[RoundTheBend]

I've noticed on this site there's a bit of elitism against compilation albums/best of albums. For me some artists just aren't that great at album making. Sometimes I truly enjoy listening to the best of albums because I get, in a way, the best album they ever created. I am listening to Elvis by Elvis Presley (1956) and then remember when Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits by Elvis Presley (2002)... that's an amazing collection of "hits"... from a time when singles really were where it was at. It obviously is a better collection of songs than Elvis by Elvis Presley (1956), yet the compilation album isn't ranked as high.

I've seen some "create" your own album kinda thing going on too... I feel that's almost a best of thing as well. So for example combining Siamese Dream with Adore to make an equivalent of Melloncollie & the Infinite Sadness. Somehow this is more creative, so more acceptable, whereas maybe the "hits" records are seen as "selling out" or something?

Also some artists are hit makers and not album makers... so obviously I'd rather listen to their hits and not albums. Honestly I feel this way about Queen. Love seeing them live and love their hits, but I don't enjoy listening to their albums... please give me their best of.

I get that you want to give their "deep cuts" a chance, but honestly, not all artists' "deep cuts" are worth my time.

Anyway, what do you think is an artist not as good if they only write hits? Are compilations for the musically inept, or do they have their respectful place in music?

[Applerill]

I LOVE COMPILATIONS
(See what I did there?)

[Mercury]

One of my charts is 90% compilations due to the fact that the songs by almost all of those artists weren't actually released in album form at the time they made them. But still those individual cuts is all we have. Some artists released "singles" and that's it and maybe retired or died young and left us with enough songs to fit on a couple CDs - such is the case with Robert Johnson, Blind Willie Johnson, or it kinda sorta applies even to Minor Threat. I don't think anyone can deny the legitimacy of a comp of that ilk. But as for straight up "Best ofs..." Or "Greatest Hits type compilations, I almost never regard them highly. Unless, like you said, they're obviously more singles oriented artists and from a singles dominated era. I'll chart "Portrait of A Legend" over almost any Sam Cooke LP, for example. Even some of my all time faves have brilliant career-spanning retrospectives that I value more than their LPs. It may be somewhat blasphemous to say but I feel Townes Van Zandt is that way with me. My favorite "album" of his is the 2 disc documentary soundtrack "Be Here to Love Me".

So, I'd say it's lame to put a 15 track "best of..." for a major artist on your chart. Or, rather, that may be my knee jerk reaction to think it's lame. But in some cases I am the same way so I can think with it.

And yes I suppose there are artists which were great " singles artists" or bands but that's pretty much totally subjective. I may say that is true of New Order, but then someone would legitamity say "Fuck that noise, 'Technique', and 'Power, Corruption and Lies' are great all around albums!". And they would be totally right - from their perspective.
_________________
-Ryan

ONLY 4% of people can understand this chart! Come try!

My Fave Metal - you won't believe #5!!!

[baystateoftheart]

[Satie]

Compilations are an indispensable source for so, so many time periods and genres of music that to completely write them off is to completely write off the vast, vast majority of musical styles. From pre-LP recordings to traditional folk recordings to archival releases for artists whose music has been passed around as live bootlegs for ages to simple compilations of material formerly issued as singles either due to the genre (common in a lot of dance music) or lack of commercial interest/funding for a full LP, there are so so many things that compilations can connect you to.

Snobbery about the "flow" or "coherence" of the LP format has always baffled me, as advocates of this position tend to uphold classic rock as an if not THE cultural touchstone and reference for the value of the LP. Have these people listened to virtually every Beatles record? Half their classic albums, hell, even their supposed concept album Sgt. Pepper, are horribly sequenced and don't fit together quite right by modern standards.

[RoundTheBend]

[RoundTheBend]

[Satie]

[undefined]

[Satie]