Queen's "The Platinum Collection" rounds up their three "Greatest Hits" albums (U.K versions) in one slick package.

U.S release: September 24 from Hollywood Records

If the U.S release is identical to the U.K's then all 3 CD's will be picture discs. The booklet is somewhere around 45 pages, filled with brief histories of every single track. You might have seen the commercial for this set on U.S TV (specifically MTV but I've seen it elsewhere too) that was well put together.

If you've been wanting to try out the incredible music of Queen (Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor & John Deacon) but never knew where to start, my friends "The Platinum Collection" is YOUR beginning, YOUR perfect introduction to one of the biggest bands of all time. Just check out the tracklisting;

Disc 1:
1- Bohemian Rhapsody
2- Another One Bites the Dust
3- Killer Queen
4- Fat Bottomed Girls
5- Bicycle Race
6- You're My Best Friend
7- Don't Stop Me Now
8- Save Me
9- Crazy Little Thing Called Love
10- Somebody To Love
11- Now I'm Here
12- Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy
13- Play the Game
14- Flash
15- Seven Seas of Rhye
16- We Will Rock You
17- We Are the Champions

Disc 2:
1- A Kind of Magic
2- Under Pressure
3- Radio Ga Ga
4- I Want It All
5- I Want To Break Free
6- Innuendo
7- It's A Hard Life
8- Breakthru
9- Who Wants To Live Forever
10- Headlong
11- The Miracle
12- I'm Going Slightly Mad
13- The Invisible Man
14- Hammer To Fall
15- Friends Will Be Friends
16- The Show Must Go On
17- One Vision

Disc 3:
1- The Show Must Go On (live with Elton John, Queen's last performance as a 3 piece)
2- Under Pressure ("rah" mix)
3- Barcelona (Freddie duet with Montserrat Caballe)
4- Too Much Love Will Kill You
5- Somebody To Love (live with George Michael from Freddie's tribute concert)
6- You Don't Fool Me
7- Heaven For Everyone
8- Las Palabras De Amor
9- Driven By You (Brian solo)
10- Living On My Own (Freddie solo)
11- Let Me Live
12- The Great Pretender (Freddie solo)
13- Princes of the Universe
14- Another One Bites the Dust (with Wycleff Jean)
15- No-One but You (only Queen song recorded solely as a 3 piece)
16- These Are the Days of Our Lives
17- Thank God It's Christmas

This set effectively covers every hit single they've had from 1974-1999. Every song made the top 25 in the U.K (except: Queen + Elton John's "Show Must Go On" as it was a bonus track and "Princes of the Universe" but this became VERY well known because of it's ties with "Highlander", both the feature film and TV series.)

Without a doubt, you simply CANNOT go wrong with "The Platinum Collection". Freddie's voice, Brian's guitar, Roger and John's rhythm...incredible rock anthems, multiple genres of music for every taste, interesting collaborations with high profile singers, big solo hits, I could go on.

If you've never experienced Queen's hit machine, buy this set! If you're already a Queen fan, I'd recommend buying it as a collector's piece (since they're picture discs. I own the "Queen cabinet" with all 20 of their studio & live albums and all are pic discs and since I already bought the UK "Platinum Collection", I have every Queen album as such!)

September 24 guys and gals, go get it!