Pointless best of's

DerekD Goldfish

So Jeff Buckley has a new best of album out
now dont get me wrong I like Jeff Buckley
But he only released one studio album there is no need for a best of
casual fans can start of with his one album grace and then move onto the other live and raraties stuff if they wish.

anyone want to sujest any other artists who have had pointless best of albums released. either because there wasnt enough material to justify one or because there were better existing compilations.

Captain Smiggy

Selon moi, most best ofs are pointless, exceptions being the band/Artist's catalogue is so vast they merit it, for the purposes of potential listeners checking if they like them(Frank Zappa, Bob Dylan, Bowie, the Stones), or they have such a variety of sound that a collection showcases it, and thus acts nearly as a stand alone album(The Beatles, Pink Floyd). Otherwise, i always think it's better to buy one of their better albums(Pixies: Doolittle, Oasis: Definitely maybe, Stone roses: Stone Roses). Yes, it's basically just music snobbery, but i'm content being a snob.

Oh, you asked for crap ones:
Oasis, Stop the clocks would be here if it weren't for Acquiesce, that was a very clever inclusion.
The Stone Roses
Pixies
Elliot Smith
Hendrix, moreso because it was a shee-ite collection


Great ones:
Forty Licks(Stones)
1(Beatles)
69-79, 79-89(Bowie)
Echoes(Pink Floyd)
Best Of The Police, Otis Reading, Arettha Franklin

iFight

Well definately the new Jeff Buckley one. Wave of Muitlation- Pixies also comes to mind.

Kolodny

I do think it was kind of obvious there'd be a Jeff Buckley release of that nature around his anniversary though. Someone's got to cash in after all.

For me, the most pointless 'Best Of' compilations are those oh so predictable ones released by long established bands/artists, with the exact same track list (albeit in a slightly different order) plus one or two 'new' tracks, every 3 to 5 years or so - generally around Christmas.

And of course, those from brand new acts who've barely been around two years. 'Greatest Hits' meaning 'Every single and B-side we've released so far' but with sexier pictures

Froot

Alice In Chains best of was sh!te. Then again I don't like Alice In Chains :P

Jerry Cantrells albums are fantastic though

What are my favourite best of's you ask?

Monster Magnets greatest hits is a brilliant album. I hope Pearl Jam never release one

TelePaul

All the Nick Drake stuff they whored out....Way to Blue: An Introduction was very good, the rest was awful. ANother good best of is The Jams.

machiavellianme

Pearl Jam already released Rearviewmirror Greatest Hits 1991-2003, does that count as a "Best of"?

Also, for Captain Smiggy, the Pixies never released an album called Debaser.
If its Doolittle you're refering to, theres plenty of songs included from Trompe le Monde, Bossanova, Come on Pilgrim, the complete B-Sides and Surfer Rosa as well as live shows to justify either the Death to the Pixies or Wave of Mutilation best of's but granted probably not both. I fail to see how musical snobbery warrants such a brash claim, especially when no such album exists, unless of course you just mean the single.

On topic, The Best of the Wildhearts (Japanese version) is probably the finest Best of I've heard.

Pigman II

Death to the Pixies.

Granted it seems to have introduced a new generation of young people to the band but it annoys the hell out of me that most of these same people never went on to get the 4 albums and to this day DttP is still all they know.

DerekD Goldfish

The worst band for sheer number of best of's is probably The Stranglers
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:fifrxqr5ldae~T21

its astonishing how many they have had

there are some good best of's though "Guided By Voices-Human Amusmnets at hourly rates" is a fantastic introduction to the band

tony 2 tone

Captain Smiggy wrote:

Oh, you asked for crap ones:
Oasis, Stop the clocks would be here if it weren't for Acquiesce, that was a very clever inclusion.
The Stone Roses
Pixies
Elliot Smith
Hendrix, moreso because it was a shee-ite collection

What was the Elliot Smith best of? The latest release is a rarities and unreleased music compilation. Didn'y think there was a ES best of.

GhostInTheRuins

I personally hate best of albums. If I listen to one and decide that I like the band, I'll probably go and buy some more of their albums. The thing that annoys me though is that when you get other albums you already know half of the songs that are gonna be on there so it ruins it for you.

There are a couple of bands that I can think of that, instead of just rehashing their old stuff to sell copys, they went and re-recorded them and changed them around a bit and released that as a best of, I've got no problem with that at all.

Other than that, the only reason I can see to buy them is to complete a collection.

Captain Smiggy

First of all: shiiiiiiiiiiit, i cannot believe i said debaser. FCUK! i am very, very sorry(it's since been fixed). i was referring moreso to wave of mutilation rather than death to btw..., i quite liked death to the pixies. I'm not saying only buy Doolittle, I'm just saying buy it rather than a best of.


