The greatest Greatest Hits collection

I've never heard that particular compilation, but I really doubt that mixing up his 60s pop songs with the 70s folk songs would work (instead of putting them in chronological order).

omg - that cover art is all-time

I've never heard that particular compilation, but I really doubt that mixing up his 60s pop songs with the 70s folk songs would work (instead of putting them in chronological order).

Yeah, chronological might be better. It generally is for compilations. I'm not a fan though, so mixing it up still works for me - I think the changes keep me on my toes.

The cover is awful, but I'll say it's kind of charming to me. Like I never think of Cat Stevens unless he pops up in a good movie like Rushmore. But the title feels more like "Remember Cat Stevens?" to me, like "whatever happened to him?" and the picture tells you everything there is, even in its low-budget look - the guy's on a different path and a long, loooong way from the music business.

Really wish ABBA Gold had replaced "Thank You for the Music" with "Lay All Your Love on Me." Would've made that disc perfect for me (and all the ABBA I'd ever need).

After going through Rufus's catalog, I have a much greater appreciation for The Very Best of Rufus featuring Chaka Khan - their albums aren't bad, they really stand out as a singles band, and that compilation (originally released in 1982) scoops up all the hits. On paper it sounds utilitarian, but it really is their best stuff and it's sequenced into THE great Rufus album IMHO. I don't even fault them for missing out on their last hit, "Ain't Nobody" from 1983 - the sound is so different, it would have disrupted the cohesiveness of the whole LP. I just wish one of the audiophile labels would remaster it - the current CD was done in the '90s, and it sounds too bright to me. (First pressing even had an egregious error on "Once You Get Started," where they overlooked a bad splice that messed up the master tape. Some copies are still out there even though MCA had a replacement program for it.) Also the packaging really sucks, like they were told to whip up something on a $5 dollar budget:

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/516xyaGasyL._SX300_SY300_QL70_ML2_.jpg

If could they just fix the presentation, it would go over as an essential addition to any music library.

^^ bought this about 10 years ago, and, yeah, it needs "Ain't Nobody" and a better sleeve.

Cover Connection:

https://i.discogs.com/Xn7Wd8OmNryNDcgU_i52OAl7vn0Vw8Loc1vdDW_0Ros/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTEyNDA0/Mjc5LTE1MzQ2MDQ4/MDEtNjMzMy5qcGVn.jpeg

Also early '80s -- was there a darts craze or something?

Visually punning on the theme of 'Hits'?

The Eagles one brings to mind skee ball even though the holes don't line up in a straight line.

I wonder how many "hits" collections used a pun for their cover art? Joni's was the first one I ever noticed - it's kind of a dopey joke but I always find it amusing:

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51pCD45UWRL._SX300_SY300_QL70_ML2_.jpg

Extending the idea to her "misses" helped make an impression:

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41t3MmoCCPL._SX300_SY300_QL70_ML2_.jpg

Public Enemy's take on the same idea is especially memorable:

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51zV4MbTTCL._SX300_SY300_QL70_ML2_.jpg

there's an Australian band called Mondo Rock who I assume have zero profile outside Australia - I think of them as late 1960's rock vets trying to get a bite of the new wave cherry but unable to totally overcome their yacht rock leanings - with enjoyably FM-friendly results

ANYWAY while they were still a going concern they released a greatest hits record which is absolutely the only Mondo Rock record you might need (if you needed one at all, I absolutely do)

BUT the CLEVER BIT is that they included a new non-album single - 'THE MOMENT' and the hits LP is called 'UP TO THE MOMENT' - do you SEE?

I gave a Pop Con talk on the very subject.

Hah, that's awesome! Thanks Alfred!

xp LOL, that's like a Norm MacDonald joke.

Devo also, with the Hits and Misses thing:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devo%27s_Greatest_Hits#/media/File:Devo_Greatest_Hits.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devo%27s_Greatest_Misses#/media/File:Devo_Greatest_Misses.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devo%27s_Greatest_Hits#/media/File:Devo_Greatest_Hits.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devo%27s_Greatest_Misses#/media/File:Devo_Greatest_Misses.jpg

Huh. Not sure why the image links aren't working, but these ones:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devo%27s_Greatest_Hits

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devo%27s_Greatest_Misses

The Shadows, 'More Hits!'
https://i.discogs.com/1LPG8oorqZ3deXqfXoc1D0dhiZ4NOzUt5EC8ZUhqGnY/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:598/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE3NzAw/NTAtMTQ4NTkwMDg3/OC0yNDcyLnBuZw.jpeg

I used to have a Gilberto Gil compilation that was shoddily packaged but the songs were perfect. It was such a good introduction to his range of music: forro, samba, tropicalia, psych, melancholy ballads, etc.

