Queen Rocks is a compilation album by the British rock band Queen, released on 3 November 1997.
Content
The 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
All tracks are written by Brian May, except where noted
A 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.)
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".