Stone Cold Classics (2006) 


 

 1. Stone Cold Crazy
 2. Tie Your Mother Down
 3. Fat Bottomed Girls
 4. Another One Bites the Dust
 5. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
 6. We Will Rock You
 7. We Are the Champions
 8. Radio Ga Ga
 9. Bohemian Rhapsody
 10.The Show Must Go On
 11.These are the Days of Our Lives
 12.I Want it All
 13.All Right Now
 14.Feel Like Makin' Love

 

Yet another “greatest hits” package tossed into the mix — and, truth be told, this one really doesn’t bring anything new to the table. At this point, there are already more Queen compilations floating around than actual studio albums, so it’s difficult to understand who exactly this was meant for. New fans? Old fans? Collectors? Bargain bin browsers?

That said, the first dozen tracks are actually a pretty enjoyable listen. It’s a solid enough cross-section of Queen’s more radio-friendly, rock-oriented catalog. You get your We Will Rock You, your Another One Bites the Dust, your Stone Cold Crazy — all of which still sound as vibrant today as they did decades ago. So far, so good.

Then comes the misstep — the final two tracks. These are live renditions of All Right Now and Feel Like Makin' Love, which, in case you’re wondering, aren’t Queen songs at all. They’re Bad Company tracks. Included here because, at this point in time, Brian May and Roger Taylor had decided to team up with Paul Rodgers, the former Bad Company frontman, in a curious attempt to resurrect the Queen brand.

Rodgers is a perfectly respectable rock singer, but the pairing always felt... off. Mercury was theatrical, flamboyant, operatic. Rodgers is pure grit and bluesy swagger. Not a great match stylistically, and it shows. These two tacked-on tracks feel more like leftovers from an unrelated project than a fitting end to a Queen retrospective. They derail the flow and honestly just don’t belong here.

For best results? Stop listening after track 12 and pretend this was a short but satisfying compilation. It’s not essential by any means, but it works — at least until it tries to be something it’s not.

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