About "Greatest Hits/Best Of" albums

Have you ever seen a track on a greatest hits or best of album that seems like an odd inclusion? I was just looking at my old copy of Black Sabbath Greatest Hits (the one from 1977) and i found the inclusion of Laguna Sunrise odd. Why include that but not something like am i going insane or hole in the sky?

I think it's odd that there is an album called "The Best of Black Sabbath", yet it only includes the Tony Martin years. That could throw some people off for a loop.

Hadley wrote:

Have you ever seen a track on a greatest hits or best of album that seems like an odd inclusion? I was just looking at my old copy of Black Sabbath Greatest Hits (the one from 1977) and i found the inclusion of Laguna Sunrise odd. Why include that but not something like am i going insane or hole in the sky?

Contrast. It demonstrates that Sabbath was more than just a "metal band", which they were.

alot of best of albums leave off some great tracks and include some tracks that were nothing but fillers on the albums. that just slays me to. The rerecord greatest hits albums with a new track added are even worse to me.

One thing to bear in mind is that there is a difference between a Greatest Hits and a Best Of. A Greatest Hits album is just that - the biggest hits/highest charting songs a band has. A Best Of album is a subjective collection of songs based on someone's criteria of what they consider to be the band's best songs. That is why you can get a weird collection of songs with either a Best Of or a Greatest Hits.

Look at 99% of "Best Of" albums, and they're pretty much "Greatest Hits" albums (or their "best known songs", as many fans of the band who buy these albums are casual fans; die hard fans buy the studio albums).

Back in the early 1990s, Combat Records put out compilations of its artists such as Exodus, Dark Angel, Death, etc., and a lot of them didn't have the best track listing. I recall someone said they think for the track listing of Fate: The Best of Death, the songs were just drawn out of a hat.

Its hard to get a good greatest hits album. Its really subjective.

Another one comes to mind, on the "Cant Stop the Rock" compilation by Stryper, its odd that they pass over I Believe in You and Two Time Woman (both of which were singles AFAIK), for the album tracks Two Bodies and Together As One.

I have lots of greatest hits/comp albums, and some of them, as the case with Scorpions, the best of Volume 1 and 2 was a great way to introduce me to their pre 1980 releases.

I had the habit of buying them when they would include a song or unreleased track tacked onto them, and usually serve as space fillers.

One weird "best of" is the Van Halen "Best of Both Worlds".

I have no need to buy this, not even for the then new songs, but according to the tracklist on Amazon it's kind of weird. It's 2 discs, and it looks like it is just randomly ordered. It starts with "Eruption", and that's fine. Then goes directly to the 3 new Hagar songs. Weird. Then it goes back to a DLR song, "Ain't Talkn' Bout Love"...from there it bounces back and forth between DLR and SH tracks. In no sort of chronological order. Tracks 8-11 look like this:

8. Dreams
9. Hot for Teacher
10. Poundcake
11. And the Cradle Will Rock

So random to me.

ZombieHavoc wrote:

One weird "best of" is the Van Halen "Best of Both Worlds".

I have no need to buy this, not even for the then new songs, but according to the tracklist on Amazon it's kind of weird. It's 2 discs, and it looks like it is just randomly ordered. It starts with "Eruption", and that's fine. Then goes directly to the 3 new Hagar songs. Weird. Then it goes back to a DLR song, "Ain't Talkn' Bout Love"...from there it bounces back and forth between DLR and SH tracks. In no sort of chronological order. Tracks 8-11 look like this:

8. Dreams
9. Hot for Teacher
10. Poundcake
11. And the Cradle Will Rock

So random to me.

I am not sure since I do not own it but I believe some of those are live versions with Hagar on the mic instead of DLR

I have my share of Greatest Hits/Best-Ofs, I usually pick'em up to get a "sampling" of a band I'm not particularly familiar with.

My problem with them is that if I like what I hear, then I generally end up buying up most of the band's other CDs, which then renders the compilation disc obsolete.

manny wrote:

ZombieHavoc wrote:

One weird "best of" is the Van Halen "Best of Both Worlds".

I have no need to buy this, not even for the then new songs, but according to the tracklist on Amazon it's kind of weird. It's 2 discs, and it looks like it is just randomly ordered. It starts with "Eruption", and that's fine. Then goes directly to the 3 new Hagar songs. Weird. Then it goes back to a DLR song, "Ain't Talkn' Bout Love"...from there it bounces back and forth between DLR and SH tracks. In no sort of chronological order. Tracks 8-11 look like this:

8. Dreams
9. Hot for Teacher
10. Poundcake
11. And the Cradle Will Rock

So random to me.

