''Queen Rocks'' is a compilation album by the British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

, 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 "We Will Rock You" is a song by the British rock band Queen from their 1977 album '' News of the World'', written by guitarist Brian May. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of " The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and the RIAA it p ...

", " I Want It All" and "

Fat Bottomed Girls "Fat Bottomed Girls" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Written by guitarist Brian May, the song appears on the band's seventh studio album ''Jazz'' (1978) and later on their compilation album '' Greatest Hits''. When released as a singl ...

"), while other tracks included were never released as singles anywhere (" Put Out the Fire", " Tear It Up" and "

Sheer Heart Attack ''Sheer Heart Attack'' is the third studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 8 November 1974 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. Departing from the progressive themes featured on t ...

"). 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 A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

. The latter began life as a track for

Brian May Sir Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, animal welfare activist and astrophysics, astrophysicist. He achieved global fame as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Queen ...

'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

, Roger Taylor and

John Deacon John Richard Deacon (born 19 August 1951) is an English retired musician who was the bass guitarist for the rock band Queen. He wrote several songs for the group, including Top 10 hits " You're My Best Friend", "Another One Bites the Dust" a ...

and is among the few Queen songs not to feature lead singer

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter who achieved global fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. Regarded as one of the gre ...

(other examples include " Good Company" and " Sleeping on the Sidewalk").

Track listing

Video version

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.) # "Makings of No-One But You"

Personnel

–

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

, handclaps, footstomps,

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

(except on " No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)") *

– co-lead vocals on " No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)", " I Want It All" (bridge), "

" (chorus), "

Keep Yourself Alive "Keep Yourself Alive" is the debut single by the British rock band Queen. Written by guitarist Brian May, it is the opening track on the band's self-titled debut album (1973). It was released as Queen's first single along with "Son and Daug ...

" (bridge) and "Put Out The Fire" (falsetto at end of verses),

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

and

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

s, handclaps, footstomps, keyboards, piano, synthesizer, sampler,

drum programming Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices and computer software, such as sequencers and workstations or hardware synthesizers, sampler and sequencers, to generate sounds of musical instruments. These mu ...

* 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)", "

" (bridge) and "

", backing vocals, acoustic and electric drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

cowbell A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell (instrument), bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. ...

, handclaps, footstomps,

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

– bass guitar, handclaps, footstomps (except on "

Additional personnel

* David Richards – keyboards on " I Can't Live With You (1997 Rocks Retake)" and keyboard programming on " I Want It All" *

Fred Mandel Frederick Lawrence Mandel is a Canadian session musician, keyboard player and guitarist. Career Born in Estevan, Saskatchewan, Mandel started playing the piano at four and picked up the guitar aged eight. Growing up in an Orthodox Jewish h ...

– synthesizer on " Hammer to Fall"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

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". {{Authority control Queen (band) compilation albums 1997 compilation albums Albums in memory of deceased persons Hollywood Records compilation albums Parlophone compilation albums Video albums published posthumously