# Classic Queen

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_Queen
> Source revision: 1339518833
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{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = Classic Queen
| type       = compilation
| artist     = [Queen](/source/Queen_(band))
| cover      = ClassicQueenalbumcover.png
| alt        =
| released   = 3 March 1992
| recorded   = 1972–1990
| venue      =
| studio     =
| genre      = [Rock](/source/Rock_music)
| length     = 75:10
| label      = [Hollywood](/source/Hollywood_Records)
| producer   = [Roy Thomas Baker](/source/Roy_Thomas_Baker), [David Bowie](/source/David_Bowie), [David Richards](/source/David_Richards_(record_producer)), [Mack](/source/Reinhold_Mack) and Queen
| prev_title = [Greatest Hits II](/source/Greatest_Hits_II_(Queen_album))
| prev_year  = 1991
| next_title = [Live at Wembley '86](/source/Live_at_Wembley_'86)
| next_year  = 1992
}}
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = [AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}} [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r58558|pure_url=yes}} link]
| rev2      = ''[MusicHound Rock](/source/MusicHound_Rock)''
| rev2Score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Graff|editor1-first=Gary|editor2-last=Durchholz|editor2-first=Daniel|title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide|publisher=Visible Ink Press|location=Farmington Hills, MI|year=1999|section=Queen|isbn=1-57859-061-2|pages=909–910}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[The Rolling Stone Album Guide](/source/The_Rolling_Stone_Album_Guide)''
| rev3Score = {{Rating|2|5}}<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/queen/albumguide Rolling Stone Album Guide]</ref>
}}

'''''Classic Queen''''' is a 1992 [compilation album](/source/compilation_album) by the British [rock](/source/rock_music) band [Queen](/source/Queen_(band)). The album was seen as a US version of ''[Greatest Hits II](/source/Greatest_Hits_II_(Queen_album))'' and was issued to capitalize on the renewed popularity of Queen in the United States following the release of the movie ''[Wayne's World](/source/Wayne's_World_(film))''<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=hxAEAAAAMBAJ&dq=queen+waynes+world&pg=PA8 Billboard 25 July 1992] p.8. ''Billboard''. Retrieved 30 May 2011</ref> and the death of [Freddie Mercury](/source/Freddie_Mercury). The album reached number four on the US [''Billboard'' 200](/source/Billboard_200) and was certified three times platinum in the US and five times platinum in Canada.<ref name="RIAA">[https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=2&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=&artist=queen&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2010&sort=CertificationDate&perPage=50 RIAA – Gold and Platinum] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904041257/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=2&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=&artist=queen&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2010&sort=CertificationDate&perPage=50 |date=4 September 2015 }} ''Recording Industry Association of America'' Retrieved 17 June 2011</ref><ref name="CRIA">[http://www.cria.ca/cert_db_search.php Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA): Certification Results] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100501065534/http://www.cria.ca/cert_db_search.php |date=1 May 2010 }} Retrieved 17 June 2011</ref>
Accumulated sales (''Greatest Hits II'' and ''Classic Queen'' for the US and Canada combined) are in excess of 25 million worldwide.<ref>[http://www.bpi.co.uk/assets/files/top%2040%20albums.pdf BPI – UK Best Selling Albums of All Time (14 June 2009)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091122135241/http://www.bpi.co.uk/assets/files/top%2040%20albums.pdf |date=22 November 2009 }}, Retrieved 13 June 2011</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/5hpn Queen Greatest Hits I and II Review] BBC. Retrieved 17 June 2011</ref>

==Content and release==
Although well received, ''Classic Queen'' did not fit in with the previous Queen compilations. Its track listing overlapped with both the 1981 ''[Greatest Hits](/source/Greatest_Hits_(Queen_album))'' and the 1991 import ''[Greatest Hits II](/source/Greatest_Hits_II_(Queen_album))'' albums and contained a few tracks not found on either of the previous releases. To remedy this situation, [Hollywood Records](/source/Hollywood_Records) re-released ''Greatest Hits'' six months later in 1992 in the US only, containing two different tracks from the UK edition. This was an effort to make it a companion collection with ''Classic Queen''. The two compilations had near-identical covers, with ''Greatest Hits'' having a red background, while ''Classic Queen'' had royal blue. As the two were seen as counterparts, many of Queen's biggest hits which had appeared on ''Greatest Hits'' were left off ''Classic Queen'', such as "[Another One Bites the Dust](/source/Another_One_Bites_the_Dust)", "[We Will Rock You](/source/We_Will_Rock_You)", "[We Are the Champions](/source/We_Are_the_Champions)", "[Somebody to Love](/source/Somebody_to_Love_(Queen_song))" and "[Don't Stop Me Now](/source/Don't_Stop_Me_Now)".

