What's the best Greatist Hits collection that's out there? What Greatest Hits collection were u disappointed in? Did it not have a track on it that u were expecting? Lemme know...

I'll only speak about artists of whom I have enough knowledge to be a good judge.

Good hits compilations:

Prince- The Hits/The B-Sides

Inclusion of the B-Sides is perfect here. The new songs are great as well. I like that it includes non-singles as well.

Madonna- The Immaculate Collection

Even though many songs appear to be missing ("Oh Father," "Burning Up," "Everybody," "Angel," "Dress You Up," "Gambler" among others), it flows wonderfully and offers a great view of her early career. The new songs are fantastic as well.

Madonna- Something to Remember

A thoroughly satifsying listen. It has great flow and "You'll See" and "I Want You" are wonderful additions to her catalogue.

Bjork- Greatest Hits/Family Tree

What a way to choose the songs! Letting her fans vote was a great idea. The inclusion of several rarities in themed discs for Family Tree is a fantastic idea.

The Cure- Staring at the Sea

All of their great singles from 1979-1985 are here. It doesn't leave off anything.

The Cure- Galore

Another great compilation of singles from their later years.

Blondie- The Platinum Collection

Wonderfully comprehensive overview of Blondie's career up to 1994. B-sides and early outtakes make this worth the price alone. The flow is great and the song selection is on par, even in consideration of the non-singles included.

Depeche Mode- Singles 81>85

Wonderful early synth pop! This has everything. Depeche Mode really didn't hit their stride fully until 1984, so this album compiles things nicely.

Depeche Mode- Singles 86>98

A great compilation of the band's glory years. All songs present are necessary!

David Bowie- Best of Bowie

A good overview of his career, even though there are some strange holes in it. "Starman," "Aladdin Sane," "Oh! You Pretty Things," "Be My Wife," "Beauty and the Beast" and "Boys Keep Swinging" are all essential as well in the first disc. "Black Tie, White Noise," "Strangers When We Meet," "Hallo Spaceboy," "Dead Man Walking," and "Seven" are all great singles not included on the second disc. However, the flow is great. The "Life on Mars?"/"Moonage Daydream"/"Suffragette City" triad is a killer combo. "Cat People" in its original form is a great plus too!

New Order- Substance

A great, great, great set which includes all of the singles and B-sides up to 1987. This set is also essential since nearly all of the songs were only available on their respective 12" and 7" singles prior to this release.

New Order- Best of New Order

Another good overview which includes such non-single gems as "Dreams Never End" and "Vanishing Point" while including the wonderful singles from "Technique" and "Republic."

The Smiths- Singles

It may be too early for me to comment on this, because I'm just getting into the Smiths, but it was a great introduction to them. I can't think of anything that is missing and the diversity and flow is great.

Kylie Minogue- Hits+

This is more of a rarities collection than a hits collection, although 7 of the 16 tracks were singles. Regardless, those 7 tracks all stray from the pop mainstream. The rarities stray even further, with the wonderful "Take Me With You" and "Automatic Love" acoustic making this a glimpse into the Kylie of whom most people don't know.

Bad hits compilations:

Prince- The Very Best of Prince

What a waste. Why spend $17.99 for "Money Don't Matter 2 Nite?" A cheap, flawed compilation that has more gaps than substance.

Madonna- GHV2

Something just isn't right about this compilation. Why were songs such as "Bad Girl" excluded, but others like "Take a Bow" (which was already included on "Something to Remember") included? "Erotica" in particular is poorly represented by this album. What happened to the purported new tracks to be included? The order also leaves a lot to be desired, as there is no flow.

Janet Jackson- Design of a Decade

Why release a greatest hits album after only 3 real studio albums, and why include only one song from "janet."? This is perhaps the worst compilation yet.

The Cure- Greatest Hits

What was the need? Why no "BloodFlowers" tracks? All of these songs (barring the new tracks) could be found on the previous 2 compilations. Why not just release an EP of the new tracks? The acoustic hits is a nice touch, but I doubt most buyers even bothered with it.

Blondie- Best of Blondie

Another premature hits release. It may suffer due to the fact that it was released during the LP age, but a lot of important tracks seem to be missing.

