Greatest Hits II (Queen album)

Greatest Hits II
Greatest hits album by Queen
Released	28 October 1991 (UK) 19 April 2011 (U.S. and Japan)
Recorded	1981–1990 1981–1995 (2011 Japan reissue edition)
Genre	Rock
Length	76:32 (LP version) 75:57 (CD version)
Label	Parlophone (Europe) Hollywood (North America)
Queen chronology
CD Single Box (1991) Greatest Hits II (1991) Classic Queen (1992)
Alternative covers
2011 Universal Remaster

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[1]

Greatest Hits II is a compilation album by the British rock band Queen, released in 1991.^[2] It reached No. 1 on the UK Album Chart, and is the tenth best-selling album in UK Chart history with sales of 3.9 million copies as of 2014, and has sold 19 million copies worldwide. Accumulated sales (Greatest Hits II and Classic Queen for the US and Canada combined) are in excess of 23 million worldwide.^[3][4] It is also the best-selling album by a foreign artist in Finland.^[5][6]

The compilation contains most of Queen's European hits from 1981 to 1991. It was released less than a month before the death of lead singer Freddie Mercury and was the last Queen release of any kind while he was still alive. It was later made available in the United States in two box sets: Greatest Hits I & II and The Platinum Collection: Greatest Hits I, II & III. On April 19, 2011, Hollywood Records released the newly remastered version of Greatest Hits II in the United States and Japan.

A companion video release entitled Greatest Flix II was released at the same time, but is currently out of print. Most of the videos are now available on the DVD Greatest Video Hits 2 with the exception of the videos from the 1991 Innuendo album.

The singles "Body Language", "Back Chat", "Las Palabras de Amor", "Thank God It's Christmas", "Princes of the Universe" and "Scandal" were omitted for this release.^[7]

Track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"A Kind of Magic" (from A Kind of Magic, 1986)	Roger Taylor	4:22
2.	"Under Pressure" (with David Bowie; from Hot Space, 1982)	Queen, David Bowie	3:57
3.	"Radio Ga Ga" (from The Works, 1984)	Taylor	5:43
4.	"I Want It All" (single mix, from The Miracle, 1989)	Queen (Brian May)	4:01
5.	"I Want to Break Free" (single mix, from The Works, 1984)	John Deacon	4:18

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Innuendo" (from Innuendo, 1991)	Queen (Mercury/Taylor)	6:27
7.	"It's a Hard Life" (from The Works, 1984)	Freddie Mercury	4:09
8.	"Breakthru" (from The Miracle, 1989)	Queen (Mercury/Taylor)	4:09
9.	"Who Wants to Live Forever" (from A Kind of Magic, 1986)	Brian May	5:16

Side three
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
10.	"Headlong" (from Innuendo, 1991)	Queen (May)	4:37
11.	"The Miracle" (from The Miracle, 1989)	Queen (Mercury/Deacon)	5:01
12.	"I'm Going Slightly Mad" (from Innuendo, 1991)	Queen (Mercury)	4:22
13.	"The Invisible Man" (from The Miracle, 1989)	Queen (Taylor)	3:58

Side four
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
14.	"Hammer to Fall" (single mix, from The Works, 1984)	May	3:40
15.	"Friends Will Be Friends" (from A Kind of Magic, 1986)	Mercury, Deacon	4:08
16.	"The Show Must Go On" (from Innuendo, 1991)	Queen (May)	4:37
17.	"One Vision" (single mix, from A Kind of Magic, 1986)	Queen (Taylor)	4:02
Total length:			76:32

CD Version Some tracks were edited for CD by David Richards.
No.	Title	Length
1.	"A Kind of Magic"	4:22
2.	"Under Pressure" (edited version)	3:58
3.	"Radio Ga Ga"	5:43
4.	"I Want It All" (single version)	4:01
5.	"I Want to Break Free" (single remix)	4:18
6.	"Innuendo"	6:27
7.	"It's a Hard Life"	4:09
8.	"Breakthru"	4:09
9.	"Who Wants to Live Forever" (early fade-out)	4:57
10.	"Headlong" (original "Innuendo" LP edit)	4:33
11.	"The Miracle" (early fade)	4:54
12.	"I'm Going Slightly Mad" (original "Innuendo" LP edit)	4:07
13.	"The Invisible Man"	3:58
14.	"Hammer to Fall" (single version)	3:40
15.	"Friends Will Be Friends"	4:10
16.	"The Show Must Go On" (early fade-out)	4:23
17.	"One Vision" (single version)	4:01
Total length:		75:57

