Your Favourite Band Compilations - A Top 10

[roc51]

Everyone loves a good compilation, one that gives you the essence of a band, either a single or double disc preferred, one that pretty well plays perfect from start to finish. But a compilation is more than a "hits collection", as the best distills what we all love from our favourite artists.

Here then is my personal faves, a top-10 that was very hard to pick, so I did a top-30 instead...hopefully you can share a few of yours and hopefully a few will look here and investigate further.

In no particular order, hits collections:

1) New Order - Substance
2) The Fixx - Ultimate Collection
3) Depeche Mode - Singles
4) The Cure - Staring At The Sea: The Singles (CD)
5) The Smiths - The Sound Of The Smiths (2-cd)
6) Sad Lovers And Giants - Email From Eternity
7) Echo And The Bunnymen - More Songs To Learn And Sing
Kraftwerk - The Mix
9) David Bowie - Best Of Bowie (UK 2cd edition)
10) Morrissey - Suedehead: The Best Of Morrissey
11) Joy Division - Substance (edges Best Of slightly due to rarities)
12) Simple Minds - The Very Best Of (CD 1 only, not a big fan of CD2)
13) The Jam - The Very Best Of (though Snap! is a close second)
14) Psychedelic Furs - Greatest Hits
15) Love And Rockets - Sorted
16) the church - Deep In The Shallows
17) The Go-Betweens - Quiet Heart: The Very Best Of
18) Level 42 - The Ultimate Collection (NL 3cd collection)
19) Blancmange - The Platinum Collection
20) The The - 45rpm (2cd version)
21) Ultravox - The Very Best Of Ultravox
22) Soft Cell - The Very Best Of Soft Cell
23) Naked Eyes - Promises Promises: The Very Best Of Naked Eyes
24) XTC - Fossil Fuel (2cd)
25) Killing Joke - Laugh? I Nearly Bought One!
26) Tears For Fears - Shout: The Very Best Of Tears For Fears
27) Madness - Divine Madness
28) China Crisis - Collection (2cd, though the new Ultimate is fab)
29) The Cult - Pure Cult (original edition)
30) Duran Duran - Greatest
31) Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - 1984-1989

Hon. Metion:
1) Siouxsie & The Banshees - 20th Century Mastes (Canada only comp)
2) Felt - Absolute Classic Masterpieces
3) Orange Juice - Very Best Of Orange Juice
4) Adrian Borland (The Outsiders/Second Layer/The Sound/Solo) - Cinematic Overview (promo only, closest to a career spanning set currently)
5) Gary Numan/Tubeway Army - Premier Hits
6) Spandau Ballet - Gold
7) Heaven 17 - Greatest Hits
Human League - Very Best Of
9) INXS - Shine Like It Does (2cd, disc 1 is best)
10) Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry - More Than This: Very Best Of
11) The Stranglers - Very Best Of
12) Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady (expanded)
13) R.E.M. - The Best Of R.E.M.
14) Modern English - Life In The Gladhouse
15) Bauhaus - 1979-1983 (2 cd)
16) The Mission - Sum And Substance

Icehouse would make this list too, with the Aussie edition of Great Southern Land barely edging Masterfile for the best single disc collection.

Bonus: odds & sods, non-hits, etc collections:

1) The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs
2) The Smiths - Hatful Of Hollow
3) Comsat Angels - Time Considered...
4) Sad Lovers And Giants - Les Annees Vertes
5) Tones On Tail - Everything!
6) The Jam - Snap! (3cd box set)
7) The Chameleons - Return Of The Roughheads/Tony Fletcher...
The Cure - Join The Dots (4cd box set b-sides collection)
9) New Order - Retro (5cd box set)
10) Kraftwerk - The Catalogue (2004 deleted box set)
11) Morrissey - Bona Drag
12) Wild Swans - Incandescent
13) Cocteau Twins - The Pink Opaque

[anorak]

Substance is a great compilation - pity that so many songs were butchered though.

Soft Cell (3cd 12" singles collection)
George Michael - ladies & gentlemen
Duran - Strange behaviour

....all among my top 10

IS THAT THE TWELVE INCH MIX ? Out late 2010 www.robgrillo.co.uk

[anorak]

I forgot Claudia Brucken - Combined !


IS THAT THE TWELVE INCH MIX ? Out late 2010 www.robgrillo.co.uk

[humanracer]

Anything pre 1995 and the start of the loudness wars. If you want to enjoy the music at its "purest" then you need to buy older compilations.

Heaven 17 - Best of (1992) - contains mostly 7" versions
Duran Duran - Decade (1989) - good overview of the 80's singles
Tears For Fears - Tears Roll Down (1992) - all you really need
Yellow Magic Orchestra - Techno Bible (1992) - comprehensive best of box set
Ryuichi Sakamoto - Gruppo Musicale (1989) - best of his 80's stuff
Depeche Mode - Singles 81-85 (1985) avoid the later singles compilation. It is loud and brickwalled. You will need to buy the individual CD singles for 86 onwards.
OMD - Best of (1988) - All you really need

[thunderbird2]

Here's my 25 or more that get regular rotation (very difficult to choose)

China Crisis the collection ( 2 cd version)
john Foxx Modern Art
Furniture she gets out the scrapebook
billy idol vital idol
Thomas Dolby 12x12
Japan the singles ( execllent import that has all the Hansa singles , remixes etc )
Talk Talk a sides b sides
Fad Gadget the singles
Depeche mode singles ( both 81-85 and 86 - 98)
Wild Swans Magnitude
David Bowie Platinum collection
Wild Swans Incadescent
Wah the Handy Whah best of
Cabaret Voltaire Sound of Sheffield 83/87
Julian cope / Teardrops Floored Genius
A-Ha greatest hits
B-movie platinum collection
Alison moyet singles
Altered Images Destiny Best of
Associates Singles
Aztec camera best of
Barry Gray Stand by for action ( UFO , Thunderbids ,Captain Scarlet)
Big Country 12"
Care diamonds and Pearls
Classix Nouveaux best of
Cure Mixed Up
Dead or Alive Evolution
Fashion Height Of
Fra Lippo Lippi best of
Human league b sides and rarities
Icehouse great southern land
Icicle works best of
Joy divsion heart and soul box set
Midge ure and ultravox best of
The The 45rpm ( 2 cd version with 12")
Tik and Tok Interolerence best of
The beloved where it is ( early singles)
Stephen Duffy the ups and downs
Simple minds glittering prize
Propaganda outside world
Pet shop boys discography
OMD naviagation b sides and their normal best of
Nitzerebb body of work
Gary numan best of 2 cd's

[AlwaysSaturday]

Let's see...

My favorite compilations take me back to a world that does not exist anymore. The world of the 1980s, when I grew up in a rural Georgia town and often did not have access to a band's entire backcatalogue. During my high school years back then, the greatest hits albums ruled.


1. The Cure - Standing On A Beach: The Singles
The cassette tape version, with the B-sides on the second side. Outstanding. The pacing on the first side is immaculate, with the early stuff kicking off a post-punk vibe, settling into goth with "A Forest", "Primary", and "The Hanging Garden", moving into crazy erratic territory with the middle songs, then ending with flawless popcraft from The Head On The Door album. The hits side was an open invitation into the world of The Cure, and the B-sides disc showed us how twisted and wonderful that world could be...sort of like stepping through the looking glass.

2. New Order - Substance
Substance is the standard by which I measure effective compilations. I owned it on cassette tape before I owned it on CD, so I tend to judge the main disc on its own terms, but Substance is flawless in either the single-length cassette version or the 2-CD version with the B-sides.

3. Duran Duran - Decade
The 1980s in a nutshell. I could gripe about the absence of "New Moon On Monday" on the release, but everything included on the compilation is pure and simple perfection.

4. The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs
Perfect pop sensibility. B-sides and singles alike. This was my introduction to The Smiths, and it's still the one that I return to the most. Whimsical, fast song-to-song pacing, not as heavy-handed or emotionally-weighted as their full albums so that these songs can soar into the clouds.

5. The Police - Every Breath You Take: The Singles
I received this for Christmas back in 1986, back when Synchronicity was the only other album from The Police in my collection. This was, and still is, a quintessential primer.

6. Depeche Mode - People Are People
A U.S. affair, I think, to get us Americans into the fray. It's such a fun compilation. "Love In Itself", "Everything Counts", "Leave In Silence", etc. "Get The Balance Right" was the first Depeche Mode song that I ever heard (back in 1983) and it still shines as my favorite. For me, this one rises above other DM compilations, because "Now This Is Fun" is such a criminally underrated track.

7. David Bowie - Changesbowie
The single-disc compilation that came out in 1990 and marked the first time that many of these songs had seen the light of day on CD on our shores. I saw David Bowie on the Sound + Vision Tour shortly after I bought the disc, so this was a great primer to that show.

8. The Cars - Greatest Hits
This was always a fun one to hear back in 1986 when I owned it on cassette tape. A joyous ode to one of the better "singles bands" of that era and a good swan song, in retrospect, since I did not take as well to Door To Door.

9. The Psychedelic Furs - All of This and Nothing
The outstanding liner notes just confuse me more, and that's part of the charm. This is an ideal intro into the cacophony that was, and still is, The Furs.

10. Pylon - Hits
The wild card, the non-obvious, on my list. Perfect and uproarious just the same. This was the only chance that many of us had to sample Pylon back in 1990 when...yes, admit it...most of us found out about them simply because of R.E.M.


The actual 1980s-released compilations above were ideal. Somehow, in subsequent years, the act of trying to cram 72 minutes or more of "hits" onto a disc results in a few flawed numbers that disrupt the pacing of a good, solid 45-minute collection. There were always essential tracks missing, yes, but it's easier to make a perfect, perfect, perfect 45-minute greatest hits than it is to sift through the second-tier stuff that might fit onto a 72-minute compilation.

Now, I love more more more more songs just as much as the next guy, but the newer Hits compilations where everything goes on two discs ("The Essential _______", The Very Best of ______") usually result in me putting my favorites of those onto just one CD-R mix.

[roc51]

[quote][i]Originally posted by AlwaysSaturday[/i]
<br>Let's see...

My favorite compilations take me back to a world that does not exist anymore. The world of the 1980s, when I grew up in a rural Georgia town and often did not have access to a band's entire backcatalogue. During my high school years back then, the greatest hits albums ruled.


1. The Cure - Standing On A Beach: The Singles
The cassette tape version, with the B-sides on the second side. Outstanding. The pacing on the first side is immaculate, with the early stuff kicking off a post-punk vibe, settling into goth with "A Forest", "Primary", and "The Hanging Garden", moving into crazy erratic territory with the middle songs, then ending with flawless popcraft from The Head On The Door album. The hits side was an open invitation into the world of The Cure, and the B-sides disc showed us how twisted and wonderful that world could be...sort of like stepping through the looking glass.

2. New Order - Substance
Substance is the standard by which I measure effective compilations. I owned it on cassette tape before I owned it on CD, so I tend to judge the main disc on its own terms, but Substance is flawless in either the single-length cassette version or the 2-CD version with the B-sides.

3. Duran Duran - Decade
The 1980s in a nutshell. I could gripe about the absence of "New Moon On Monday" on the release, but everything included on the compilation is pure and simple perfection.

4. The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs
Perfect pop sensibility. B-sides and singles alike. This was my introduction to The Smiths, and it's still the one that I return to the most. Whimsical, fast song-to-song pacing, not as heavy-handed or emotionally-weighted as their full albums so that these songs can soar into the clouds.

5. The Police - Every Breath You Take: The Singles
I received this for Christmas back in 1986, back when Synchronicity was the only other album from The Police in my collection. This was, and still is, a quintessential primer.

6. Depeche Mode - People Are People
A U.S. affair, I think, to get us Americans into the fray. It's such a fun compilation. "Love In Itself", "Everything Counts", "Leave In Silence", etc. "Get The Balance Right" was the first Depeche Mode song that I ever heard (back in 1983) and it still shines as my favorite. For me, this one rises above other DM compilations, because "Now This Is Fun" is such a criminally underrated track.

7. David Bowie - Changesbowie
The single-disc compilation that came out in 1990 and marked the first time that many of these songs had seen the light of day on CD on our shores. I saw David Bowie on the Sound + Vision Tour shortly after I bought the disc, so this was a great primer to that show.

8. The Cars - Greatest Hits
This was always a fun one to hear back in 1986 when I owned it on cassette tape. A joyous ode to one of the better "singles bands" of that era and a good swan song, in retrospect, since I did not take as well to Door To Door.

9. The Psychedelic Furs - All of This and Nothing
The outstanding liner notes just confuse me more, and that's part of the charm. This is an ideal intro into the cacophony that was, and still is, The Furs.

10. Pylon - Hits
The wild card, the non-obvious, on my list. Perfect and uproarious just the same. This was the only chance that many of us had to sample Pylon back in 1990 when...yes, admit it...most of us found out about them simply because of R.E.M.


The actual 1980s-released compilations above were ideal. Somehow, in subsequent years, the act of trying to cram 72 minutes or more of "hits" onto a disc results in a few flawed numbers that disrupt the pacing of a good, solid 45-minute collection. There were always essential tracks missing, yes, but it's easier to make a perfect, perfect, perfect 45-minute greatest hits than it is to sift through the second-tier stuff that might fit onto a 72-minute compilation.

Now, I love more more more more songs just as much as the next guy, but the newer Hits compilations where everything goes on two discs ("The Essential _______", The Very Best of ______") usually result in me putting my favorites of those onto just one CD-R mix.
[/quote]

And put your hand up if most, if not all, of the above defined the formative years (high school for many) and if you had them on cassette (like I did) for the perfect soundtrack to roadtrips, back and forth to school, etc?

RE: Duran Duran Decade...I was always unforgiving that New Moon On Monday was excluded...

I would add a few more as well:

R.E.M. - Eponymous
Blondie - Greatest Hits
Siouxsie & The Banshees - Once Upon A Time: The Singles
Joy Division - Substance
Talk Talk - Natural History
Spandau Ballet - The Singles
Ultravox - The Collection
Pet Shop Boys - Discography
Erasure - Pop! 20 Singles
The Stranglers - Greatest Hits: 1977-1990
Human League - Greatest Hits
Level 42 - Level Best

The magic of these collections is an alien concept for most modern music listeners...

[anorak]

re New Order - Substance
It's certainly not flawless - brilliant, yes but given that some tracks have up to 4 minutes lopped off them, and even Perfect Kiss is edited slightly on cassette & cd (oddly not on the vinyl version though), and there's the famous misnaming of two tracks on the second cd then it's certainly not flawless !

I bought the first cassette version of Substance when it came out - Murder was actually on tape 1 rather than tape 2 but subsequent versions had it placed on its correct place.

There are so many great 'best of' albums....we should have a 'worst of' thread also !

IS THAT THE TWELVE INCH MIX ? Out late 2010 www.robgrillo.co.uk

[Surly]

[quote]Originally posted by roc51

2) The Fixx - Ultimate Collection

[/quote]

Wow, #2! It's an honor to see that so high on your esteemed list.

I should make one of these lists, but it's going to take some thought. So much of roc51's list would be on mine, though!



"Words like conviction can turn into a sentence"

[Jeffrey]

I totally agree with New Order's "Substance." Only wish it could be remastered with all the flaws taken out.

I agree with so many of your lists guys. Would only add Yello's "New Mix In One Go" as a definite favorite for me.


Jeffrey

[soundstory]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Jeffrey[/i]
<br>I totally agree with New Order's "Substance." Only wish it could be remastered with all the flaws taken out.

I agree with so many of your lists guys. Would only add Yello's "New Mix In One Go" as a definite favorite for me.


Jeffrey
[/quote]

Agree on both counts

[Parrothead]

From a mix of compilations I have on lp, cassette or cd. In no particular order:

New Order - Substance
Ultravox - The Collection
The Cure - Standing On A Beach: Singles and B-sides
The Jam - Snap!
Talking Heads - Popular Favorites: Sand In The Vaseline
Siouxsie and The Banshees - Once/Twice Upon A Time
Bowie - Best of Bowie
Shriekback - Priests and Kanibals
Squeeze - 45's and Under
English Beat - What Is

[AlwaysSaturday]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Jeffrey[/i]
<br>I totally agree with New Order's "Substance." Only wish it could be remastered with all the flaws taken out.
[/quote]
I made myself a "remastered Substance" on CD-R not too long ago by piecing together the best versions of tracks from the (fixed) Rhino/London reissues and other collections. It's getting to where one needs Masters Thesis to find the best versions of New Order songs, but my CD-R is probably good for government work.

I rank New Order's Substance so highly with regard to how my 1980s self perceived it at the time, since I did not know that these were imperfect versions, and because that was my first exposure to the songs. It's a great collection in that sense.

Incidentally, I also made myself a remastered CD-R of The Cure's Japanese Whispers using the respective songs from Greatest Hits and Join The Dots. I always loved listening to Japanese Whispers on cassette back in the day.

