The best song from every Queen album

‘Mother Love’ – Made in Heaven

How do you even attempt to sum up a life like Mercury’s? In the true spirit of friendship, May gives it his best go on ‘Mother Love’—pretty much hitting the nail on the head. It may not be Queen’s most commercial hit, but is possibly one of the most special ones for the surviving members; an ode to their bandmate and their sense of duty towards him, with May completing the final vocal on the track once Mercury had become too frail to continue.

The fame and excess and adoration are impossible to ignore, with the screaming crowds and Mercury’s iconic audience chants heard alongside a sped-up cacophony of every song in Queen’s back catalogue. But what remains after it all was done? The sound of a baby’s cry leads us to the conclusion that while his iconic status will keep him immortal, this is still the final goodbye.

‘These Are the Days of Our Lives’ – Innuendo

Here we do, devastatingly, reach the swan song. The backstory of ‘These Are the Days of Our Lives’ is well-documented, with the filming of the music video marking the last time Mercury would be seen on-camera amid his deteriorating health, just mere months before his passing. In that vein, the single was actually initially released on his 45th birthday, and subsequently re-released following his death in November 1991.

Although Mercury was private right up until the final moments of his illness, the sentiment is starkly laid out in this track—this is his goodbye, a thanks to his friends and fans who played no small role in making him the icon he was and forever will be. “I still love you,” he whispers into frame before disappearing into the sunset, with the knowledge that although his was a life cut short, it was one that changed the world.

‘I Want It All’ – The Miracle

And I want it now. There’s a lovely heavy-handed dose of childish pettiness to ‘I Want It All’; that streak of rebellious spirit that most have toned down in them over time—but it’s clearly still alive and well for the four flamboyant rockers. It’s an anthem for those sick of being pushed to the shadows, so it’s time to take back control to the beat of Queen’s drum. As a total aside… no-one talks about how creepy that album cover is; I’ll be seeing that in my nightmares.

Returning to their classic anthemic campaign of pivotal days gone by, ‘I Want It All’ is their reckoning of a protest song. Since used as a marker for Apartheid and gay rights, Queen were throwing their weight behind the underdogs here, buoyed eminently by their burning passion and sense of unity on that front. An attack from all corners, any injustice faced with this band in your corner is one from which you will likely emerge as the supreme victor.

‘Who Wants to Live Forever’ – A Kind of Magic

Originally written for the soundtrack of the film Highlander, ‘Who Wants to Live Forever’ has all the melodrama you could ever want from a stereotypical ‘80s power ballad, but they were able to toe the line expertly by not overdoing it. There should be a special mention for May’s vocal prowess—a god behind the defence of a guitar—here, he is stripped back and vulnerable, singing with the innocence of a choirboy while displaying the intensity that only a rockstar could carry. Mesmerising stuff.

Naturally for a song so booming and doom-laden, ‘Who Wants to Live Forever’ has also taken on a certain other level of prescience over time in being a go-to marker of remembrance and commemoration in various contexts—whether it be for Mercury’s death or as a tragic symbol for other catastrophes around the world. But without trying to get too depressed, this is the utmost exhibit of Queen’s sonic extremes. Through the highs and lows of comedy and tragedy, they’ve always taken us on a rollercoaster of drama and left us pining for more in a way that only the best can master.

‘Radio Ga Ga’ – The Works

Put your hands in the air, it’s ‘Radio Ga Ga’ time! This banger is of course synonymous with Queen’s iconic Live Aid performance, which took place a year after its release and is recognised even by other megastars like Dave Grohl as one of the most historic moments in the band’s career and the music world at large. It’s the pining for the good old days that makes us love it so much, both for the song and its memories themselves, but also what it campaigns for. Whether the survival of radio to this day can be attributed to Queen is another debate to be had, but maybe wishfully we think it did play a role.

Laced with a smooth and sweet nostalgia, it’s also pertinent that the song came amid a particularly turbulent time for Queen with respect to their interpersonal relations. They had taken almost two years off after the release of their previous album Hot Space—basically because they were sick of the sight of each other—in this sense, a lot was riding on the dynamic working again to pave their potential future. Of course, the doubts were needless, and through this softer turning of the tides, things slowly began to look up.

‘Under Pressure’ (feat. David Bowie) – Hot Space

There’s not much that can make Queen better, but David Bowie might come close. However, surprisingly, it might not be a song with the most positive memories for the remaining members of the band—Queen and Bowie had bumped into each other at a recording session and started working together. However, the sessions were riddled with various artistic clashes, convenient misremembering of events, and debate on who should be credited for what. All in all, it was a difficult project to drag over the line. Despite that, it remains a fan favourite for both artists, a poignantly tinged reflection on the desperation brought about by love and all that comes with it.

