The latest in a long line of Queen compilations stretching back to 1981's Greatest Hits, 2009's Absolute Greatest runs a generous 20 tracks yet still manages to miss several classic Queen songs, such as "Fat Bottomed Girls," "Bicycle Race," "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy," "Flash's Theme," and "Tie Your Mother Down." In their place are several latter-day singles that were hits in Europe but not America ("The Show Must Go On," "Who Wants to Live Forever," "These Are the Days of Our Lives"), so it makes sense that this compilation in its various formats -- a single-disc set, a double-disc where the second CD contains commentary by Brian May and Roger Taylor, one with a hardcover book, one with LPs -- appeared in the U.K.
and Europe first, because it was tailored for this market.
And, overall, it's a nicely balanced collection of 20 highlights, delivering all the usual suspects -- "We Will Rock You," "We Are the Champions," "Another One Bites the Dust," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "You're My Best Friend," "Killer Queen," "Bohemian Rhapsody" -- plus good latter-day hits, making it a solid overview but not a definitive one.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Another One Bites the DustJohn Deacon | Queen | Play | 03:35 | 8 MB | 22 MB |
| 2 | I Want It AllQueen | Queen | Play | 04:01 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 3 | Crazy Little Thing Called LoveFreddie Mercury | Queen | Play | 02:44 | 6 MB | 18 MB |
| 4 | Under PressureDavid Bowie, Queen | Queen, David Bowie | Play | 04:03 | 9 MB | 26 MB |
| 5 | One VisionQueen | Queen | Play | 04:05 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 6 | You're My Best FriendJohn Deacon | Queen | Play | 02:51 | 6 MB | 18 MB |
| 7 | Don't Stop Me NowFreddie Mercury | Queen | Play | 03:30 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 8 | Killer QueenFreddie Mercury | Queen | Play | 03:00 | 6 MB | 19 MB |
| 9 | These Are the Days of Our LivesQueen | Queen | Play | 04:13 | 9 MB | 26 MB |
| 10 | Who Wants to Live ForeverBrian May | Queen, National Philharmonic Orchestra | Play | 04:55 | 11 MB | 28 MB |
| 11 | Seven Seas of RhyeFreddie Mercury | Queen | Play | 02:46 | 6 MB | 17 MB |
| 12 | Heaven for EveryoneRoger Taylor | Queen | Play | 04:43 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 13 | Somebody to LoveFreddie Mercury | Queen | Play | 04:55 | 11 MB | 33 MB |
| 14 | I Want to Break FreeJohn Deacon | Queen | Play | 04:19 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 15 | Bohemian RhapsodyFreddie Mercury, Queen | Queen | Play | 05:56 | 13 MB | 35 MB |
| 16 | Radio Ga-Ga | Queen | Play | 05:48 | 13 MB | 36 MB |
| 17 | A Kind Of Magic | Queen | Play | 04:25 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 69 mins | 160 MB | |||||
| 69 mins | 455 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roy Thomas Baker | Engineer, Producer |
| 2 | Claire Bartlett | Personal Assistant |
| 3 | David Bowie | Composer, Primary Artist, Producer |
| 4 | John Deacon | Composer, Primary Artist |
| 5 | Justine Ellis | Personal Assistant |
| 6 | Kris Fredriksson | Mastering Supervisor |
| 7 | Richard Gray | Design |
| 8 | George Hurrell | Photography |
| 9 | Michael Kamen | Orchestral Arrangements |
| 10 | Bob Ludwig | Mastering |
| 11 | Joshua J. MacRae | Engineer, Producer |
| 12 | Johnny Dewe Mathews | Photography |
| 13 | Brian May | Composer, Orchestral Arrangements, Primary Artist |
| 14 | Freddie Mercury | Composer, Primary Artist |
| 15 | National Philharmonic Orchestra | Primary Artist |
| 16 | Queen | Composer, Primary Artist, Producer |
| 17 | David Richards | Engineer, Producer |
| 18 | Rob Ryan | Illustrations |
| 19 | Justin Shirley-Smith | Engineer, Mastering Supervisor, Producer |
| 20 | Snowdon | Photography |
| 21 | Mike Stone | Assistant Producer, Engineer, Executive Engineer |
| 22 | Roger Taylor | Composer, Primary Artist |
| 23 | Eric Tomlinson | Engineer |
| 24 | Geoff Workman | Engineer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |