Greatest Hits collections that have stood the test of time

Try putting this one together with the original mixes. I had forgotten how George Martin changed their big early hits.

 

The Best of The Spinners [from their Atlantic label catalogue].

 

Rolled Gold - every time, I think Hot Rocks both suck!

Doesn't the Eagles one omit Hotel California?

Greatest Hits are really for singles bands and they don't come
much better than

 

That's a good one, though the 2-LP "Snap!" was better since it had more songs.

Still, "Compact" is a nice set. Took me years to find a first pressing CD - and then I found both Japan and WG CDs in the same store. Of course, I had to buy both!

 

The Immaculate Collection.

 

The Ten Years After Anthology is the best available compilation in their catalog but if I remember correctly it does not contain any cuts from their last 2 studio albums.

 

My first Hendrix album bought at Tower Records in Seattle.

 

Gene Pitney - such a great collection.

 

Ramones Mania - a near perfect package for the casual fan. I would've subbed "Time Bomb" for "Warthog", but that's just me.

 

"Carpenters - The Singles 1969-1973
Yes, but how is this a Greatest Hits? Aren't many of these remixes or rerecords?

If so they're not the hit mixes, so all bets are off."

I believe most of the tracks on the album are in their original versions. I think I remember reading that Karen re-recorded her vocals on the version of "Ticket To Ride" that appears on the album. I don't think it's the same version as the 1969 original. Plus, the version of "We've Only Just Begun" found on that album starts off strangely with the opening instrumental track of "Close To You" and then eventually segues into the regular version of "..Just Begun". "Top Of The World" on the album also has re-recorded vocals, but it is the same version that was released a single and became a hit. The original version from their "A Song For You" album wasn't the hit version. I *think* all the other tracks are the originals.

It should be noted that there is also a companion Carpenters comp called "The Singles 1974-1978" which is also very good but I believe was only available as an Import. You can probably find it used on Amazon for cheap.

 

For over 20 years, Air Supply's Greatest Hits album was one of my all-time favorites. I played the cassette over and over again when it first came out in the 80's. I always thought it was strange that it only contained 9 songs. It could have included their two minor hits from the era, "Young Love" and "Two Less Lonely People In The World", but for whatever reasons, they were left off. Then, in 2007, Sony released "The Best Of Air Supply: Ones That You Love" and those exclusions were rectified as well as including the handful of chart hits (although minor) they had after the original "Greatest Hits" album came out. "Ones That You Love" is now my go-to album for Air Supply.

Same thing with America: Loved their "History: Greatest Hits" album for years, but when "Complete Greatest Hits" came out in 2001, that's all the America I needed.

There's a bunch of artists whose original "Greatest Hits" albums were ones I played over and over again until more complete collections came out: Anne Murray, Gordon Lightfoot, Steve Miller, Sheena Easton, Olivia Newton-John, James Taylor, Doobie Brothers, Captain & Tenille, Tina Turner and many others. But sometimes for sentimental reasons, I'll still listen to their original Greatest Hits albums. Some of them do stand the test of time, even if they're not always complete.

By the way, I totally agree with the posters who mentioned Elton John's original Greatest Hits V.1 and 2 albums. There is also a long out-of-print Vol.3 collection of his hits from 1979-1987 (released on Geffen, I believe) that covers most of his 80's hits pretty well. I'm surprised there was never a fourth volume of his hits covering the late 80's into the early 00's.

 

These are the original hit versions. The only differences (other than Red Rhodes' steel guitar track on the album version of "Top of the World" being replaced by Buddy Emmons' more prominent one for the single version included here) are a "Close to You" intro that segues into "We've Only Just Begun" and an oboe segue that links "Rainy Days and Mondays" to "Goodbye to Love." Even if they were re-recordings, why would that disqualify the album if the hit songs were there? I've heard hits compilations by both Don Gibson and Johnny Rivers that consisted of re-recordings of their hits, but they're good re-recordings and stick pretty closely to the original arrangements.

