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Not only have Queen shown themselves to be one of the most successful of British rock bands spanning over 30 years but they have also become one of the best known and respected rock bands in most parts of the world.

The Greatest Hits Album signaled the beginning of the groups rise to meteoric fame with many of the tracks becoming instant hits in the charts both upon first release and also through subsequent releases over the decades.

Even though it appeared in an earlier album ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ became one of the most recognized songs around the world with it’s rock opera theme which was ground breaking at the time and in all honest quite risky to try and impress on the audiences. Nothing quite like it had been tried before and the video which accompanied it was also ground breaking. Not that that is remembered now as the track has been covered by many groups and used in movies such as Wayne’s World which show how the tracks are ever popular.

It is hard to think of a football cup final taking place without the track ‘We are the champions’ being sung by the winning fans indeed many of the tracks written and performed by the band have gone on to represent reoccurring events in British society.

‘We will Rock you’ being another which is instantly recognized by sports fans although the wording is often changed a little from the version Mercury sang out originally.

No doubt the lead persona of Freddie Mercury helped to market the Queen brand but without the inclusion of well written and well performed tracks the album would have achieved nothing like the success it had and still does to this day.

Most of the tracks made it into the top ten as singles in their own right and few albums have the quality to do that.

Over the years people have described the album as many things. Camp, tongue in cheek even flamboyant, but the one thing that the majority of people will also describe it as is brilliant!

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