The Crown Jewels [Box set, Limited Edition]

Queen | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 24, 1998)
• Original Release Date: November 24, 1998
• Number of Discs: 8
• Format: Box set, Limited Edition
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Hollywood Records
• ASIN: B00000DMUL
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,540 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

See all items

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Queen's crown jewels shine brightly, and they're a bargain in this inspiring eight-CD collection. Commemorating the operatic British band's 25th anniversary, The Crown Jewels boxes Queen's first eight albums, remastered and boasting bonus artwork, liner notes, and a reproduction of the infamous "Fat Bottomed Girls" bicycle poster. Since the death of Freddie Mercury in 1991, there's been a spate of Queen reissues and repackages, but this 90-song collection, spanning 1973's Queen to 1980's The Game, represents the crux of Queen's power and range of talent. What's best is being reminded of such great hits as the pure bombastic operatic style of "Killer Queen," the neo-rockabilly "A Crazy Little Thing Called Love," the boastful anthem "We Are the Champions," and the pop glam of "Tenement Funster." It's a colorful, engrossing trip, and the time is right for The Crown Jewels: with movies like Velvet Goldmine reminding us again of the glorious musical (and otherwise) excess of the '70s, everything old sounds new again. --Katherine Turman

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

112 of 117 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great set, great music, great band., January 20, 2000

By 

BGFN8 "If you ain't listenin' you ain't livin'" (Farmingville, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Crown Jewels (Audio CD)

I am going to give a disc-by-disc analysis of this great set.

QUEEN: The band's first disc, not their best, but still quite good. This one contains the classic "Keep Yourself Alive," plus great songs like "Great King Rat," "My Fairy King," and a tune written for Brian May's previous band, Smile, "Doing Alright." The standout track on the album is easily "Liar," a 6+ minute epic track, full of many different parts. Definitely reccomended.

QUEEN II: One of my favorites in the set. The theme for the album is somewhat midieval, which provides a great feel to it and makes it all the more unique. "March of the Black Queen" should not be missed by any follower of rock music, it is just incredible. It has a lot of tempo changing, like a rock operetta. Brian May makes his vocal debut on this album with "Some Day One Day" (Roger's was on the previous album with "Modern Times Rock & Roll.") Other great songs are "Ogre Battle," "Fairy Feller's Master Stroke," "Father to Son," "White Queen," all of them are good, I highly reccomend this album.

SHEER HEART ATTACK: One of the most popular albums among staunch Queen fans. It contains the classics "Killer Queen," "Now I'm Here," and "Stone Cold Crazy." One of the many standout tracks is "Brighton Rock," which features Brian May going crazy, and Freddie Mercury showcasing his amazing vocal capabilities. "In The Lap Of The Gods" (both of them) is absolutely amazing. This album also features John Deacon's songwriting debut, "Misfire."

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA: One of the band's best-loved and best-known albums. Some fans have described a lot of the tracks as quirky (whatever that means), but the album remains a true classic in rock and roll. It contains the band's most famous song, "Bohemian Rhapsody," which needs no introduction whatsoever, unless the reader of this is from another planet. "Good Company" sounds like something from the 1940's, "'39" is a great folk song, "Seaside Rendezvous" is campy but excellent, "Death On Two Legs" is a vicious song dedicated to their manager who screwed them over. All of them are good, but the track that stands out the most is "The Prophet's Song," a little over eight minutes long, with beautiful guitar work from Brian May, and an amazing a capella interlude from the vocal god Freddie Mercury.

A DAY AT THE RACES: The amazing follow-up to ANATO, the cover is similar its predecessor. Contains the classic rocker "Tie Your Mother Down," plus the classics "Somebody to Love" and one of my favorites, "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy." Two beautiful tracks are "You Take My Breath Away" (will easily bring a major softie to tears), and "Teo Torriatte" (sung partially in Japanese). One of the standout tracks is the incredible "Millionaire Waltz," excellent track which is as musically complex as a classical work. "White Man" is another unkown classic of Brian May's, a tad reminicent of "The Prophet's Song," found on ANATO. Excellent piece of work.

NEWS OF THE WORLD: The album that hosted "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions," an automatic essential in the Queen catalog. Also contains great songs such as the 1940-ish "Who Needs You" and "My Melancholy Blues," plus Roger Taylor's fast, heavy ode to punk rock "Sheer Heart Attack," and also another Brian May classic, the blues tune "Sleeping On the Sidewalk." Though John Deacon was not a singer, he was an amazing songwriter, and it definitely shows in "Spread Your Wings" and "Who Needs You." Needless to say, this is a great album, and should not be missed by anyone anywhere.

