Replacing songs on "GHIII" with Queen only singles ain't easy

I was thinking the other day (What? Me think?) if Queen said "Ok, the current volume III doesn't work, the tracklisting needs to be re-done) what would be included?

Obviously the solo and Queen+ stuff would be left off (excluding the bit with Elton John as it has some historical value considering it's the last live performance of the surviving three so it should be on there BUT as the last track, the "bonus" track.)

So out would be:

Barcelona
Living On My Own
Driven By You
+ George Michael - Somebody to Love
The Great Pretender
+ Wyclef Jean - Another One Bites the Dust

Now comes the difficult bit. Including some of these singles would break Queen's so-called rule (do we know for sure this was a rule of theirs that it had to be within the top 20 or 25 to be included on a hits album?) so this might be stretching it a bit.

Going in:
Spread Your Wings
Tie Your Mother Down (guess Brian would finally be happy.)
Body Language
Scandal
A Winter's Tale
Back Chat

Like I said, it's a bit iffy but at least they're true Queen singles all hitting the top 40.

it was the top 30.

and if i remember tie your mother down went to 31.

i dont see the big deal really. i think its an ok album and if you dont think so, dont buy it.

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Brian-Harold-May wrote: [/QUOTENAME]it was the top 30.

and if i remember tie your mother down went to 31.

i dont see the big deal really. i think its an ok album and if you dont think so, dont buy it.[/QUOTE]

Nobody said it was a "big deal" but even the most die hard fan would have to agree it's a bit of a mess.

"i think its an ok album"

Yeah but Queen weren't an 'ok' band. They were a lot better than this....

A greatest hits 3 release wasn't warranted - just a tasteless cash in. They should withdraw the greatest hits, including the 3CD package and issue a 2CD set with all the proper singles on it.

I think that's what Michael was alluding to....

Queen are going to have to live with their mistake in releasing a mediocre volume three of their greatest hits collection. They had to do the same thing with Hot Space, so this is nothing new for them. To make another greatest hits package, especially after having released 'Q is for Queen' (which is a wonderful release) would be absolutely rubbish.

Instead of a greatest hits package, why not put together a CD box set of “live cuts& rarities
Below are my suggestions:

1. Liar (live from Hammersmith Odeon 1975)
2. Mad the Swine
3. Doing all right (live from Tokyo 1975)
4. See what a fool I’ve been (B-side)
5. Father to son (live The Rainbow 1974)
6. White queen (live The Rainbow 1974)
7. Ogre battle live from Tokyo 1975
8. Seven seas of Rhye (live from Tokyo 1975)
9. Medley-In the lap of the gods (live from The Rainbow 1974)
· Killer queen
· March of the black queen
· Bring back that Leroy Brow
10. Stone cold crazy (live from The Rainbow 1974)
11. In the lap of the Gods revisited (live from The Rainbow 1974)
12. Flick of the wrist (live Hyde park 1976)
13. Sweet lady (live Hyde park 1976)
14. Death on two legs (live Earls court 1977)
15. The prophets song/White man (live Earls court 1977)
16. You take my breath away (live Earls court 1977)
17. Somebody to love (live Earls court 1977)
18. Rock n’ roll medley (live Earls court 1977)
19. Good old fashion lover (BBC)
20. We will rock you (BBC)
21. It’s late/Get down make love (BBC)
22. Spread your wings (BBC)
23. My melancholy blues (BBC)
24. Need your loving tonight (live Buenos Aries 1981)
25. Flash (live Buenos Aries 1981)
26. A human body (B-side)
27. Soul brother (B-side)
28. Cool cat (With David Bowie vocals)
29. Calling all girls (live)
30. It’s a hard life (live Rio 1983)
31. I go crazy (B-side)
32. Blurred vision (B-side)
33. A dozen red roses (B-side)
34. High jack my heart (B-side)
35. Lost opportunity (B-side)

Sigh. Here I come once again for defence of "Greatest Hits III". I am a die hard fan. I've made posts numerous times of this before. I LOVE "Greatest Hits III" the way it is. If anything maybe they could add songs on there if there were to be a new format (I won't mention that hopefully that will be Blu-Ray. K?)that would allow expanded time. I don't think too many need to be added. It is very good for the catelog to have hits on the original studio l.p.s that are not on a greatest hits compilation. With that said the group have said that they would still like to do a single disc that has selections from the beginning up to whatever the present will be. I just feel if a single disc is released it should always have at least one new song on it if not two and if a two c.d. set is released it should have three new songs on it. I also think it should have a specific title if not a title track which would be best. I ALSO think a tour should be behind both. Of course I don't think a two c.d. set should be done but a three c.d. one. There can always be a five c.d. box set of things from all over later down the line. The reason I think these things should be done is so that they will have concept to them, give motivation for the public and fans to buy, and distinguish them from budget compilations that could be never ending but hopefully will be kept to a minimum in the years to come.

There were plenty of radio hits to warrant a 3rd Greatest Hits album...it's just that hardly any of them ended up on Greatest Hits 3.

