Or, as Nick Hornby puts it,
"A good compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to hold the attention. Then you have to take it up a notch, but not blow your wad, so maybe cool it off a notch, and you can't put the same artist twice on the tape, except if some subtle point or lesson or theme involved, and even then not the two of them in a row, and you can't woo somebody with Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" and then bash their head off with something like GBH's "City Baby Attacked by Rats," and... oh, there are a lot of rules."
I'm currently stuck making my "Queen+ B-sides and rarities" [1] and would love to hear about rules you've come up with when making your Queen compilations.
And if this topic's been done to death - it's still a bit better than "what's your favourite song on Live Killers?"[2] So, be grateful :-)
[1] I don't actually have anything that rare. Stuff like Silver Salmon and Dog with a Bone. I'm roleplaying here a bit, really.
[2] Mine is Spread Your Wings.
This probably doesn't have anything to do with this thread, I'm a bit out of it. But, I have a hard time thinking of compilations, so I usually just listen to the ones I have (I've got a lot of official Queen comilation albums), if I want to, otherwise I just listen to albums all the way through.
I think they should release four albums, an album full of one writer, and another album with songs from another writer, etc. EXAMPLE -
Queen - Written by Mercury
Tracks
1. Bohemian Rhapsody
2. Play The Game
3. Liar
4. Don't Stop Me Now
5. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
6. Life Is Real (Song For Lennon)
7. Killer Queen
8. March Of The Black Queen
9. Somebody To Love
10. Princes Of The Universe
Queen - Written by May
Tracks
1. Procession
2. Now I'm Here
3. Sail Away Sweet Sister
4. White Man
5. Leaving Home Ain't Easy
6. '39
7. Hammer To Fall
8. Save Me
9. Who Wants To Live Forever
10. Flash
Queen - Written by Deacon
Tracks
1. I Want To Break Free
2. Back Chat
3. In Only Seven Days
4. One Year Of Love
5. Another One Bites The Dust
6. Who Needs You
7. Spread Your Wings
8. If You Can't Beat Them
9. Need Your Loving Tonight
10. You're My Best Friend
Queen - Written by Taylor
1. Radio Ga Ga
2. I'm In Love With My Car
3. Fun It
4. Calling All Girls
5. Drowse
6. Fight From The Inside
7. Coming Soon
8. Sheer Heart Attack
9. A Kind Of Magic
10. Modern Times Rock'n'Roll
I'd like this idea, if each album were a stylised picture of the band members face. And I'd also like it if Queen would do something like that "Phantom of the Park" movie from the 70's.