ryst Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 I know a lot of people think that greatest hits albums suck but for someone like me who is rediscovering music I never paid that much attention to before it's a good intro back into their music. Then I can buy the records individually. Toto, Styx, Yes....I have never really gotten into them that much and I heard some recent greatest hits records from them and I am liking them more and will be buying their real records soon. When I was younger I never really paid attention to the musicianship as much. Maybe I just took it for granted. But with all the music out today that's dominated by digital recording and loops, it's a bresh of fresh air to hear some kick ass musicians even though it's 20-30 years old! www.myspace.com/apocrypha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phait Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 I think it was The Doors double CD set, greatest hits... I liked it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Base Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 I don't think they suck, but will agree they are usually just a nice intro into the more famous songs by any given artist. I have several that I got into the artist that way, Tom Petty, Thin Lizzy, T-Rex, Toto, and a few of thos I already have more of (Queen, Rolling Stones, The Doors), I just picked up the greatest hits cheap for the car. Latest is The Who:Then and Now I bought a couple of weeks ago. Can't believe I haven't listened to more of them in the past, I will be buying more!!! Any recommendations, should I buy Tommy or Quadrophenia next??? Fa Fa FA Fa fa fa fa fa FA fa FA FA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh dri Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 I think they "suck" for the most part in that they are a golden handshake for the band and a chance for the label to rake some more revenue. I always laugh when i see a Greatest Hits come out after only two releases... On the other hand i relied on these for a while when i was trying to find an angle on the scarily broad genres of "Funk" and "Soul" and "Jazz" as a young teen. I cherished a Curtis Mayfield greatest hits compilation that was compiled by some generic company that must have had a few hours to spend getting permissions/licenses... I dont like remastered Greatest Hits at all... never.. nope... full stop... my interest in certain genres is part and parcel with the sound of that era. Ive heard a remastered compilation of Carmen McRae material that sickened me... i mean i LOVE the Verve Remixes project but whoever attempted to "Re-Master" these Carmen classics was a ham fisted oaf or at least did so at the express urge of a naive project manager. You just cant get away with sticking bebop jazz though an L2 and letting it clip, killing dynamics, skewing the stereo image etc... ToTo... they did that africa song didnt they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Base Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 Originally posted by teh dri: ToTo... they did that africa song didnt they? teh dri, do I work with you??? (I get that exact comment everytime someone see's my Toto mousemat, tch, philistine (kidding)) Fa Fa FA Fa fa fa fa fa FA fa FA FA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Keelan Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 Originally posted by Base: should I buy Tommy or Quadrophenia next??? Yes! And also Who's Next & Live at Leeds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 My favorite Who album is "Who's Next"...although I like quite a few of them. If someone wanted to dive into The Who uninitiated, I'd suggest that as being sort of a starting point. Not to say I don't like their earlier stuff, or some of their later stuff...for me though, that album sort of epitomized the band at their absolute peak, even though some of the tunes were overplayed on the radio, there are still a lot of not-as-overplayed gems there. "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Knight Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 Greatest Hits are good from artist's that may have had spotty output but have made great music through the years. It's a drag to get an album from the early 70's, for instance, that just isn't very good, with the exception of the signature track. Good canidates for best of CD's... Humble Pie War Solo Joe Walsh Staple Singers Mott The Hoople Bill Withers All of the above have made great music but I wouldn't want to sit through some of their filler from past eras. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFunkman Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 Greatest Hits packages are okay for bands I am not very familiar with. But I avoid them with artists I like, because I NEVER agree with the choices of what tunes are "the best." And in my book, "the best sellers" rarely equal "the best music." "If more of us valued food, cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." - J. R. R. Tolkien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russrags Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 If I were an Artist .. I would not want to release a Greatest Hits package as I feel that would really hurt my catalog of work. In Nashville, it's just manditory about every 3rd record it seems !@#$%^& A James Brown Greatest Hit's CD goes over really good at a party ... and a Stevie Ray Vaughn is a must. I just saw a David Bowie G.H. and think I'll pick that up. I picked up a Michael McDonald Greatest Hit's for about $8 and was blown away at how much better MY music sounds than ANYTHING on his G.H. with the biggest Producers and budgets of the time. Hard to believe but true. Most of the time I have all the CDs anyway and have made my own greatest hits long before the officially come out. Like Jonny Lang .. yea !! If your brand new to YES, and have their greatest hits, go ahead and pick up "Close To The Edge", "90125" & "Big Generator." There's more great old stuff, but these are top shelf. Have fun. Russ http://home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-russragsdale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phait Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 Uh-Oh, Lee Knight has 666 posts! Everyone hold hands! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihategarybettman Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 I second Lee Knight's assertion that there are a lot of groups/artists who may have released albums with only a handful of truly stellar tracks on each; for them, "best of" albums are the way to go. Also, most acts before 1965 focused on singles, not albums, so for performers like Little Richard, not to mention even earlier acts, you almost have no choice other than greatest hits collections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Knight Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 I just got back from a parallel universe! I saw the evil Spock there. It must have been that Post #666. Whew... what a weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenElevenShadows Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 Re: The Who Most people I've met seem to like "Who's Next" the most, followed by "Tommy". For whatever reason, I actually like "Quadrophenia" the most, but love the other two as well. Maybe because "Quadrophenia" was the first Who album I ever got (even though it was maybe ten years after it was originally released), and it still has that certain magic for me. Ken Lee Photography - photos and books Eleven Shadows ambient music The Mercury Seven-cool spacey music Linktree to various sites Instagram Nightaxians Video Podcast Eleven Shadows website Ken Lee Photography Pinterest Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantasticsound Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 Even some favorite bands of mine have produced a lot of schlock between good cuts on their individual albums, so I'm defintiely with Lee Knight and ihategarybettman. Greatest Hits albums may not be your cup of tea for groups whose albums are great from beginning to end, but those artists, IME, are few and far between. I grew up loving Elton Johns's, Wings', Queen's, Heart's and several other GH albums. Some of these artists I later gained a respect for their other work. Others, I'm glad I saved myself from spending 4 or 5 times the cost for the same music. Let's not forget that this was also the era before CD's. Nothing so annoying as to fast forward or rewind cassettes in search of the one or two good songs on an album. And vinyl wasn't much better. Play a song. Lift the stylus. Try and find space between songs. Oops! Wrong song. All these grooves look alike! You get the picture, right? It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman Soundclick fntstcsnd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
force Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 I thank the good lord above for Greatest Hits albums everytime i pop my copy of Slim Whitman's Greatest Hits on the old turntable! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh dri Posted May 11, 2005 Share Posted May 11, 2005 Originally posted by Base: Originally posted by teh dri: ToTo... they did that africa song didnt they? teh dri, do I work with you??? (I get that exact comment everytime someone see's my Toto mousemat, tch, philistine (kidding)) mousepad! hahaha fanboy and no we dont work together, unless youre that person who keeps asking me "if youre not a dj, and youre not a rock band, what do you do up there?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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