Queen: Greatest Hits II Album (1991)

Queen
Oct 28, 1991
7 min read

A Second Wave of Rock Royalty

Queen’s Greatest Hits II LP, was released in the UK on October 28, 1991, on Parlophone Records (catalogue: PMTV2).

The album consisted of Queen's biggest hits between 1981 and 1991, from the UK chart-topper "Under Pressure" to "The Show Must Go On".

The compilation Greatest Hits II reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and is the tenth best-selling album in the UK, with sales of 3.9 million copies as of 2014. It is the seventh best-selling album in Germany, the thirteenth best-selling album in France, and the best-selling album by a foreign artist in Finland. Accumulated sales (Greatest Hits II and Classic Queen for the US and Canada combined) are in excess of 25 million worldwide.

Freddie Mercury designed the crest on the album cover, using the astrological signs of the four members: two Leos (Roger Taylor and John Deacon), one Cancer (Brian May), and one Virgo (Mercury).

Content

The compilation contains most of Queen's hits from 1981 to 1991. 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. "Las Palabras de Amor," "Thank God It's Christmas," "These Are the Days of Our Lives," and "Princes of the Universe" were later included on Greatest Hits III.

Album Overview

UK 2LP

Label: Parlophone – PMTV 2, Parlophone – 168 7 97971 1

Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Gatefold

Country: UK

Released: 28 Oct 1991

Track List:

A1 A Kind Of Magic

Written-By – Taylor* 4:22

A2 Under Pressure

Co-producer, Vocals – David Bowie

Written-By – David Bowie, Queen 4:02

A3 Radio Ga Ga

Written-By – Taylor* 5:42

A4 I Want It All

Written-By – Queen 3:58

A5 I Want To Break Free

Written-By – Deacon* 4:18

B1 Innuendo

Written-By – Queen 6:30

B2 It's A Hard Life

Written-By – Mercury* 4:05

B3 Breakthru

Written-By – Queen 4:06

B4 Who Wants To Live Forever

Written-By – May* 5:12

C1 Headlong

Written-By – Queen 4:38

C2 The Miracle

Written-By – Queen 5:00

C3 I'm Going Slightly Mad

Written-By – Queen 4:22

C4 The Invisible Man

Written-By – Queen 3:54

D1 Hammer To Fall

Written-By – May* 3:36

D2 Friends Will Be Friends

Written-By – Mercury*, Deacon* 4:05

D3 The Show Must Go On

Written-By – Queen 4:24

D4 One Vision

Written-By – Queen 4:00

Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Queen Productions Ltd.

Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Raincloud Productions Ltd.

Phonographic Copyright ℗ – David R. Jones

Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Mainman S.A.

Published By – Queen Music Ltd.

Published By – EMI Music Publishing Ltd.

Mastered At – The Town House

Licensed To – EMI Records Ltd.

Pressed By – EMI Records

Co-producer – David Richards (tracks: A1, A4, B1, B3, B4, C1-C4, D3), Mack (2) (tracks: A3, A5, B2, D1, D2, D4)

Management – Jim Beach (2)

Mastered By – Kevin Metcalfe

Performer – Brian May, Freddie Mercury, John Deacon, Roger Taylor

Producer – Queen

Sleeve Notes – Jim Jenkins (2)

Sleeve [Design] – Richard Gray (2)

This version is not embossed.

Comes in a full glossy, gatefold sleeve.

Includes printed inner sleeves.

Durations do not appear on this release. Timings via stopwatch.

UK Variations

2 x Vinyl

Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Gatefold

Country: UK

Released: 28 Oct 1991

Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Limited Edition, Gold Embossed Gatefold

Country: UK

Released: 1991

Label: Parlophone – PMTV 2, Parlophone – 168 7 97971 1

Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Gold Bronzing Gatefold

Country: UK

Released: 1991

Tape Cassette

Label: Parlophone – TCPMTV 2, Parlophone – 468 79 7971 4

Format: Cassette, Compilation

Country: UK

Released: 1991

A1 A Kind Of Magic

A2 Under Pressure

Featuring – David Bowie

A3 Radio Ga Ga

A4 I Want It All

A5 I Want To Break Free

A6 Innuendo

A7 It's A Hard Life

A8 Breakthru

A9 Who Wants To Live Forever

B1 Headlong

B2 The Miracle

B3 I'm Going Slightly Mad

B4 The Invisible Man

B5 Hammer To Fall

B6 Friends Will Be Friends

B7 The Show Must Go On

B8 One Vision

Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Queen Productions Ltd.

Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Raincloud Productions Ltd.

Phonographic Copyright ℗ – David R. Jones

Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Mainman S.A.

Licensed To – EMI Records Ltd.

Licensed From – Queen Productions Ltd.

Mastered At – The Town House

Published By – Queen Music Ltd.

Published By – EMI Music Publishing Ltd.

Record Company – G.T.S. (Fabrications) Limited

Design [Sleeve] – Richard Gray (2)

Liner Notes – Jim Jenkins (2)

Management – Jim Beach (2)

Mastered By – Kevin Metcalfe

Producer – David Richards (tracks: A1, A4, A6, A8 to B4, B7), Mack (2) (tracks: A3, A5, A7, B5, B6, B8), Queen

Written-By – Brian May (tracks: A9, B5), David Bowie (tracks: A2), Freddie Mercury (tracks: A7, B6), John Deacon (tracks: A5, B6), Queen (tracks: A2, A4, A6, A8, B1 to B4, B7, B8), Roger Taylor (tracks: A1, A3)

Printed in England.

Manufactured in England.

UK Variations:

Format: Cassette, Compilation

Country: UK

Released: 1991

Format: Cassette, Compilation, Dolby

Country: UK

Released: 1991

CD Album

Label: Parlophone – CDP 79 7971 2, Parlophone – CDPMTV 2, Parlophone – 570 CDP 79 7971 2 Format:

CD, Compilation, Stereo, Nimbus

Country: UK

Released: 28 Oct 1991

Tracklist:

1 Queen– A Kind Of Magic

Written-By – Roger Taylor 4:22

2 Queen & David Bowie– Under Pressure

Producer – David Bowie

Written-By – David Bowie, Queen 3:56

3 Queen– Radio Ga Ga

Written-By – Roger Taylor 5:43

4 Queen– I Want It All

Written-By – Queen 4:01

5 Queen– I Want To Break Free

Written-By – John Deacon 4:18

6 Queen– Innuendo

Written-By – Queen 6:27

7 Queen– It's A Hard Life

Written-By – Freddie Mercury 4:09

8 Queen– Breakthru

Written-By – Queen 4:09

9 Queen– Who Wants To Live Forever

Arranged By [Orchestra] – Michael Kamen

Written-By – Brian May 4:57

10 Queen– Headlong

Written-By – Queen 4:33

11 Queen– The Miracle

Written-By – Queen 4:54

12 Queen– I'm Going Slightly Mad

Written-By – Queen 4:07

13 Queen– The Invisible Man

Written-By – Queen 3:58

14 Queen– Hammer To Fall

Written-By – Brian May 3:40

15 Queen– Friends Will Be Friends

Written-By – Freddie Mercury, John Deacon 4:08

16 Queen– The Show Must Go On

Written-By – Queen 4:23

17 Queen– One Vision

Written-By – Queen 4:02

Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Queen Productions Ltd.

Licensed To – EMI Records Ltd.

Published By – Queen Music Ltd.

Published By – EMI Music Publishing Ltd.

Mastered At – The Town House

Glass Mastered At – Nimbus

Edited By [For Cd] – David Richards

Management – Jim Beach (2)

Mastered By – Kevin Metcalfe

Performer – Brian May, Freddie Mercury, John Deacon, Roger Taylor

Producer – David Richards (tracks: 1, 4, 6, 8 to 13, 16), Mack (2) (tracks: 3, 5, 7, 14, 15, 17), Queen

Sleeve Notes – Jim Jenkins (2)

Sleeve, Design – Richard Gray (2)

℗ 1991 The copyright in this compilation is owned by Queen Productions Ltd. under exclusive license to EMI Records Ltd.

logo: Parlophone

Made in UK

Disc glass mastered by Nimbus

All tracks published by Queen Music Ltd. / EMI Music Publishing Ltd.