2011 Japan Reissue Edition From the bonus track for Japan, Available in iTunes.
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
18.	"I Was Born to Love You" (From Made in Heaven, 1995)	Mercury	4:48
Total length:			79:53

Charts

Chart (1991)	Peak position
Australian Top 50 Albums[8]	4
Netherlands Top 100 Albums[9]	1
New Zealand Top 40 Albums[10]	1
Swiss Top 100 Albums[11]	1
UK Albums Chart[12]	1

Chart (1992)	Peak position
Austrian Top 75 Albums[13]	1
French Compilations[14]	1
German Albums Chart[15]	2
Hungarian Top 40 Albums[16]	1
Norwegian Top 40 Albums[17]	4
Swedish Top 60 Albums[18]	2

Chart (2008)	Peak position
Spanish Top 100 Albums[19]	45

Certifications

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Region	Certification	Certified units/Sales
Argentina (CAPIF)[20]	Diamond	500,000^*
Austria (IFPI Austria)[21]	4× Platinum	200,000^*
Brazil (ABPD)[22]	2× Platinum	500,000^*
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[23]	2× Platinum	149,622[23]
France (SNEP)[24]	Diamond	1,000,000^*
Germany (BVMI)[25]	9× Gold	2,250,000^^
Italy (FIMI)[26]	Gold	50,000^*
Mexico (AMPROFON)[27]	Platinum	250,000[28]
Sweden (GLF)[29]	Platinum	100,000^^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[30]	5× Platinum	250,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[31]	13× Platinum	3,900,000[32]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[33]	13× Platinum	13,000,000^*
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

See also

• List of best-selling albums in Finland
• List of best-selling albums in Germany
• Top best-selling albums by UK Chart

References

1. Rolling Stone Album Guide
2. Queen; Greatest Hits, Vol. 2. Allmusic. Retrieved 16 January 2011.
3. BPI – UK Best Selling Albums of All Time (14 June 2009), Retrieved 13 June 2011
4. Queen Greatest Hits I and II Review BBC. Retrieved 17 June 2011
5. "Kaikkien aikojen myydyimmät kotimaiset albumit" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
6. "Kaikkien aikojen myydyimmät ulkomaiset albumit" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
7. http://www.queenonline.com/en/the-band/discography/greatest-hits-ii/
8. "Queen – Greatest Hits II (Album)" (ASP). Australian Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
9. "Queen – Greatest Hits II (Album)" (ASP). Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
10. "Queen – Greatest Hits II (Album)" (ASP). New Zealand Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
11. "Queen – Greatest Hits II (Album)" (ASP). Swiss Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
12. "All the Number One Albums: 1991". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
13. "Queen – Greatest Hits II (Album)" (ASP). Austrian Charts (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
14. "Les "Charts Runs" de chaque Album Classé" (PHP). InfoDisc (in French). Find "QUEEN" under the drop-down menu to see statistics.
15. "Chartverfolgung / Queen / Longplay". Music Line (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
16. "Archivum: Top 40 Album". Mahasz (in Hungarian). Retrieved 23 July 2011.
17. "Queen – Greatest Hits II (Album)" (ASP). Norwegian Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
18. "Queen – Greatest Hits II (Album)" (ASP). Swedish Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
19. "Queen – Greatest Hits II (Album)" (ASP). Spanish Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
20. "Discos de oro y platino" (in Spanish). Cámara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
21. "Austrian album certifications – Queen – Greatest Hits II" (in German). IFPI Austria. Enter Queen in the field Interpret. Enter Greatest Hits II in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
22. "Brazilian album certifications – Queen – Greatest Hits II" (in Portuguese). Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos.
23. "Queen" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
24. "French album certifications – Queen – Greatest Hits Vol. 2" (in French). InfoDisc. Select QUEEN and click OK
25. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Queen; 'Greatest Hits II')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
26. "Italian album certifications – Queen – Greatest Hits II" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Select Album e Compilation in the field Sezione. Enter Queen in the field Filtra. The certification will load automatically
27. "Certificaciones – Queen" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas.
28. "QUEEN Greatest Hits II Mexico Promo award disc". Eil.com. 1992-09-30. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
29. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden.
30. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Queen; 'Greatest Hits II')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
31. "British album certifications – Queen – Greatest Hits (Vol II)". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Greatest Hits (Vol II) in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
32. "Queen's Greatest Hits becomes first album to sell 6 million copies in the UK" (webpage). Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 Feb 2013.
33. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 1991". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.

External links

• Queen official website: Discography: Greatest Hits II: includes lyrics of "Hitman."