CLASSIC QUEEN

'Classic Queen' is a compilation album of Queen that was released in 1992. It was issued in order to capitalise on the sudden Queen fever generated by the dead of Freddie Mercury and the release of the film Wayne's World, an American comedy directed by the American film director and producer Penelope Spheeris. The use of Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' on the film propelled the song to the top Billboard singles charts nearly twenty years after its first release.

Despite 'Classic Queen' be critically acclaimed as excellent and reached number four on the Billboard 200, and be certified three times platinum in U.S.A. and five times platinum in Canada, it didn't fit in with the two previous compilations, 'Greatest Hits' and 'Greatest Hits II'. It contains a few tracks not found in the two previous compilations.

'Classic Queen' has also seventeen tracks, like their two previous compilations 'Greatest Hits' and 'Greatest Hits II'. 'A Kind Of Magic' is from 'A Kind Of Magic'. It's a great pop song pleasant and nice to hear. It's a good song played with a nice rhythm. This is the song that better represents the music of the 80's on that album. 'Bohemian Rhapsody' is from 'A Night At The Opera'. It's the most known and probably the best song of Queen. It was released as a single and soon became a huge commercial success. It's incredible that such complex song may have been so successful. 'Under Pressure' is from 'Hot Space'. It's a collaborative work between Queen and David Bowie. It was largely played live by the band and was included on some of their compilations. It has great moments, especially the excellent and unforgettable vocal duet between Freddie Mercury and David Bowie. '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 as 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. 'One Year Of Love' is from 'A Kind Of Magic'. It's a nice and calm slow ballad with a very beautiful saxophone solo work and a great string orchestral arrangement. It isn't one of their best songs, but has quality enough to be a good song. 'Radio Ga Ga' is from 'The Works'. It's a protest song against the growing influence of music videos on the record sales against the musical quality. This is an excellent song, probably the best song written by Roger Taylor for the band. 'I'm Going Slightly Mad' is from 'Innuendo'. It represents a funny moment which can be perfectly seen seeing its video-clip. The atmosphere is great and the song is enjoyable for the 80's. '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 kind of a classic Queen's hard rock song that satisfies almost all rock fans. 'Tie Your Mother Down' is from 'A Day At The Races'. It's a good hard rock guitar based oriented song, where Brian May shines. It was also a big success on the rock radios. 'The Miracle' is from 'The Miracle'. This is a good and interesting song, one of the highlights on that album. It's a creative song with some complex arrangements. Almost we could call it a prog pop song. 'These Are The Days Of Our Lives' is from 'Innuendo'. This is an emotional song. It represents one of the last farewells of Freddie Mercury. That is particularly noticed on the music of the video, when he whispers 'I still love you' at the end of the song. '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, very powerful and pleasant to hear. It's one of the best songs on that album. '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. '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 amazing new material. 'Who Wants To Live Forever' is from 'A Kind Of Magic'. Despite be a soundtrack song, it's one of the most emotional ballads made by the band. This excellent beautiful ballad remains one of the best and beautiful moments on that album. 'The Show Must Go On' is from 'Innuendo'. It's an extraordinary song full of drama and emotion. This is one of the most beautiful, dramatic, touching and emotional songs of Queen. It was the last song composed by Freddie.

Conclusion: 'Classic Queen', despite its name, isn't really a true classic Queen's compilation. It's more a greatest hits compilation very close to 'Greatest Hits' and 'Greatest Hits II'. In reality, it seems more a copy of 'Greatest Hits II' than a new compilation. From its seventeenth tracks, eleven of them are on both compilations, when only six are different. However, 'Classic Queen' is slightly better than 'Greatest Hits II'. Despite both compilations aren't two good examples of the representativeness of their previous progressive phase, 'Classic Queen' is more cohesive and covers better their career. So, 'Classic Queen' is more balanced than 'Greatest Hits II' is, and covers almost all their best and most prog albums. So, I'm going to rate 'Classic Queen' with the same 3 stars of 'Greatest Hits' and 'Greatest Hits II'.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)