They've been a massive part of the music industry since vinyl was first pressed so what does everyone think of them. An artists most popular tracks gathered into one place. Are they are great place to get aquainted with an artists work and act as a perfect overview or do they dilute the listening experience and are artisticly dubious ? Personally i hate them. I don't think i've ever bought a GH album and if i was given one i'd rather someone give me a studio album of the said artist. I feel as im missing out on something when faced with a GH album. Someone recently borrowed me a Kool and The Gang GH album and i listened to three tracks and craved for a whole studio set. Where do you swing on the GH issue?
[Edited 7/21/05 8:41am]

I like singles compilations. I usually trust them to give me a good introduction to artists I'm unfamiliar with. If I'm really blown away by the comp, then I'll seek out some of the studio albums, but many CDs I have are greatest hits collections because I have no patience for album filler anymore.

Conversely, I'm almost always disappointed with greatest hits collections of artists of whom I already have all the studio albums (like Prince, The Banshees, Janet Jackson). In those cases, important singles always seem to be left off and odd album tracks included instead.

Yay.

Well, I think that with releasing a GH compilation, an artist is really trying to show an impressive body of work they've done over the years, or it can be an artist trying to get out of their recording contract, or it can be that they want to get a new legion of fans. I've brought some GH albums too, only because I wanted to get a little dose of a particular artist's work to see if I liked them. But sometimes people buy the same stuff over and over and over that they already have. Take Michael Jackson for example: he is trying to get out of his contract so he releases a box set, a number ones collection, and even a 2-CD anthology, but the problem is, they has the same stuff you've heard millions of times on their other compilations. It's just scary because instead of an artist releasing a GH album, you ask yourself, why can they release a "contractual obligation" record? I just think with releasing GH albums it's all about an artist making money, or just getting new fans.
[Edited 7/21/05 9:04am]
[Edited 7/21/05 9:04am]

I like GH compilations, they're either great introductions to a larger body of work or they boil down only what one needs from a particular artist.

i think that before the development of Mp3's and the ability to download music from particular artists, it was a great way to become aquainted with music you may not be familur with, today howeever, i become aquainted with new music primarily through itunes, it's not that much of an investment to plunk down 99 cent to see if i want more.

I was thinking about this recently, in fact.

One of the reasons I don't buy many Best Ofs - particularly compilation-type albums (Now That's What I Call... etc) is for the same reason I don't listen to the radio: I like to be in control of my playlist. I can't stand having to fast forward all the time (and I can't be bothered to programme it). But, as a package, I think they can be a great introduction to artists.

But there's one Best Of I come back to time and time again - The Best Of Earth, Wind & Fire.
[Edited 7/21/05 9:24am]

why not?

they serve their purpose. although I tend not to buy them anymore.
I find that I either own everything from artists I care for or in
the past used to buy greatest hits from artists I didn't own any
other stuff by yet. In most cases those GH packages just ended up
gathering dust.

No, there´s no story on a greatest hits album.
And I think it really sucks that Michael Jackson(sony) is putting out so much GH albums lately.

Yeah, I'm not against them. I think they are great if you don't really know an artist or band well and want to start with something you think you might like. I don't usually buy them from artists I really like because I already have all the songs anyway.

I love them as long as the artist actually has "HITS" to put on them and only a few artist have had multiple hits so it's cool - little room for over kill.

It bugs me when all you can get on CD is a fucken Anthology or Hits collection, and labels don't bother to reissue the original albums.


It bugs me when you walk into a store, and all they have is a fucken Greatest Hits, as if it covers all bases.

I've never been very satisfied with greatest hits. Most artists worthy of representing in your music collection should be appreciated album for album and probably have many album tracks or B-sides as good as any hit singles that might make it into a compilation. Does any Sly and the family stone greatest hits package have I Cannot make it or Don't Burn Baby or somebody's watching you or even my personal favorite Let Me Have it all? Does any Jimi Hendrix greatest hits package have 1983 A Merman I should turn to be or Crosstown Traffic? Even stevie's "turn of the century" box set, while including so many great tracks, omitts all kinds of great songs like Tuesday heartbreak, Love Having You Around, Keep On Running, They won't go when I go, Jesus Children of America (despite including EVERY OTHER song from Innervisions).

CinisterCee said:

Say it again:

Record Companies are sitting on a gold mine, if they'd re-issue
and stop "F"ing us with the same ole' shit. Greatest hits are more like greatest misses. Give up the deep cuts!

Both...for example:

Björk "Greatest Hits" -
Prince "The Very Best Of" -
U2 "The Best Of 1980-1990" -
U2 "The Best Of 1990-2000" -
ABBA "Gold" -
Madonna "GHV2" -
Eurythmics "Greatest Hits" -
Michael Jackson "Number Ones" -

mrwigglesdaw1rm said:

THANK YOU! Holla if ya hear me

I hate greatest hits. They often offer no bonus tracks but if they do, then I might buy a comp cheap though.

Jacko got the worst tracklistings for greatest hits. I dont like his more famous stuff.