Queen Discography

This information is not really in it's final form, and also has not been finally checked for correctness yet. Comments welcome.

This discography is intended to contain information useful for collectors. Sleeve notes, credits and chart information will typically be found on the page for each album or song. There is a hyperlink taking you to each album from where you can go to songs. It would be too messy to give each song a link.

Some of the information has been gathered from the German Fan Club discography, compiled by Andreas Voigts. Thanks also to Michael Ehrt, Barbara Byng and Ferdinando Frega.

OK, on with the records...

1973 Queen - EMI 1973 Conference copy to present the new Band. It came in a special die cut sleeve which had all the EMI managers on the back and UK pop group logo on the front. The label says in large red letters "Promotional sampler from the UK pop group conference 1973" and in the middle it says "Queen". Some copies also came with a purple promo envelope with the Queen crest on it, purple biography about the group and its members and 10x8 photos.
  Pink sleeve from the USA and Japan (and German "Fame" reissue apparently). First USA pressing (rumoured to be limited to 1000) had embossed gold lettering for "Queen". Green vinyl from Czech Republic (1993 release). Pink vinyl from Czech Republic (limited edition of 500). Pink/green/black multicoloured vinyl from Czech Republic (limited edition of 30). Rumour: Chile issue with green sleeve.
1974 Queen II - Some early pressings had inner lyric sleeves. The original issue had a colour photo on the inside of the gatefold, but the UK "Fame" budget label reissue replaced this with a black&white version of the same photo. Venezuela issue with cover like inner sleeve. Italian non-gatefold version with lyric sleeve exists. Russian issue with normal inner sleeve picture on back. Also not gatefold in Portugal and Taiwan.

Very rare: Portuguese 'Circulo de leitores' (book club) 1974 release of a mixture of Queen/Queen II. No idea what the sleeve is like, but other 'Circulo' releases at the same time are similar style to the "Sheer Heart Attack" that's on the Trix poster.

1974 Sheer Heart Attack - Red vinyl exists, but it may be a bootleg put inside a normal sleeve. French and Japanese versions are rumoured, but if it is a bootleg then the origin of the sleeve is likely to be random anyway. Version "Certero Ataque al Corazon" from Spanish speaking countries. Portuguese "Literary Circle" release with entirely different sleeve. USA first pressing comes with double sided foldout inlay. French 1978 re-pressing in gatefold sleeve. Yugoslavian first pressing with reproduction letter from Queen and autographs. Italian LP without mirror crackles. Venezuela LP with gatefold sleeve.
1975 A Night At The Opera - White vinyl from France and Holland (Holland is rarer). MFSL master recording vinyl and gold CD. Israeli release with inner sleeve picture superimposed on front cover (one version with portrait labels, one with normal EMI labels). Spanish subtitled version in usual countries. Venezuela sleeve (gatefold issue - the photo of the ps is like the back inner sleeve (live shot) but coloured). Taiwan slightly different sleeve (black and white crest with "includes the hit single Bohemian Rhapsody" subtitle). Korean pressing with different sleeve (queen photo on each corner with title and crest on the middle). Uruguay LP has no crest on sleeve (paper and pvc sleeves exist)
1976 A Day At The Races - It seems there is no coloured vinyl around for this album (some are rumoured, such as a grey one, but it seems unlikely these are official releases). Spanish subtitled version in usual countries. Release from Taiwan with different sleeve (green cover with photos on the corners). MFSL gold CD and "Original Master Recording" vinyl release.
1977 News Of The World - Green vinyl from France (both normal sleeve and die-cut sleeve). Spanish subtitled version in usual countries - unique inner sleeve in Argentina. MFSL master recording gold CD. Venezuelan slightly different sleeve. Korean slightly different sleeve. Taiwan sleeve has subtitle "Includes We Are The Champions"

US Promotional box set (limited edition of 50). Details to follow (Click here for a picture).

