Egregious Omissions from Best-Of Albums

[murlough23]

This topic seems to come up when discussing specific "greatest hits" releases by artists we've loved for a while, but I thought it we be good to have a general discussion thread for it. What best-of albums have been released by artists that you're a big fan of, which have really dropped the ball on a key song or two (or ten?) Here are some of my biggest gripes in this category:

U2, The Best of 1980-1990: Gloria, Bullet the Blue Sky

U2, The Best of 1990-2000: The Fly, Lemon, Please, Elevation, Walk On

PfR, The Late, Great PfR: Let Go

Jennifer Knapp, The Collection: Trinity

Barenaked Ladies: Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits: Box Set

Jars of Clay, The Essential Jars of Clay: Like a Child, Trouble Is, Show You Love

Third Day, Chronology, Vol. 1: Peace, You Make Me Mad, Took My Place

Third Day, Chronology, Vol. 2: 40 Days, Wire

Sixpence None the Richer, The Best of Sixpence None the Richer: Field of Flowers, Spotlight, I Can't Catch You, Love, Moving On, Paralyzed, Dizzy

[danny316]

You seem to have forgotten about these, but I think you feel the same way about them as I do:
Newsboys, Shine: the Hits: Lost the Plot, Elle G.
Audio Adrenaline, Hit Parade: Good Life

I'm surprised to hear that you miss that Jennifer Knapp song that much. I agree with the poll that made that CD - there are no less than 7 other songs that are more deserving of that spot (I might have put "Trinity" above "Martyrs and Thieves", but it seems like a silly complaint to make - it's easy enough to find her albums cheaply).

I wish Over the Rhine had managed a true retrospective at some point, but it just seems silly to complain about the holes in the current ones (most of them are either oriented towards live/alternate cuts or recent singles).

[murlough23]

You seem to have forgotten about these, but I think you feel the same way about them as I do:

I forgot about the Newsboys' best-of album altogether, but I definitely agree with "Lost the Plot". "Elle G." is one of my personal favorites but I don't know if it was ever a huge fan favorite in general. Actually, I think it was a mistake to completely ignore Love Liberty Disco on that project - while it was greatly maligned by a lot of fans, it did contain some hits, and I think "Beautiful Sound" is one of their best songs overall, without the qualifier of "well, it's good for Love Liberty Disco, anyway".

I like Audio A's "Good Life", but I don't think leaving it out was as much of a travesty as leaving out "The Houseplant Song".

I'm surprised to hear that you miss that Jennifer Knapp song that much. I agree with the poll that made that CD - there are no less than 7 other songs that are more deserving of that spot (I might have put "Trinity" above "Martyrs and Thieves", but it seems like a silly complaint to make - it's easy enough to find her albums cheaply).

The point of a GH album is supposed to be getting the artist's most well-loved songs without having to buy the albums, I though.

Anyway, I think I like "Matryrs & Thieves" more than "Trinity", but it's not an either/or situation. (I actually like most of the rest of Kansas better than "Whole Again", which I think is a bit of an overrated song; nevertheless, it was one of her earliest hits.) I don't know what it is about "Trinity", because those simplistic 3-chord songs usually don't work for me (especially with the outro's obvious borrowing from U2's "All I Want Is You"), but I guess it's a major early memory in terms of the songs that helped get me into JK in the first place.

A few of my favorites from The Way I AM were never even singles or fan favorites, to my knowledge, so that further complicates matters.

I wish Over the Rhine had managed a true retrospective at some point, but it just seems silly to complain about the holes in the current ones (most of them are either oriented towards live/alternate cuts or recent singles).

I wouldn't be able to comment on that one, really, not having heard their first three or so albums.

In general, though, I'm not a big fan of putting alternate versions of songs on a GH project, unless the alternate versions were actually what became hits. Even then, I prefer album versions to radio versions 99% of the time. I can understand the practice of giving fans something they haven't bought yet. So give 'em a quality new song or two that wasn't just a reject from a recent project. That's fine. It'll cap off the walk down memory line with a sign of where the artist is going next. Just don't tear down the old Mom & Pop shops on memory lane and put up a bunch of Starbucks and Wal-Marts while you're at it.

[danny316]

I forgot about the Newsboys' best-of album altogether, but I definitely agree with "Lost the Plot". "Elle G." is one of my personal favorites but I don't know if it was ever a huge fan favorite in general. Actually, I think it was a mistake to completely ignore Love Liberty Disco on that project - while it was greatly maligned by a lot of fans, it did contain some hits, and I think "Beautiful Sound" is one of their best songs overall, without the qualifier of "well, it's good for Love Liberty Disco, anyway".

I'd agree with you on "Beautiful Sound", and if there had been space for it, I'd even add in"Love Liberty Disco". To be fair though, that disc was already pretty packed and most people didn't take to the LLD stuff like we did. "Lost the Plot" is an actual fan favorite, so it's a bit more egregious (even if it does mean including most of TMTYL on the best-of - it would have been worth cutting GINAS or "Reality").

I like Audio A's "Good Life", but I don't think leaving it out was as much of a travesty as leaving out "The Houseplant Song".

The reason for that's pretty obvious, though - they'd be including most of Underdog if they added anything beyond the singles and fan favorites already included. That seems to be a bit of a no-no for Best-Of albums.

The point of a GH album is supposed to be getting the artist's most well-loved songs without having to buy the albums, I though.

When it gets to the point of 7 tracks on a 15 track best-of album all being from the same 10-track disc, though, it gets a bit silly. They have to hold something back.

I wouldn't be able to comment on that one, really, not having heard their first three or so albums.

I haven't had enough time with Til We Have Faces to know if you'd like it or not. Patience features some gems, but you're better off with live versions of most of the songs due to a number of lyrical issues, production issues, and a disproportionate amount of short "non song" things. You would absolutely love Eve though - it's a loud and diverse rock album with quite a bit to pick through in the lyrics department. It opens with a Nirvana-topping grunge knockoff and ends with just Karin and an upright bass doing a sparse version of "Bothered" - it's probably the best and most diverse twist in their catalog. I still haven't figured out just what most of the songs are trying to say yet, though.

In general, though, I'm not a big fan of putting alternate versions of songs on a GH project, unless the alternate versions were actually what became hits.

In Over the Rhine's case, the live versions often topped the originals in the fan favorite category ("Bothered", "My Love Is A Fever", and "If I'm Drowning" on Besides (which also featured otherwise unreleased songs that they play live, like the quieter "All I Need is Everything", "Last Night", and "Miles"), and "Like A Radio" and "Mary's Waltz" on Amateur Shortwave Radio))

ASR (1999) is a ten-year live retrospective with one track per CD, a few new songs, and a few rarities. It's sort of a "Greatest hits, but only for people who already own everything else we've done" kind of thing. Besides(1997) was originally a fan-only release to get some fan favorites out there and help the completest fans, but it's an essential album if you ask me. I think you're familiar with the other "retrospective" discs ("Changes Come" (2004), "Discount Fireworks" (2007), "Live From Nowhere Vol. 1" (2006), "Live From Nowhere Vol. 2 (2007)"). You better already have LFNv1 though, because it's going for $60 a pop on eBay.

[murlough23]

I'd agree with you on "Beautiful Sound", and if there had been space for it, I'd even add in"Love Liberty Disco". To be fair though, that disc was already pretty packed and most people didn't take to the LLD stuff like we did. "Lost the Plot" is an actual fan favorite, so it's a bit more egregious (even if it does mean including most of TMTYL on the best-of - it would have been worth cutting GINAS or "Reality").

I really liked the update of "God Is Not a Secret", even if I normally disapprove of such things. "Reality" is cheesy, but fun. Neither is better than "Lost the Plot", of course, but no other Newsboys song is.

The reason for that's pretty obvious, though - they'd be including most of Underdog if they added anything beyond the singles and fan favorites already included. That seems to be a bit of a no-no for Best-Of albums.

When it gets to the point of 7 tracks on a 15 track best-of album all being from the same 10-track disc, though, it gets a bit silly. They have to hold something back.

That's exactly my problem. If the true intention was to put that artist's best material on one disc, they wouldn't hold back songs that definitely qualified. But fears about stunting the sales of an individual album (especially a more recent one) often cause these sorts of head-scratching omissions. Commercial interests get in the way of actually doing something worthwhile for the fans, which is why I rarely buy GH discs any more.