Queen - Greatest Hits: We Will Rock You Edition

That's confusing enough, but it doesn't stop there. Since the 1981 collection had an expert track selection, it continued to be a big seller in the US as an import CD, and then in 1994, Parolophone in the UK reworked the compilation to bring it up to 17 tracks which appears to be the magic number for Queen compilations, since that's what Greatest Hits, Vol. 2, Classic Queen, the 1992 Greatest Hits and the subsequent 1999 Greatest Hits, Vol. 3 all run. This reconfigured Greatest Hits was the best available hits compilation, but it was only available as an import in the states, or as part of the 1995 twodisc repackage of Greatest Hits, Vols. 12 or as part of the 2001 repackaging The Platinum Collection, which contained the British versions of the three Greatest Hits discs. These latter two were American releases that snuck out the preferred British version, because the British versions of the Greatest Hits always had the more logical track sequences; Classic Queen and the 1992 Greatest Hits were rushjobs. Despite that, those '92 American compilations remained on the market, and Classic Queen remained the easiest way for a fan to get most, but not all, of Queen's hits as a single disc collection.

Until this 2004 release, that is. Entitled Greatest Hits: We Will Rock You Edition, this is the longawaited standalone reissue of the first Queen Greatest Hits, with the addition of three bonus tracks, plus an offer to save 20 on any package to see the Queen theatrical musical We Will Rock You at Paris Las Vegas. So, it's a tiein not just for the musical, but "I'm In Love With My Car" was used in commercial for Jaguar in 2004, so it's added as a bonus track (the other two bonus tracks are live versions of "Under Pressure" and "Tie Your Mother Down) but who cares? This compilation is finally available on its own on CD in the US and that's worth celebrating, even if at this point, most fans that care will own the import, or one of those repackages (or, frankly, could assemble the collection from the discs they already own). But for those listeners still looking for the perfect singledisc Queen collection, this is as close as you're going to get, and it's nice to have it available on these shores as a standalone domestic release.

- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide