Queen/The top 25/By Joseph Suto and Dave Leary
Queen has always been held in high regard with fans, media and music lovers. Vocalist Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Deacon created some of the best music in the history of rock and roll. With the release of the Bohemian Rhapsody movie it has opened up the door for many new fans or another generation of fans if you will. We decided to take a stroll through the Queen catalog and rank what are the top-25 songs the band has ever made. If your favorites didn’t make the list don’t feel bad we could have easily turned it into a top-50.
25. 39’- Never released as a single, the song is a May composition which features May on lead vocals as well. Oddly enough in concert Mercury sang the lead as evidenced by the version on the band’s Live KILLERS LP.
24. Play The Game- A Mercury song that is the first song and title track from the 1980 album The Game. The song peaked at #14 in the UK but was unable to crack the top 40 stalling at #42 in the US. It was featured regularly in concert between 1980-82.
23. Night Comes Down- One of three songs from the debut album Queen to make our top 25. One of the first songs written after the band had formed. A May composition.
22. Hammer To Fall- Perhaps the heaviest song from The Works. The song appeared in their Live Aid setlist as well as the bands final two tours with Mercury. Released as the final single from The Works and managed to climb to #13 in the UK charts.
21. March of the Black Queen- An interesting track from Queen II that kind of served as a precursor to Bohemian Rhapsody with its two different time signatures. A favorite among Queen fans who have been around since day one.
20. Radio Ga Ga- Written by drummer Taylor when he heard his 3-year old son trying to talk one day. This was the first single released from The Works which peaked at #16 on the US charts. Failure to tour the US caused the album to climb only as high as #23.
19. I Want it All- Another great song from the band that deserved a better fate. It failed to crack the top-40 in the US but was a huge hit in the UK peaking at #3. The video for the song was amazing that the already ill Mercury was able to pull himself together and put on a decent performance. It also featured him in a beard to hide the marks on his jawline.
18. Keep Yourself Alive- The first song from the first Queen album as well as the first single ever released by the band. Though it failed to chart on either side of the Atlantic, it remains one of the bands most popular tunes to this day.
17. Love of My Life- From A Night At the Opera, the song was never released as a single from the album in the UK or US. It was however one of the band’s most popular songs live as the crowd usually took over singing it from Mercury. A very underrated song.
16. Great King Rat- Another song hugely popular with the Queen fanbase. Written by Mercury it is a great sample of the early Queen sound. Never released at a single it is culled from the debut album.
15. In Only Seven Days- A gem that hides on Jazz. The Deacon penned song was the B-side to “Don’t Stop Me Now”. Truly a must listen for anyone not familiar with this song.
14. Jealousy- released as a single in six countries but failed to chart anywhere. Another gem from Jazz that never got a fair shake. The Mercury written song prominently features May’s Hairfred acoustic guitar which was made to sound similar to a sitar.
13. It’s Late- From 1977s News of the World. It was released as a single in edited form as the third single from the album, peaking at #74 in the US.
12. Need Your Loving Tonight- The single peaked at #44 in the US. The Deacon song showed while the band started to venture into pop main stream, that they could still churn out a rocker such as this. Another gem that was sparsely played during The Game tour.
11. Another One Bites The Dust- the song topped the charts for three weeks in the US making it the second song to reach #1 from the Game.
10. Crazy Little Thing Called Love- The first Queen song to ever top the charts in the US. One of only two Queen US chart-toppers, this and Another One Bites the Dust propelled The Game to be the lone Queen album to land #1 on the US charts. This rockabilly written on guitar by Mercury led to him playing rhythm guitar in concert making it the first tine he played guitar onstage with Queen.
09. You’re My Best Friend- The 2nd single from A Night At The Opera only mustered up enough to hit #16 in the US. One of the bands best loved songs written by bassist Deacon. A song that should have easily been in the top-5.
08. Spread Your Wings- an underrated song in the US perhaps because it never was released as a single there until it appeared as the b-side to Crazy Little Thing Called Love some 3 years after its release. In the UK it reached #34.
07. Somebody To Love- another sweeping song featuring classic Queen harmonies along with some gospel elements. Surprising that it failed to crack the top 10. Had this been released in a different period may have even topped the charts in the US. Peaked at #2 in UK and top-10 in other parts of the world.
06. Killer Queen- The first Queen single to chart in the US peaking at #12. This song was considered the turning point for the band where the heavier sound of the first two albums went away bringing the band closer to their trademark sound for which they are known for today. Taken from Sheer Heart Attack and written by Mercury.
05. We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions- We Will Rock You was written by May while the latter was a Mercury composition. We included the songs together because they are always played together back to back on classic rock radio worldwide. How this failed to reach number one I’ll never know. It peaked at #2 in UK and #4 in the US. Used in almost every kind of sporting event known to mankind.
04. Sheer Heart Attack- A dark horse of a song. Culled from News of the World and written by Taylor, the song takes a swipe at all the punk bands who surfaced around this time. Taylor sung lead on the demo which was not finished at the time of the album of the same name. Once finished the band decided Mercury should share lead vocals with Taylor. The heaviest song the band ever recorded. One of very few songs to not feature bassist Deacon.
03. Don’t Stop Me Now- Another Queen classic that features the classic multi-harmonies of the band. Upon listening there is no mistaking what band it is. Only peaked at #86 in the US. Over the last 25 years it has grown in popularity thus becoming one of the bands most cherished songs by the fans. Some go as far to say this is the band’s best song.
02. Under Pressure- Recorded with David Bowie. This song is one of the most loved songs in the entire UK with two of their biggest artists on the same recording. It was named the second-best collaboration of all-time by Rolling Stone. All four members of Queen along with Bowie were credited with writing the song. Due to touring commitments neither Queen no Bowie were able to appear in the video. The song topped the UK charts while only reaching #29 in the US.
01. Bohemian Rhapsody- The Mercury written song that the band will always be known for. It also served as the title of the movie which was released in 2018. The complex song appeared in the film Wayne’s World in 1992 and re-entered the charts peaking at #2. This also marked the renewal in the band’s popularity in the US. It has become the most streamed song from the 20th century. The band had a hard time performing the song live due to its complex middle section. So they left the stage and played a tape of that part with an accompanying light show to have the band return with a blast of pyro to play the rest of the song.