Eurythmics- Greatest Hits

What do you envision when you think of Eurythmics? Personally, I think that they are best known for their early work when Annie was decked out in her orange hair. However, the US Greatest Hits compilation only includes 4 songs from their first 4 albums, but includes 10 from the post-orange years. "In the Garden" and "1984" are completely neglected and "Savage" is misrepresented by "I Need A Man" alone. Why were "When Tomorrow Comes" and "King and Queen of America" included in favor of "It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back)" and "The Miracle of Love?" Why not include any of the following: "Sexcrime," the stunning "Julia," the quirky "Right By Your Side," the classic "Never Gonna Cry Again," etc.? The video compilation is much superior to this, having a more balanced focus. Also, Eurythmics had so many killer album tracks that could have been included. That's why I've made a personal best of 1981-1984 disc and 1985-1989 disc for myself.

Here's an idea for an updated Eurythmics compilation that is a "best of":

Disc 1:

Never Gonna Cry Again
Belinda
Take Me to Your Heart
The Walk
Love Is a Stranger
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
Jennifer
This City Never Sleeps
Here Comes the Rain Again
Who's That Girl?
Right By Your Side
Cool Blue
Aqua
I Did It Just the Same
Sexcrime [1984]
For the Love of Big Brother
Julia

Disc 2:

Would I Lie to You?
There Must Be an Angel (Playing With My Heart)
Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves
It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back)
Missionary Man
Thorn in My Side
The Miracle of Love
The Last Time
Beethoven (I Love to Listen To)
Shame
You Have Placed a Chill in My Heart
I Need a Man
Don't Ask Me Why
Angel
When the Day Goes Down
17 Again
I Saved the World Today
Peace Is Just a Word

Disc 3: Rarities and Outtakes

Le Sinistre
4/4 in Leather
Monkey, Monkey
Home Is Where the Heart Is
Beautiful Armadillo
Invisible Hands
Satellite of Love
Step on the Beast
Darling Don't Leave Me
Charlie Cat
Baby's Gone Blue
You Take Some Lentils...And You Take Some Rice
Sweet Surprise
Grown Up Girls
Tous Les Garcons Et Les Filles
See No Evil
Rich Girl
Precious
[This message was edited Tue Nov 5 23:47:30 PST 2002 by Moonbeam]

June7 said:

i dunno...im listening to nirvanas greatest hits right now...and the Pharcydes hits on DVD(kinda cheap but cool to have all there vid's on dvd)

ian my friend did you just type all that there... right now >?

Where the hell is Monkey Monkey!?

Christopher said:

his damn wife sold the rights to his journals for like 4 million and made them into a book..I saw it is the Virgin mega store in chicago last night when I was there.

MostBeautifulGrlNTheWorld said:

this is recently? i remember reading in spin i think peices from his journals it was really werid shit he'd write crazy stories he'd make up..but those are the kind of things that are private you know? the kind of thing you wouldnt want anyone to see...boardering on embarrassing and plain weird


.
damn edits
[This message was edited Tue Nov 5 23:47:33 PST 2002 by Christopher]

TRON said:

In there now! I'm a fool! I need the fishslap.

Moonbeam said:

And that new one with that extra disc?
Any good?

gooeythehamster said:

I reviwed it in the "bad hits compilation" section.

It seems like tons of Best Of collections are coming out by my favorite artists:

Bjork- Greatest Hits
Bjork- Family Tree
Nirvana- Nirvana
David Bowie- The Best Of
New Order- Retro
New Order- International
U2- The Best of 1990-2000

A lot of legends seem to have sets out too-

Beatles- #1's
Stones- 40 Licks
Elvis
Elton John
Fleetwood Mac
Stevie Wonder
Judy Garland

some of my other favorites are-

The Smiths- singles
Morrissey- The Best Of
Joy Division- Heart and Soul box
Joy Division- Substance
New Order- Substance
Prince- The Hits/B-Sides
The Cure- Standing on a Beach
U2- The Best of 1980-1990/B-Sides
Smashing Pumpkins- Rotten Apples
Tricky- A Ruff Guide

Christopher said:

yeah I was reading a article about it yeasterday in one of chicago's local entertainment newspapers, and then later that night I was in the virgin meaga store, in downtown, and there were a bunch of people standing around reading it. Talk about invasion of privacy.

