Ranking all of Queen's studio albums from worst to best selling

What an amazing band Queen was in their original format. Roger Taylor, Brian May, John Deacon, and Freddie Mercury combined their musical talents perfectly. Over the years they released 15 studio albums covering an astounding range of musical styles. They were also a fantastic band on stage as several live albums show.

Their sound changed as they evolved, but the diversity of music on each album is staggering too. It’s also notable that all four band members contributed significantly as songwriters with each of them creating some huge hit songs. Sadly, of course, that original lineup came to a tragic end with the death of Mercury from AIDS in November 1991. 

John Deacon retired from the band in 1997, but Taylor and May rocked on as Queen+ initially with Paul Rodgers as lead singer. Later Adam Lambert took up the mic and fitted in superbly on vocals. We do though still have all those amazing records and songs from the original Queen to celebrate. Their catalog also includes several Greatest Hits collections, boxed sets, and other compilations. 

For now, let’s put the focus on those 15 studio albums and rank them in terms of worldwide sales as reported by Bestsellingalbums.org. The best-selling order is nowhere near as obvious as you might think. It definitely throws up a few surprises.

The best selling Queen studio albums in reverse order

15 - Queen II - 0.1 million sales

This was Queen’s second album when released in 1974. It was the end of their early era and preparing the way for the massive success to follow. This album is quite heavy compared to much of their later work. Its prog-rock and metal influences are there to hear. 

A quirky element was to avoid the normal A and B side format, those became Side White and Side Black for Queen II. Top tracks are “Seven Seas Of Rhye” (Writer: Mercury), which was the band’s first single to hit the UK charts, and “The March Of The Black Queen (Mercury).  May saw the latter as a stepping stone to “Bohemian Rhapsody”. The album may not have racked up many sales compared to those that came after but it is still rated highly by fans. 

14 - Flash Gordon - 0.2 million

A much later release in 1980, Flash Gordon was their ninth studio album. It was the soundtrack for a movie, but perhaps oddly for the band was largely instrumental. That probably accounts for the lower sales numbers. Top song on the album was “Flash’s Theme/ Flash” written by May with the band's vocals mixed with audio from the movie.

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