The greatest Greatest Hits collection

Oh! Oh! Half of it is duff but you don't need any other records by them now it's come out, so I'd say the Best Of Blur, too. An MP3 of Popscene is perhaps of historical interest.

As a rule I don't really care for "Best Of" albums.

The problem with Hot Rocks is that you're missing "She's A Rainbow" and "Angie," and you miss the whole Goat's Head Soup/Exile on Main Street album period.

D-damn man, didn't you read the prompt?

Besides, as per Bruce McCulloch,

"Greatest Hits comps are for old women and little girls..."

It is also quite possibly the first album I ever heard - as my mother was an avid duster to "Dreams Of The Everyday Housewife" on her cassette version when I was three (the cassette version really spoiled the awful cover as the heart shaped vinyl motife was squeezed to look like a licourice allsort). I bought it for a quid.

Which 'the Doors best of' are you referring to? Last time I checked the Doors were well on the way to releasing more greatest hits, anthologies and live retrospectives than original albums. It seems as if they have elipsed this format by some nasty postmodern mediation. (increasing the case with the Beatles if anyone hasn't noticed!)

*actually their last one is pretty good.

Personally, I'm very happy with Duran Duran's _Decade_, even if it is missing "Come Undone". Also, _The Best Of Blondie_ is great.

(I don't have _The Best of Blur_, but "Music Is My Radar" could only make it better. I almost bought the damn thing solely for that song.)

Anyhow, I nearly exclusively deal in greatest hits, sometimes, because it's just a lot easier than buying a pile of crap albums to hear like 2 songs. ABBA Gold, obviously, you need; St. Etienne's Too Young To Die is fantastic; Bruce Springsteen's Greatest Hits is really the only album by him you NEED (though I'd recommend others), despite its willfull and unfortunate leaving out of Rosalita; New Order's best of is really the only New Order album I listen to; same goes for Blondie's The Platinum Collection. I'd also give marks to Blur's best of, even though half of it is crap, because it allows me to rid myself of the rest of their albums finally. Oh, and Lenny Kravitz's greatest hits is good because Lenny is definitely a singles artist, so if you just skip over American Woman and Fly Away you've got a good time on your hands. There are 10,000 Beatles' best ofs, so you should get one of those for historical sake really, and if you get the right one you really don't need more than that.

The Smiths' "Singles" wasn't bad, especially after Best Of 1 and 2, which was bloody awful. Not to mention replacing Morrissey's cover design outside of North America. Happily "Singles" had his design, a nice picture of Diana Dors and with "Louder Than Bombs" was a better "Best Of" than the offical one was.

Madonna's Immacualte Collection, plus Frozen and Beautiful Stranger, two bona fide pop classics if you ask me.

...Finally, Abba Gold. Most of these are classics, but you need 'The Visitors' on there as well. The way it builds up into the chorus is just amazingly good.

I'd say a Beatles compilation, but basically, none of the many do them justice, it's just not possible to compile one that would please everyone. (And I genuinely believe that, whatever people may say, most people like the Beatles at least a little)

Just adding to the consensus here...

Bill

Josh, if the Doors you speak of is the 2-CD thing, quit while you're ahead. That's all the Doors you need. Sad but true story: As a teenager, I loved the Doors like every good American. I had that 2-CD Best Of. I liked it so much I thought I'd love the whole Doors catalog. So I sold the Best-of and went about acquiring the 6 studio albums. I bought all those, got very sick of the Doors, and in my early 20s sold all six. Now I have no Doors at all. Hence the wisdom of quitting while you're ahead.

And if we *have* to go on to the Beatles, then go for the Red and Blue Albums, which between them contain all 27 tracks which ended up on that abomination known as "One", but which also contain a good few tracks that don't get so many daytime plays on Capital Gold :). (well, "I Am The Walrus", which is the one that really matters, though the Blue Album chooses appallingly from Abbey Road). The only Beatles repackagings worth even considering owning.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00028HBK2.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

1. Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of...) - Lou Bega
2. Macarena - Los Del Rios
3. Chan Chan - Buena Vista Social Club
4. Frenesi - Linda Ronstadt
5. Theme from "Harry's Game" - Clannad
6. Over the Rainbow
7. Barcelona Nights - Ottmar Liebert
8. Valse d'Amelie - Yann Tiersen
9. Bomboleo - Gipsy Kings
10. Pata Pata - Miriam Makeba
11. Jump in the Line - Harry Belafonte
12. Swingin' the Mambo - Tito Puente
13. Soul Bossa Nova - Quincy Jones & His Orchestra
14. Pass the Dutchie - Musical Youth
15. Hot! Hot! Hot! - Arrow
16. Grazing in the Grass - Hugh Masekela
17. Mais Que Nada - Sergio Mendes
18. Oye Como Va - Santana

Steely Dan's Greatest Hits may not delete the need to buy the actual albums but is probably the greatest collection of songs in existence.