MostBeautifulGrlNTheWorld said:

did you see that show on VH1 graveside groupies? with that dude who went to kurts hometown&visited kurts old hang outs and stood in front of his house?...werid

TRON said:

The Trolley Song!

Cling cling cling!

Check out that new compilation with all the best musical songs ever....remastered and all. One of the few 'gay' itmes I gave into....
[This message was edited Wed Nov 6 0:04:44 PST 2002 by gooeythehamster]

Christopher said:

No I did not see it, but I think every singer has weird creepy fans that do stupid stuff like that...take prince and the orgs very own N*T*S*A for example.

MostBeautifulGrlNTheWorld said:

aw naw i love me some NTSA! lol

im down to help her get into PP...2 of americas most wanted...

Christopher said:

I did not want to put the whole name for fear that it might be called flamming...

MostBeautifulGrlNTheWorld said:

naw,

if anything the most we'll get is a "snip" in our comments lol

Christopher said:

One never knows what can come back to bite them in the ass though

David Bowie- Best of Bowie

A good overview of his career, even though there are some strange holes in it. "Starman," "Aladdin Sane," "Oh! You Pretty Things," "Be My Wife," "Beauty and the Beast" and "Boys Keep Swinging" are all essential as well in the first disc. "Black Tie, White Noise," "Strangers When We Meet," "Hallo Spaceboy," "Dead Man Walking," and "Seven" are all great singles not included on the second disc. However, the flow is great. The "Life on Mars?"/"Moonage Daydream"/"Suffragette City" triad is a killer combo. "Cat People" in its original form is a great plus too!

my thoughts exactly!

One of my favorites is Madonna 'The Immaculate Collection'(1990)---Excellent overview of her career up to that point.The songs were remixed in Q-sound and certain songs were featured in different versions than the regular single versions (such as "Like A Prayer").You also had two great new songs including the steamy "Justify My Love".Great liner notes too! It's worth noting that this set didn't contain all the hits like "Angel","Who's That Girl","Causing A Commotion","Dress You Up","Everybody","Oh Father","Keep It Together".Those songs didn't even appear on the follow-up "Greatest Hits Volume 2"(2001),which means that a more extensive compilation (or box set) is inevitable.

I can't choose just one so here's a few of my faves...

MJ - History
Stevie Wonder - At the close of a century
Marvin Gaye - Very best of
Bee Gees - The Record
Led Zeppelin - Remasters
Kate Bush - The Whole Story
Fleetwood Mac - Very best of (tho' the last 3 tracks suck and where is Fireflies?)
Prince - Hits/B sides
The Beatles - 1

David Bowie and Bjork will be added to my collection soon.

Elton John
The Doors

Prince- Hits/B-Sides
Bowie - Changes (LOVE THIS ONE!!)
Madonna - Immaculate Collection and GHV2
NWA - double cd, just can't remember the name of it...
Rolling Stones - 3 cd cant't remember this one either...

Forgot the Beatles and Elvis!! doh!


yayayaya
[This message was edited Wed Nov 6 7:39:41 PST 2002 by CarrieLee]

1 - Beatles
It's a great compilation of all of their songs, first three years of their career, and the last 3 years of their careers.

America - I keep listening to this over and over.

Chicago Greatest Hits #1 - all the great from Colour My World to Feelin' Stranger every day.


I have so many...

Billy Joel "Greatest Hits Vol.1 and 2" 1973-1985

Prince- Hits/B Sides

and

Elvis Costello Best of 1977-1986 (A Rykodisc release)

These were great collections that introduced me to each of these artists. They were fairly comprehensive and powerful. Once I listened to them, I knew I had to go out and get the back catalog for all three of these artists.

Rick James Greatest Hits,Aretha Franklin one on Atlantic Records,Beach Boys Best Of,Bob Marley&The Wailers Legend though was the Greatest Hits Package that truly made me want too go back first&check out the back catelog.and then there are like 999 other Greatest Albums that move me including Earth,Wind&Fire&The Isley Brothers Greatest that are something else same with Al Green,Steely Dan,Johnny "Guitar" Watson Blues Best of from the 60's.Great Thread.Peace