What`s your favourite band/singer best of?

10cc Greatest Hits 1972-1978 = all 12 UK hits in that period, and all of the UK top 40 hits they ever had. No filler. No duds. No useless live tracks. A greatest hits compilation that lives up to its title.

 

Beatles - 1967-1970
Neil Young - Decade
Traffic - Smiling Phases
Motörhead - No Remorse

 

I used to have best of`s of The Four Tops & The Temptations which vanished in the mists of time. I do have Motown Chart Busters Vol. 1-10, not on vinyl unfortunately, great label compilations.

 

The Essential Sly and the Family Stone is a perfect collection. Before it came out, I loved the Greatest Hits album. I do like Sly's albums, but having his greatest tracks all together really works well.

 

Described by Dave Marsh in the 1979 Rolling Stone Record Guide as "one of the finest rock-and-roll collections ever assembled", and I couldn't agree more. The early Rolling Stones of 1963-65 are terrific, and while I like the first five albums individually (the U.S. versions, which include the singles), I think "Big Hits" covers the best material perfectly. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes rock-and-roll, R&B, or blues music.

 

One can argue this is a 'Best of'

The Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady

 

This one was my favorite, back in the day:

 

Although no best of is perfect, this contains all original recordings by Merle in his prime vocals. Due to legal issues for years on CD you could only get sub par rerecordings by Merle. This is the CD that made me buy the Down Every Road box set and a few other original recording Haggard discs.

 

B.B. King, "Best of B.B. King", from 1973--the one with the light blue cover, and a portrait of B.B. King in the middle of it that doesn't really look like him. It's not career-spanning, covering only his recording career on ABC Records in the late '60s and early '70s, but that's a fantastic stretch. I think it's a great underexploited resource for people who like blues-influenced rock music because it's clear to me that B.B. King was serious about engaging rock music at the time, and the records have rock influences and rock musicians all over them. The individual records from that period are great (especially "Indianola Mississippi Seeds" and "B.B. King in London") but the compilation is compact and covers a lot of material well. It's out of print, but it looks like the budget CD "Why I Sing the Blues" (which I haven't heard) covers a lot of the same material.

I have a compilation that covers the early hits called "The Original Sweet Sixteen", on the Kent label, that I really like, too.

 

I like that, too--an overview that could be listened to in one reasonably short listen, one that you don't have to plan around to hear in full. (Like the two I posted above above, the Rolling Stones' "Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass)", and B.B. King's 1973 "Best of B.B. King".) I seem to really like ones that cover a relatively short (but fruitful) period of an artist's career and pick out the best parts.

 

The Original Singles Collection, although technically a box set due to a third disc, is around the same price and still in print. The additional material spread out on 3 CDs is well worth it.

 

Yes, I'm a big fan of Nelson's entire career, particularly those New Wave years.

 

Skeletons from the Closet is a nice one.
Gord's Gold.
Cat Stevens Greatest Hits.

 

I was going to say The Best Of The Animals until I saw someone had posted the Kink Kronikles. I have to go with The Kinks.

 

'Wouldn't You Miss Me' by Syd Barrett. There's not a thing I would change. All relevant tracks from his two solo albums (avoiding the more painful ones), the best tracks from rarities collection 'Opel', a track from his Peel Sessions EP and even the previously unheard 'Bob Dylan Blues'. A perfect compilation.

Also highly entertaining is Robert Wyatt's 'Going Back a Bit' double CD on Virgin. The sheer musical diversity still baffles me.

 

This was also in a recent thread on the worst compilations!

 

In terms of sheer bang for the buck, my #1 choice is this here beautiful monster:



32 stupendous tracks for about $7.00 used (incl. shipping).

 

This thread which I started is costing me a fortune!

 

David Bowie - ChangesOneBowie
America - History
The Beach Boys - 20 Golden Greats
Jim Croce - Time in a Bottle
Bread - Sound of Bread
Elvis Costello - The Best of EC & The Attractions (1985)
CSN&Y - So Far

 

I didn't see that. Not sure what's not to like -- I love it! Nice Ron Wood artwork too!

But here's one that I also love that I'm reasonably sure did not make the worst compilation thread:

 

This one takes you through Nomadness, on 2 disks.