What are some of the best Greatest Hits collections out there? I think there are some collections out there that are just essential to any music lover's collection, and there are some that just don't do the artists justice.

Even though I'm not a huge fan, I think Madonna's "Immaculate Collection" was one of the best-executed greatest hits collections I've seen. She had "Vogue" with the Dick Tracy tie-in, she had the legendary tour, the packaging was gorgeous, and all the planets seemed to be aligned for it to be a nice, solid release (even though I know fans have their gripes with some of the edits/mixes/etc. on the collection).

Not everything has to be that ambitious, but I think ya get my drift...what comes off as really "capturing" the artists at their best and blending the fan favorites with the mainstream zeitgeist of the artist? Which collections seem to be put together with love and knowledge, as opposed to just slapped together for an easy buck?

So that's what I'm askin'.

I think any good Singles collection works wonders. Greatest Hits and Best Of's can be sketchy, cuz there always seems to be an agenda, either to make some easy money on the part of the label, finish off a contract or push the most recent material to make it seem on par with what's legendary. Singles collections don't have that hang up. They're just a public record or sorts. That's why stuff like Substance by New Order and Staring At The Sea by The Cure work so well.

And a good anthology or 2 disc set is always nice. It seems more in depth and more lovingly put together than your run of the mill greatest hits. Sand in the Vaseline by Talking Heads and The Platinum Collection by Blondie almost give you the impression that they're all you need by those artists to get the full picture.

As spotty and all over the place as The Hits/B-Sides is, I still love it. I think the artwork, inclusion of non-single hits and a full disc of b-sides really makes it a special compilation. They could've easily made it 5 discs, but the conciseness of it made it very successful when Prince needed some success.

You'll be on cloud 9 with this one for Phyllis Hyman. It has all of her best songs and IMO introduces neophytes like me to her work. So far, I'm quite pleased with it.




The damn picture won't show up, but the album I'm talking about is the The Legacy of Phyllis Hyman. It's 5 star material.
[Edited 9/23/04 17:44pm]

Didn't we just have this thread?

VoicesCarry said:

Yes we did. It was 70 posts strong as of yesterday.

what's the thread and how the heck did i miss it?

VoicesCarry said:

I remember that one, and it should be smoewhere in those back pages, but I did'nt respond to that one.

Anxiety said:

http://www.prince.org/msg/8/115390

I donno...on the second page.
[Edited 9/23/04 18:20pm]

UncleGrandpa said:

Thanks for mentioning this album. I will check it out b/c she was one of my favorite vocalists.