After reading Alfred's Pop Con talk, I looked up Garth Brooks's best of and was stunned that it sold it's 10 million copies in a little over a year before he yanked it off the market. (That was in the U.S. alone, but it did equally phenomenal business in Canada as well.) I've seen him on SNL more times than I've played his records, but I keep forgetting how humongous the guy was in the '90s.

Also came across his previous "hits" CD which was apparently a McDonald's charity release. Pretty skimpy selection, but a much better album cover that visually translates the concept, tearing apart chunks of his other album covers to Frankenstein together a photo of him. (Helps that his album covers usually just show in the same exact post over and over again in different backgrounds and clothing.)

Garth Brooks' American sales are staggering, and I was there at the time.

(The Hits is terrific btw).

Oh man, I remember those McDonald's CDs, some thin greatest hits sets plus a teaser for the then-upcoming Roxette album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am4_Dcq1c6w

that's up there with the Rock Art cups Taco Bell offered for a weird pairing of artists (Scorpions and Bell Biv Devoe)

Ok, one of the Taco Bell Biv Devoe cups is on ebay for $10 and I must not buy it, because the clutter in my house needs to be addressed before I buy any more tacky bullshit. But how much do I want that? A cup that asserts that its music is "mentally hip-hop smoothed out on the R&B tip with a pop feel appeal to it"?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/195705579028?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=pRzYl4DmThu&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

LOL. I'm guessing they didn't bother reaching out to Tom Waits and Iggy Pop for their Rock Art cup.

poll please

collect all five free Rock Art Cups yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

Got another one:

The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble

Pretty much every artist under Sony's ownership has had their own installment in Sony's decades-long series of The Essential compilations. Some graphic design, with same logo font on top of a black & white photograph. To be fair, these are usually well done, and Vaughan's installment is still hands down the best compilation in his discography. I wouldn't call any of his albums bad, but I'd rather hear his music concentrated into this package. (The two-CD version, not the later "3.0" version with the underwhelming third disc.)

*Same graphic design

There's a really good one of those for, of all people, Anthony Braxton. The Essential Anthony Braxton - The Arista Years pulls two CDs' worth of material from a string of albums he put out in the mid to late 70s that are among his most accessible work. Honestly, if they made a physical version it would be almost the perfect entry point into his catalog, but it's digital-only (and on streaming services). Amazon Music link

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51N1QNqzlUL._UX716_FMwebp_QL85_.jpg

Over two decades and no mention of The Soft Boys - "1976-81", 2CDs of psych punk perfection.

https://i.imgur.com/j4iX86h.png

It makes me want to vomit that this has not been mentioned in this entire thread:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_of_Blondie

Hold yer vomit, Dan Perry mentioned it in Feb. 2001

Super Furry Animals Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1 is also perfect but not the best. that would probably go to Standing on a Beach, thou both bands are so much bigger than only their singles.

― Bee OK, Wednesday, November 30, 2016 10:06 PM (seven years ago)

Some to add that I don't think have been mentioned:

Echo and the Bunnymen - Songs to Learn and Sing
Bauhaus - 1979 - 1983
Swervedriver - Juggernaut Rides '89–'98
The Jesus and Mary Chain - 21 Singles
Spoon - Everything Hits at Once

Greatest Hits that are singles collections in chronological order appeal to me. Prime examples being the Pet Shop Boys 'Discography' and Erasure's 'Pop! The First 20 Hits' (if you got off the Erasure train then YMMV with 'Total Pop! The First 40 Hits').

Thanks Hideous Lump, I realize now I was feeling nauseous for unrelated reasons

xps Will have to check out that Anthony Braxton set. Sony's remastering program has been continuously very active, but it's frustrating and sad that almost everything they're remastering is strictly for the streaming and downloads.

I thought that Blondie set was remixed? I never bought it for that reason - I wanted the original mixes or if applicable the single mixes. I ended up burning a CD-R using the new box set from Numero.

I never got that Aerosmith compilation because they used single edits - not recreations but the actual dubs they created while making the edits to the full-length versions, i.e. a loss of one generation and whatever else they may have done to the sound besides the edit. I ended up burning a CD-R from the '90s remasters with a couple of changes and a few additional tracks.

