To the popular music afficianado, there must not be any greater nemesis than the "Greatest Hits" album. "Hits" albums are great for marginal fans or people who have never been exposed to a band. They're like the appetizer sampler of music albums.
On the other hand, for uber-fans of any musical artist, they're an expenditure that's not worth making. If you've already got all the albums, why do you need a compilation of songs that you already have? The digital age of multiple playlists makes this worse since you can already make the new album track list out of existing songs.
What's worse is the making of a "Hits" album probably wasn't even the artist's choice in the first place. Most likely, it's standard practice to add a "Hits" album to a record contract since it's so easy to make and it's just like easy money.
Is it better if the "Hits" album has a few new tracks? I'm split on this one. If you're really a nutty fan, then it won't make a difference -- you'll want the album art and the whole piece to sit alongside your other music. But you could also be a serious enough fan to be upset that you need to buy an entire album to just get two or three songs. Then again, it's nice to get something new at all.
In some cases, these new songs are marginal -- check out Billy Joel's various Greatest Hits albums. "Night is Still Young" and "You're Only Human" are not some of his stronger works. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, however, had a teriffic song in "Mary Jane's Last Dance" on their "Hits" album.
Unfortunately, it appears that "Greatest Hits" albums are a reality in the music industry and it won't change anytime soon.
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1 comment:
Greatest hits album was a economical way to acquire music.
Remember the time before CD burners?
You had to make a mix tape or get a CD changer and program the playlist to hear the songs you wanted. A greates hits album was a great way to carry the music around without having to take the entire band discography with you.
Then came CD burners and you could make your own greatest hits albums instead of mix tapes.
Then came the IPOD - now you could take all the music you ever owned with you and create your own greatest hits playlists.
Heck, you don't even have to buy the music anymore because with bittorrent you can get entire albums or even the entire discography of an artist.
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