Inadvertent Masterpieces: Compilations that are brilliant in their own right.

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by BroJB, Sep 13, 2019.

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  1. BroJB

    BroJB Large Marge sent me. Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Orleans
    When people make Best Album Ever kinds of lists, it's common practice to ignore Greatest Hits albums.

    Which makes a lot of sense, except:
    there are a handful of compilation albums that deserve assessment of their own artistic greatness, whether because of unusual selections, the uniqueness of the material, sequencing etc.

    They're rare, but they exist.

    I'll start with 3 compilations that's I consider to be among the greatest rock records of all time.

    Kinks Kronikles
    Elvis Costello - Taking Liberties
    Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady

    more?.....
     
  2. Tom34772

    Tom34772 Forum Resident

    Location:
    St. Cloud FL
    Squeeze - Singles 45's And Under
     
  3. BroJB

    BroJB Large Marge sent me. Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Orleans
    Excellent choice. Exactly right.
     
  4. breakingglass

    breakingglass Forum Resident

    Location:
    Atlanta
    Bob Marley - Legend
    Peter Gabriel - Shaking the Tree
    CCR - Chronicle
    The Cure - Staring at the Sea

    as the CD era kicked in, these did a great job of telling a tale about the artist
     
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  5. Sneaky Pete

    Sneaky Pete Flat the 5 and That’s No Jive

    Location:
    NYC USA
    Al Greens Greatest Hits Vol.I
     
  6. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
  7. BroJB

    BroJB Large Marge sent me. Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Orleans
    And, in honor of your avatar, how about ChangesOneBowie?

    It's one of those records that everyone you knew had, and it did such a brilliant job of presenting him that it really defined him for a generation of fans.
     
  8. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    My Dad gave me a tape of this when I was nine. Even though it's missing some obvious classics, it's still my favourite Bowie compilation.
     
  9. BroJB

    BroJB Large Marge sent me. Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Orleans
    I'm listening to Elvis Costello's Taking Liberties right now, and this largely forgotten collection of B Sides, demos and other floatsam is *hands down* better than anything he's done in 30 years.

    The snappy brilliance just keeps coming at you. it's really an astonishing thing.
     
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  10. DonnieT

    DonnieT Forum Resident

    Location:
    Atlanta
    I really like Chalon Road by the Turtles. It's my favorite LP by the band. It compiles the stray non album tracks from their psychedelic period. And Relics is my fave Pink Floyd album.
     
  11. blaken123

    blaken123 Your Greater Tri-County CD Superstore

    Location:
    Lexington, KY
    Cocteau Twins - The Pink Opaque

    It's their best album, and they've got a lot of good albums.
     
  12. Chemguy

    Chemguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Western Canada
    Biograph, Bob Dylan
    Pure Dylan, Bob Dylan

    These are inspired comps!
     
  13. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    The unusual thing with Singles Going Steady is it that it's not inventively sequenced. All the A sides chronological, then the same with the B-sides, but it flows as an album incredibly well.

    Adding the later singles on the remaster ruins it's flow as an album and makes it too long, as good as those singles are.
     
  14. BroJB

    BroJB Large Marge sent me. Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Orleans

    that's why it's so important. Like Marley's Legend, it was often the only record of the artist a casual fan may have.

    It's what dads and moms bought their kids to turn onto a favorite artist.

    These sorts of comps often defined the artist forever in the mainstream. When a record like that does its job perfectly, it can lift an artist to iconic status.
     
  15. The Who -Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy
     
  16. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    I rate Masterpieces too. Even though I have the Complete Album Collection box, it's still a keeper for including Rita Mae, which the box unfathomably left out, along with a couple of other tracks available on Masterpieces.
     
  17. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    Yes! One of the best.
     
  18. Chemguy

    Chemguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Western Canada
    Yes, and George Jackson!
     
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  19. BroJB

    BroJB Large Marge sent me. Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Orleans
    And there multiple comps since, like Operator's Manual, that cover a wider range of great material. And I like them, but I always come back to Singles.

    It's kind of its own thing.
     
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  20. Hiraeth

    Hiraeth Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto
    Julian Cope's brilliant compilation Fire Escape in the Sky: The Godlike Genius of Scott Walker, pretty much kicked off the Scott revival/rediscovery in the early 80s.

    [​IMG]
     
  21. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    My Dad isn't much of a Bowie fan, possibly why he gave me it! But it started me off with one of my favourite artists. I loved Diamond Dogs. It sounded so strange, even otherworldly. It still does!
     
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  22. ALAN SICHERMAN

    ALAN SICHERMAN Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, NY

    Location:
    Cleveland, OH
    This is various artists by it's a wonderful collection:

    [​IMG]
     
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  23. jbmcb

    jbmcb Forum Resident

    Location:
    Troy, MI, USA
    Professor Longhair - New Orleans Piano
     
  24. leeroy jenkins

    leeroy jenkins Forum Resident

    Location:
    The United States
    Wings Greatest - Like The Beatles, McCartney didn't always put his singles on his albums. Wings Greatest has 5 of those non LP singles mixed with his other 70's hits. It was a very welcome addition to my record collection back in 1978. People complain that it is missing Listen to What the Man Said, but any one of those 5 singles would have been a much bigger omission.
     
  25. BroJB

    BroJB Large Marge sent me. Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Orleans
    CCR Chronicle.

    Lots of folks only own one CCR LP - this one - and you can argue they don't really need to dig deeper into ccr's catalog to understand their brilliance. It's all in Chronicle
     
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