There was also a video cassette version of the album released (modelled after the ''Greatest Flix II'' video), but long out of print.  It contained the '[Wayne's World](/source/Wayne's_World)' version of "Bohemian Rhapsody", plus newly created videos for "Stone Cold Crazy", "One Year of Love" and "Keep Yourself Alive".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071228030646/http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/queen/albums.jhtml?albumId=72769 Queen Album: Classic Queen] MTV. Retrieved 30 May 2011</ref>

Following [Hollywood Records](/source/Hollywood_Records) officially rereleasing the original 1981 ''Greatest Hits'' album in 2004 and issuing ''Greatest Hits II'' in North America since 19 April 2011 individually, both the 1992 version of ''Greatest Hits'' and ''Classic Queen'' are out of print, save for a 2014 limited-edition Canadian reissue of the latter.

==Track listing==
{{tracklist
| total_length    = 75:10
| title1          = [A Kind of Magic](/source/A_Kind_of_Magic_(song))
| note1           = from ''[A Kind of Magic](/source/A_Kind_of_Magic)'', 1986
| writer1         = [Roger Taylor](/source/Roger_Taylor_(Queen_drummer))
| length1         = 4:23
| title2          = [Bohemian Rhapsody](/source/Bohemian_Rhapsody)
| note2           = from ''[A Night at the Opera](/source/A_Night_at_the_Opera_(Queen_album))'', 1975
| writer2         = [Freddie Mercury](/source/Freddie_Mercury)
| length2         = 5:59
| title3          = [Under Pressure](/source/Under_Pressure)
| note3           = unique mix, originally from ''[Hot Space](/source/Hot_Space)'', 1982
| writer3         = [David Bowie](/source/David_Bowie), [Queen](/source/Queen_(band))
| length3         = 4:03
| title4          = [Hammer to Fall](/source/Hammer_to_Fall)
| note4           = single version of track from ''[The Works](/source/The_Works_(Queen_album))'', 1984
| writer4         = [Brian May](/source/Brian_May)
| length4         = 3:40
| title5          = [Stone Cold Crazy](/source/Stone_Cold_Crazy)
| note5           = from ''[Sheer Heart Attack](/source/Sheer_Heart_Attack)'', 1974
| writer5         = Queen
| length5         = 2:15
| title6          = [One Year of Love](/source/One_Year_of_Love_(song))
| note6           = from ''A Kind of Magic'', 1986
| writer6         = [John Deacon](/source/John_Deacon)
| length6         = 4:28
| title7          = [Radio Ga Ga](/source/Radio_Ga_Ga)
| note7           = from ''The Works'', 1984
| writer7         = Taylor
| length7         = 5:48
| title8          = [I'm Going Slightly Mad](/source/I'm_Going_Slightly_Mad)
| note8           = from ''[Innuendo](/source/Innuendo_(album))'', 1991
| writer8         = Queen (Mercury), Peter Straker <small>(uncredited)</small>
| length8         = 4:21
| title9          = [I Want It All](/source/I_Want_It_All_(Queen_song))
| note9           = single version of track from ''[The Miracle](/source/The_Miracle_(album))'', 1989
| writer9         = Queen (May)
| length9         = 4:01
| title10         = [Tie Your Mother Down](/source/Tie_Your_Mother_Down)
| note10          = single version of track from ''[A Day at the Races](/source/A_Day_at_the_Races_(album))'', 1976
| writer10        = May
| length10        = 3:45
| title11         = [The Miracle](/source/The_Miracle_(song))
| note11          = unique edit, from ''The Miracle'', 1989
| writer11        = Queen (Mercury, Deacon)
| length11        = 4:24
| title12         = [These Are the Days of Our Lives](/source/These_Are_the_Days_of_Our_Lives)
| note12          = from ''Innuendo'', 1991
| writer12        = Queen (Taylor)
| length12        = 4:14
| title13         = [One Vision](/source/One_Vision)
| note13          = unique edit, from ''A Kind of Magic'', 1986
| writer13        = Queen
| length13        = 4:38
| title14         = [Keep Yourself Alive](/source/Keep_Yourself_Alive)
| note14          = from ''[Queen](/source/Queen_(Queen_album))'', 1973
| writer14        = May
| length14        = 3:45
| title15         = [Headlong](/source/Headlong_(song))
| note15          = from ''Innuendo'', 1991
| writer15        = Queen (May)
| length15        = 4:38
| title16         = [Who Wants to Live Forever](/source/Who_Wants_to_Live_Forever)
| note16          = from ''A Kind of Magic'', 1986
| writer16        = May
| length16        = 5:15
| title17         = [The Show Must Go On](/source/The_Show_Must_Go_On_(Queen_song))
| note17          = from ''Innuendo'', 1991
| writer17        = Queen (May)
| length17        = 4:31
}}

