Queen's Greatest Hits 2 - Some Interesting Facts
Created | Updated Apr 13, 2008
Queen's Greatest Hits 2 album included the band's biggest hits from 1981 to 1991.
A Kind Of Magic
“A Kind Of Magic” was written by Roger Taylor and produced by Queen and David Richards. It’s taken from the album of the same name, and was released on 17th March 1986. It was a hit worldwide, reaching Number 3 in the UK, and reaching Number 1 in 35 other countries.
Film director Russell Mulcahy commissioned the song for the film “Highlander”. Mulcahy also directed the video to accompany the song, and used computer animation special effects.
Under Pressure
“Under Pressure” was written, produced and sung by Queen and David Bowie. It was the band’s first collaboration with another recording artist, and was recorded in a jam session at the Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland. The bass riff was sampled by Vanilla Ice for their hit “Ice Ice Baby”.
It was released on 26th October 1981 and was the band’s second UK Number 1. It was also a hit round Europe. It reached Number 1 in Argentina, but only reached Number 29 in the USA.
“Under Pressure” was included on the Greatest Hits album in the USA at the same time as it’s release as a single there. It did not appear on a UK album until six months later when it appeared on “Hot Space”. At the Freddie Mercury tribute concert in 1992, David Bowie performed this song with Annie Lennox.
Radio Ga Ga
“Radio Ga Ga” was written by Roger Taylor and was produced by Queen and Mack. It was taken from the album “The Works”, which was the first album the band recorded in LA. Taylor claimed this song was inspired by MTV, as he had noticed that for many children, watching the channel was preferred over listening to the radio.
The band bought clips of Fritz Lang’s 1926 silent movie “Metropolis” from the German Government for use in the accompanying video. At the Live Aid concert, Freddie had laryngitis and won the crowd with the chorus of “Radio Ga Ga”.
It was released on 23rd January 1984 and reached Number 2 in the UK. It reached Number 1 in nineteen other countries. It reached Number 126 in the USA. It was the first to feature the band’s personal catalogue number.
It is a critique of radio stations that were becoming more commercialised and played the same songs repeatedly. At the time, radio stations were often corporately owned, leading to less competition and so resulting in bad radio.
I Want It All
“I Want It All” was written by Queen and produced by Queen and David Richards. It was taken from the album “The Miracle” and was released on 2nd May 1989. It is a rallying anthem for black African youths.
This classic rock track was the band’s first European single after a two-year absence, and was accompanied by a performance video. It was a hit across Europe, reaching Number 1 in many European countries. It reached Number 3 in the UK.
I Want To Break Free
“I want To Break Free” was written by John Deacon and produced by Queen and Mack. It was the second single released from “The Works” album. It was released on 2nd April 1984, and reached Number 3. It stayed in the UK chart for 15 consecutive weeks, giving the band their longest reign of the decade in the UK charts.
It is one of the band’s most successful European hits, and is an anthem in many oppressed parts of the world. The video showed the band members dressed in drag as a parody of a British soap opera. The video was banned in parts of the USA.
Innuendo
Written by Queen and produced by Queen and David Richards, “Innuendo” was the band’s first single release of the 1900s. it was taken from the album with the same name, and was released on 14th January 1991. It went straight to Number 1 in the UK, and was a huge hit in Europe. “Innuendo” is six and a half minutes long, over 30 seconds longer than “Bohemian Rhapsody”.
It features guest musician, Steve Howe, on “wandering minstrel guitar”. The video was produced by Hibbert Ralph and Doro Productions, and won seven major awards, including a Gold Camera Award from the American Film and Video Festival.
It's A Hard Life
Written by Freddie Mercury and produced by Queen and Mack, “It’s A Hard Life” was taken from “The Works” album. It was released on 16th July 1984, and reached Number 6 in the UK.
The opening line is taken from “I Pagliacci” opera “Vesti La Gibba”. The song features all the famous Queen trademarks and was the band’s first release to appear on a 12-inch picture disk.
Breakthru
“Breakthru” was written by Queen and produced by Queen and David Richards. It was taken from the album “The Miracle”. It was released on 19th June 1989, reaching Number 7 in the UK, and was a Top Ten hit across Europe. The video was filmed on a private railway line in the Nene Valley in Cambridgeshire and featured a steam train called “The Miracle Express”.
Who Wants To Live Forever
Written by Brian May, produced by Queen and David Richards, with orchestral arrangements by Michael Kamen. It was released from the “A Kind of Magic” album on 15th September 1986. It reached Number 24 in the UK, and was a Top 30 hit round Europe.
