I love that Marshall Crenshaw comp, just one great song after another. The Joe Jackson has a great collection of material, but I think it sounds awful. Thin and tinny with all highs.
Only ten songs? There must be many classics M I.A.. And please tell me 'My Ding-a-Ling' isn't one of the ten.
Chicago : Chicago IX - Greatest HIts (1975) The true greatest hits compilation album of the original Chicago lineup. Columbia PC 33900
It’s the 11th track, and I pretend it’s not there. Anyway, IMHO the Berry catalogue is essentially a lot of repetition and filler based around a core of genius. This isn’t my only Berry album, but I rarely feel the need to listen to anything else.
Johnny Mathis has several compilations that are good, The Temptations Anthology[1973]is very nice as are The Chi-lites vols[1-2].
I don’t know if it’s an accurate reflection, or anything like that, but Neil Young’s Greatest Hits is a tremendous compilation.
Even though I worship Uriah Heep and each album is a blessing to me, I still have enough sense to know that Mercury Records realllllly nailed it on this "Best of...". When it comes to Uriah Heep this is like a combination buffet/drive-thru.
That was the first one that came to mind. I tend to avoid greatest hits packages, but my favorite non-"complete" compilation is Dylan's Biograph. I haven't done vinyl in years, but I love all of those album sides.
I guess it depends on perspective. No band I love can possibly be summed up in a "Best Of"... Greatest Hits is a different kettle of fish, because it essentially means the highest charting songs, which is an objective exercise... I can say, for me, bands like The Hollies, Smokie, Dr Hook, off the top of my head, can be summed up in a good 15-20 song compilation, but I'm sure big fans of those bands would disagree
Love the Hendrix Smash Hits. In other countries, the song list changed. They inserted "Laughing Sam's Dice" & " Highway Chile" . Both songs were non album B-Sides and Highway Chile is near classic Hendrix.
It showed what little singles band they were during the Sixties. I've got that on British imports for 15.00. Back in 2015, before record companies realized they could sell reissues . Then the prices started going back up.
The Animals - The Best Of The Animals The Kinks - The Kink Kronikles Buffalo Springfield - Retrospective: The Best of Buffalo Springfield Aretha Franklin - Aretha's Gold* The Beach Boys - Endless Summer* The Beatles - Past Masters Bill Withers - Bill Withers Greatest Hits* Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits* Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. 2* Bob Marley and The Wailers - Legend Buddy Holly - From The Original Master Tapes Creedence Clearwater Revival - Chronicle* Daryl Hall & John Oates - Rock N Soul Part 1* David Bowie - ChangesBowie* David Bowie - ChangesOneBowie David Bowie - All Saints (Collected Instrumentals 1977-1999) Donovan - Catch The Wind (this is a collection although there is a proper album release of the same name)• Donovan - Colours* Donovan - Donovan Greatest Hits Donovan - Storyteller* Duane Allman - Anthology Elvis Presley - 24 Karat Hits!* Gillian Welch - Boots No. 2 The Lost Songs: Vol 1, 2 & 3 The J.B.'s - Pass The Peas: The Best of The J.B.'s Jethro Tull - Living In The Past* Linda Ronstadt - Greatest Hits* Matthews Southern Comfort - Best Of Patsy Cline - Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits* Rich Mullins - Songs (my only pure Christian album but I so admire the songs) The Rolling Stones - Big Hits (High Tide And Green Grass)* The Rolling Stones - Hot Rocks (1964-1971)* Rory Gallagher - Blues Roy Orbison - The All Time Greatest Hits Of Roy Orbison* Sam Cooke - The Best Of Sam Cooke* Santana - The Best Instrumentals Sly & The Family Stone - Sly & The Family Stone Greatest Hits* Tom Waits - Orphans The Who - Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy The Zombies - Greatest Hits* It is interesting that for years I have somewhat "argued with myself" that I am not a Greatest Hits or Best Of fan. Yet, look at the list above. That is a pretty good number of solid albums. Those with an * indicate they are audiophile releases either as Gold CDs or SACDs. The Donovan releases were mastered by DCC and distributed on other labels. I have ignored and not included any Blues and Jazz titles as the range of titles that are compilations in various forms is just too large to cover, at least for me...
Already posted a bunch of great ones, but forgot to list one of my absolute favorites: Smudge- This Smudge is Truee What a fantastic band!
Not at all comprehensive (and maybe outside the scope of this topic), but the compilation that supersedes VU and Another View for me. The Velvet Underground - 1969
Dan Fogelberg's Greatest Hits from 1982 literally ALL of his biggest hits in one place, 10 songs in all. Anthology of Bread or Best of Bread The Best of Three Dog Night Harry Chapin-Gold Medal Collection
Buzzcocks' Singles Going Steady-the Domino remaster sounds awesome. Roxy Music-Greatest Hits is a good overview of their singles and a couple of album tracks up to Country Life. Also Roxy Music-The Early Years. 10CC-Greatest Hits 1972-1977-Has it all. The closing I'm Not In Love sounds better than the original cut on The Original Soundtrack. Those are three I play frequently, and I have other albums by all three bands.
Not all of these are definitive, but they make for great listening Chuck Berry-The Great Twenty-Eight Chuck Berry-The Anthology Rolling Stones-Through the Past Darkly Rolling Stones-Forty Licks The Who-Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy T. Rex-Bolan Boogie David Bowie-Changesonebowie Slade-Sladest Alice Cooper-Greatest Hits
A "sampler" rather than a "best of" one band or artist, the Vertigo Annual 1970 is a gateway to a lot of tracks, known and largely unknown, the latter from bands whose records on original Swirl label now command big money. I recommend the UK version of this 2LP set for a couple reasons- it sounds good, has some killer tracks and will expose you to bands and albums that might make you break down and hunt for the complete albums from certain artists, albeit at a price. The price of this sampler is a fraction of the cost of most of the complete albums on Swirl. Have fun.
Most of my favorite Best of or Greatest Hits were 70's albums. As I got older, I tended to buy the artists full albums so I usually had most of their best stuff anyway. Here are a few of my favorites. Won't list a few of the hugely popular ones already listed. Nazareth - "Hot Tracks" Loved this band when I was 15. Growing up in my home with no cursing allowed, I could not believe hearing Hair Of The Dog my first time. The Baby's - "Anthology" Joe Cocker - "Greatest Hits" Electric Light Orchestra - "Ole' ELO Maybe not essentially a best of, as it was originally a promotional album, but it sure seemed like some great stuff to me. The Grass Roots - "Their 16 Greatest Hits" The Guess Who - "The Best Of The Guess Who" The Hollies - "Greatest Hits" Loggins & Messina - "Best Of Friends" Raspberries - "Raspberries' Best - Featuring Eric Carmen