==Personnel==
*[Freddie Mercury](/source/Freddie_Mercury) – lead, backing and operatic vocals, synthesiser, piano, [organ](/source/Organ_(music)), [sampler](/source/Sampler_(musical_instrument)), keyboard, [handclaps](/source/Clapping), [finger snaps](/source/Finger_snapping)
*[Brian May](/source/Brian_May) – electric, acoustic and [slide guitar](/source/slide_guitar), co-lead vocals on "I Want It All", "Keep Yourself Alive" (bridge), and "Who Wants to Live Forever", operatic and backing vocals, synthesizer, sampler, piano, keyboards, [programming](/source/Programming_(music)), drum programming, handclaps, finger snaps, [orchestral arrangements](/source/Arrangement) (except on "One Year of Love")
*[Roger Taylor](/source/Roger_Taylor_(Queen_drummer)) – acoustic and [electronic drums](/source/Electronic_drum), [drum machine](/source/drum_machine), [timpani](/source/timpani), [gong](/source/gong), tambourine, maracas, [bar chimes](/source/bar_chimes), cowbell, co-lead vocals on "Keep Yourself Alive" (bridge), backing and operatic vocals, synthesiser, [vocoder](/source/vocoder), sampler, keyboards, handclaps, finger snaps
*[John Deacon](/source/John_Deacon) – bass guitar, handclaps, finger snaps, synthesiser, sampler, drum programming (except on "Who Wants to Live Forever")

===Additional personnel===
*[David Bowie](/source/David_Bowie) – co-lead vocals, synthesiser, handclaps and finger snaps on "Under Pressure"
*[Fred Mandel](/source/Fred_Mandel) – synthesiser on "Hammer to Fall" and "Radio Ga Ga"
*[Steve Gregory](/source/Steve_Gregory) – saxophone on "One Year of Love"
*Lynton Naiff – string arrangements on "One Year of Love"
*[David Richards](/source/David_Richards_(record_producer)) – keyboards, [percussion](/source/percussion) and programming on "These Are The Days of Our Lives"
*[Michael Kamen](/source/Michael_Kamen) – orchestral arrangements and conducting on "Who Wants to Live Forever"
*[National Philharmonic Orchestra](/source/National_Philharmonic_Orchestra) – strings, brass and percussion on "Who Wants to Live Forever"

==Charts==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}

=== Weekly charts ===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Weekly chart performance for ''Classic Queen''
! scope="col"| Chart (1992)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
{{album chart|Billboard200|4|artist=Queen|rowheader=true|access-date=5 November 2021}}
|}
{{col-2}}

=== Year-end charts ===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+1992 year-end chart performance for ''Classic Queen''
! scope="col"| Chart (1992)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
!scope="row"|Canada Top Albums/CDs (''RPM'')<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://rpmimages.3345.ca/pdfs/Volume+56-No.+25-December+19%2C+1992.pdf#page=13|title=The RPM Top 100 Albums of 1992|magazine=RPM|volume=56|issue=25|page=13|date=19 December 1992|access-date=24 May 2022|archive-date=25 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225045251/http://rpmimages.3345.ca/pdfs/Volume+56-No.+25-December+19%2C+1992.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 1
|-
! scope="row"| US ''Billboard'' 200<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1992/top-billboard-200-albums|title=Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1992|magazine=Billboard|access-date=5 November 2021}}</ref>
| 34
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+2002 year-end chart performance for ''Classic Queen''
! scope="col"| Chart (2002)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
!scope="row"|Canadian Metal Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)<ref>{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040812035533/http://www.jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2002_metal.html|archivedate=12 August 2004|url=http://www.jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2002_metal.html|title=Top 100 Metal Albums of 2002|website=[Jam!](/source/Jam!)|accessdate=23 March 2022}}</ref>
| 64
|}
{{col-end}}

== Certifications ==
{{Certification Table Top
|caption=Certifications for ''Classic Queen''}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=album|award=Platinum|number=5|artist=Queen|title=Classic Queen|relyear=1992|certyear=1993|access-date=5 November 2021}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|award=Platinum|number=3|artist=Queen|title=Classic Queen|relyear=1992|certyear=2002|access-date=5 November 2021}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{queen}}
{{Authority control}}

Category:Queen (band) compilation albums
Category:1992 greatest hits albums
Category:Hollywood Records compilation albums

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Classic Queen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_Queen) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_Queen?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.