Close second, Merle Haggard's "Songs I'll Always Sing".

i'm listening to the cult's 'pure cult' thingie. pretty damn good. needs 'aphrodisiac jacket' and a few more, but i guess they weren't singles...

Thread should have been closed after Dr C's choice of the Buzzcocks 'Singles Going Steady' way up there somewhere. As far as GH go, it doesn't get better than this.

"Once Upon A Time", Siouxsie and the Banshees, is great.

Yeah, Buzzcocks for me too. Chief competition would be Sly & the Family Stone and CCR. (Greatest non-existent GH = Bob Seger's)

Not The Beatles, simply because any "Greatest Hits" by The Beatles is automatically bound to be devoid of most of the great stuff they did.

Out of the ones not mentioned, Madness had a very strong run of singles.

And then there's Bob Marley's "Legend" too. Has been voted best "best of" a lot of times although personally I really don't think it worked out until all those extra tracks were added for the rather recent special edition.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d7/50000fall.jpg

maybe not the greatest ever but a pretty cool collection

http://umusicimages.ca/doublediscgold/parliament.jpg is awesome

http://kpuk.net/big_img/608.jpg

Is there really no AC/DC greatest hits/best of? AMG doesn't list one, nor does Amazon. How odd.

SuperFurryAnimalsOKThkxBye.

Tom Petty's first Greatest Hits comp (the 1993 where "Mary Jane's Last Dance" was a new track) is wall-to-wall awesome, although I lost it years ago and may have to upgrade to the 2 disc that has "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" and some more recent stuff on it. Queen's Greatest Hits is another great one I grew up with, although now I feel motivated to hear the whole albums.

It's kind of a delicate matter, figuring out whether to buy a GH or get the actual albums, because I know once I get a best-of it'll discourage me from getting the albums. So I'm constantly weighing like OK, I can live with just an Elton John best-of, but I need to get Thin Lizzy's individual albums.

Well, Ethiopiques and 100% Dynamite were V/A comps, and "Mondo Morricone" is not a 'greatest hits' collection.
xp

He has at least several 'greatest hits' type releases, most notably the 'Fistful of Film Music' Anthology, but there are dozens of better 'specialty' compilations for each style.

For the "mondo" stuff 'Eviva! Morricone' has been my go-to.

The Best Best of Fela Kuti is kinda weak because it cuts the songs down, frequently omitting the long instrumental sections that kicked them off.

Haha, I can think of a couple of artists who would arguably be well served by a compilation that omits the long instrumental sections, but Fela Kuti obviously isn't one of them. That's a dealbreaker.

Hard disagree on the Steely Dan comp also. Some things just can't be abridged.

― enochroot, Monday, June 28, 2021 3:34 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Oh I'm with you--no SD compilation is a substitute for the original albums, but because I was introduced to Steely Dan via the Gold compilation at a very young age I have a soft spot for those particular tracks in that particular order. It was a trip to hear the studio version of "Bodhisattva" several years later after only knowing the raucous mid-fi live version with the drunken intro monologue from that comp.

My intro was the Showbiz Kids comp, which has the same problem: it's so good, I had to get all the albums. I never listen to the comp anymore

I have the Every Breath You Take: The Classics comp, and I do like it better than any of their albums, but I'd slot at least a few more tracks on it. Weird that it's missing "So Lonely" and "Canary in a Coalmine", two songs I've heard on the radio

Howard Jones and Style Council have enjoyable best-ofs but I've never felt the need to go further

Turns out "Singles Going Steady" is a comp. I wasn't sure until just now.

― billstevejim, Friday, July 20, 2018 5:39 PM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink

I keep second guessing that one too

― Gâteau Superstar (dog latin), Friday, July 20, 2018 5:41 PM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink

It's a comp, but it sort of stands apart because most of those songs don't appear on any other album.

