''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 Wales ...

band

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

, 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 written by Brian May and recorded by British rock band Queen for their 1977 album ''News of the World''. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and it placed at numbe ...

", " 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 single ...

"), 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. Digressing 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 derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

. The latter began life as a track for

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Fredd ...

'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 Roger Taylor may refer to: *Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) (born 1949), drummer for Queen *Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer) (born 1960), drummer for Duran Duran *Roger Taylor (author), author of epic fantasy Hawklan series *Roger Taylor (college pr ...

and

John Deacon John Richard Deacon (born 19 August 1951) is an English retired musician, best known for being 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 Bit ...

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 worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the ...

(other examples include " Good Company" and "

Sleeping on the Sidewalk ''News of the World'' is the sixth studio album by the British Rock music, rock band Queen (band), Queen, released on 28 October 1977 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. ''News of the World'' was t ...

").

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 like ''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 like "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 with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

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 use ...

handclaps A clap is the percussive sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often quickly and repeatedly to express appreciation or approval (see applause), b ...

, footstomps,

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

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

(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 eponymous debut album (1973). It was released as Queen's first single along with "Son and Daughte ...

" (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 that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

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 Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, piano, synthesizer,

sampler Sampler may refer to: * Sampler (signal), a digital signal processing device that converts a continuous signal to a discrete signal * Sampler (needlework), a handstitched piece of embroidery used to demonstrate skill in needlework * Sampler (surna ...

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 mus ...

– lead vocals on "

I'm In Love With My Car "I'm in Love with My Car" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released on their fourth album '' A Night at the Opera'' in 1975. It is the album's only song written entirely by drummer Roger Taylor. History Taylor played the guitars in the ...

", 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 beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

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, though ...

cowbell A cowbell (or cow bell) is a 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. Although they are t ...

, handclaps, footstomps,

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

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

– 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 (born 1953) is a Canadian session musician, keyboard player and guitarist. Career Born in Estevan, Saskatchewan, Mandel became involved in music from an early age. He started playing the piano at four and picked up t ...

– synthesizer on "

Hammer to Fall "Hammer to Fall" is a 1984 song by the British rock band Queen. Written by guitarist Brian May, the song is the eighth track on their 1984 album '' The Works''.

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 Hollywood Records compilation albums Parlophone compilation albums