GREATEST HITS II

In 1981, "Greatest Hits" covered first decade of QUEEN's career. The songs chosen for compilation were all hits, not necessary band's highest-quality songs. In 1991 "Greatest Hits II" hit the market, and this time the terms "best" or "hit" became one. Simply because the second decade of Queen's career was not on the same level as the first one. The selection is quite good, from all the albums 3 or 4 tracks are picked (except from the weakest "Hot Space"), and if you are unfamiliar with the Queen's not-so-early-works and want to check them out, but don't want to dig through the albums, this compilation is just fine. You will miss one, two or three proggier tracks that Queen did in the 80s, but essential work is here: ballads, anthems, rock tunes and prog masterpiece - Innuendo.

Almost all the tracks are slightly different from their album version, most of them are single versions, and "I'm Going Slightly Mad" and "Who Wants To Live Forever" are slightly edited.

Two weakest tracks in this selection are "Headlong" and "The Invisible Man" (although both gained high chart positions, "Headlong" #14 in 1991, and "The Invisible Man" #12 in 1989). However, it's obvious that compilation was made for earning extra money, and expecting high-quality (progressive), non-charting tracks (like "Machines" or "Chinese Torture") would be too much. Anyway, I'm glad that awful hit "Body Language" (#25 in 1982) is not included.

Conclusion: "Greatest Hits II" is better representation of the corresponding decade than it's predecessor. The problem is, if you decide to give QUEEN a go, you will realise that essence of each album has been stolen by this huge, luxury, double LP.

I will always recommend albums rather than compilations, and this one is okay if you are willing just to lurk into the 80's and perhaps place it next to the early Queen's masterpieces.