And i know the rareties and B-sides thingy recently released by/for Elliot smith wasn't a best of (although it's pointlessness did annoy me). i thought there was a best of knocking around, i'm not sure what it was called(possibly just the best of elliot smith or some such bollocks) but figure 8 and...crap, gone blank, "the one with needle in the hay" are both better.

Doctor J

Jeff Buckley's best of is far from pointless. It's point is to make money for Sony, who own the rights to most of his recorded work. Let's be blunt, it's hardly a coincidence that this blatant cash in arrives out of the blue on the 10th anniversary of his untimely death. Clearly the profile of dead celebrities is always a little higher around milestone anniversaries and, with no new material to push, they just repackage what they have, wahey a brand new Jeff Buckley product to try to rope in some new punters and get the existing people who know of him to buy what they already have except with shiny new packaging but ensure it's not complete enough that the new folks don't have to buy the same songs again from the existing catalogue to get the full picture. Yes, it is just that blatant and there are enough saps in the world to lap this kind of thing up and ensure the practice continues.

It's not the first time Sony have done this, it won't be the last. The aforementioned Alice In Chains, a band with just three albums and two EPs of a catalogue have had three or possibly four best of compilations released since they split in the late 90s, one arriving not to shortly after Staley's death.

Since the labels aren't really interested in long term artist development anymore, preferring instead to promote briefly and make as much money as possible in the shortest possible time, the likes of one or two albums being butchered to make ill concieved compilations is only going to increase, especially when there's a death involved.

Regarding when old songs get re-recorded for new best of compilations, more often than not it's when the band's older recorded material owned by one label and the compilation is to be released by another and, for whatever reason, they aren't playing ball. The label owns the recordings, but the band owns the songs, so they are entitled to release new recordings of the songs without having to hand over money to the old label.

noby

While agreeing with much of what was said, I do have to defend the Stone Roses' (first) one. Yes, a lot of the songs were on the debut album, and they weren't cut in half, but there were a fair few singles and b-sides from that era that surely warranted a release on a best of. Since then there has been a lot of milking of it alright.

While I guess they serve a purpose, normally I try to avoid them and pick up an album by a band I want to listen to.

funktastic

Canned Heat and The Smiths have loads of poorly-packaged best of and singles compilations.

grumpytrousers

funktastic wrote:

Canned Heat and The Smiths have loads of poorly-packaged best of and singles compilations.

Christ almighty - is this a first...Canned Heat and The Smiths in the same sentence?

elvis, or rather his record company, is the King of the pointless compilation

lordgoat

Captain Smiggy wrote:

Oh, you asked for crap ones:
Oasis, Stop the clocks would be here if it weren't for Acquiesce, that was a very clever inclusion.
The Stone Roses
Pixies
Elliot Smith
Hendrix, moreso because it was a shee-ite collection


Great ones:
Forty Licks(Stones)
1(Beatles)
69-79, 79-89(Bowie)
Echoes(Pink Floyd)
Best Of The Police, Otis Reading, Arettha Franklin

There's no Elliott Smith Best Of.

I personally like Death to the Pixies. I think it was a good idea for the band and think it can be take some of the credit for the massive new fan base the gathered in the years since it's release. Resulting in great gigs and happy days. How can that be a bad thing. Best of's are never going to please long term fans, that's not their job though. I just get annoyed over the crappy pop 2 album acts releasing a best of. Just fuc k off like.

gucci

if u wanted an alice in chains best of id suggest the MTV unplugged album, not sure who your making money for but as unplugged albums go they dont come much better in my opinion

lordgoat

Captain Smiggy wrote:

First of all: shiiiiiiiiiiit, i cannot believe i said debaser. FCUK! i am very, very sorry(it's since been fixed). i was referring moreso to wave of mutilation rather than death to btw..., i quite liked death to the pixies. I'm not saying only buy Doolittle, I'm just saying buy it rather than a best of.


And i know the rareties and B-sides thingy recently released by/for Elliot smith wasn't a best of (although it's pointlessness did annoy me). i thought there was a best of knocking around, i'm not sure what it was called(possibly just the best of elliot smith or some such bollocks) but figure 8 and...crap, gone blank, "the one with needle in the hay" are both better.

Ok, this is me being nice. You don't really know what you're talking about.

By saying you like Death to the pixies are you saying you like it as a best of ? But Doolittle is better?

Now to Elliott. First of all spell his name correctly. It'll make people at least think you know something about the person you're talking about. There is no best of knocking around. His new record annoyed you how exactly? First of all it is not a rarities and b side thingy. It's a proper album of finished songs that didn't fit in between two albums. I'll stop now. But you really shouldn't post things you have no idea about. It only serves to annoy and irritate.

Double C

gucci wrote:

if u wanted an alice in chains best of id suggest the MTV unplugged album, not sure who your making money for but as unplugged albums go they dont come much better in my opinion

Quoted because it is stone cold fact. And I love all the Alice in Chains albums.

On that note the MTV Unplugged best of was poor.