The greatest Greatest Hits collection

Anyway, my fave greatest hits is The Go-Betweens "1978-1990". Good god damn what a goldmine.

I love that one too, especially the B-side portion.

This is the greatest Greatest Hits with the greatest cover:

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/dfb3d476befe19c24a84db0f140196f7/6537.jpg

not a popular pic, probably, because they obv had a bunch of good stuff that was released after it came out, but the Cure's Standing on the Sea is probably the "Greatest Hits" that I've listened to more than any other, and it might be my most played played release of ALL TIME. every single song is unimpeachably brilliant.

someone should start a thread on it oh wait The Cure - Standing on the Beach/Staring at the Sea

also, Substance, duh

Standing on the Beach was one of the first ones I thought of as well. Also, Elton John's Greatest Hits Vol. 1.

thirding the Patsy Cline 12 Greatest Hits collection -- has to be one of the earliest examples of greatest-hits-as-concept-album. I don't know how much editorializing influenced the selection, or whether all of her highest chart placements really were all the heartbroken numbers. The latter is certainly likely, but I remember being surprised when I dug into her catalog and realized she sang about cheating or having a good time herself just as often. But the Hits collection is the one release she has that actually works as a coherent suite, just one dagger after another, it is almost too much -- when you get to the one happy one at the beginning of side 2, 'Back In Baby's Arms' it is almost more agonizing just because you know there are still five utterly broken songs to go

This is totally Chuck Berry, The Great Twenty-Eight

i mean duh

Sade.

^^^^^

(but really you need all the albums and then it becomes redundant)

the greatest Greatest Hits would probably be a compilation that's front-to-back gold and also exhaustive when it comes to that artist's career (ie it obviates the need for anything else). no one springs to mind tbh.

Emperor

Stones - The London Years. Which cuts off in 1971, obviously, but perfectly traces in chronological order how they got from callow blues copyists to conquerors of the world.

Chronicle Vol. 1.

This is totally Chuck Berry, The Great Twenty-Eight

Scanning the songlist, looks perfect. I've always had this

http://991.com/newGallery/Chuck-Berry-Motorvatin-252056.jpg

plus all three Golden Decades, but the problem with GD I is that it leaves off "Come On" and "Let It Rock." The Great Twenty-Eight gets them all.

Should also mention Endless Summer. The perception of the Beach Boys has really changed over the years--"Oh yeah, the surf stuff" is probably how a lot of people would look upon Endless Summer today--but we played it to death when my friends and I discovered it in the mid-'70s. (Besides which, you get key proto-Pet Sounds stuff like "Girl Don't Tell Me" and "Don't Worry Baby.")

Taking advantage of rare occasion to say Whiney otm

there's a Marshall Crenshaw comp that is quite good,
but got me to thinking that a comp isn't nec. a greatest hits
so forget it.

I love that Crenshaw comp, although it wanes in the middle before the victory lap.

This is totally Chuck Berry, The Great Twenty-Eight

^^^

CCR close second

i wonder if nicole still hates "music is my radar"

the CCR greatest hits is incredible for how long it keeps going, and for how long it keeps topping itself

As amazing: you can say the same about most of the second CCR greatest hits.

you can also call Cosmo's Factory their greatest hits

Chronicle also came to mind for me, the first time I sat down and listened to this in earnest (probably 4-5 years ago) it was one holy-shit moment after another as I realized how many timeless tracks they had.

ctrl-f "Eminem"

phew THANK GOD

i kind of swore off best-ofs a few years ago after i realized they sapped my will to check out the acts' proper albums, but my favorite GH purchase since then was a 2-disc George Jones comp -- it's still a useful format for people who have 50 hits spread over 50 albums and/or a lot of output that predates the 'album era'

If you're referring to Cup of Loneliness you are OTM.

i'm referring to The Essential George Jones: The Spirit of Country, which spans a much larger timeframe, but i wouldn't mind having one that's more focused on the '50s stuff

Two CD's. One of the best buys ever:

http://www.amazon.com/Cup-Loneliness-Classic-Mercury-Years/dp/B000001E4N

yeah Cup of Loneliness is solid gold

Almost want to say Push Barman to Open Old Wounds but that's for another thread I guess, but I don't know where that thread is.

http://www.avclub.com/article/tom-pettys-greatest-hits-record-remains-best-best--239423

This was one I had growing up, though I eventually got all the albums too: Electric Light Orchestra - ELO's Greatest Hits (1979)

ctrl+f "stylistics"

:|

The Best of The Stylistics

Fixed

Among my most formative.

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Chronicle Vol. 1 and Vol. 2

Such a rare feat to have two separately released greatest hits packages that are equal in value. Prince's The Hits 1 & 2 are the only other ones I can think of right now. (Wait, Joni might be up there.)

The Beatles cheated by splitting up a chronological set with 1962-22 and 1967-70. The Eagles sold a bizzilion copies of both of theirs, but everyone knows the first one is the only good one. And Mr. Joel, I worship you, but you can't sell Volume I & Volume II in the same set at the same time. (Yeah, I know Prince sold his together too with the B-Sides, but they were also available on their own.)

The box format may have hurt this first.

these are prob the ones i've played the most over the years:

sly -- greatest hits
pretenders -- the singles
stones -- hot rocks/more hot rocks
chuck berry -- great 28
ronettes -- best of
smiths -- singles
prince -- hits 1 and 2
sam cooke -- portrait of a legend
the jam -- compact snap!
echo and the bunnymen -- songs to learn and sing
little richard -- 18 greatest hits
elvis -- elvis's golden records

one classic greatest hits i've never loved quite as much as everyone else is changesbowie/changesonebowie -- i prefer the albums. also almost included immaculate collection but i'm not as into the second half of that one.

with bowie, i'm definitely a tracks and not an albums person, but the tracks i like aren't the hit singles... where's "the supermen" or "panic in detroit" or "moonage daydream" or "1984"?

no Madonna comp can top the CR-90 you made for yourself in 1993.

http://cdn-s3.allmusic.com/release-covers/500/0000/278/0000278159.jpg

http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/660/media/images/72877000/jpg/_72877782_queen_624.jpg

Erasure - Pop: The First 20 Hits
Saint Etienne - Too Young To Die
Pet Shop Boys - Popart
Suede - Singles (just remember to skip Positivity)
Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Bang! (this really is the perfect Frankie album)
The Cardigans - Best Of
Dexys Midnight Runners - Let's Make This Precious
Barry White - Greatest Hits (75 version)
Duran Duran - Greatest
Felt - Stains On A Decade
The Human League - Greatest Hits/The Very Best Of
Grace Jones - Island Life

The Shangri Las Myrmidons of Melodrama: it's virtually flawless.

The Beautiful South - Carry On Up The Charts. Played that one to death back in the day and still give it a spin from time to time.

The 2cd version with a disc of their excellent b-sides is even better!

Queen's Greatest Hits and Greatest Hits II, easily. For many people, these two compilations basically represent the entire Queen discography and the "proper" studio albums may as well not even exist. Which obviously is a viewpoint I disagree with.