The first-ever single-disc anthology of Queen drummer Roger Taylors solo material, 2014s Best brings together tracks off all five of his studio albums. The collection follows-up the more exhaustive 2013 box-set, The Lot, and features cuts from 1981s Fun in Space, 1984s Strange Frontier, 1994s Happiness?, 1998s Electric Fire, and 2013s Fun on Earth. While primarily known for his commanding drum presence with Queen, Taylor is also a strong rock singer and talented songwriter, responsible for penning such Queen hits as Radio Ga Ga, Breakthru, These Are the Days of Our Lives, and others. Vocally, Taylor has a throatier, more gravelly presence on the microphone than Queens highly resonant, operatic frontman Freddie Mercury. In that sense, he often brings to mind the sound of such similarly inclined contemporaries as the Whos Roger Daltrey, Mott the Hooples Ian Hunter, and Deep Purples Ian Gillan. Perhaps not surprisingly, many of the cuts here sound like they could easily have ended up on a Queen album, and tracks like Let’s Get Crazy, Man on Fire, and Strange Frontier showcase the same synth-driven, pop/rock approach Queen was championing in the 80s. Elsewhere, Taylors wry, socio-political commentary and epic, prog-inflected grandeur on cuts like Nazis 1994 and Nation of Haircuts recalls the work of fellow Brits Pink Floyd. Ultimately, while Taylors rock legacy will forever be tied to Queen, Best demonstrates how much further his legacy has gone given his solo work, and its far beyond his talents as a drummer. ~ Matt Collar

Rovi