JAZZ: Another amazing piece of work from these amazing musicians. Contains the classics "Bicycle Race," "Fat Bottomed Girls," and "Don't Stop Me Now," plus the middle-eastern-ish "Mustapha," and the heavy rocking "Let Me Entertain You." Queen is definitely one of the most diverse bands on the planet, and it definitely shows in the jazzy "Dreamers Ball," and Queen's first foray into funk, "Fun It." Another cool thing about this particular purchase is that this release comes with the famous nude bicycle race poster that came with the original vynil release, which makes this set a gem for collectors.

THE GAME: Another one of Queen's best-loved and best-remembered albums. This album hosts the classics "Another One Bites the Dust"(the Deacon-penned song that became their biggest hit to date) and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." Also contains the upbeat rocker "Dragon Attack," plus ballads such as "Play the Game," "Sail Away Sweet Sister," and "Save Me," plus other rockers such as "Rock It (prime jive)" and "Need Your Lovin' Tonight" (Another Deacon classic). This album should not and cannot be missed by fans of Queen or classic rock albums.

All in all, this is a great set, with a booklet chock full of lyrics, a few pictures, and some background info on each album (producer, etc). One of the really positive things about this set is that there are no bonus tracks, and each album is packaged exactly as it originally was on the vynil release (sides of the records, etc). If you purchase these albums separately, they contain bonus tracks, most of which are really bad remixes. You have two choices, go buy them separately and get stuck with the bad bonus tracks, or get all eight albums for cheaper than it would be to buy them separately, hear them as they were originally intended, and really get your money's worth. The sound quality is also very good, better than one would expect from an old album released on CD. Anyway, this is a great set, and if you plan on getting all eight of these albums, do yourself a favor, buy this set and hear it all as it was originaly intended. It is one of the best sets you will ever buy. Buy this set and experience some of the best work by one of rock's greatest bands of all time, crank up the volume and experience the bliss, power, passion, and beauty of this great music.

LONG LIVE QUEEN!

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!, December 13, 1999

By 

"platon" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Crown Jewels (Audio CD)

This set is, in my opinion, what a boxed set should be. I hate sets that take the tracks out of their original LP sequences, spread them over too many discs, and then end up not giving you everything anyway.

This box is the opposite of a box like that. These are the first 8 albums, with NO BONUS TRACKS. I hate it when bonus tracks pop up and the end of an album and spoil the original continuity. The discs in this set are NOT the same as the standard-issue Hollywood series.

As for the packaging; phenomenal. The CD packaging perfectly mimics the original vinyl sleeves, down to every detail (e.g., the embossing on 'Night At The Opera' and the poster with 'Jazz'). The discs themselves don't look ugly like the Hollywood ones, either. Don't spend $30 each on the Japanese imports - you get them all right here.

The booklet is a bit disappointing. You do get full lyrics and some photos, yet Matt Pinfield's self-centered album summaries are boring and useless.

The albums are wonderfully mastered too, though the mixes do sound slightly different from the Hollywood versions.

All in all, Brilliant. Like I said, this is what a box set should be. If you own little or nothing by Queen and want to get into them, don't waste time or money on the regular versions (the bonus tracks are NOT worth it... awful house remixes!).

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for any queen fan....., August 12, 1999

By 

Rolltide (Columbia, Tn) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Crown Jewels (Audio CD)

There is simply no better collection to buy for any rock fan. I have owned all of these 8 albums on vinyl before and the sound on these remastered discs is much better especially for those who love their earlier albums. The crisp sound only makes one appreciate the complexity of the music and the bottom is much clearer.

Of course quality of the recording wouldn't matter if the music isn't good and this is as good as it gets. What a great idea to simply put together queen's first 8 albums. Everyone of these discs is a great work of art but my personal favorite is queen 2. Simply blows me away! "March of the black queen" has so many chord and timing changes it's hard to keep up and "white queen" is a great song. The third disc "sheer heart attack" perhaps benefits the most from the remastered sound and brighton rock just leaps out of the speakers. "A night at the opera" is one of the best albums of all time and "a day at the races" is close to that level.

In short this is most of the best work by one of the best bands of all time. The sound is as good as it gets and it is worth buying for any serious queen or rock fan. I know there are many who own some of these albums and maybe shy about paying this much for some of the same material but trust me it is worth it. It all comes in a jewelery type cd box with a booklet of liner notes and lyrics for all the songs.

............socks