It's a comp that plays like an 'all killer no filler' album. Which is remarkable considering the chronological sequencing. It's also very clever. The title is clever, putting the b-sides on side b is clever...

Going for the obvious ones but these are the ones I either own or I have seen on my friends' houses:

ABBA - ABBA Gold
Al Green – Greatest Hits
Björk – Greatest Hits
Bob Marley & the Wailers - Legend
Buzzcocks – Singles Going Steady
Joy Division - Substance
New Order - Substance
Fugazi - 13 Songs
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Chronicle
The Cure - Galore
Rolling Stones - Forty Licks
Depeche Mode - The Singles 86>98

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91f9RepvqrL._SX355_.jpg

this creedence collection is by no means comprehensive -- it only has five songs on it -- but it's perfect for when you want to ball and have a good time

cash money records platinum hits vol 1
oyasumi hologram 1
perfume complete best

No one's mentioned De La Soul's Timeless yet.

The U.S. version (or maybe just the most common version worldwide) is a great singles compilation, but that's another one that got a different track list elsewhere, this time in Australasia. The U.S. version is better, though De La Soul Is Dead had some great tracks weren't released as singles so a singles collection can't do it justice.

The Best Best of Fela Kuti is kinda weak because it cuts the songs down, frequently omitting the long instrumental sections that kicked them off.

Unfortunately, those tracks are so long that a concise best-of or "hits" collection isn't possible without big edits. Similar to James Browne's 20 All-Time Greatest Hits!! (all single edits which cut out a lot, if not nearly as much), I think The Best Best of Fela Kuti is a nice sampler and a good intro for those completely new to his musical world. But a box set compilation would be great too for those who prefer those tracks uncut.

I have the Every Breath You Take: The Classics comp, and I do like it better than any of their albums, but I'd slot at least a few more tracks on it. Weird that it's missing "So Lonely" and "Canary in a Coalmine", two songs I've heard on the radio

Yeah, Greatest Hits had "So Lonely," though it didn't have "Canary in a Coalmine." "When the World...." and "Driven to Tears" are also great and the former got a ton of radio play - I put those on my homemade comp. Zenyatta Mondatta is possibly the only Police LP that I might like from start-to-finish.

Turns out "Singles Going Steady" is a comp. I wasn't sure until just now.

Possibly the greatest album ever made from a basic singles compilation. I didn't realize it when I first got it because it sounded so cohesive, but when I got familiar with the band, I discovered that they actually sequenced the 45 A-sides on the LP's A-side, and the 45 B-sides on the LP's B-side. You could say that's unimaginatively logical and straightforward, but it plays so well, some things just work themselves out.

*James BROWN

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/4TcAAOSw4eRgfe1M/s-l500.jpg

It's def "Singles Going Steady"

But I think my second fave is Motorhead "No Remorse"

No Remorse is a great compilation because Lemmy got word that the label was gonna put one out, so he took the project over and sequenced it himself, plus added four tracks by the then-new lineup of the band to prove that they weren't has-beens.

Re James Brown, a standard "greatest hits" is never gonna do it — the compilations from the late '90s centered on short time periods are fantastic: Funk Power 1970: A Brand New Thang, Make It Funky: The Big Payback 1971-75, and Dead on the Heavy Funk: 1975-83.

Emperor did an excellent best of. I prefer it to listening to their albums

Emperor did an excellent best of. I prefer it to listening to their albums

Did they pull a ZZ Top and overdub the drums?

This Cat Stevens CD is surprisingly good, maybe the best out there:
https://www.discogs.com/release/594021-Cat-Stevens-Remember-The-Ultimate-Collection

Look like his own indie release, but it reuses what may be the masters from the original Island CD releases, supposedly the best sounding digital masterings of his music. The type of compilation I like from an artist that doesn't figure among my favorites - scoops up all the best stuff and puts them together in a way that leaves the impression that there's more to explore. Sometimes I'll be disappointed or sometimes I'll find I've underestimated them, but the point is it makes me give the rest of their catalog another chance. Even if a revisit proves disappointing, at least the hits CD earns them a secure place on my shelves.

Or rather not an indie release, Discogs lists Island and I just noticed their logo on some parts, though not very conspicuous

Ghastly album art, though.

oh yeah. that's why i thought it was a self-release

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