. However, this compilation has the merit of not being properly focused on the more known and more commercial side of the band. Concluding, "Queen Rocks" is a great compilation album of Queen and is strongly recommended to all hard rock fans.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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