Out of the Vaults WITH A TWIST - Queen - Greatest Hits 1 and 2

All the way in the far bottom right corner of the CD "Vaults" there lies a small metal container. This is where my wife keeps her CD collection. Inside the container there is a very eclectic mix of about about 70 CDs. I thought for fun I will reach in eyes closed and pull out a random one of HER discs and write about it. 

Out of the Vaults WITH A TWIST #2 - Queen - Greatest Hits 1 and 2

No one knows for sure If it is their classic rock and roll anthems, the perfect vocals of Freddie mercury or just the complete showiness of the band, but Queen will always be one of those bands it is impossible not to like. 

Even through it was only Greatest Hits Volume 1 I pulled out of my wife's CD collection, it would be impossible to ignore the Volume 2 sitting right behind it.

The near disco-ish tune of "Another One Bites The Dust" leads off the album. I would say this is probably the most famous Queen song out there but I am soon corrected when "Bohemian Rhapsody" follows it. It you look around in books or websites about rock and roll history many places will proclaim the car seen in the movie "Wayne's World"' brought back "Bohemian Rhapsody". I have this perfect memory of at a very young age riding with my father in our old yellow Datsun F10 when this song came on the radio. My father told me how he believed "Bohemian Rhapsody" to be as perfect as a Rock and Roll song could be. Then he proved it by pointing out each part as it came on, explaining how they were so vital to the complete song . So my question to all the writers of the books and websites is when did the song ever go away?

Going back to what I was saying about the most famous Queen song, there really is no answer to that one either. It could be the “Bicycle Race”, the song I hear all around me every time I climb aboard my bike for a ride through Central Park or down Second Avenue to work. Is it “Killer Queen”, a song which shows off the full range of Freddie Mercury’s voice.  Don’t even get me started on the unbelievably triumphant “We Are The Chamions”.

Then there is “Flash” which served a the perfect touch for  one of the favorite movies of my youth. How about the pump anthem of a lifetime in “We Will Rock You”? The piano/keyboard spotlighted “You’re My Best Friend” cannot be left out of the running. The just plain classic Queen sound of “Somebody To Love” may, in my book, may have a slight edge.

Greatest Hits Volume 2 has no shortage of awesome songs either As a matter of fact the collections includes some of Queen’s most anthematic songs including one of my favorites in “Radio Ga Ga”, a song I considered so awesome I forgive it for supplying the name to one of my least favorite popular musicians. Plus there is “I Want It All” and “ I Want To Break Free”, two songs that when listened to back to back will give you the ability to face almost anything.

Then there's the David Bowie guested vocals of “Under Pressure”. Because of the bass line being borrowed for a certain rapper’s song “Ice Ice Baby” which was popular circa 1991, this song will always remind me of skipping school my senior year of high school and spending the afternoon bonding with friends while attempting to finish “Super Mario Brothers 3”.

Sadly not too long after those days Freddie Mercury passed away taking, again in my opinion, the perfect rock and roll voice with him. These two albums, which just happen to be two of the best selling albums in the United Kingdom, are two essentials for any music collection. I thank my wife for including them in ours.