Top 20 Essential: Queen Tracks
I think Queen are the greatest band of all time. And in this countdown, I’ll prove it. This is Musically Fresh’s countdown of the top 20 most must-have Queen singles to feature in your music collection.
#20 – ‘We Will Rock You’ (1997 – News of the World)
It is the ultimate anthem. Then why so high on the list? Well, with just a length of 2:01, the track is predominantly a cappella – with stomping and claps – and just a 30 second outro solo from Brian May. Unfortunately, unless you’re at a concert or Gladiators TV taping, there’s just not enough Queen here to fully submerse yourself in this track.
#19 – ‘Under Pressure’ ft. David Bowie (1981 – Hot Space)
The only collaboration track on the list. And luckily it’s with musical genius David Bowie. This single really sums up the struggle of finding true love and humanity in an ever busy, ever commercial and ever populating world. Both Mercury and Bowie’s vocals truly capture the struggle of inner-city lives perfectly, and that’s why nearly everyone who hears this track can relate to it.
#18 – ‘Thank God It’s Christmas’ (1984 – Only released on album for Greatest Hits III)
Because every list needs a Christmas song. And this track, penned by guitarist, May, and drummer, Taylor, is without a doubt the most underplayed, underestimated and underselling Christmas song ever – peaking at just No. 21 in 1984. Then again, perhaps the fact it rarely gets air-time these days is the reason hearing it is such a treat – unlike Wizard, Shaken Stevens and Slade that make you want Christmas to be over as soon as jingling bells are heard.
#17 – ‘We Are The Champions’ (1977 – News of the World)
Another track you might expect to be higher. However, I do believe the fact this power ballad has been so overplayed since its release is the reason for its high positioning. Once again, this single is best sang with thousands around you – and it’s the perfect moment for cracking your glow sticks, standing up and waving when watching We Will Rock You, the onstage musical.
#16 – ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ (1978 – Jazz)
‘Fat bottomed girls, you make the rockin’ world go round!’ This track is for real men that love real women! Then only problem is, you start singing it to a woman – you’re going to get a slap upside your head.
#15 – ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ (1980 – The Game)
A great track that many have undoubtedly quoted/played when somebody falls over, or gets dumped by the village bike. And I know this will split fans, but I actually like (if not prefer) the Wyclef Jean, 1998, remix. The single also received a lot of controversial when Christian evangelists claimed the song was subliminally telling children, ‘It’s fun to smoke marijuana’, when played backwards. Well, that’s never fun kids!
#14 – ‘The Invisible Man’ (1989 – The Miracle)
Without a doubt one of the greatest music videos to accompany a Queen track. And if you’re a lonely teenager, I suggest you give it a listen, you’ll have a greater outlook on life. It’s also the first track that features all four of the band members’ names in the lyrics. I just recommend to anyone that you keep away from the 12” version.
#13 – ‘Radio Ga Ga’ (1983 – The Works)
Everybody know the claps. This is a song whose meaning means just as much today, as it did in 1983. Penned by Roger Taylor, the song accounts on the ever-shifting change in media popularity – as more people move from radio to television. In fact, the WWRY musical altered the lyrics to ‘All we hear is radio Ga Ga, Video Goo Go, Internet Ga Ga’ to coincide with the modern media-driven world.
#12 –‘I Want It All’ (1989– The Miracle)
When you’re at the gym and this track comes on, you can suddenly lift twice a heavy and run twice as fast. When you’re walking down the street, and this track comes on during ‘Shuffle’, you want to walk into the middle of the road, stop the nearest Ferrari and commit grand-theft auto. Basically, the adrenaline pumping track makes you realise, ‘you want it all, and you want it NOW!’
#11 –‘The Show Must Go On’ (1991 – Innuendo)
Right, get your permission slips signed – we’re going on a feels trip. This is the first single on the list to really connect with your emotions! When you listen to this song about a performer, striving to continue with his show – you have to remember the position Freddie Mercury was in; slowly dying from AIDs, and yet still longing to entertain. When you listen to the line ‘my makeup may be flaking, but my smile still stays on’, and then look at a picture of Mercury from the time, you can really see the true meaning behind the lyrics.
#10 – ‘These Are The Days of Our Lives’ (1991 – Innuendo)
These emotions are only going to get deeper. Towards the end of Mercury’s life, the entire band was penning tracks that encompassed their true feelings. I guess that’s what great music is all about. Put simply, this track is a tear-jerker that can make anyone reflect fondly on happy memories. But when we watch the video, if it’s not enough to choke you up seeing a fragile and weak Freddie Mercury, wait until the very end when Freddie looks into the camera and says, ‘I still love you’ – Taylor described it as Mercury’s final “goodbye” to the fans.
#9 – ‘No One But You’ (1997 – Queen Rocks)
When you consider how many musical talents have died “before their time”, you start to understand the emotions that were running through May’s head when he wrote this tribute to his late friend, Freddie Mercury. The title sums it up; there truly was no one quite like Freddie Mercury. This was also the last recording to feature bassist, John Deacon. Many fans believe the reason Deacon has since withdrawn himself from performing/appearing with his remaining band members is simply because, like Freddie, he just loved playing music as part of a band, and without Mercury, you can never truly recapture Queen. Earlier this year, during an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, Brian May revealed Taylor and himself had lost nearly all contact with Deacon, and described him as ‘fragile’.