1978 Jazz - Picture disc from France - at least two different versions: white riders on black and black riders on white. Rumours of a third version with red riders, but this seems doubtful. Beware of bootlegs !! The bootleg Jazz PD is very recognizable. The main thing is the quality of the printing on the outer sleeve - on the real sleeve, the back has a smooth (gloss) feel to it, whereas the bootleg is rough (matt). Also, the background of the back of the real sleeve is pure white, whereas the bootleg is dirty grey (similar to a photocopy-of-a-photocopy... ). One other thing is that the front and back pictures are not aligned in the bootleg (i.e. if you hold it so the front picture is vertical, and then rotate the disc about a vertical axis, the rear picture will not be vertical. I *think* that for the real disc, the two pictures are aligned correctly .The blue coloured circle on the sleeve of the bootleg is more blue and bigger than the original issue). The text on the disc of the bootleg isn't sharp
   Limited edition with fold out pervy poster in most countries. Israeli LP with stamped sleeve, different inside picture and different poster. Taiwan sleeve has subtitle "Includes Bicycle Race and 4 page colour poster"
1979 Live Killers - Red/green vinyl from Japan. Some single-album versions of this (usually called just "Queen Live" were released in 1985 in the countries that Queen toured in that year (Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Japan and South Africa) In South Africa, the album also raised money for the 'Kutlwamong School for the Deaf and Blind' in Bophuthatswana.
1980 The Game - Mirror cover in UK, USA, Germany, Japan and some other counties, later pressings have grey cover instead. White cover from Mexico. Taiwan? sleeve is same as normal inner sleeve. MFSL master recording vinyl and gold CD. Grey vinyl test pressing from Israel (may be bootleg or may be incredibly rare). Russian pressing with different sleeve (Live Aid picture on the cover). South Korean LP with different track listing (no AOBTD/DTS/DA, has YTMBA) probably due to censorship. Pink sleeve from ?Taiwan with subtitle "Includes Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Play The Game". Gatefold sleeve from Venezeula.
1980 Flash - Relief cover in USA, Japan, Germany (first press). Spanish subtitled version in usual countries. Additional colour insert in Holland, Japan, USA. No limited editions. Venezuela LP in gatefold sleeve.
1981 Greatest Hits - Picture disc from Bulgaria (or maybe Germany) which is probably a bootleg anyway. Note there is a second pressing of this picture disc (a bootleg of a bootleg!) which you can recognise by looking for the writing on the amplifiers. The picture is slightly bigger on the second pressing, so you can only see the writing on one of the amps behind John, whereas the "Marshall" can be seen on both amplifiers on the first pressing. Similarly on the right you can see Brian's hand on the first pressing but not on the second. The matrix numbers (etched into the centre grooves) are also different - BTA11253A/B on the first pressing and QN03A/B on the second. The first pressing is worth a lot of money and the second is still worth quite a bit (certainly much more than the fan club magazine reckoned).

German first few pressings in maroon/brown cover with gold writing. Actually two different ones. One with relief, one without. Dutch "Grootste Hits" liited edition gold bordered cover. Bulgarian white cover, double LP and normal LP. Bulgarian LP with montreux '84 picture (like the picture disc). Seems to be a bootleg (like picture disc). Two East German compilations (called "Queen" but basically a greatest hits. One with a crest cover, one with the same picture as on the inside of "Queen II". Polish LP "Best Of Queen" with the picture from the Jazz inner sleeve/picture disc on the cover. US release on K-Tel records with different sleeve, and identical Venezualan sleeve. South African 1985 issue including T-shirt with tour dates. Gatefold sleeve from Venezuela

The rarest Greatest Hits sleeve is possible one of the rarest Queen items ever. In 1980, a compilation was first planned, and it got as far as having a sleeve designed. This was shelved when the Flash Gordon project came along. The running order was the same as the eventual UK release, but without the Flash song. Four copies of the mock-up sleeve are thought to exist (along with details of a possible press campaign). The style of the sleeve is with a picture of each member taking up a quarter of the sleeve (the picture of Roger makes him look rather silly!)

1982 Hot Space - Greek release has gatefold sleeve. Different back cover in Russia(?). Grey vinyl from Colombia.
1984 The Works - No limited editions. Japanese first pressing came with four page colour poster. Venezuela LP has silver writing instead of red - also gatefold from Venezuala (with red writing). India and Russia have different back covers.
1985 The Complete Works - Limited edition - number unknown but it is still available in shops 10 years later! An initial set of 600 were fully autographed (on the "Complete Vision" sleeve)
 
1986 A Kind Of Magic - Orange vinyl and red vinyl from New Zealand. Blue vinyl from Columbia. Red vinyl from France. Russian release has different inner sleeve.
1986 Live Magic - Not released in USA. Rumoured red vinyl, maybe from Australia, maybe promo from France, maybe from new Zealand. Most probably answer is that it doesn't exist anyway.
1989 The Miracle - Not released on vinyl in Japan, probably not in USA either. No limited editions. Promotional box set featuring "The Teaser Tape" and CD, photos, press briefing etc. Russian pressing with different track order.
1989 At The Beeb - Released in UK (LP/CD), Japan (CD), USA (CD and limited promotional vinyl picture disc 1995). The USA release is called Queen at the BBC and has a totally different cover. UK release by "Band of Joy" rather than EMI (but still official)
 
1991 Innuendo - German limited edition CD with calendar. UK promo LP with autograph facsimile (sounds like a fake to me). Venezualan LP has pink back cover. No limited editions. Promotional box set featuring CD, cassette, photo, press briefing etc. No vinyl in Japan or USA. Russian pressing with different track order.
1991 Greatest Hits II - UK first issue had relief cover. Promo box set with Hits II CD, Flix II video and Pix II book.
1992 Queen Rocks - Four CDs available individually or as a box set.
 
1992 Classic Queen - There was a Capitol version of this in 1989 which was promo only. The Hollywood one was a proper release.
1992 The 12" Collection
 
1992 Live at Wembley '86
1994 Digital Master Sampler - UK promotional digipack CD with foldout artwork
 
1995 Made In Heaven - UK ivory coloured vinyl ("Limited" edition of 50000 worldwide) and black vinyl as well. There are a variety of different packagings for the CD depending on country: some have a row of "Q"s embossed along the CD spine; some have the "Made In Heaven" postmark embossed onto the front of the CD case in either black or white. Some have both, some have neither. Japanese edition (?limited?) with 40 page booklet and outer cardboard sleeve.

The UK vinyl has the sunset picture on the front and the sunrise picture inside with the sunset picture on the a-side label and the sunrise picture on the b-side label. The UK cassette has the sunrise picture on the outside. The UK CD has the sunrise picture on the booket and the sunset picture on the picture CD. The USA CD seems to have the sunrise picture on both the booklet and the picture CD. To recognise them: the sunrise picture has an overall blueish tinge; and the sunset picture has a goldish tinge, a bit of water turbulence next to the microphone/balcony rail of the house, and a slight mist over the water. Strangely, the sunset picture has a damn great tree on the right of the statue whereas the sunrise picture does not.

There is an advance cassette version of the album with a slightly different version of "Let Me Live" on it. No details yet of how widespread it it, though some places advertise it quite cheaply.

1995 The Ultimate Queen Box Set - Wall mounted cabinet with 18 gold coloured picture CDs inside and two on the front, with glass door in front and booklet (showing album covers and credits) inside. Limited edition of 15000 worldwide.
 
1997 Queen Rocks!
"New sort of Greatest Hits with harder Queen tracks including new song "No One But you". New version of " I Can't Live With You" and new mastering of "Tie
Your Mother Down". UK edition in double vinyl.
There is also a new mix of I Want It All (a mix between the single and album version) and there is a mix of I'm In Love With My Car (it begins like the single
version but ends like the album version!). UK edition in double vinyl (2 different sleeves).No One But You
 
  • No-One But You: Released in Europe on 24 November 1997. CD-maxi has the tracks N-OBY/POTU/WWRY (Rick Rubin Mix)/GTP (Instr. Remix For
    • 'TE') and the Dutch cardsleeve has GTP (IRFTE) as extra track. Not released in the UK!
     
  • No-One But You: Released on 5 January 1998 in UK only! CD-maxi has Tie Your Mother Down instead of Princes Of The Universe. There is also a 7"
    • picture disc available and a 7" jukebox single.The CD-maxi has the cat. nr. CDQUEEN27, the European release has CDQUEEN26. Don't know why.
    Maybe because these CD-maxi's are not the same (different tracks). The sleeve of the UK release is a bit different.

    Special editions

    Repackaging of existing albums or singles.

    Other releases