Re: greatest hits

Do you feel like you wimp out when you want to get into a band and you start with a greatest hits album? Or are you more serious about owning every single original album the band makes? There are so many box sets out there, they're 50% of what I listen to these days.

Depends on the band.

I pretty much separate artists into singles bands and albums bands, and I don't hold a band in lower regard if they are a singles band.

For me personally,great bands like the Kinks, Jam, Only Ones, heck even the Who with Meaty Beaty ........are best represented by a compilation. When I want to hear their music I go for the comp/best of and I'm guilt free.

The well made compilation is a work of Art and despite the technology to do it myself nowadays, I find I kind of suck at it.

i should've quit while i was ahead with my buzzcocks and squeeze singles compilations, but i just had to foul it up by buying everything else.



Post Edited (07-21-08 23:25)

I've found that some bands need a Greatest Hits comp. to really make their case. Sometimes their albums alone are too full of filler, etc., to really work, but a good singles comp can really work to give you a better view of their stuff. I have a really good House of Love comp. that has all the good stuff, and none of the bad, and is at least as good as their first full length album. And some artists only work with one of these. Neil Diamond, anyone? (although his last two CD's have been interesting, if not completely successful) I also have a pretty good 2-CD Hoodoo Gurus comp. that does a great job of elimintaing some of the chaff of their later recordings, although it doesn't have "Head in the Sand" or "Middle of the Land" on it, I can deal.

Can anyone else think of bands whose Greatest Hits/Singles Comp's are better than their full-length albums? Meaty Beaty's listed above, and so is Singles Going Steady. I love both bands, but agree that for the Buzzcocks, that might be all you need. I rewatched the Kids Are Alright after TCM played in on Friday night underground (a godsend for those of us who love off-beat films) and it reawakened my interest in The Who, so I'll say that Who's Next is at least as good as Meaty, and so's most of Quadrophenia.

The Hoodoo Gurus' Electric Soup (hits)/Gorilla Biscuit (bsides) is a good double to have. You need the latter for Be My Guru which is as good as any single.

I certainly don't feel any guilt in buying a good greatest-hits album and sticking with it. (Stealing that album, I'd feel guilty about.) Like Mats said, there's no shame in being a good singles artist.

Snap! may be a tremendously renowned comp, but I sure wouldn't want to be without The Jam's original albums.

Depeche Mode is definitely better-represented by its compilation albums (with the possible exception of Violator).

For a couple decades now, I've grooved to the vinyl compilation T.Rextasy: The Best of T.Rex 1970-1973. As much as I love that album, though, I never bothered to check out any of T.Rex's other albums. Whenever I'd look over a copy of Electric Warrior or The Slider in the store, something inside told me I'd be disappointed. When I finally found a worthwhile T.Rex best-of CD (20th Century Boy: The Ultimate Collection), I nearly jumped for joy, right there in the record store. The CD comp doesn't include "The Groover," and wastes space on pre-electric Bolan, but it'll do fine.

The Best of Sweet on Capitol is much better than any of Sweet's original albums, although I still enjoy Desolation Boulevard.

Still hoping to stumble across a good Kinks comp. Any recommendations? Talk about a band that could be well-represented by a box set.

A great Kinks compilation is the Kinks Kronkiles for their "Sunny Afternoon" to "Lola" period. Combine that w/Rhino's Kinks Greatest Hits for their early period & you get a great overview.

Also, I had a copy of T. Rextasy myself for a while, which was excellent. I also have Electric Warrior & Slider & I do recommend getting both.

As discussed here at some length a few years ago when I asked if Adam and the Ants were even worth owning anything by, sometimes all you want is a good representation of the band's sound, whether it's actually "hits" or not. There are numerous instances where I've felt like I should own something by a band, so I bought a comp and called it good (Adam and the Ants, Chrome, Sweet). Sometimes, of course, those comps are so good that it impels me to buy full albums, but often not.

And I used to think of "Singles Going Steady" as the best Buzzcocks album, and it still is probably the one I'd take to the proverbial desert island, but I think "Another Music" might actually be better.

Singles Going Steady is the tightest Buzzcocks album from start to finish, but contrary to the sentiments expressed by Satch, all the Buzzcocks' studio albums are worth owning, IMO. Even Modern has its moments.

It's time for Neil Young to do another greatest hits, better yet a box set.

when it's neil time, i usually grab for DECADE or LIVE RUST.

Some bands are very ill served by Greatest Hits compilations. Roxy Music springs to mind.

And I am definitely not on board with Singles Going Steady as the only Buzzcocks anyone needs. Side two of A Different Kind of Tension is brilliant, and all three of the original albums are stronger than most albums from so-called album bands. And the post reunion discs are decent, also.



Post Edited (07-22-08 16:47)

Either Greatest Hits or Anthology: Through the Years should satisfy all but the most severe jones for a Tom Petty fix.

As for a Tom Jones fix, I don't have a clue.

> Some bands are very ill served by Greatest Hits compilations. Roxy Music springs to mind.

Depends on what you mean by "ill served." If you're talking about a singles compilation that includes all you'd really want or need to hear by the artist, then yeah, there's no such animal. And if you're talking about an album that encapsulates the artist's essence, then you're right, no Roxy comp will do.

On the other hand, a single-disc overview of a crucial artist can be very useful. It can serve to offer a good starting point to a newbie, and to whet the newbie's appetite to check out the rest of the artist's work. By that measure, Roxy Music's Greatest Hits is an outstanding compilation. Personally, it's one of the most important albums I've ever bought.

The same goes for Changesonebowie, for the same reason. It's not an adequate replacement for the bulk of Bowie's original albums from that same period, but it's a superb place for a newcomer with hungry ears to start.

I heard The Who's Hooligans before Meaty Beaty, so Hooligans became my definitive overview for many years.

New Order and The (English) Beat probably have more compilations than proper albums, and rightfully so.

The New Order Singles double disc set that came out a couple of years ago is ridiculously great from start to finish.

There's a Dexy's Midnight Runners "Best Of" from 2003, called Let's Make This Precious, that does an outstanding job of finding the gems in a fairly inconsistent catalog.

Maybe Courtney Love will put together Ryan Adams: Platinum Amex Edition. That would be lovely.

one thing i noticed is i own every springsteen,stones,dylan cd etc of big time artists except their greatest hits.
smaller artists i have used their greatest hits as a starting point to see if they were worthwhile ex- flaming groovies,richard thompson,nils lofgren
than later on bought everything else in their catalog.

greeatest hits albums most people have who own under 100 cds or only have greatest hits cds which i can still listen to.
1. steve miller-74-78
2 bob marleylegend
3. van morrison- while its true he has to big a catalog to limit it to one cd and there were too many obvious omissions very few of his songs to me were overplayed in my time so it holds up.

> New Order and The (English) Beat probably have more compilations than proper albums,
> and rightfully so.

According to my research and math, that's true of The Who and The Beatles as well.

New Order's original albums still outnumber its compilations, but just barely. (Thanks for the tip on The Singles. That does look like a choice selection; I'll have to keep my eyes open for that one.)

The Beat is well served by just about any of its comps, but I'll still never willingly part with my copy of I Just Can't Stop It.

I think Joy Division's comps now outnumber their official releases (of course depending on whether you consider "Still" to be a proper album or a patchwork). And that's not including the live albums from a few years (decade?) back....

I forgot to mention that a great "gateway" to the Bonzo Dog Band is the History of the Bonzos. I advise that you find a copy of the vinyl version, as the CD was horribly remastered.

Badfinger is the quintessential greatest hits band.

On the surface T.Rex might appear to be greatest hits band but it is well worth picking up at least 3/4 of the catalogue especially Rhino's reissues.
Same with the Beach Boys. At least 1/2 the catalogue.

Together, The Immaculate Collection and GHV2 should satisfy any but the most passionate Madonna fans.

To the Madonna comment, I'd add the ballads compilation Something to Remember, but that may just be me.

Repeated agreement on Badfinger as a band that really needs itself represented in a greatest hits format.

James Brown's 20 All-Time Greatest Hits is an excellent selection, well-sequenced and well-remastered. It's a great starting point for a newbie who's a bit daunted by the Star Time box.

Sly & The Family Stone's Greatest Hits is a fine starting point, but The Essential Sly & The Family Stone digs deeper into the corners.

I have the 2000 Very Best of Badfinger on Capitol. A superb 19-song compilation.

I have all of the Jam's albums & I have most of Paul Weller's, but I'm satisfied w/The Singular Adventures of The Style Council to be my only Style Council album.

greatest hit packages, when done right are the most righteous things on the planet.
undertones,pretenders,o.v.wright (the soul of...), trashmen, troggs-I could go on forever...
its like, "here poor little fellow that happens to be low on cash, take this and feel happy"

And discojoe nailed the shit outta it with his two (kinky) cents



Post Edited (07-26-08 17:51)