 

Story - The 4 Seasons
All-Time Greatest Hits - Roy Orbison
10 Years Together - Peter, Paul and Mary
The Man and His Music - Sam Cooke
The Best of Dark Horse - George Harrison
40 Greatest Hits - Hank Williams
The Vintage Collection - Wanda Jackson
Golden Hits - Roger Miller
(Some of these are out of print, superseded by other compilations, but these have all stood the test of time with me.)

 

Doobie Brothers greatest hits was our dinner record this evening...Funny watching my kids grooving while eating their lasagne ...

 

Lulu ~From Crayons to Perfume. Flawless multi label comp on Rhino.

 

Actually, no. I like the collection a lot myself, but it is specifically NOT a hits collection. 13, the collected singles, came out in 1970. Weird Scenes, with no overlap,
was clearly intended to compliment it. it came out two years later in 72 as I recall. It is sort of a best-of-the-rest. So not only was it not first, it was not
a best-of or greatest-hits collection at all. all that said, it is certainly one of the best best-of-the-rest collections ever made. One of the few that I've ever recommended to
anybody.

 

Re-read what i postED:

It was the 1st after Morrison left for Paris & beyond.

So, actually yes.

Since too many "Greatest Hits" releases have not had "Greatest Hits" on em [IMO], i don't know what the legalese of the term "GH" is or isn't.
Do you have the definitive definition of what constitutes a "GH" release?
[like Jimi's "Smash Hits" has B-Sides on it & many "GH" have a "live" track instead of the hit studio track/therefore would not be a "GH" package under your specific guidelines]

When you recommend it, do you actually tell them: "it is sort of a best-of-the-rest... it was not a best-of or greatest-hits collection at all"???

 

I'm not sure that was actually meant as a question, but I'll answer it. If someone has an actual singles/hits collection and want to know where to go next,
I send them to this. a perfect complement to what they already have. If a term like "Greatest Hits" has no meaning at this point, as you claim, then why use it
except to confuse matters? (that's rhetorical)

 

"i" claim?
Where do i claim "a term like "Greatest Hits" has no meaning at this point"??

"i don't know what the legalese of the term "GH" is or isn't."
Is a fact for my little mind; so i just go w/if the title of the album is "Greatest Hits" than its a "Greatest Hits" album; even tho i may not agree w/all the tracks being "GH".
Not that the term has no meaning, only that seemingly we both have a prob w/all compilation albums truly being "Greatest Hits" collections or not.
["WSITG" does contain "hits" & it was a "Top 100" hit as well]

"Was actually meant as a question".
[not "rhetorical"]

 

Then the answer is "sure", a literal one. Let's say an artist has had four top ten hits and a few more top forty charters. Well, then those need to be there.
Now if that makes up only one side of the album, it's understood by anyone that the album needs to be filled out, preferably with less-well-selling singles and or b-sides.
But the biggest sellers need to be there. Maybe an artist only has had four top-forty singles. Fine. Fill out the album as you like, but those four need to be there.
Otherwise the term is meaningless at best and fraudulent at words. Weird Scenes has no hits on it at all (b-sides are, by definition not hits. The buyer usually has not
even heard it when he buys the single. He is buying it for the a, which got radio play and which he has heard (I'm talking about the era in question, the sixties/seventies). If the single was a hit, it was a hit because of he a. I'm speaking generally, of course. There were singles that got radio play on both sides, such as Beach Boys singles, but this was anomalous. I think the titles of said collection was great. Not "greatest Hits" which would have been a fraud. Not "Best of" since it is no one's idea of their very best,
as it ignores the singles. Just .......... Weird Scenes..... It is what it is. Me? I love it. A "hits" collection? A best-of? Please.

 

Have I seen Fleetwood Macs "Greatest Hits" (the green one) mentioned here??

 

Except for side four, the last four songs make The Beatles sound like a soft-pop group with choirs, strings and songs about octopuses...