Where a greatest hits album is enough

[Dusty Substance]

The Beautiful South's Carry On Up The Charts comp is pretty much all you need from Heaton & co.

Also, I recently picked up in a chazza Direct Hits by The Killers which is a decent collection of their singles  from the first 12 or so years of their career and better than any of the all filler no killer (no pun) albums.

[phantom_power]

I think the first three Erasure albums and first two Beautiful South ones are solid albums with no real filler.

There are lots of acts who probably need a "Greatest Hits after the first 3-5years" album to mop up the decent stuff after their work suffered the inevitable dip in quality

[sutin]

I looked up Carry On Up The Charts by The Beautiful South when someone mentioned it a while ago, and it turns out it came out before what I thought was their debut single (Rotterdam)!!

[Brundle-Fly]

The Beat.

They only recorded three albums before they split up. (I'm talking about the original lineup here) so ff you like the hits, there are at least ten more album tracks of a similar ilk to enjoy. It's hardly pushing the Beat boat out to explore further.

It's like (the original lineup) of The Specials prolific run of two albums. Why bother with the Singles compilation? Just purchase The Specials and More Specials and have done with it. And get In The Studio and Encore too, since you're in the ska revival section.

[The Culture Bunker]

You can get a double CD compilation of the Beat ('You Just Can't Beat It') which has the vast majority of their three albums on it, bar maybe three of four songs. Loses points for not having non-album single 'Hit It' and it's b-side 'Which Side of the Bed?' on it, but you can pick it up for a couple of quid.

[turnstyle]

Lightning Seeds surely have to be in contention. I've never heard a full album proper of theirs (his?), but they always seemed to me to be mainly a singles-focused band.

[Ham Bap]

For me definitely Queen. Growing up I was into them and used to buy their albums, 15 studio albums they have in total, mostly guff apart from their better known songs.

[Brundle-Fly]

You can get a double CD compilation of the Beat ('You Just Can't Beat It') which has the vast majority of their three albums on it, bar maybe three of four songs. Loses points for not having non-album single 'Hit It' and it's b-side 'Which Side of the Bed?' on it, but you can pick it up for a couple of quid.

Hit It is an odd one. I've played the single that many times as a youth but immediately afterwards forget what it sounded like, as if I'd been brain wiped by the Men In Black as soon as I took the needle off the '45. It's also about masturbation which makes it doubly odd it's so unmemorable for a teenager.

[Dusty Substance]

I looked up Carry On Up The Charts by The Beautiful South when someone mentioned it a while ago, and it turns out it came out before what I thought was their debut single (Rotterdam)!!

Rotterdam was one of about ten songs that played on a continuous loop when I worked in a convenience store for a couple of summers. It was the retail equivalent of Guantanamo Bay.

Just been browsing my record collection and here are few examples of bands and artists where a greatest hits album is enough:

The Shadows - Plenty of decent compilations of The Shads' twangy atmospheric stuff

Visage -  Good stuff on their first two albums but neither are essential. The singles collection is excellent (including a rare extended mix of Fade To Grey)

The Selecter - Again, good stuff on those two early 80s albums but a Best Of is enough

Level 42 -  No good albums but enough decent singles to merit owning a Greatest Hits collection

Everything But The Girl - They came close with Eden and Walking Wounded to having good albums but ultimately a Best Of  that covers their 80s sophistipop and 90s dance eras is all that's needed

Del Amitri -  Enough OK jingly jangly 80s pop to fill a best of, rather than owning any of their lacklustre LPs. They've apparently just released their first album in 20 years.

Engelbert Humperdinck - Call it a "guilty pleasure", but I'm rather fond of Engelbert's soothing and easy vocal style. Take a look in any charity shop vinyl section and you'll see he had fucking loads of albums, none of which are any good, but I've got a nice little CD comp featuring a bunch of 60s/70s tunes (Stevie Wonder, DYlan, Nilsson) covered by the mighty Hump.

EDIT:

Also..... The Wonderstuff - Who needs a bunch of 2/3 star albums when their If The Beatles Had Read Hunter* singles collection is all one would ever need.


Sub-question on this thread - Any other best of/greatest hits album to specifically feature another band's name in the title?

[holyzombiejesus]

What a bizarre and entirely wrong hot take.

Shut up mister telly man.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I think the first three Erasure albums and first two Beautiful South ones are solid albums with no real filler.

There are lots of acts who probably need a "Greatest Hits after the first 3-5years" album to mop up the decent stuff after their work suffered the inevitable dip in quality

I know they can do good albums, although I only have The Innocents, it is decent, but I think I could probably get by fine on POP! alone if that makes sense.

One of my mates used to maintain that not usually bothering with best-ofs was a bit snobby (I think there's some truth there) and that they were good entry points for artists you want to check out, I disagree with the latter half personally and tend to go for debuts as that is generally when a band is at its most ambitious even if they get better later. So am approaching this thread from that sort of postion, and think things like the DM Singles and POP! are exceptions where they really are quite good starting points.

[rue the polywhirl]

Everything But The Girl - They came close with Eden and Walking Wounded to having good albums but ultimately a Best Of  that covers their 80s sophistipop and 90s dance eras is all that's needed

But Language Of Love, Amplified Heart and Walking Wounded are mint! I'd say to be safe, err towards being an EBTG completist. All the comps and Deluxe Editions for me.

[DrGreggles]

I know they can do good albums, although I only have The Innocents, it is decent, but I think I could probably get by fine on POP! alone if that makes sense.

One of my mates used to maintain that not usually bothering with best-ofs was a bit snobby (I think there's some truth there) and that they were good entry points for artists you want to check out, I disagree with the latter half personally and tend to go for debuts as that is generally when a band is at its most ambitious even if they get better later. So am approaching this thread from that sort of postion, and think things like the DM Singles and POP! are exceptions where they really are quite good starting points.