Tracks edited for CD.

Mastered at The Townhouse.

Tracks 1, 9, 15: ℗ 1986 Original sound recording made by Queen Productions Ltd.

Track 2: ℗ 1981 Original sound recording made by Raincloud Productions Ltd. / David R. Jones / Mainman S.A.

Tracks 3, 5, 7, 14: ℗ 1984 Original sound recording made by Raincloud Productions Ltd.

Tracks 4, 8, 11, 13: ℗ 1989 Original sound recording made by Queen Productions Ltd. / Raincloud Productions Ltd.

Tracks 6, 10, 12, 16: ℗ 1991 Original sound recording made by Queen Productions Ltd.

Track 17: ℗ 1985 Original sound recording made by Raincloud Productions Ltd. / Queen Productions Ltd.

Comes in a jewel case with a 24 page illustrated booklet containing the tracklist, release credits and on page 4 to 24 liner notes by Jim Jenkins, where a bief history of each track is given including the song writer, the producer, the original release date, the album it was taken from and the chart postion.

CD mentioned: Made in UK

UK Variations:

Format: CD, Compilation, Stereo, Nimbus

Country: UK

Released: 28 Oct 1991

Format: CD, Compilation, EMI SWINDON

Country: UK

Released: 28 Oct 1991

Format: CD, Compilation, Stereo, Capitol Jax

Country: UK

Released: 1991

Format: CD, Compilation, DADC Austria

Country: UK

Released: 28 Oct 1991

Format: Box Set, Compilation, Promo

CD, Compilation

VHS, Compilation, PAL

Country: UK

Released: 1991

Track List:

Greatest Hits II

CD-01 A Kind Of Magic

CD-02 Under Pressure

CD-03 Radio Ga Ga

CD-04 I Want It All

CD-05 I Want To Break Free

CD-06 Innuendo

CD-07 It's A Hard Life

CD-08 Breakthru

CD-09 Who Wants To Live Forever

CD-10 Headlong

CD-11 The Miracle

CD-12 I'm Going Slightly Mad

CD-13 The Invisible Man

CD-14 Hammer To Fall

CD-15 Friends Will Be Friends

CD-16 The Show Must Go On

CD-17 One Vision

Greatest Flix II

VHS-01 Intro

VHS-02 A Kind Of Magic

VHS-03 Under Pressure

VHS-04 Radio Ga Ga

VHS-05 I Want It All

VHS-06 I Want To Break Free

VHS-07 Innuendo

VHS-08 It's A Hard Life

VHS-09 Breakthru

VHS-10 Who Wants To Live Forever

VHS-11 Headlong

VHS-12 The Miracle

VHS-13 I'm Going Slightly Mad

VHS-14 The Invisible Man

VHS-15 Hammer To Fall

VHS-16 Friends Will Be Friends

VHS-17 The Show Must Go On

VHS-18 One Vision

VHS-19 God Save The Queen (Closing Titles)

Promotional box set comprising of 'Greatest Hits II' CD album, 'Greatest Flix II' PAL video and a 96-page 'Greatest Pix II' softback book.

Housed in a 9Ѕ" x 11Ѕ" x 2" blue box bearing a gold embossed Queen crest.

Do you have Greatest Hits II in your vinyl stack? Which ‘80s anthem rocks your turntable? Share in the comments!

Sources

Discogs: Greatest Hits II (1991)

45cat: Queen Singles

Official Charts Company: Queen Albums

AllMusic: Greatest Hits II

Wikipedia: Greatest Hits II

Billboard Chart History: Queen

YouTube: Greatest Hits II Full Album (2014 upload, 3M+ views)

Queen: Greatest Hits II Album (1991)

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