Recalling the tense time, May told Mojo in 2008 that: “It was hard, because you had four very precocious boys and David, who was precocious enough for all of us. David took over the song lyrically. Looking back, it’s a great song, but it should have been mixed differently. Freddie and David had a fierce battle over that. It’s a significant song because of David and its lyrical content.” To give them their credit, you would never know that the two stags were rutting horns. Take their iconic shared bridge, for example, which seemingly represents a blazing sonic unity. If the story’s anything to go by, it just proves that the events behind closed doors were very different from what comes through in the music.

‘Flash’s Theme’ – Flash Gordon

In between breaking into the disco scene, Queen also managed to soundtrack an entire film and make one of the most recognisable superhero themes of all time, as you do. Younger generations may not have seen the eponymous film, Flash Gordon, but they will have absolutely heard its title track, ‘Flash’s Theme’, as the song has climbed up the classics ladder. However, what makes it even more beloved is that it’s a superhero theme on Queen’s terms—all electric riffs and shrill vocals—and there’s no denying whose stamp is at the helm.

It was yet another demonstration that Queen were never OK with staying in their lane. Producing an entire film soundtrack might not be the most obvious move for a band still at the peak of their rock music prime, but it was testament to the band’s willingness to test their foundations—they were not only able to create ‘Flash’ but execute it to the highest level. To everyone else, however, this probably was a little unfair. They already weren’t allowing anyone else a look in when it came to their normal output, and now they were coming for Hollywood too? Give it a rest!

‘Another One Bites the Dust’ – The Game

The 1980s began with a new sound entering Queen’s fold of mastery—this time funk and disco. When experimenting with different genres, it’s inevitable that not everything is going to land. But in Queen’s case, not landing was never an option, as the band knocked it out of the park first time around with ‘Another One Bites the Dust’. That iconic bass line has proven so cool and timeless that it can still feel right at home on any club playlist.

This somewhat sparser sound was a new reckoning for the band—not only because it was penned by Deacon, but also because it encompassed the fads of the moment to establish Queen as a still dominant force amid a changing musical era. Disco was back at the door, reflected most prominently in ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ actually being credited as the band’s best-selling single of all time. But it didn’t get there without controversy—as was typical with the early 1980s evangelists who accused the song of containing masked lyrics about marijuana. This was denied but it’s never been quite revealed what’s at the heart of the mysterious truth.

‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ – Jazz

Yeah OK, maybe not as politically correct by today’s standards, but let’s set that aside for now. ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ is rousing and sexy, hilarious and hearty—just as every sure-fire hit should be. It’s definitely less theatrical than the last string of choices, but signifies Queen’s essence and versatility as a band, while acting as a homage to May, Taylor and Deacon’s musicianship above all.

Fitting the name of the album the song hails from, ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ takes on a new brand of sonic experiment by basing itself around a blues and booming beat that subverts the band’s usual guitar technique of using a metallic tuning in Drop D. It also flips any rule book of song structure on its head by opening with the chorus and proceeding with the verses afterwards. If it wasn’t already clear, this is just another example of Queen doing exactly what they wanted and getting away with it, as everyone could realise they were doing it right.

‘We are the Champions’ – News of the World

This was probably the toughest decision of this entire list, because how do you choose between ‘We are the Champions’ and ‘We Will Rock You’? However, let’s lead with personal preference on this one, while still giving the stomping rhythmic hit its rightful flowers. There’s just something so emotional about ‘We are the Champions’; maybe it’s an act of foreshadowing again, but it’s deeply moving to hear Mercury singing to thank the fans for the fortunes they were granted, it’s like a swan song long before they knew there would ever be one.

Indeed, its anthemic and rousing spirit is testament to the lasting legacy it has bestowed. The band previously expounded that the ‘We’ here is used in as vast and universal terms possible, encapsulating not only themselves and their success as an outfit, but the joy and unity felt all over the world in gratifying moments of togetherness—whether it be a football team winning the league or personally conquering life’s toughest battles. It’s easy to see why scientists dubbed the tune the catchiest pop song in the world, because it was quite literally made for everyone.

‘Somebody to Love’ – A Day at the Races

Sounds like quite a nice social calendar, A Night at the Opera, then A Day at the Races. But regardless, the greatest hits collection just keeps rolling with ‘Somebody to Love’. Arguably, this displays the raw power of Mercury’s vocals at its most vulnerable and supreme. Of course, the song is still a grand production, but it’s nowhere near the brashness of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, and instead places that famous four-octave range on a pedestal in all its rich, gorgeous glory.