#8 – ‘Heaven For Everyone’ (1995 – Made in Heaven (Queen Version))
Originally written by Roger Taylor, and released in 1988 as part of his other band, The Cross, the track was reworked and released after the death of Mercury in 1995. There’s something incredibly meaningful about hearing Freddie’s voice, four years after his death, telling us, ‘This world should be free, this world could be one. We should bring love to our daughters and sons. Love, love, love, this could be heaven for everyone’.
#7 – ‘Good Old-fashioned Lover Boy’ (1977 – A Day at the Races)
An unexpected choice, but this is simply one of the greatest singles by Queen in terms of the quality and thought put into its production. From piano, to drum, bass and guitar – the songs has been produced with expert timing. It’s also a paradox from modern day tracks – which feature guys hitting on women by promising to, ‘give you something big enough to tear your ass in two’. A nice reminder that boys have “swag”, and real men have class.
#6 –‘I Want to Break Free’ (1984 – The Works)
This track has possibly one of the most iconic videos in music history. It was so controversial that many believe it was the reason Queen’s popularity dipped in America after its release. And with the lyrics stating ‘I want to break free’ and the video featuring all four band members dressed as women, you’d think the entire project was directed by Freddie himself. However, when asked during an interview whether or not the single was about his concealed homosexuality, Mercury explained that it was actually written by John Deacon – who’s got loads of kids! As for the video, well that was Roger Taylor’s idea – no surprise considering he did look best dressed as a schoolgirl.
#5 – ‘Hammer to Fall’ (1984 – The Works)
Back to classic Queen! Heavy guitar riffs, solid drum sets, a great guitar solo, genius lyrics and chorale vocals. With lyrics like, ‘For we who grew up tall and proud in the shadow of the mushroom cloud, convinced our voices can’t be heard’, many speculated that the single was referencing life during the Cold War. However, May later revealed that it was simply about accepting how death is a part of life.
#4 – ‘Death On Two Legs’ (1975 – A Night At The Opera)
This is underplayed classic is the opening track of the A Night At The Opera album, and what better way to open than with an eerie piano riff and stabbing guitar chords. And the meaning of the song isn’t a well-kept secret. Written by Frddie, it described his pure hatred towards the band’s former manager, who is alleged to have abused his position of manager, mistreated the band, and basically screwed over Queen. With lyrics like, ‘Feel good? Are you satisfied? Do you feel like suicide? I think you should!’, it’s not hard to see that Freddie was left feeling victimised by Sheffield. But it made for one entertaining single!
#3 – ‘Breakthru’ (1989 – The Miracle)
If you asked me for my favourite Queen track, I will always say ‘Breakthru’. Everything for me is perfect; the underlying fighting love story within the lyrics; Freddie and the chorale backing vocals delivering a perfect performance; the rhythmic baseline and drums than mirror Queen’s Miracle Express Train featured in the foot-stomping, heart-stopping and fist-pumping video; and, of course, vintage Brian May delivering superb lead guitar.
This fast paced track is the perfect song to lift spirits in an instant. In interviews the band revealed how it was a pleasant change to film on the steam train and get out of the studio. And May revealed that following the scrutiny surrounding his marriage and knowledge that Freddie was dying, it was the perfect track to lighten his mood.
#2 – ‘A kind of Magic’ (1986 – A Kind of Magic)
Put simply, this song has everything you’d expect from a Queen track; great lyrics, superb vocals, killer guitar, hypnotic bassline, thunderous percussion and a fun video to match. The track was a featured song for the film, Highlander, and the album reached the UK No. 1 spot after selling 100,000 copies in its first week, and remaining in the charts for 63 weeks! Although the single itself never peaked past the no. 3 spot.
Roger Taylor wrote the song, after being inspired by hearing the phrase ‘a kind of magic’ in the cult movie. For this reason, he also included several other references to Highlander in the tracks lyrics.
Whether you’re walking down the street, driving in your car, at the gym – whatever! This track will make you feel like you own the world, unquestionably putting a smile on your face and making every one of your movements happen with precise rhythm. Ignore the pun, but I think it encompasses the magic of a Queen song.
#1 – ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (1975 – A Night At The Opera)
Try and tell me that this isn’t the greatest song of all time, and I will spit in your eye.
If you played this track for somebody who had never heard Queen, and never heard this song, then I guarantee they would struggle to guess which decade it was released in. It is, undatable.
Not many singles are released that contain absolutely no chorus – just sections of incredible music. Not many singles can claim to be a hybrid of opera, rock and pop and successfully create such a unique ballad. In fact, to this day, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ remains one of the most elaborate records in music history, and many sites offer intricate deconstructions and analysis of each section. But why? Listen to the entire thing together, and you’re hypnotised.
The lyrics appear to be indecipherable. The opening is philosophical; ‘Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?’, whereas the next confessional section seems extremely to the point; ‘Mama, just killed a man. Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger now he’s dead’. And to this day, I don’t know how a song can become so successful by featuring the characters/people; Scharamooche, Galileo Galilei, Figaro and Bismillah, all whilst doing the fandango.
And yet everyone that listens to it can relay their own individual feelings onto it. It somehow becomes personal to each person that hears it. Especially when you hear, ‘So you think you can stall me and spit in my eye?’.
Listening to and appreciating this track is an effort. And that’s what music should be. It should be an effort. It should have the ability to connect with the listener, whoever they are.
And it shouldn’t be forgettable. And ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is anything but forgettable!
Not only was it no. 1 in five countries, but it reached the top of the UK charts TWICE, and in 2012, in a UK poll, it was voted the best UK Number One in history.
Put simply, this track is the epitome of musical brilliance. And it’s the reason why Queen are the greatest band of all time.
Now I know I’ll split Queen fans and music fans alike – so leave your comments below:
