I don't include compilations on my "official" charts, but I think it it is utterly absurd to criticize people for doing so.
I usually only go for compilations when it comes to a.artists who pre-date the album era (Chuck Berry's The Great 28, Hank Williams 40 Greatest Hits and The Essential John Lee Hooker come to mind), b.Artists I want to familiarize myself with (I got into Sam Cooke, The Rolling Stones and The Kinks this way....a long, long time ago) and c.artists I really only like a handful of songs by (Metal Works by Judas Priest is a great example). _________________ 100 Punk Favourites
The Beautiful South have a great best of. There albums might be good too I don't know them. Nobody seems to talk about their albums but everyone seemed to have the best of. Probably a band needing some reappraisal.
He has some good albums, namely Exodus and Catch A Fire but I can't see past Legend. Its a perfect collection of songs. The only one I would add to it would be Lively Up Yourself
I have Legend in my top 100.
I have a few greatest hits collections in my 100.
But I've only had one person take issue with that.
I've never been a fan of Greatest Hits album to be completely honest.
I've long held the idea that artists released albums as a whole intentionally so that the songs throughout can work together as a long piece of music, rather than many singles strung together. However this idea has been becoming less and less true as we roll into the digital age of music consumption. Not to mention the common length of an album is now roughly an hour (which I find very annoying..). Whereas in the past it was often a struggle to fit all of the recorded material for a new album onto a single disc, this led to the exclusion of filler tracks and B-sides that we seem to be stuck with today. Quality > Quantity is such a simple idea, but has somehow fallen behind and the idea of a 'double album' is not even thought of nowadays (perhaps because vinyl is not the medium of choice for most listeners) it has simply become the standard.
It seems every new album nowadays becomes a double LP for no good reason, therefore a best-of compilation might actually make sense. This has been replaced with things like Spotify playlists which become genre highlights -> our modern version of a mixtape, which seems to have replaced the need for these newer artists to ever release a Greatest Hits album.
To conclude my thoughts on a note that is not quite related to the above rambling.. I've always thought that Live Albums in the past were the best kind of a Greatest Hits record. Albums such as Genesis Live, Playing The Fool by Gentle Giant, Live At Carnegie Hall by Renaissance, or Uriah Heep Live just to name a few off the top of my head seem to string together the best songs from earlier albums into an actual showcase of talent. Unfortunately the live album format seems to be fading altogether but here's hopes to a revival sometime in the near future!
I’m old, so the mixtape had a totally different purpose than the playlist (I think!). The old mixtape was an attempt to define your personality, moods and nuances in music. Then you would give a copy to a girl (or boy) and perhaps vice versa, and if she/you liked it, you were compatible. It was part playlist, part online dating! Seems funny now as a 50 year old.
Like your comment about Live albums. Personally, I think live and studio albums are completely different. Some artists “play” better in one context than they do in the other. Still, there is something special about a great live album, where the energy of the show, and the connection between artist and audience is evident in the recording. I would be interested in a discussion on favourite live albums.
I've never been a fan of Greatest Hits album to be completely honest.
I've long held the idea that artists released albums as a whole intentionally so that the songs throughout can work together as a long piece of music, rather than many singles strung together. However this idea has been becoming less and less true as we roll into the digital age of music consumption. Not to mention the common length of an album is now roughly an hour (which I find very annoying..). Whereas in the past it was often a struggle to fit all of the recorded material for a new album onto a single disc, this led to the exclusion of filler tracks and B-sides that we seem to be stuck with today. Quality > Quantity is such a simple idea, but has somehow fallen behind and the idea of a 'double album' is not even thought of nowadays (perhaps because vinyl is not the medium of choice for most listeners) it has simply become the standard.
It seems every new album nowadays becomes a double LP for no good reason, therefore a best-of compilation might actually make sense. This has been replaced with things like Spotify playlists which become genre highlights -> our modern version of a mixtape, which seems to have replaced the need for these newer artists to ever release a Greatest Hits album.
To conclude my thoughts on a note that is not quite related to the above rambling.. I've always thought that Live Albums in the past were the best kind of a Greatest Hits record. Albums such as Genesis Live, Playing The Fool by Gentle Giant, Live At Carnegie Hall by Renaissance, or Uriah Heep Live just to name a few off the top of my head seem to string together the best songs from earlier albums into an actual showcase of talent. Unfortunately the live album format seems to be fading altogether but here's hopes to a revival sometime in the near future!
I agree that a lot of artists meant for their albums to be heard as a whole rather than broken up into individual tracks on a greatest hits album. But the truth is, there are many artists who failed to make a good album despite trying, and instead had a lot of great single tracks that when you put them all together can make you appreciate the artist more than their spotty albums did. And if not for Best-of collections, a lot of decent artists work may have been lost forever when their unsuccessful albums were no longer available. And that would be a shame. Best of collections are kept in release for a long time after the original albums are long gone.
FischmanRockMonster, JazzMeister, Bluesboy,ClassicalMasterProfile Land of Enchantment
Many will disagree probably but The Rolling Stones are that one for me. I always thought every album they released had at least a couple throwaway tracks that brought the album down. I prefer 40 licks.
Greatest hits albums do feel like cheating when ranking albums though.
While I love a lot of Stones' deep tracks what will never make it on a compilation, Hot Rocks is fantastic. Probably the best greatest hits collection ever, and a great way for people who don't want to dig deeper to really enjoy their biggest tunes.
FischmanRockMonster, JazzMeister, Bluesboy,ClassicalMasterProfile Land of Enchantment
Many will disagree probably but The Rolling Stones are that one for me. I always thought every album they released had at least a couple throwaway tracks that brought the album down. I prefer 40 licks.
Greatest hits albums do feel like cheating when ranking albums though.
While I love a lot of Stones' deep tracks what will never make it on a compilation, Hot Rocks is fantastic. Probably the best greatest hits collection ever, and a great way for people who don't want to dig deeper to really enjoy their biggest tunes.
Well, it's between Hot Rocks and CCR for number one greatest hits collection ever of all time. But I put CCR at number 1 and Hot Rocks at number two. But only because I couldn't decide. They're both so awesome.
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