#4: "Greatest Hits" by Queen

#4—The definition of greatness

Favorite song: Under Pressure (with David Bowie)
All other songs are truly great: Another One Bites the Dust, Bohemian Rhapsody, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Killer Queen, Fat Bottomed Girls, Bicycle Race, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, Flash, Somebody to Love, You're My Best Friend, Keep Yourself Alive, Play the Game
Released: 1981
Chart Peak: #1 in the U.K.
Popularity: 25 million copies sold worldwide; it is the biggest selling album of all time in the U.K.

I may have played this album more times than any other in my collection; it certainly sounds like it on the turntable tonight, with all the pops, crackles, and skips. I also had the album on a cassette that was worn out well before 1990. It's still one of the best greatest hits compilations of the modern rock era.

Of course, Freddy Mercury was one of the great voices in rock history, an undeniable talent whose life was cut short by AIDS in the 1980s. The band was four musicians ideally suited to play music together. Brian May remains one of the greatest living guitarists on the planet. My favorite quality of Queen's music is the way their voices harmonize, especially drummer Roger Taylor's soaring tenor; it's a quality Def Leppard sought to emulate, and another reason why I have always loved their music.

I still remember my sophomore year of college when the bowling team from our dorm floor (me, Mark Grossman, the late Jeff Burris, and a fourth who I apologize for not remembering—go Hawes House Raiders!) won the intramural bowling championship. We took the trophy back to our floor and cranked up "We Are The Champions" as loud as my stereo would play it.

I would do the same thing in the aftermath of the St. Louis Rams Superbowl victory in 2000 and the St. Louis Cardinals World Series championships in 2006 and 2011; it's the final victorious touch that accompanies each sports championship I've experienced, either as a participant or a fan.

My favorite song is their collaboration with David Bowie, "Under Pressure." It's a masterpiece of simple understatement that builds gradually to a joyous crescendo, then ends as simply as it began; the song is just a miracle. Even better, they put Vanilla Ice literally out of business after he stole their bass riff—the whole world rejoiced! I'm including the video, especially for any younger readers who may not know this song.

Two live performances stand out most prominently in my memory. I'm going to include the lesser of the two first. This is George Michael singing "Somebody to Love" at the tribute concert the surviving members of Queen performed in memory of Freddy Mercury. As musical tributes go, this is one of the best.

Finally, there is Queen's triumphant performance at Wembley Stadium at 1985's Live Aid concert. When you consider the lineup at either the U.K. or U.S. venues of this epic concert (click here to see for yourself), the fact that Queen stole the show is simply amazing.

If you don't believe me, here's the quote from concert organizer Bob Geldof: "Queen were absolutely the best band of the day... they just went and smashed one hit after another... it was the perfect stage for Freddie: the whole world." I've included the whole 25-minute Live Aid set just so everyone can see how great Queen was at the height of their career.

An industry poll in 2005 called this the greatest rock performance of all time.