Vote

None. For God's sake, buy the albums!

Elton John: Live In Australia. Classic early Elton John tunes set to truly beautiful orchestra arrangements. A very good recording but falls short of audiophile standards. This is one of the very few live albums that I actually like.

Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons Anthology. Paul McCartney's All the Best comes in a very close second.

The Senses Working Overtime best-of of alt/indie/new wave 80's by the Starbucks label is excellent in every respect. That's more a genre best of, but the Hot Licks Rolling Stones best of-is pretty unbeatable, too. Actually, there are many of those great collections around, just as there are some real stinkers that leave you groaning. Best of Neil Diamond anyone?

Beatles: Love Songs

I thought this would be easy, but I cannot think of a single greatest hits comp I prefer over one of a group's proper albums. Greatest hits are always dragged down by the inclusion of some "recent" work that is nowhere near the quality of the group's or artist's seminal output. Some of them would be fantastic if it weren't for the last few songs. One that I listen to quite often though is The Zombies: Absolutely the Best.

Echoes by Pink Floyd, very well done.

Bruce Springsteen's Live '75 to '85 takes some beating. I have a copy on CD and three copies on vinyl. Love it!

J S Bach: The Complete Cantatas with Ton Koopman conducting the, Amsterdam Baroque Ensemble

The Who: Meaty, Beaty,Big and Bouncy. The title alone would qualify it as a favorite.

As a classical music person, I have recordings I love. As a teen I collected 45s and greatest hits of early rock

During the past couple of years, during the coldest months, I took some time to record a number of CD compilations. I reviewed all of my CDs and set aside those I especially enjoy. I sorted them alphabetically by artist and selected three tracks from each CD—the best of the best, I suppose. I proceeded to record the compilations and after several weeks I ended up with eighteen, 75+ minute compilations. These are, to me, the best "greatest hits" compilations I own. However, If I had to select only one commercially recorded "greatest hits" recording, I'd have to go with Buddy Greco's Greatest Hits, recorded on Epic records. This recording features 12 of the finest examples of early 1960s big band swing music performed as only Buddy Greco can—and, its "live in the studio" recording quality is outstanding.

Greatest hits records can be, yes. I have no favorite, but Sly and the Family Stone's, or Richard Thompson's The Capitol Years, or Gordon Lightfoot's Gord's Gold, plus others I can't remember are, um, great.

Laura Nyro's Eli and the 13 Confessions.

Right now, my Buck Owens three disc greatest hits package is sure a lot of fun! I have neithter the time nor the funds to find all those LPs.

Generally if I'm attracted to a compilation I find the artist well represented in my (mostly vinyl) collection. That allows enjoyment of all those "other" tracks on the album, often favorites. Exceptions include the Red, Hot and Blues collections, Rob Wasserman's duet & trio work and tribute albums like The Bridge series, Till the Night is Gone (Doc Pomus tribute), and More Oar. These are covers compilations, artists' hits covered by admirers.

IMO, compilations reduce the quality and quantity of enjoyment you can get out of a artist/genre. For some artists who have very few good songs it is okay. But dont go out and buy a best of/greatest hits by great artists like Miles Davis, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Dire Straits, or Mozart to name a few—you will be missing out everything!

XTC: Waxworks/Beeswax

Simon and Garfunkel's GH. The LP was given to me as an 8th grade graduation present in 1972. Although I played it hundreds of times on various plastic phonographs, it sounds pretty decent today, as modey styli ride lower in the groove. The CD was my favorite disc for auditioning new components, until a dealer pointed out to me how bad the digital transfer was (and not revealing his products' potential). But the sound on the master tape is audiophile grade, proof is the Classic reissue of Bridge Over Troubled Water. To bad the rest of the albums have not been similarly reissued.

Gee, I don't know, I never considered that greatest hits compilations weren't "audiophile approved." But if you want to go old school, one of my favorites is the Byrds' Grestest Hits, on vinyl of course.

Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer:20 from 3—recorded by myself, taking 20 songs from their first three CDs. Yeah, real clever title....

Temptations first oldies collection. Showing my age but I can't get enough of playing those old '60s tunes.

The Byrds boxed set. If you're thinking of something more hit-laden and less full of great LP cuts, I'd pick anthologies of the Rascals, Lovin'Spoonful, and Grass Roots.

Rolling Stones: London Years (yes I know it's a singles collection).

Live At Leeds

Pretenders: The Singles. Chrissie Hynde has never taken any prisoners!

Does the Talking Heads Stop Making Sense count?

If it is a compilation, I mostly listen to a DJ mix or something. Right now I'm listening to John Digweed's Bedrock CD. It's a great trance mix. Other than that, I will stream from DI.FM or listen to CDs or LPs. I also believe that MP3 sucks on sound quality.

Way Too Blue: An Introduction To Nick Drake

I consider many "Live" recordings as the best greatest hits albums. And I think only the good livebands survive in the long run (as in the Rolling Stones). But I would like to mention Tower of Powers Live as a good compilation and the one worth owning from their repetoire.