Greatest Hits Albums: Good Sampler or Giving People What They Already Should Know?
I was talking to one of my friends the other day and we began to discuss greatest hits albums. The discussion started out with us talking about certain greatest hit albums that it seems like everyone owns: Bob Marley “Legend” was settled on as the prime example.
Soon we began to talk about the merits of the greatest hits collection as an introduction to a band. My friend was arguing that a greatest hits collection is like a sampler platter, you get a good overview of an artists career, giving you the songs you should know by them. It is enough to give you a taste of everything but doesn’t really fill you up.
I disagreed with that, my main argument is that most greatest hits albums are a collection of songs that already get played on the radio. If you really want to introduce someone to a band you shouldn’t recommend a greatest hits album. Take the Beatles for example, would you offer up the “1″ album, that has all their songs that made it to the top of the charts or would you offer up “Revolver” or the “White Album”? Or what if the band is a prolific live act, would you recommend the greatest hits album or a live album? A live album is usually going to show off their musical chops a bit more, give them a wider range of songs, and show the major strength of a band.
What do you think about greatest hits albums?
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1 Comment
I’d agree that a greatest hits is a kind of sampler, which can get people wanting to hear full albums.
To use your example, I do own the Beatles 1, but I listen to Revolver more. With such a great band, there;s too many songs left off a collection such as this.