I am not sure since I do not own it but I believe some of those are live versions with Hagar on the mic instead of DLR

That would make somewhat more sense, but the live tracks are at the end, just three of them. They are, in fact, Roth tracks, that according to the first user review, are sung by Sammy (pulled from a 1993 live album). However, that same review refers to the original studio versions of those tracks found on the compilation as well.

ZombieHavoc wrote:

manny wrote:

ZombieHavoc wrote:

One weird "best of" is the Van Halen "Best of Both Worlds".

I have no need to buy this, not even for the then new songs, but according to the tracklist on Amazon it's kind of weird. It's 2 discs, and it looks like it is just randomly ordered. It starts with "Eruption", and that's fine. Then goes directly to the 3 new Hagar songs. Weird. Then it goes back to a DLR song, "Ain't Talkn' Bout Love"...from there it bounces back and forth between DLR and SH tracks. In no sort of chronological order. Tracks 8-11 look like this:

8. Dreams
9. Hot for Teacher
10. Poundcake
11. And the Cradle Will Rock

So random to me.

I am not sure since I do not own it but I believe some of those are live versions with Hagar on the mic instead of DLR

That would make somewhat more sense, but the live tracks are at the end, just three of them. They are, in fact, Roth tracks, that according to the first user review, are sung by Sammy (pulled from a 1993 live album). However, that same review refers to the original studio versions of those tracks found on the compilation as well.

I actually think that makes a lot of sense. The point was to show the VH legacy. Mix the two eras of the band together under a united title, not divided by chronology. I like it.

One actual weird thing was the ending to "Finish What Ya Started"...it id not fade, but kept going and abruptly ended...but it was not listed as any kind of different edit.

It's also the only place any of the Hagar era has been substantially remastered.

Another weird "best of" moment was on The Essential Heart. The mix used of "Nothin' At All" is completely different than the version on the 1985 s/t album...but it's listed as being from that album. The entire guitar solo is completely different.

Also, the main instance where I will purchase a best of/hits comp, is if the regular studio albums are tough to come by.

For example, and this was back before I knew about ordering stuff from Amazon, and my music purchases were mainly limited to what I found locally, I was having a hell of a time tracking down the Runaways studio albums. There was a best of comp that was always sitting there at Tower Records, though, so eventually I bought that. Of course, within a few months after that, I came across all of their albums in the used bins.

I tend to get greatest hits albums from bands I dont know to get a little flavor for their catalog.

If it's a band I really enjoy, the best-of albums don't satisfy me, I want to hear the original albums with the songs in the context that they were released. That's "the full meal", hearing a compilation album is like eating a snack and then still feeling hungry once it's over.

Then there are some bands where I feel I only need some core specific songs...but the greatest hits collections ALWAYS invariably leave off songs I want included, so they too end up frustrating and essentially useless.

That's the one truly great thing about being able to buy individual songs online, I just purchase the tracks I want and sequence my own compilation album for those bands...whether they are hits or deep album cuts or some variation thereof.

exact33 wrote:

I tend to get greatest hits albums from bands I dont know to get a little flavor for their catalog.

That'd be me as well. Especially when it's a band whose releases are so numerous, it'd be too pricey to get everything.

Then you get compilations where they've included covers or exclusive tracks - such as 2 songs found on Signs of Chaos: The Best of Testament (The Sails of Charon and Draw the Line).

I've been in the habit lately of purchasing collections by bands that I know I'll never take the time to go back and get the catalog...older bands like The Who, ELO, Styx, etc....but I always try to hold out for a packed, double-disc collection as opposed to a cheap 10-song teaser.

Grimmo wrote:

Then you get compilations where they've included covers or exclusive tracks - such as 2 songs found on Signs of Chaos: The Best of Testament (The Sails of Charon and Draw the Line).

And that's my main reason for getting any Best Of/Greatest Hits releases.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

I've been in the habit lately of purchasing collections by bands that I know I'll never take the time to go back and get the catalog...older bands like The Who, ELO, Styx, etc....but I always try to hold out for a packed, double-disc collection as opposed to a cheap 10-song teaser.

I can't speak for other bands on that list but you are missing out some great Who material!

manny wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

I've been in the habit lately of purchasing collections by bands that I know I'll never take the time to go back and get the catalog...older bands like The Who, ELO, Styx, etc....but I always try to hold out for a packed, double-disc collection as opposed to a cheap 10-song teaser.

I can't speak for other bands on that list but you are missing out some great Who material!

Probably...but there's only so many hours in a day.

I hate greatest hits albums and NEVER buy them.

Aerosmith's Greatest Hits included the Shangri-Las cover "Remember (Walking in the Sand)", which I always thought was an odd inclusion. The song wasn't even a hit for the band. The record company would have been better off including "No Surprise" instead. What do I know? The thing sold over 11 million copies.