You’ve heard the songs, now wallow in the wrapping.
The Guinness Book of Records lists Queen as the third-most successful UK chart act ever, and the Greatest series already runs to three well-stocked volumes. So can a bog-standard 20-track CD cherry-picking the biggest of big hits really tell the whole story? And how do you get fans to fork out again for songs they’ve probably already bought at least twice?
Welcome to 21st-century marketing, where familiar favourites are draped in all manner of finery; there’s the heavy duty four-disc vinyl version, the ‘book’ version with photos and lyrics and a code to stream – not download – previously available live tracks or the ‘special’ edition with a bonus CD of Brian May and Roger Taylor talking over the songs in a DVD –style audio commentary. Most likely aimed at fans who, like kids on Christmas morning, get more pleasure from the box their toy came in than from the toy itself.