I gave up after Chorus, but Erasure's first 3 albums are really good.
Wild and Chorus less so, but they always chose the singles well.

[Goldentony]

buy all three Beat albums, all three of them, go out of the house now and buy all three Beat albums and dance about to Save It For Later

[Sebastian Cobb]

I guess some of this is situational too? I guess when I dipped my toe into Erasure (or DM) at about 15, when I got Soulseek in the early 2000's their hits were definitely things I'd already passively absorbed, either knowingly or unknowingly, before any sort of kitschy re-appraisal. So it was sort-of established.

I think if you escaped that, which I think people who experienced it at the time, but also, zoomers investigating them without that passive absorbance might change the way they approach it.

I'm using DM/Erasure as examples here but I guess that can apply in general too?

[Sebastian Cobb]

buy all three Beat albums, all three of them, go out of the house now and buy all three Beat albums and dance about to Save It For Later

This is solid advice tbh.

The bouncy nature of ska always makes them seem shorter than the running time. Time flies, etc.

[Butchers Blind]

I got an Eddie Grant Greatest Hits LP for about 8p from the tip

If its in the tip surely it's free.

[Dusty Substance]

But Language Of Love, Amplified Heart and Walking Wounded are mint! I'd say to be safe, err towards being an EBTG completist. All the comps and Deluxe Editions for me.

I'll have a listen to Amplified Heart on your recommendation!

Just looked at the tracklisting and, fuck my hat, Missing's on there - I always assumed that one was on Walking Wounded.

Also, following a conversation with a mate earlier, I've been reminded of George Benson. Plenty of early 70s funk/jazz fusion LPs, most of which have at least one decent track on, but none of which are must haves. His 1981 double album Best Of is great - Even greater if you omit listening to The Greatest Love Of All.

[PaulTMA]

I don't know who did the original version of Stop The Bus I Need A Wee Wee, so I guess them and Scatman John too.  Otherwise I don't find it too much effort to try and listen to stuff that wasn't released as a single in attempt to find stuff that might actually be essential, but folk are lazy bastards so fair fucks either way

[non capisco]

I'll have a listen to Amplified Heart on your recommendation!

Just looked at the tracklisting and, fuck my hat, Missing's on there - I always assumed that one was on Walking Wounded.

The original acosutic-y version, innit. Not the Todd Terry remix that was the hit.

That song mainly reminds me of having a pointless argument that went on far too long with a kid at school who stubbornly insisted it went "And I miss you...like the desert's mystery".

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Shut up mister telly man.

Pwned.

[Jockice]

Since it seems to be Boy George night on BBC4, can I suggest Culture Club? Everything I own (and ever have owned) by them/him is a best of compilation, which has all the tracks you'd expect from the band and a few other tracks from later on.

[timebug]

Not actually marketed as a 'best of' but my Brother in law, who was totally lacking in Beatle knowledge, bought the 'Red' and 'Blue' Beatles albums, and after that, became a self made 'expert' on all things Fab-related! It freaked me when he ever played them, as when one track finished, I found I was mentally expecting to hear 'the NEXT track' from the original album.

[the science eel]

What is it about you lot and Erasure? Is this some sort of weird Erasurebubble where they're sealed off from all the criticisms they get EVERYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD and you stroke their back catalogues and talk without disagreement about how great they were? I think I know the answer.

Odd lot.

[DrGreggles]

Tom Jones

[Dusty Substance]

The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits - More essential than oxygen

Sugababes Overloaded: The Singles Collection - Maybe even more essential

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Tom Jones

Definitely. A few months ago I compiled a Spotify playlist of all the singles he released throughout the '60s and eary '70s, in the hope of mining some undiscovered gems. There aren't any. After deleting all the dross, the playlist had a running time of around 35 minutes.

Still, 35 minutes in the company of a priapic foghorn banging out the likes of She's a Lady and Help Yourself is 35 minutes well spent.

[daf]

I hope you included his best song - "Do You Take This Man" - which flopped in July 1979 - despite being backed by The Blockheads! *

 

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[Tombola]

I think it's safe to assume that Don't Bore Us! Get to the Chorus! is all you really need from Roxette.

[purlieu]

ELO

Yes... and no. In that I like a scattering of ELO tunes and most of them aren't on compilations. I have an early years set called ELO Gold (proper cheapo comp) which is actually more than I want from their first few albums but does a good job. The later compilations never seem to tick many boxes for me, though.

Lightning Seeds surely have to be in contention. I've never heard a full album proper of theirs (his?), but they always seemed to me to be mainly a singles-focused band.

Yes... and no. Both Like You Do and The Very Best of are excellent in their own ways (Like You Do's re-recording of 'Waiting for Today to Happen' a career highlight; The Very Best of featuring Tilt material and a couple of exclusives) and maybe as much Lightning Seeds as a lot of people would want. But as neither includes 'Bound in a Nutshell', 'The Nearly Man', 'Thinking Up Looking Down', 'Small Slice of Heaven', 'Blowing Bubbles', 'Punch & Judy', 'Like You Do', 'Fishes on the Line', 'Cigarettes & Lies', 'Don't Walk On By' or 'I Still Feel the Same', I'd say there's a lot of benefit to checking out the albums.

The Shadows - Plenty of decent compilations of The Shads' twangy atmospheric stuff

Yeah, this is a really good answer. There are occasional deep cuts worth going after ('Stars Fell on Stockton', 'The Boys', 'Lost City', some of their oddly atmospheric early '70s cover versions - their version of The Carpenters' 'Superstar' is wonderfully eerie), but generally 20 Golden Greats is a superb and very consistent collection; even the expanded 50 Golden Greats version goes deeper than most will ever need.