I'd imagine any kind of "Singles Box", with b-sides, 12", 7" releases etc. would supercede The Platinum Collection.

For example:

Disc 1 - Queen 1 to A Day At The Races

Disc 2 - News Of The World to Flash Gordon

Disc 3 - Hot Space to Made In Heaven

"30. It’s a hard life (live Rio 1983)"

:)

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Michael Allred wrote: [/QUOTENAME]I was thinking the other day (What? Me think?) if Queen said "Ok, the current volume III doesn't work, the tracklisting needs to be re-done) what would be included?

Obviously the solo and Queen+ stuff would be left off (excluding the bit with Elton John as it has some historical value considering it's the last live performance of the surviving three so it should be on there BUT as the last track, the "bonus" track.)

So out would be:

Barcelona
Living On My Own
Driven By You
+ George Michael - Somebody to Love
The Great Pretender
+ Wyclef Jean - Another One Bites the Dust

Now comes the difficult bit. Including some of these singles would break Queen's so-called rule (do we know for sure this was a rule of theirs that it had to be within the top 20 or 25 to be included on a hits album?) so this might be stretching it a bit.

Going in:
Spread Your Wings
Tie Your Mother Down (guess Brian would finally be happy.)
Body Language
Scandal
A Winter's Tale
Back Chat

Like I said, it's a bit iffy but at least they're true Queen singles all hitting the top 40.

[/QUOTE]

Well, I think there's two ways of looking at Greatest Hits 3 conceptually, and I think they're both legitimate. You've illustrated one way, which is making all the tracks exclusively "Queen = all 4 original members". The other way, which I think is equally legitimate, is a compilation of tracks that reflects and documents the hit singles that were released by Queen and/or its members since GH2 was issued in October 1991, which acknowledges that "Queen" took on a broader meaning in the wake of Freddie's death: essentially a band and a brand. And in that light, I think this is a fair tracklist (although it certainly includes tracks that were released after the original GH3 in 1999). To wit:

1) The Show Must Go On (Queen + Elton John) - 1999 (original version US #2 * included, as the original poster suggests, because its a unique recording and where else is it going to go?)
2) Under Pressure - Rah Mix (Queen + David Bowie) - 1999 (UK #14)
3) I Was Born to Love You (Queen) - 2004 (Japan #1)
4) Let Me Live (Queen) - 1996 (UK #9)
5) Barcelona (Freddie Mercury + Montserrat Caballe) - 1992 (UK #2)
6) Heaven For Everyone (Queen)- 1995 (UK #2)
7) Foreign Sand (Roger Taylor + Yoshiki) - 1994 (UK #26 * Not his highest charting single, but I don't think anyone wants "Nazis 1994" on a compilation)
8) Driven By You (Brian May) - 1991 (UK #6)
9) Living on My Own (Freddie Mercury) - 1993 (UK #1)
10) Flash (Queen + Vanguard) - 2003 - (UK #15)
11) Another One Bites the Dust (Queen + Wyclef Jean) - 1998 (UK #5)
12) You Don’t Fool Me (Queen) - 1996 (UK #17)
13) Somebody to Love (Queen + George Michael) - 1993 (UK #1)
14) Too Much Love Will Kill You (Queen) - 1996 (UK #15)
15) A Winter’s Tale (Queen) - 1995 (UK #6)
16) No-One But You (Only the Good Die Young) (Queen) - 1997 (UK #13)
17) These Are the Days of Our Lives (Queen) - 1991 (UK #1)

So that's all Top 30 charters, 15 or 16 Top 20 (depending on how you look at TSHGO), 10 or 11 Top Tens, and a whopping 4 number ones (and 5 if I were really evil and included the 5ive track "We Will Rock You"), which I think you objectively have to call a valid collection of hits, regardless of whether you personally like them or not. Furthermore, you can't deny that its an accurate reflection of what was happening with Queen-and-related on the charts in the last 15 years. And all the retarded "Freddie WAS Queen, man!" people can be happy because Freddie gets two solo tracks while the villanous and untalented Brian and Roger have to be satisfied with one solo track each.

I know everybody hates the whole idea of GH3, and perhaps it shouldn't have ever been released in any form at all, and I know a lot of people think "Queen" and solo material must forever be kept seperated by in i

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Mr Faron Hyte wrote:
Well, I think there's two ways of looking at Greatest Hits 3 conceptually, and I think they're both legitimate. You've illustrated one way, which is making all the tracks exclusively "Queen = all 4 original members". The other way, which I think is equally legitimate, is a compilation of tracks that reflects and documents the hit singles that were released by Queen and/or its members since GH2 was issued in October 1991, which acknowledges that "Queen" took on a broader meaning in the wake of Freddie's death: essentially a band and a brand. And in that light, I think this is a fair tracklist (although it certainly includes tracks that were released after the original GH3 in 1999). To wit:

