Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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189 of 195 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The definitive Queen introduction., February 29, 2000
Hollywood Records goofed big-time when they bought Queen's back-catalogue. Instead of simply staying true to form and releasing this compilation (the original BRITISH hits collections) straight away, they chose to do their own thing and release Classic Queen and their own 'Greatest Hits', both of which are poorly sequenced and feature an inferior selection of tracks. As for this compilation? If you are just itching to dip your feet in the world of Queen, this is definitley the first selection you should buy. It features hits from every single album they've put out save their first (Keep yourself Alive is missing, but it's a minor flaw). Disc one contains tracks that most people should recognize right away, from their most famous (Bohemian Rhapsody) to their biggest chart hits (Crazy Lil Thing Called Love, Another One Bites the Dust) to their early hits (Killer Queen, Seven Seas of Rhye). This is the disc most people will turn to first and more often, but there's so much more.. Disc 2 is the real treasure here. The only song most people in the US will know is 'Under Pressure' and possibly 'Radio Ga-Ga'. But disc 2 captures Queen at their greatest, in my opinion. Their early days were fun, yes, but their later days found Queen simply getting better and better, most notably Brain May, his guitar work is light-years ahead of his early material. Songs like 'I want it All' and 'The Invisible Man' demonstrate just what a fantastic axeman this guy was (as opposed to the effects-wizard of his early years). 'Innuendo' shows that Queen still feels that 'Bohemian Rhapsody' vibe. In short, for people who think Queen vanished after their album 'The Game' (read: people in America) disc 2 is a real eye-opener. Greatest Hits I and II is bar none, the best introduction to one of the greatest bands in history. Don't bother with the other Hollywood Records slop (Classic Queen, GH, Rocks, etc) unless you just have to have everything. An added bonus are some fantastic liner notes.
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40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not As Concise As Buying "Classic Queen" and "Greatest Hits", But An Excellent Alternative!, August 9, 2005
Queen is, without question, one of the greatest rock bands of all time. With their incomparable lead singer Freddie Mercury and their canon of some of the greatest songs ever to hit the airwaves, Queen are legends. And of course, with most legendary bands, they have several greatest hits collection out on the market for casual fans. In 1995, Hollywood Records released the two disc collection "Queen - Greatest Hits Vols. 1 & 2". It contains 34 tracks, is digitally remastered and has most of their hits. How does it hold up? Read on for the positives and negatives.
Positives:
-If you're a casual Queen fan who is only interesting owning their biggest hits, than this is an almost ideal collection, as you will find "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Somebody To Love", "We Are The Champions", "Another One Bites The Dust" and all the other classic Queen hits.
-You will also get a lot of rarely heard tracks such as "Seven Seas Of Rhye", "Don't Stop Me Now", "Now I'm Here", "Save Me", and "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy".
-Disc two contains a lot of excellent European hits that the North American audiences might not be familliar with, such as "Radio Ga Ga", "I Want It All", "The Show Must Go On", "I Want To Break Free", "I'm Going Slightly Mad" and "Who Wants To Live Forever".
-The liner notes are excellent.
-All of the songs sound absolutely fantastic.
-It's relatively cheap and easy to find.
Negatives:
-The first disc does not fill the eighty minute time limit, clocking in at a mere 58:29. That means there was enough room to include "Tie Your Mother Down", "Keep Yourself Alive", "Stone Cold Crazy" and possibly "Body Language".
-If I'm not mistaken, "Bicycle Race" is edited.
-Disc two failed to include what might be my favorite Queen song ever, "These Are The Days Of Our Lives". I would've knocked off "One Vision" to include that song.
-Hollywood Records also has two single disc Queen collections out on the market, "Classic Queen" and "Greatest Hits". On their own, they don't really stand their ground, as both are missing a great many Queen classics. But when purchased together, you could not ask for a more comprehensive Queen collection, as they are even better than this collection. They include all the missing songs I mentioned as well as some other interesting gems. The only downside is that those cds do not include "Breakthru", "The Invisble Man", "Friends Will Be Friends", "Innuendo" and "It's A Hard Life". My advice is to get the two single disc collections and download the songs I just mentioned, so that way a casual fan will have all the Queen he or she will ever need.
Bottom line: as great as this collection, I recommend "Classic Queen" and "Greatest Hits", both purchased together. Download the songs on here that are missing from those two and you'll be set.
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58 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
There's a better way to get Queen's best, September 16, 1998
By A Customer
This 2-CD set is good, but The 2 Hollywood Discs ("Queen's Greatest Hits" and "Classic Queen") are better. Together, those 2 discs cover most of the same songs, and no songs are repeated. The biggest difference is that with "Greatest Hits I & II" you get the song "Flash", but not the songs "Keep Yourself Alive" and "Tie Your Mother Down". Personally, I think it's inexcusable to leave the latter 2 songs of a 2-disc greatest hits compilation, so I bought the 2 Hollywood discs.The other differences are, in my opinion, minor: GH I&II has Innuendo, It's a Hard Life, Breakthru, The Invisible Man, and Friends Will Be Friends. The 2 Hollywood discs have: Stone Cold Crazy, One year of Love, These Are the Days, and Body Language.
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