The one for Echo and the Bunnymen is still THE disc I listen to whenever I play their music. I kind of wish they added "Villiers Terrace," but it's still a great compilation. (For some reason, one of the cassette editions in the UK has four more bonus tracks: https://www.discogs.com/release/8124339-Echo-The-Bunnymen-Songs-To-Learn-Sing )

The Jesus and Mary Chain compilation is a great idea. My only complaint is the mastering which is kind of brickwalled, but for those who don't care or actually like the mastering, it's essential.

Pet Shop Boys' Discography is virtually perfect, definitely on my short list of truly great and essential compilations. I even sprung for the UK CD even though it has the same track listing because I preferred the sound on that one. (Different mastering engineer, warmer EQ. The U.S. pressing is a bit colder and harder sounding.)

While I'm at it, I'll add The Best of OMD as another great compilation that's ALMOST perfect. My only complaint is the few alternate versions they stuck in there - I wish they used either the original single mixes or full-length LP versions where applicable.

My vote goes here:

― Steamtable Willie (WmC), Monday, January 2, 2012 1:36 PM

Dead image link now, so I'll rep again for The Smiths — Singles (1995)

No-one's mentioned Led Zeppelin yet. As a fairly casual Zep fan, the Mothership double CD has all I need.

does anyone remember these 'Winning Combination' CD compilations from the early 2000s that each featured hits by two different artists? Statistically, all of these are 50% more likely to be the greatest Greatest Hits collection than anything mentioned in the thread so far.

https://i.discogs.com/AW4ujzp9gJZwv9KqKHMIxJ8ay0Lk9qF3F4a4MUz6lMs/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:500/w:500/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTc4NDUw/MjItMTU0NzQxOTA4/MC04NzMwLmpwZWc.jpeg

https://i.discogs.com/wGY-uHAPqXjY0qahcvKDcVWrdCuk2eu7GJgaK2e91rw/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:508/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE3MTg0/OTk3LTE2MTIwNDE2/OTYtNDA4OS5qcGVn.jpeg

https://www.discogs.com/label/475351-Winning-Combinations?page=1

Sly & the Family Stone probably

I'm often intrigued by the timing of greatest hits collections — Santana's (which is 7x platinum, supposedly) contains only songs from his first three albums, and came out right at the end of two years of almost entirely instrumental jazz fusion albums. Sly's came out because he couldn't finish a full batch of new songs — according to Wikipedia, "'Hot Fun in the Summertime' was intended to be included on an in-progress album with 'Everybody Is a Star' and 'Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)'; the LP was never completed, and the three tracks were instead included on the band's 1970 Greatest Hits LP."

Sly & the Family Stone probably

https://i.imgur.com/UjzQzsv.png
This is my Todd go to, also the first stuff of his I ever heard. Perfection in selection and sequencing imho

The Sly suffers a little because it's pre-Riot. Around ten years later the put out a double-LP (eventually a single CD) called Anthology that duped the the Hits tracklist and added "Don't Call Me..." and the Riot & Fresh singles.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/anthology-mw0000199351

To state the obvious: if you're a fan...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_to_the_World:_Their_Greatest_Hits

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_of_3_Dog_Night

I have the first, not the second. Advantage of the second is the inclusion of "Out in the Country," but there's probably waste, too.

Disc one of the UK version of Bowie's 'The Singles Collection' covers 1969 to 1977, roughly in chronological order but has a few amendments to the running order for the sake of sequencing, and includes a non-album single ('John, I'm Only Dancing') and a live cover ('Knock On Wood').

Does Bowie have an ideal compilation? I own the 3CD version of Nothing Has Changed but I don't think that's actually a very good or representative best-of, and every other one seems to have some major omissions or weird choices, or both.

The double-disc Three Dog Night comp adds, in addition to "Out in the Country": "Celebrate," "Mama Told Me Not To Come," "Eli's Coming," "Easy to Be Hard," "Pieces of April," and "Try a Little Tenderness." To be honest, I could take or leave the last few of those, but those first few are pretty crucial --- I'd say it's pretty solidly their greatest Greatest Hits album.

Speaking of definitive 2xLP collections in the shadow of a more successful single-disc version: my real introduction to the Monkees was the two-disc, mail-order-only version of Then & Now... The Best of The Monkees from 1986. Absolutely wall-to-wall Monkees classics, and not saddled with the three new 80s recordings that appear on both the single-LP version and the otherwise more generous CD issue.