Greatest Hits I, II & III - The Platinum Collection (3CD) [Box set, Original recording remastered]

Queen | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 24, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Format: Box set, Original recording remastered
• 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: B00006JIA4
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (134 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #896 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #9 in Music > Box Sets
  • #15 in Music > Classic Rock > Supergroups
  • #23 in Music > Rock > Progressive > Progressive Rock

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

What once seemed Queen's greatest liabilities--a preening flamboyance and pompous, overwrought theatricality--have ironically become their most enduring charms in a gray, postmodern pop-music landscape. While it eschews the glammy, pre-punk hard rock of live faves like "Stone Cold Crazy" and "Tie Your Mother Down" for the band's more quirky club-beat string of latter-day hits, this 51-track triple-CD anthology goes a long way toward documenting the true dimensions of the band's music and fame. Some songs may not be instantly familiar to American fans because of yet another irony: just as their U.S. fortunes waned during the punk and new wave era, the band was exploding into true international superstars. Thus, there may be a sense of discovery here, whether of latter-day Queen material or solo work by Brian May and Freddie Mercury, whose duet on "Barcelona" with diva Montserrat Caballé transcends boundaries of both time and genre. A previously unreleased live performance of "The Show Must Go On" featuring Elton John on vocals is also included. --Jerry McCulley

Product Description

1. BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
2. ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST
3. KILLER QUEEN
4. FAT BOTTOMED GIRLS
5. BICYCLE RACE
6. YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND
7. DON'T STOP ME NOW
8. SAVE ME
9. CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE
10. SOMEBODY TO LOVE
11. NOW I'M HERE
12. GOOD OLD FASHIONED LOVER BOY
13. PLAY THE GAME
14. FLASH
15. SEVEN SEAS OF RHYE
16. WE WILL ROCK YOU
17. WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

18. A KIND OF MAGIC
19. UNDER PRESSURE
20. RADIO GA GA
21. I WANT IT ALL
22. I WANT TO BREAK FREE
23. INNUENDO
24. IT'S A HARD LIFE
25. BREAKTHRU
26. WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER
27. HEADLONG
28. THE MIRACLE
29. I'M GOING SLIGHTLY MAD
30. THE INVISIBLE MAN
31. HAMMER TO FALL
32. FRIENDS WILL BE FRIENDS
33. THE SHOW MUST GO ON
34. ONE VISION

35. THE SHOW MUST GO ON
36. UNDER PRESSURE
37. BARCELONA
38. TOO MUCH LOVE WILL KILL YOU
39. SOMEBODY TO LOVE
40. YOU DON'T FOOL ME
41. HEAVEN FOR EVERYONE
42. LAS PALABRAS DE AMOR
43. DRIVEN BY YOU
44. LIVING ON MY OWN
45. LET ME LIVE
46. THE GREAT PRETENDER
47. PRINCES OF THE UNIVERSE
48. ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST
49. NO ONE BUT YOU
50. THESE ARE THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES
51. THANK GOD IT'S CHRISTMAS

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

260 of 270 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GREAT... but??..., October 9, 2002

By 

Daniel Aldana (North Bellmore, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Greatest Hits I, II & III - The Platinum Collection (3CD) (Audio CD)

If you're new to Queen and you're planning on getting the Platinum collection, then I can tell you for sure that you won't be dissapointed... however, it would be a better choice to get the old "Greatest Hits I & II" box set with "Made In Heaven" added.
Why??... because "Greatest Hits I & II" has the best of Queen from 1974-1991, and the only album that Queen put out after Freddie Mercury's death in 1991 was 'Made In Heaven'

Greatest Hits 3 has the hit tracks from Made In Heaven, plus some good hits that weren't before included (These Are The Days, No One But You, Princes Of The Universe, Thank God It's X-mas).
The bad thing is that Greatest Hits 3 has a bunch of refills that should have never been included... "Under Pressure (Mix)", "The Show Must Go On" (w/ Elton John) and a horrible version of "Another One Bites The Dust" by Wyclef Jean that ruins this album just as much as Jar Jar Binks ruined Star Wars: Episode I.

