Greatest Hits (1992)
1. We Will Rock You
2. We Are the Champions
3. Another One Bites the Dust
4. Killer Queen
5. Somebody to Love
6. Fat Bottomed Girls
7. Bicycle Race
8. You're My Best Friend
9. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
10.Now I'm Here
11.Play the Game
12.Seven Seas of Rhye
13.Body Language
14.Save Me
15.Don't Stop Me Now
16.Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy
17.I Want to Break Free
After Queen’s original Greatest Hits collection from around 1981 quietly went out of print in the U.S., it left a noticeable gap. So in 1992, the band (or more likely, their American record label) decided it was time to reintroduce the concept — and what we ended up with is this slightly modified version of that original package. The key word here is “slightly.”
Earlier that same year, Classic Queen had hit the shelves — a sort of “modern” best-of collection that leaned heavily on the band’s post-1982 output but threw in just enough earlier hits to confuse the timeline. That created a bit of a dilemma: when this Greatest Hits reissue followed a few months later, they couldn’t just duplicate the same tracks that had already appeared on Classic Queen. So what we get here is a sort of “fill in the gaps” record. Thankfully, they pulled it off well enough that the end result still works.
Yes, this is all a bit confusing. But here’s what you really need to know: 1) Bohemian Rhapsody is not on this album — you’ll find that on Classic Queen instead — and 2) if you own both Classic Queen and this Greatest Hits, you’re essentially covered. Between the two, you get the vast majority of Queen’s radio staples, and even though the sequencing and selections feel a little random, you can’t argue with the material.
The real frustration is just how close they came to making this a clean, two-part collection. A couple of swapped tracks between the two releases could have turned them into a proper Volume 1 and Volume 2 setup. Even the album covers look nearly identical, which doesn’t help the confusion. But if you can look past the disorganized approach, the content speaks for itself.
Important note for the curious: yes, there are other Greatest Hits releases floating around out there — various volumes, box sets, expanded versions — and most are fairly safe bets. Just be cautious around Greatest Hits Vol. 3. That one isn’t really a “greatest hits” collection at all. It’s mostly remixes, duets, and alternate versions that will likely only appeal to the completists.
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