It's no exaggeration that the British rock band Queen is among the greatest groups to have ever existed. They have sold from 170 to 300 million records worldwide, earned the Brit Award for their Outstanding Contribution to British Music, and have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The London quartet of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, John Deacon, and Roger Taylor have created timeless hits such as "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Are The Champions." For fans of these rock legends, here are some pieces of vinyl you must have in your collection.
Queen [Vinyl]
Start with this Collector's Edition, 12-inch, 33rpm vinyl of Queen's debut studio album first released in 1973. While the band's more successful projects originally overshadowed the eponymous debut, it would later be recognized as an essential piece of rock history, demonstrating the band's early heavy metal and prog-rock influences.
Listen to underrated songs reflective of medieval sword and sorcerer themes such as "Keep Yourself Alive," "Great King Rat," and "My Fairy King," which takes place in the same fantasy world is the later hit "Seven Seas of Rhye."
A Night at the Opera [Vinyl]
The band's fourth studio album was reportedly the most expensive one to be ever recorded when it was released. The multi-genre, multitrack-recorded collection features a wide range of sounds from different styles and instruments.
Listen to creative treats such as "You're My Best Friend," the first song Deacon wrote for the group. The sci-fi skiffle attempts the "39," which tells the story of space explorers with a Rip Van Winkle sort of twist. Lastly, "A Night at the Opera" produced one of their most enduring anthems, "Bohemian Rhapsody," which became the title of their 2018 biopic.
Bohemian Rhapsody [2 LP]
In 2018, a movie depicting the band's formation up to the historic 1985 Live Aid concert was released, and it became a worldwide phenomenon endearing the British rock band to a new generation of eager, younger audiences.
It is the official soundtrack of the "Bohemian Rhapsody" movie. The two-LP set contains the hits heard from the film as well as 11 previously unreleased works, including five songs from the Live Aid concert never released in the extracted audio form before.
Greatest Hits I [2 LP]
Artists with an impressively large repertoire tend to lose new fans in the labyrinth that is their discography, and so Greatest Hits compilations were born. Queen started with the first volume of their Greatest Hits by including their first charting single "Seven Seas of Rhye" in 1974 up to the 1980 hits "Flash" or "Under Pressure," depending on which edition you have.
The two-LP compilation is on 180-gram vinyls encased in the original 1981 cover artwork, including "Another One Bites the Dust," "Don't Stop Me Now," and of course "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Special Mention: Platinum Collection [3 CD Box Set]
While this is not technically a vinyl album, the definitive Queen collection is in this three-CD set originally released in November 2000. For fans who can't decide how to start with their ultimate Queen playlist, this collection of the band's "Greatest Hits" trifecta is the best place to start, drawing in a new generation of listeners after the success of the Bohemian Rhapsody film.
The 53-track titan contains the songwriting masterpieces from all four members of the London band: from Roger Taylor's "Radio Ga Ga," Brian May's "We Will Rock You," to John Deacon's "I Want to Break Free," and finally Freddie Mercury's "Bohemian Rhapsody."
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