What is even more annoying about Greatest Hits 3 is the fact that they left out REAL QUEEN HITS, like... Tie Your Mother Down, Scandal, and Love Of My Life and they had to include a bunch of tracks that aren't even QUEEN songs.

You wouldn't regret buying 'The Platinum Collection' but I can almost guarantee that when you listen the 3rd CD, you'd want to skip tracks 1,2, and especially 14!!.

125 of 135 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 2 for the price of 3?, January 18, 2003

By 

Rolltide (Columbia, Tn) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Greatest Hits I, II & III - The Platinum Collection (3CD) (Audio CD)

Note the name of this compilation of songs. "Queens greatest hits". Not the best of, or queen stuff or something like that. The first 2 Cds are great but the third is pure rubbish! Maybe it is because the 3rd is severely wanting that they felt the need to combine it with the other two. What is the point? You probably already own at least GH one or two or maybe "classic queen" but there is no real reason to own GH3. Don't buy it!

Queen is one of my all time favorite rock bands and i own 2/3 of all their albums. I persoanlly think it is an abomination that songs performed by other people would make a so called queen CD. If somebody wants to do a queen tribute Cd using various artists much like they did with elton john's songs it would be great. But to throw these songs onto queen greatest hits CD? It's obvious that this is just a way to keep the wheel greased. That maybe; probably; a wycliff jean, david bowie, elton john or george micheal fan will snap this up just because they appear on it. I just think it harms the queen legacy.

I also object to using marginally popular solo efforts on a GH CD. Including freedie's or brian's solo material just cheapens evertything. The solo stuff just isn't the same, isn't as good. Sorry.

Want to experience queen? Than buy the first album "Queen". Then buy "Queen 2" and then maybe "Night at the opera". Experience one of rock's great bands the way you should.

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Introduction To Queen., December 8, 2002

By 

Go Bulldogs (Fresno State University, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Greatest Hits I, II & III - The Platinum Collection (3CD) (Audio CD)

Queen was pure glam rock. Freddie Mercury was 1 in a million, his voice was the best in rock (Robert Plant's is second). He was incredibly flamboyant, and operatic and Queen definitely gave the greatest live shows of our time. They sounded like no other band with four hit songwriters who wrote many songs that would later become sports anthems or movie themes such as the amazing Flash, Who Wants To Live Forever, One Vision, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions and Another One Bites The Dust. The 1st Disc is 70's glam rock Queen and the second disc is 80's pop rock Queen. I prefer this collection over the 2 previous Hollywood releases of 'Classic Queen' and 'Greatest Hits' because this version has one of my favorite Queen songs, "Innuendo," and the song "Flash" that was on the original greatest hits album from 1981. The song order is also better. The only flaw on the second disc is the recording of "Under Pressure." This version sounds different than the one on `Classic Queen.' The base is much softer and the vocals don't flow as well.

A reminder: Disc Three is not a greatest hits cd. It's a cd of mostly solo works, songs from the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, and songs from the album `Made In Heaven,' an album that came out after Freddie died. The third disc does not do the band any justice and should be re-released with actual hits or songs from Queen during their prime years. Hopefully, Queen's Brian May will someday release a true best-of collection with classic songs that did not make the hit chart but were true masterpieces. I'm talking about the songs: Spread Your Wings, You Take My Breath Away, Love of My Life, Melancholy Blues, Teo Torriatte, Death On Two Legs, The Prophet Song, 39', and Seaside Rendezvous. Songs on 'Queen II' like Procession, White Queen, The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke, Nevermore and March Of The Black Queen should also not be ignored.
If you want a great introduction to Queen with their most popular hits, this is it. But, if you want more on the best of Queen, I recommend you pick up 'Queen II', 'A Night At The Opera,' and `A Day At The Races.' These are Queen's three best albums and Queen during their prime.