“Who Wants To Live Forever” was composed in a car after the band had first seen the rough cut of the film “Highlander”. This ballad became one of the central themes of the film. The video for the song features the full National Philharmonic Orchestra, forty choirboys and two thousand candles.
Headlong
“Headlong” was written by Queen and produced by Queen and David Richards. It was taken from the album “Innuendo”. Released on 13th May 1991, it reached Number 14 in the UK, and was a hit round Europe.
It was the band’s first USA release for their new label, Hollywood Records. It is a characteristically fast paced Queen rock song. The video was shot in London, where much of the “Innuendo” album was recorded.
The Miracle
Written by Queen and produced by Queen and David Richards, “The Miracle” was taken from the album of the same name. This was the fifth single from that album, the first time EMI had released so many from any one Queen album. It was released on 27th November 1989, reaching Number 21 in the UK, and was a Top 40 hit round Europe.
The video featured four young look-a-likes who performed a mini Queen-like stage show to the track. The “real” band only made a cameo appearance during the finale.
I'm Going Slightly Mad
Written by Queen and produced by Queen and David Richards, this was the second single from the album “Innuendo”. It was released on 4th May 1991 and reached Number 22 in the UK. It was also a Top 20 hit across Europe and reached Number 1 in Hong Kong.
The video was eccentric and filmed in black and white. It also featured a gorilla and live penguins.
The Invisible Man
“The Invisible Man” was written by Queen and produced by Queen and David Richards. It was taken from the album “The Miracle” and was released on 7th August 1989. It reached Number 12 in the UK, and was a Top 20 hit round Europe. The video was light-hearted, yet innovative. It featured the band members duplicated on film using computerised motion control.
Hamer To Fall
“Hammer To Fall” was written by Brian May about the end of the world as we know it. The song talks about the atom Bomb, with the point that death is unavoidable, no matter status, wealth or fame.
It was produced by Queen and Mack. It was the forth and final single taken from the album “The Works”. Released on 10th September 1984, it reached Number 13 in the UK chart, and was a Top 20 hit in Europe. Different sleeves were used for the record, and the live picture sleeve is now a collector’s item. The video for the single was filmed in Brussels during the band’s European tour. “Hammer To Fall” was later used in the film “Highlander”.
Friends Will Be Friends
Written by Freddie Mercury and John Deacon, and produced by Queen and Mack, “Friends Will Be Friends” is taken from the “A Kind Of Magic” album. It was released on 9th June 1986 and was the band’s thirtieth UK single. It was released to coincide with The Magic Tour of the summer of 1986. It reached Number 14 in the UK, and the Top 40 in most European countries.
The Show Must Go On
This song was written by Queen and produced by Queen and David Richards. It is taken from the “Innuendo” album and was the bands fortieth UK single. It was released in October 1991 as a forerunner to the Greatest Hits II album. The song combined everything inherently Queen and the video depicted the best of Queen on film during the 1980s.
At the time the song was written, Freddie Mercury was dying of AIDS. The album was the last official Queen album Mercury worked on, and very few people knew of his illness at the time of it’s release. The song is about making the most of life, and enjoying it while you can.
One Vision
Written by Queen and produced by Queen and Mack, “One Vision” was inspired by and recorded after the band’s appearance at the Live Aid concert. It was released on 4th November 1985 from the album “A Kind Of Magic”. It was a Top 10 hit in most European countries, reaching Number 7 in the UK. It only reached Number 61 in the USA. The song was released as a single before the album had been completed. It is also often used as background music to sporting videos.
The accompanying video was the band’s first collaboration with the Austrian director/producer team, Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher, who were also responsible for later Queen videos. “One Vision” featured in the 1986 film “Iron Eagle”, which starred Louis Gossett, Jr. also in the video, before the bridge, Mike Moran can be seen. He later produced Freddie’s solo albums, and played piano for the “Barcelona” album.
The final line of the song is “Fried chicken”, instead of the scripted “One vision”. This resulted from the band making several spoof versions, one of which involved changing the lyrics into a shopping list. This line was left in to show that they were not taking themselves too seriously.
The initial set of lyrics, as written by Roger Taylor, were based on Martin Luther King Jr., but were altered to fit the music, and so lost the direct meaning.
Reference Information
Information obtained from Song Facts and the Queen Greatest Hits album sleeve.
Queen Lyrics can be found here.