1) The Show Must Go On (Queen + Elton John) - 1999 (original version US #2 * included, as the original poster suggests, because its a unique recording and where else is it going to go?)
2) Under Pressure - Rah Mix (Queen + David Bowie) - 1999 (UK #14)
3) I Was Born to Love You (Queen) - 2004 (Japan #1)
4) Let Me Live (Queen) - 1996 (UK #9)
5) Barcelona (Freddie Mercury + Montserrat Caballe) - 1992 (UK #2)
6) Heaven For Everyone (Queen)- 1995 (UK #2)
7) Foreign Sand (Roger Taylor + Yoshiki) - 1994 (UK #26 * Not his highest charting single, but I don't think anyone wants "Nazis 1994" on a compilation)
8) Driven By You (Brian May) - 1991 (UK #6)
9) Living on My Own (Freddie Mercury) - 1993 (UK #1)
10) Flash (Queen + Vanguard) - 2003 - (UK #15)
11) Another One Bites the Dust (Queen + Wyclef Jean) - 1998 (UK #5)
12) You Don’t Fool Me (Queen) - 1996 (UK #17)
13) Somebody to Love (Queen + George Michael) - 1993 (UK #1)
14) Too Much Love Will Kill You (Queen) - 1996 (UK #15)
15) A Winter’s Tale (Queen) - 1995 (UK #6)
16) No-One But You (Only the Good Die Young) (Queen) - 1997 (UK #13)
17) These Are the Days of Our Lives (Queen) - 1991 (UK #1)

So that's all Top 30 charters, 15 or 16 Top 20 (depending on how you look at TSHGO), 10 or 11 Top Tens, and a whopping 4 number ones (and 5 if I were really evil and included the 5ive track "We Will Rock You"), which I think you objectively have to call a valid collection of hits, regardless of whether you personally like them or not. Furthermore, you can't deny that its an accurate reflection of what was happening with Queen-and-related on the charts in the last 15 years. And all the retarded "Freddie WAS Queen, man!" people can be happy because Freddie gets two solo tracks while the villanous and untalented Brian and Roger have to be satisfied with one solo track each.

I know everybody hates the whole idea of GH3, and perhaps it shouldn't have ever been released in any form at all, and I know a lot of people think "Queen" and solo material must forever be kept seperated by in impenetrable wall. But, assuming it was an album that was inevitably going to be released, I don't think a compilation that essentially says "here's what was happening on the charts in the world of Queen after October 1991" is illegitimate, as it acknowledges the truth of "hey, our singer died, but the rest of us kept on going in one form or other, and we know a lot of you consumers who like the band like our solo stuff too, so here it is". And I think most of us, certainly on this board, *do* like the solo stuff in addition to the band stuff, and precisely because we liked the band, do we like the solo stuff. Let's be real here: the majority of folks who bought Freddie, Brian, or Roger solo releases were *not* people who didn't care about Queen but somehow loved the solo work.

Except for the people who bought the John Deacon solo albums.

So you may now throw fruit.[/QUOTE]

While you can certainly make an argument for the "Queen+" stuff (though it's a stretch with Wyclef, that one is virtually a cover with Queen samples) I just don't see how the solo material works any more. T

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Michael Allred wrote: [/QUOTENAME]
While you can certainly make an argument for the "Queen+" stuff (though it's a stretch with Wyclef, that one is virtually a cover with Queen samples) I just don't see how the solo material works any more. They're not Queen tracks and shouldn't be on a Queen album. Freddie has his own best of and as I've suggested elsewhere, Brian and Roger can put out their own compilations in the future (perhaps combining the two to increase sales?) Queen have enough material left to fill out one last hits package and leave it at that.[/QUOTE]

Again, it really depends on how one approaches the project. Making a GH3 that is essentially a "Queen leftovers" compilation, drawing from tracks since the beginning of their career, doesn't fit the chronological theme of the first two. That is, GH1 was 1973-1981, GH2 was 1981-1991, and GH3 as released was mostly 1991-1999 (although it was a pretty scattershod album conceptually). Your approach does seem to have a "sweeping up the leftovers" vibe, going back to the '70s for tracks. The approach I suggested does at least cover a specific period in the band's history that isn't covered by either GH1 or 2. As for the solo tracks, they're not Queen proper, but again, their inclusion is an honest statement of what was going on in the Queen camp from 1991 through the present day and the solo material is relevent because since 1991, the solo material was a significant portion of the band members' output since the band in any form was essentially defunct from 1992 to 1994 and from 1996 to 2000-ish.

Saying "no, only 'Queen' material from 1991 on" feels like an artificial boundary that doesn't do justice to the facts of what was going on with the band and its members during that period. One could fairly argue that the rules for what did or didn't go on the first two GH collections shouldn't apply to the third, since one of the band members wasn't dead when the first two were compiled. Insisting on strict adherence to a rigid set of guidelines that were established under a completely different set of circumstances doesn't really tell the story, which I think is what those GH compilations are intended to do - "here's the hits we had for this period of time in our history".

And as for the Wyclef track, its not my favorite either, but the band obviously consider it a collaboration since they did actually include it on the real GH3, and it was a top 10 hit in the post-'91 period, so it goes on my version.