Best Of the Best Ofs

[Ray de Galles]

Ah, another vote here for 'Singles Going Steady', good call.

[Sits]

Add The Best of OMD to the CD rack.

[Stumpy Pepys]

No mention of The Eagles?

I put this forward because Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 is now the best selling LP ever, overtaking Thriller in 2018.

[ursus arctos]

Counting ten downloads of singles as one album sale strikes me as the kind of methodology that only a label could love.

[danielmak]

Because I was cursed with some kind of drive toward completism, I'm really not a fan of Best Ofs. If I have any Best Ofs in my collection of CDs or LPs then that's (A) a product of receiving the album for free or (B) that the Best Of is really the only option. So I don't know if Singles Going Steady (which is an amazing album) is really a Best Of; it's a collection of singles (and unreleased tracks?--at least in the US) that have been complied. The record isn't a Best Of like Operator's Manual.

From an economic standpoint, I'm also not a fan of these contract fulfillment albums featuring one new song (again, completist problem is my own). Of course, now that problem is solved by purchasing a single song or using a recording program to simply record the song from a stream.

[Patrick Thistle]

I wouldn't recommend Counting Crows best of from a few years ago as it doesn't include the song from Shrek 2 and only covers their first four albums, two of which are tedious. They've done better stuff since.

Whales & Dolphins by Terrorvision is alright but blots is copybook by having the hit remix version of Tequila instead of the original album version.

The Garbage best of is pretty good but nothing they released afterwards matched the dark glory of their first album.

Direct Hits by The Killers also suffers by not being their first album. Plus it's one of those best ofs, like Counting Crows, put out a few albums onto their career so misses some good, later stuff.

The Best of the Doobie Brothers is great, as is the Best of Dr Hook. They are probably the only records you'd need for either band.

[Jah Womble]

I always felt that Garbage's 'best of' should've been called The Collection.

Agree entirely that it's all about the debut album.

[Ray de Galles]

I wouldn't recommend Counting Crows.

Fixed that for you.

[Jah Womble]

It was all I could do not to go there.

[Kevin S]

Crows - carrion crows at least - tend to be fairly solitary, so it doesn't take long to count them.

Counting Rooks, though, that's a different matter entirely.

[Patrick Thistle]

Fixed that for you.

If you ever meet Mrs Thistle, keep this opinion to yourself.

[Patrick Thistle]

I always felt that Garbage's 'best of' should've been called The Collection.

Agree entirely that it's all about the debut album.

There are some good tracks on Version 2.0, although the gig experience on the 20 year tour compared to the experience on the 20 year tour of Garbage showed it wasn't that good an album. Lets be honest it was all a bit downhill after Only Happy When it Rains.

There are a couple of later singles that are worth a listen. I don't think I've ever managed to sit through the albums released after 2012. (I didn't even know they'd released any until they played one of the songs on the 2015 anniversary tour.)

[steveeeeeeeee]

The 2 that immediately spring to mind, because I've played them to death and prefer them to any original album by either artist:
The Very Best of The Byrds.
Way to Blue - An Introduction to Nick Drake

[Hot Pepsi]

I'm going to give Substance a spin ahead of going to see New Order on Thursday.

Very important CD for me. Bought it at Newbury Comics on Newbury St in Boston in 1996, I think.

[Jah Womble]

There are some good tracks on Version 2.0, although the gig experience on the 20 year tour compared to the experience on the 20 year tour of Garbage showed it wasn't that good an album. Lets be honest it was all a bit downhill after Only Happy When it Rains.

Yep, one of the many great singles from a splendid year for music (1995). But pretty much all of the singles from that album were spot-on: Vow, OHWIR, Queer, Stupid Girl - only Milk was a bit meh in comparison.

Version 2.0 had some okay moments, but didn't come close to touching that bristling debut.

[Patrick Thistle]

Very important CD for me. Bought it at Newbury Comics on Newbury St in Boston in 1996, I think.

I've been to that comic shop. Although it was more of a geek merchandise and collectibles shop when I went.

[Felicity, I guess so]

I bought a best of Gil Scott-Heron in the 80s which had him looking all Lionel Ritchie on the cover but what a great introduction to his work it was

[Patrick Thistle]

Mrs Thistle is playing Hatfull of Rain, the Best of Del Amitri downstairs. Some nice tunes on it.