Queen Rocks is a compilation album by the British rock band Queen, released on 3 November 1997.
| Queen Rocks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | 3 November 1997 | |||
| Recorded | 1972–1997 | |||
| Genre | Hard rock | |||
| Length | 70:21 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Queen chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Queen Rocks | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |  [2] |
Content
editThe compilation is unique to the Queen catalogue, as it deliberately does not follow the standard "greatest hits" collection format and focuses on songs from Queen's heavier side. Some hits are present ("We Will Rock You", "I Want It All" and "Fat Bottomed Girls"), while other tracks included were never released as singles anywhere ("Put Out the Fire", "Tear It Up" and "Sheer Heart Attack").
The album also contains a remake of "I Can't Live With You", with a much louder and heavier guitar and more aggressive drumming, and one new track, "No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)", which is a gentle ballad. The latter began life as a track for Brian May's solo album Another World (1998); the remaining members chose to record it as a bookend for their career as Queen. It was the last original studio recording from the 1990s featuring Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon and is among the few Queen songs not to feature lead singer Freddie Mercury (other examples include "Good Company" and "Sleeping on the Sidewalk").
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Brian May, except where noted
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "We Will Rock You" | News of the World, 1977 | 2:01 | |
| 2. | "Tie Your Mother Down" (single version) | A Day at the Races, 1976 | 3:45 | |
| 3. | "I Want It All" (hybrid album/single version) | The Miracle, 1989 | 4:30 | |
| 4. | "Seven Seas of Rhye" | Freddie Mercury | Queen II, 1974 | 2:47 |
| 5. | "I Can't Live with You" (1997 Rocks Retake) | Innuendo, 1991 | 4:47 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6. | "Hammer to Fall" (album version) | The Works, 1984 | 4:30 | |
| 7. | "Stone Cold Crazy" |
| Sheer Heart Attack, 1974 | 2:14 |
| 8. | "Now I'm Here" | Sheer Heart Attack, 1974 | 4:12 | |
| 9. | "Fat Bottomed Girls" (album version) | Jazz, 1978 | 4:18 | |
| 10. | "Keep Yourself Alive" | Queen, 1973 | 3:44 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Tear It Up" | The Works, 1984 | 3:28 | |
| 12. | "One Vision" (album version) |
| A Kind of Magic, 1986 | 5:09 |
| 13. | "Sheer Heart Attack" | Taylor | News of the World, 1977 | 3:26 |
| 14. | "I'm in Love with My Car" (hybrid album/single version) | Taylor | A Night at the Opera, 1975 | 3:05 |
| No. | Title | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15. | "Put Out the Fire" | Hot Space, 1982 | 3:20 |
| 16. | "Headlong" | Innuendo, 1991 | 4:33 |
| 17. | "It's Late" | News of the World, 1977 | 6:29 |
| 18. | "No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)" | previously unreleased, 1997 | 4:11 |
Video version
editA video version of the album was made. It included slightly different videos for all these songs.
- "I Want It All" (The original video, except for the fact that it uses clips from the 1986 Wembley concert.)
- "We Will Rock You" (Uses clips of Queen singing at Wembley '86, Budapest '86, Montreal '81, Live Aid '85, Japan '79, Hammersmith '79, Houston '77, Buenos Aires '81, Rio '85, Milton Keynes '82, and the original video. Also uses outtakes from the original video.)
- "Keep Yourself Alive" (Slightly modified 1992 DoRo video with clips from two original 1973 videos, and BBC version with footage from black/white movies.)
- "Fat Bottomed Girls" (The original video, except intercut with "mud wrestling" footage)
- "Sheer Heart Attack" (Rare video. Video includes clips of Queen performance at the Rainbow '74, Hammersmith '75, Earl's Court '77, Houston '77, Hammersmith '79, Buenos Aires '81, Wembley '86, and clips from other Queen videos including Under Pressure and Keep Yourself Alive.)
- "I'm in Love with My Car" (Rare video. Video includes clips of Queen performing the song at Hammersmith '79, along with shots of zooming cars.)
- "It's Late" (Rare video. Video includes clips of Queen performance at the Rainbow '74, Wembley '86, Milton Keynes '82, Hammersmith '75, Buenos Aires '81, Houston '77, Earl's Court '77, Japan '79, Rio '85, and clips from other Queen videos including "Keep Yourself Alive", "Princes of the Universe", "Killer Queen", "These Are the Days of Our Lives", and "The Miracle".)
- "Tie Your Mother Down: Through the Years" (Clips from Japan '85, Wembley '86, Houston '77, Hammersmith '79, Earl’s Court '77, Rio '85, Budapest '86, Paris '79, Frankfurt '82, Montreal '81, and the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.)
- "Seven Seas of Rhye" (Slightly modified 1992 DoRo video with footage from Tokyo '75 and Tokyo '85)
- "Put Out the Fire" (Performance at Osaka '82 with clips from old black/white movies.)
- "One Vision (extended)" (Original video with some never-before-seen footage.)
- "Makings of No-One But You"
Personnel
edit- Freddie Mercury – lead and backing vocals, handclaps, footstomps, synthesizer, piano, organ (except on "No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)")
- Brian May – co-lead vocals on "No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)", "I Want It All" (bridge), "Fat Bottomed Girls" (chorus), "Keep Yourself Alive" (bridge) and "Put Out The Fire" (falsetto at end of verses), backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, handclaps, footstomps, keyboards, piano, synthesizer, sampler, drum programming
- Roger Taylor – lead vocals on "I'm In Love With My Car", co-lead vocals on "No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)", "Keep Yourself Alive" (bridge) and "Sheer Heart Attack", backing vocals, acoustic and electric drums, percussion, tambourine, cowbell, handclaps, footstomps, rhythm guitar, bass guitar
- John Deacon – bass guitar, handclaps, footstomps (except on "Sheer Heart Attack")
Additional personnel
edit- David Richards – keyboards on "I Can't Live With You (1997 Rocks Retake)" and keyboard programming on "I Want It All"
- Fred Mandel – synthesizer on "Hammer to Fall"
Charts
edit
Weekly chartsedit
|
Year-end chartsedit
|
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[12] | Gold | 35,000^ |
| Japan (RIAJ)[13] | Gold | 100,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
edit- ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r325812
- ^ "Queen: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – Queen – Queen Rocks" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Queen – Queen Rocks" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Queen – Queen Rocks" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
- ^ "Charts.nz – Queen – Queen Rocks". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Queen – Queen Rocks". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Queen – Queen Rocks". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ^ "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 1997". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1997 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
- ^ "Japanese album certifications – Queen – Queen Rocks" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 1998年12月 on the drop-down menu
External links
edit- Queen official website: Discography: Queen Rocks: includes lyrics of "We Will Rock You", "I Want It All", "I Can't Live With You", "Hammer To Fall", "Fat Bottomed Girls", "Tear it Up", "Sheer Heart Attack", "Put Out The Fire", "Headlong", "It's Late".