Greatest Hits albums?

When a band has a Greatest Hits album out, do you steer clear of those songs, or embrace them?



I like the Greatest Hits because it kind of weeds out the bad ones, but then again there may be a lot of good tracks left out.

Greatest Hits albums?
I think GH albums are a great way to get into a band you're not familiar with, but if I already have everything for a band I like I won't buy it.



And if it has bonus tracks on it I will download them individually.
Reply:I buy them even if I already own enough albums to make my own. I often like the different choices in song order and the artwork / liner notes.
Reply:Im not into greatest hits albums as much as plain recorded albums. I think Every Time I Die should have one. Theyve been together for quite a while...
Reply:As a DJ I HAVE to buy "best of's" to keep within a reasonable budget. It's great when I stumble on them used, but sometimes it can be disappointing NOT getting some of the hits included on them.

Like Ted Nugent's includes neither 'Wango Tango' or "Great White Buffalo.'

Sometimes GREAT songs are overlooked by the public or the producers as well. Like, I cannot find ":Immigration Man" from CSNY anywhere.
Reply:i rly like the KoRn one
Reply:I think they are great for someone who doesn't really want to dig into the albums and find the good songs on there own. The greatest hits albums are more like most popular hits, they usually will leave out some of the best songs by bands simply because they werent made into videos, or played over the radio. If a buyer likes one song by a particular band, then a Greatest Hits CD would be a good buy, but for a true fan in my opinion it would be a waste of money to only buy the songs that you've probably heard numerous times.
Reply:i embrace them
Reply:I like them if I don't have anything from that band. It saves me some money and if I do like the other stuff then I start getting all the albums. My personal favorite is Black Sabbath 2 disk greatist hits.
Reply:it ticks me off when I have to buy a greatest hits disc to get 1 or 2 tunes when I already own the bands entire works
Reply:Well, if it's a group or single artist then I'd embrace a Greatest Hits album/c.d. You get their popular songs and they're not to popular songs.
Reply:I agree--most are great.... but I always have songs that I love that didn't get the airplay %26amp; wasn't popular--I usually buy both--especially if its Clapton!!!!
Reply:If I'm new to a band / artist, and have no song recommendations from people, I use 'Greatest Hits' %26amp; 'Best Of' albums as a starting point. If I like what I hear, I then look at which albums those songs originated on.



My exception was The Rolling Stones '40 Licks', which is the only one of theirs I bothered with, and it's where I compiled my own CD from.
Reply:I'm OK with it, but in general I'm an album listener, and would rather hear the more obscure songs than the hits.

However, I can think of a couple of greatest hits albums that I really enjoy.

Pink Floyd.......Relics, and

James Gang greatest 16.

There of course are many others that I also like, but those two are probably in my top 25 albums that I listen to.

So to make it short, I generally like the regular album better, because they usually follow a certain concept that the artist

wanted, but there are exceptions.
Reply:its a mixed-bag. i generally disapprove but have to admit that tom petty and the heartbreakers and CCR greatest hits rock my casbah
Reply:As said, many bands aren't good enough to merit sinking large amounts of $$$ to collect their whole catalog, and they can be a step into collecting a band more. And some acts simply didn't have some of their songs on proper albums but were just singles (many of the early Who songs were single only).



But the big negative about GH collections is that you hear songs out of context (plus much of the better stuff that isn't as radio friendly get's left off). If I end up buying a whole artists catalog %26amp; the GH collection doesn't offer something that isn't anywhere else (like bonus tracks or improved sound) I look to unload the GH disc and free up the space on my shelf.
Reply:i asked this question a few weeks ago, we must be the same person living in the same world, only cognitively offset by a few weeks

try to steer clear of large groups of cattle, you'll understand why when the time is right

i'll keep you updated on everything else that i feel is important

and also, a few weeks ago i ended up deciding greatest hits albums were useless
Reply:Greatest hits albums usually contain all the overplayed radio tunes so although I may enjoy to listen to the "hits" on occasion, I'd be more apt to listen to other less heard songs of which not as many people talk about. I enjoy finding the hidden gems, so to speak.
Reply:rolling stones
Reply:Depends on the band. Definitely, when it comes to bands of dubious quality (such as Foreigner, whose Greatest Hits I bought recently), there are so few good tracks that even a single CD isn't going to be uniformly good.



But other bands have put out too many good songs to be squeezed into a couple of CDs. For example, the Rolling Stones' "Forty Licks" is a two-CD collection with a lot of worthy tunes, but it hardly represents all of their music. Same goes with Dylan's Greatest Hits, or the Beatles'. In these cases, it's good to start with the Greatest Hits to see if you like the band -- but then move on to individual albums.



Also, many albums need to be heard in their entirety (Pink Floyd's "The Wall" and The Who's "Tommy," for example) and if you chop out a few tracks and stick them onto a Greatest Hits CD, you're missing a lot of the experience.



By the way, a lot of recent bands are releasing their Greatest Hits too early in their careers. Green Day is a good example: their Greatest Hits came out when they were declining in popularity, and completely misses their "comeback" album "American Idiot," which came afterwards. Bands should only release Greatest Hits albums when they feel they're nearing the end of their songwriting careers.
Reply:I think the greatest ablums are great for people that didnt buy the precious albums of a band and it can leave alot of good songs out also
Reply:I am a junkie. I have to have them!!!! Especially if I am trying to keep my discography in tact. I like that some have bonus tracts of un released stuff. I am listening to the Smashing Pumpkins greatest right now.
Reply:It depends on the band. Some artists are strong singles writers but their albums have a lot of filler. For those, a greatest hits might be a better purchase than a slew of mediocre albums. Also, if you have a lot of music in older formats (vinyl and cassette), greatest hits CDs can be an easy way to get some of your favorite songs in every format.



One of my pet peeves is the release of yet another "best of" collection that virtually duplicates an existing greatest hits album, but for the addition of one or two "bonus" tracks. Thankfully downloads make it possible to get the missing tracks without having to purchase the others all over again. (An exception would be remasters that substantially improve sound quality).
Reply:Double edged sword here. Greatest Hits are designed by the record company to essentialy make an artist more accessible in a convenient, moderatly priced, 1 disk package. It is supposed to introduce dilitants to the best of, or most broadly commercial, songs of Artist X. This can lead to a more indepth exploration (and investment) of the artists back calalog and future works by the consumer (just what they're designed to do). Or it can be the end all, be all, extent of said consumers knowledge of Artist X. Greatest hits are dull and predictable in thier track listings, however they serve a purpose and sometimes lead consumers to amazing artistic discoveries. In short the suck and also do some good.
Reply:I like Greatest Hits albums. It gives you a good sense of the history of the band without having to search through the whole catalog. It also gives you a sense of how the bands/artists view themselves. Sometimes, the "Greatest Hits" are just collections the band/artist put together that they feel best represents what they are all about. Granted, these are usually called "Collections" or something similar, but the principle is still the same.