Compared to the previous warbling masterpiece, ‘Somebody to Love’ went a long way in exhibiting that the parameters of genre were not even a tiny consideration on the band’s conscience. Encompassing the booming power of gospel, this tune put Mercury’s voice on the line as he was quite literally singing his soul out. It had all the makings of a risky move, especially when trying to recreate that live, but if there was anyone you could always rely on to knock it out the park, it was him. Supersonic and soaring, ‘Somebody to Love’ proved that Queen could do what they wanted and were here to stay.

‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ – A Night at the Opera

This pick here honestly requires no justification; however, it’s what we’re here to do, so we shall continue. Easily credited as Queen’s best song ever, as well as one of the greatest of all time, generally, the title was deemed more identifiable than the band’s actual name when it came to naming their 2018 Oscar-nominated biopic. Bearing all the hallmarks of prog rock over-indulgence, the almost six-minute epic redefined the basic assumption of a song could be. Is it a suite? An opera? Who cares – they just did it.

Ask any Queen fan, or any music fan anywhere, the first time a song blew their mind, and 99% will pick this masterpiece. To this day, no matter how many times we’ve all heard it, it’s still feels unbelievable. The madness of it stands to fact that if you’re really looking to go viral, just learn to play this well and you’ll always have a hit on your hands. Practising it is easier said than done though, to be fair.

‘Killer Queen’ – Sheer Heart Attack

Do we think Queen had a bet on shoehorning the band name into at least one song title per album at this point? This monarch doesn’t seem much more well-behaved than the last one either, although the metaphor here is a bit thinly-veiled. It’s at the point of this album that the standout tracks kind of start competing with each other, solely to keep a theme running, and this one fit the bill. It’s also worth noting that this was the band’s third record release in less than two years, so it proves that if the songwriting mammoths were still able to churn them out at the quality of ‘Killer Queen’, the hall of fame was never in doubt.

Mercury’s high echelon courting did end up paying dividends to his esteemed status; this was the first song that broke Queen across the pond in America. May later reflected: “‘Killer Queen’ was the turning point. It was the song that best summed up our kind of music, and a big hit, and we desperately needed it as a mark of something successful happening for us.” Subsequently, as the wheels began to roll the band on the path to world domination, the Marie Antoinette-esque girl of dreams was waving with pride as she blazed a beacon for the four-piece reaching their next steps to glory.

‘The March of the Black Queen’ – Queen II

If we’re talking most iconic album covers, this one takes the cake. ‘The March of the Black Queen’, in all its natural regal pomp and glamour, is by far the standout of the sophomore record and—dare I say it—a sonic precursor to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’? We can call them cousins, at the very least. In this song, Queen’s queen probably wouldn’t be too welcome in today’s Buckingham Palace: “Walking true to style/ She’s vulgar, ‘buse and vile/ […] She boils and she bakes and she never dots her i’s/ She’s our leader”. To be fair, with that description, I’d probably fall in line too—she sounds quite badass.

According to Mercury, upon the release of the tune and album in 1974, “That song took me ages to complete. I wanted to give it everything, to be self-indulgent or whatever.” But it was also evidently a case of striking while the iron was hot. Recorded only a month after their debut hit the airwaves, Mercury’s kaleidoscopic mind was already on expanding the band’s experimental sonic palates, a process, which May later described, required the band to be “well in tune with Freddie’s excursions into strange areas.” It may have been bizarre, but it definitely established a blazing regal rule.

‘Keep Yourself Alive’ – Queen

The 1973 self-titled debut immediately started turning heads, so in that spirit, it’s only right to start with the opening track. With the instant jolt of Mercury’s unmistakable vocals and the rip of Brian May’s guitar, it’s easy to see why the fans were falling at their feet from the get-go. The song is a funny little rumination, given all that was to come, on the nature of fame and keeping oneself in your prime. Maybe they’d missed a trick by not trying to make ends meet by being fortune tellers before everything took off.

But the song also represents the tangible evolution of Queen, as they went from boys on the street corner to a bona fide rock band. In fact, back in 1971—when they consisted of only Mercury, May, and Roger Taylor and had not yet found a permanent bassist in the form of John Deacon—this was one of the first tracks they ever recorded as an outfit. Two years later, when preparing their real debut, it took multiple false starts before they were even slightly satisfied in recapturing the essence of their original energy, demonstrating that standards were sky-high from the beginning.