This begs to question, of course...
Why on Earth did I not include The Cure's Japanese Whispers on my above list? It's a compilation album, yessiree.

[Sensoria]

Off top of my head and in no particular order:

ABC - Absolutely (1990)
A-ha - Headlines And Deadlines-The Hits Of A-ha (1991)
The Art Of Noise - The Best Of The Art Of Noise (1990)
Bauhaus - 1979-1983 Volume 1 & 1979-1983 Volume 2 (1985)
Bananarama - Greatest Hits Collection (1988)
Blancmange - Best Of Blancmange (1996)
Blondie - The Best Of Blondie (1981)
David Bowie - The Singles Collection (1993)
Kate Bush - The Whole Story (1986)
Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady (1979)
Cabaret Voltaire - The Original Sound Of Sheffield '83/'87 (2001)
Cabaret Voltaire - The Original Sound Of Sheffield '78/'82 (2002)
The Clash - The Singles (1991)
The Cure - Standing On A Beach/Staring At The Sea (1986)
Deacon Blue - Our Town-The Greatest Hits (1994)
Depeche Mode - The Singles 81-85 (1985)
Depeche Mode - The Singles 86-98 (1998)
Duran Duran - Greatest (1998)
Erasure - The First 20 Hits (1992)
Eurythmics - Greatest Hits (1991)
Fad Gadget - The Best Of Fad Gadget (2001)
Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music - The Best Of Bryan Ferry + Roxy Music (1995)
Fine Young Cannibals - The Finest (1996)
Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Bang!...The Greatest Hits Of Frankie Goes To Hollywood (1993)
Generation X - Perfect Hits 1975-81 (1991)
Heaven 17 - Endless (1986)
The Human League - Greatest Hits (1995)
Icehouse - Great Southern Land (1989)
Billy Idol - Idol Songs: 11 Of The Best (1988)
Inspiral Carpets - The Singles (1995)
INXS - Greatest Hits (1994)
The Jam - Greatest Hits (1991)
James - The Best Of (1998)
Joy Division - Substance (1988)
Level 42 - Level Best (1989)
Kirsty MacColl - Galore (1995)
Madness - Divine Madness (1992)
Madonna - The Immaculate Collection (1990)
The Mission (UK) - Sum And Substance (1994)
Alison Moyet - Singles (1995)
New Order - Substance (1987)
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - The Best Of OMD (1988)
Pet Shop Boys - Discography (1991)
The Police - Greatest Hits (1992)
Pretenders - The Singles (1987)
Simple Minds - Glittering Prize 81/92 (1992)
Siouxsie & The Banshees - Once Upon A Time (1981)
Siouxsie & The Banshees - Twice Upon A Time (1992)
The Sisters Of Mercy - Some Girls Wander By Mistake...80-83 (1992)
The Sisters Of Mercy - A Slight Case Of Overbombing...Greatest Hits Volume One (1993)
The Smiths - Singles (1995)
Soft Cell - Memorabilia-The Singles (1991)
Jimmy Somerville - The Singles Collection 1984/1990 (1990)
Spandau Ballet - The Best Of Spandau Ballet (1991)
The Stranglers - Greatest Hits 1977-1990 (1990)
Talk Talk - Natural History (1990)
Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime-The Best Of Talking Heads (1992)
Tears For Fears - Tears Roll Down (Greatest Hits 82-92) (1992)
The The - 45 RPM-The Singles Of The The (2CD Edition) (2002)
The Thompson Twins - Greatest Hits (1996)
UB40 - The Best Of UB40, Volume One (1987)
Ultravox - The Collection (1984)
Midge Ure - If I Was: The Very Best Of Midge Ure & Ultravox (1993)
Kim Wilde - The Singles Collection 1981-1993 (1993)

Kind of...

[thunderbird2]

good selection Sensoria we obviously have a lot of similar tastes

Two i missed out on that I have really enjoyed are

The Mood Singles

Human League / Future Golden hour of the future

And here are a few wishes that would probably enter my list if someone would do them

Kissing the Pink singles / 12"'s
Fiat Lux Singles / 12"'s
Erasure the 12" mixes
Dead or Alive the 12" mixes
B-Movie the some bizarre years
Marc almond 12" / 7" collection (including some of the more obscure mixes of ruby red and love letters etc
Kraftwerk the singles / 12"