Best Overall Queen AlbumIt's a TIE!
Queen II and
A Kind of Magic. Amazing, it's the two best Queen albums that don't sound so much like the mid 70s-early 80s Queen we know from the radio. Turns out, those albums full of amazing tracks and not necessarily much filler were so disorganized that they can't be enjoyed as albums. That's OK, concerts aren't performed of album tracks in order.
Now for the album-by-album breakdown. Places where I agreed with
Nudeviking are
bold, places where a track I was previously unfamiliar with superseded the radio classic are
underlined, even if I'd never heard anything off that album before.
Queen (1973) This is the only one I didn't review track-by-track.
best overall song: "
Liar"
best new-to-me song: "Liar"
Queen II (1974)
best overall song: "
Seven Seas Of Rhye" (That's right, it edged out "
Ogre Battle". After listening to the late albums, I forgot what it was like for this to be a difficult choice.)
best new-to-me song: "Seven Seas Of Rhye"
Sheer Heart Attack (1974)
best overall song: "Killer Queen"
best new-to-me song: "
Stone Cold Crazy"
A Night at the Opera (1975)
best overall song: "You're My Best Friend" (too bad, "Bohemian Rhapsody")
best new-to-me song: "Death On Two Legs (Dedicated To...)"
A Day at the Races (1976)
best overall song: "Somebody to Love"
best new-to-me song: "Tie Your Mother Down"
News of the World (1977)
best overall song: "
Sheer Heart Attack"
best new-to-me song: "Sheer Heart Attack"
Jazz (1978)
best overall song: "Bicycle Race"
best new-to-me song: "Mustapha"
This is the first album so far that seemed like it didn't have strong contenders for "best new-to-me".
The Game (1980)
best overall song: "Another One Bites the Dust"
best new-to-me song: "Dragon Attack"
Flash Gordon (1980)
best overall song: "Flash's Theme" insomuch as you can call it a song.
best new-to-me song: "Flash's Theme" because it's easier than trying to figure out which in-between track sounded really good
Hot Space (1982)
best overall song: "Under Pressure" even though we've heard it a billion times, it's still better than Vanilla Ice
best new-to-me song: "Body Language"
The Works (1984)
best overall song: "
Man On The Prowl"
best new-to-me song: "Man On The Prowl"
A Kind of Magic (1986)
best overall song: "
Princes of the Universe"
best new-to-me song: "Don't Lose Your Head"
The Miracle (1989)
best overall song: "I Want It All"
best new-to-me song: "
The Invisible Man"
Innuendo (1991)
best overall song: "
Innuendo"
best new-to-me song: "Innuendo"
Made in Heaven (1995)
best overall song: "
You Don't Fool Me"
best new-to-me song: "You Don't Fool Me"
Nudeviking gets credit even if my top pick didn't beat out the radio hit. That's a mulligan for Korean insurance commercials. As for me, I enjoyed the trip. I still can't believe how much peak Queen is on albums I never want to listen to. They are the greatest Greatest Hits band ever (Tom Petty composed better albums).