Greatest hits
Encyclopedia
A greatest hits album is a music compilation album
of successful, previously released song
s by a particular artist or band. To increase the appeal of the album – especially to people who already own the previously released material – it is common to include remix
es or alternate takes of popular songs or new material, with new songs often being released as single
s (and themselves sometimes becoming successful). Madonna
's The Immaculate Collection
is the best selling greatest hits compilation by a solo artist; all of the songs on it are presented in different versions than the original hit versions. The Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) is the best selling greatest hits compilation by a group and also one of the ten best selling albums in history. Johnny Mathis
's Johnny's Greatest Hits (1958) is generally considered the first greatest hits album. It was popular, remaining on the Billboard Top Albums Chart for a then record-breaking 490 continuous weeks.
Greatest hits albums are typically produced after an artist has had enough successful songs to fill out an album release. Some artists, such as The Beatles
, Kenny Rogers
, Aerosmith
, Kiss
, U2
, Los Tigres del Norte
, Queen
and Billy Joel
, have released multiple greatest hits albums through their careers. Some greatest hits albums are released only at the end of the artist or group's career. Creed
released a greatest hits
album after they disbanded.
In British pop music, when a band releases a greatest hits album, in most cases after three or four studio albums, it is usually taken as a sign that the band are about to split up. Examples include greatest hits albums by Atomic Kitten
, Steps, S Club 7, Blue
and Take That
, although the latter band would reform nine years later. Recent exceptions to this "rule" include Westlife
, Girls Aloud
, McFly
, Feeder
and Sugababes
, who have released new material after their greatest hits collections.
Some bands refuse to release a greatest hits album, notably AC/DC
and Metallica
, (AC/DC, however, has released two compilation albums in the past: Who Made Who
and Iron Man 2
, which are both movie soundtracks). Manic Street Preachers
initially refused to do a greatest hits, but in the end Forever Delayed
was released. Radiohead
also refused to do such a compilation
, but upon their departure from Parlophone Records, Radiohead: The Best of
was released without their cooperation. This was initially to be the case with Oasis
, but upon realization that the release was inevitable, the band took direct involvement, selecting the tracklisting, track order, and the artwork. The country music
star Garth Brooks
long opposed the release of a greatest hits collection, but agreed to it in 1994 but only for a limited time (his release, The Hits was quickly deleted, but not until selling well over ten million copies). Joni Mitchell
also resisted releasing a greatest hits album for many years, reportedly fearing that the availability of a greatest hits compilation would lead her record label to take her actual studio albums out of print, but she agreed to release Hits
in 1996 along with a second album titled Misses
, which compiled non-hit songs that Mitchell personally selected as being representative of her work.
Greatest hits collections can also boost a falling music career. The Beautiful South
's first greatest hits album, Carry on up the Charts
, was originally strongly opposed by the band. However, upon release it became one of the fastest selling albums in chart history.
Often, a Greatest Hits VHS
or DVD
collection can be released, which features the music videos to the hits. These are often released concurrently with a Greatest Hits album (a more recent example being the Oasis release Time Flies... 1994-2009). Although sometimes, a Greatest Hits VHS
or DVD
can be released as a solo release without a companion album (a good example being the Guns N' Roses
VHS/DVD Welcome to the Videos
, released in 1998. Guns N' Roses would eventually release a greatest hits album in 2004
). Another example of a video greatest hits without a companion audio album would be Positive Mental Octopus
by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
, released in 1990.
Radio stations are now emerging that only play Greatest Hits albums as their source material.
Another criticism has been including one or two new songs with a package of hits. This trend started in the early 1980s, and made it necessary for collectors to purchase the "greatest hits" album if they wished to have the complete catalog of an artist's songs, even if those collectors owned all the albums containing the pre-existing hits. However, with online music stores now available, people can just download the new songs. The Paperboys
released Tenure in 2002, which, out of its eighteen tracks, contains six new songs.
Some greatest hits albums are ridiculed as premature releases by young artists. Kenny Rogers
and The First Edition
, for example, issued Greatest Hits in 1971, three years after their first top 40 pop hit. Jason Donovan
had a hits album out in 1991, only two years after he debuted; Ol' Dirty Bastard
released The Dirty Story: The Best of ODB after two albums and three singles. Hilary Duff
, 'N Sync
, and Mandy Moore
released greatest hits albums though they might have had only a handful of hit singles in their short careers. The Jackson 5 Greatest Hits
was released only two years after the band released their debut album.
The quality of a greatest hits package released early in an artist's career depends upon the artist. Elvis Presley
released Elvis' Golden Records
in 1958, which only covered 1956–1958, although this album still sells today, remaining in print on Compact Disc
, despite the countless Presley hits collections issued since. The Bee Gees
released Best of Bee Gees in 1969, only two years after their international debut, yet nine of the twelve tracks were hit singles in America. Sly and the Family Stone released their Greatest Hits
album in 1970, after only three years. Ringo Starr
's Blast From Your Past
and John Lennon
's Shaved Fish
came out in 1975, after five-year solo careers (both had been in The Beatles
). All of these compilations were well-received and continue to garner critical kudos.
In Japan, it is common for artists to have "greatest hits" compilations released early in their career. Many acts release a compilation after three albums, which commonly means after only three years of career in the music market. Ayumi Hamasaki
, Mai Kuraki
, Hikaru Utada, Glay
and Greeeen
are a few examples (the band McFly
, from England, also released a greatest hits album
after three albums and three active years). Many times, the decision of having a greatest hits released is due to the popularity of the artist at the moment, which results in bigger sales. It is also common for the Japanese artists to have many compilations throughout their careers.
's of their most well-regarded and highest-rated episodes to drive new viewers to watch a program. Two examples of this are the Family Guy
s Freakin' Sweet Collection and South Park
: The Hits. Several video game companies have game rereleases after they have sold a certain number; Sony
's PlayStation
has a "Greatest Hits" banner; Nintendo
has the Player's Choice
label; and Microsoft has the Xbox Platinum Hits
label. The European title (and original North American title) for Guitar Hero: Smash Hits was Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits. The Simpsons
released Greatest Hits on VHS in 1998.
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
of successful, previously released song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
s by a particular artist or band. To increase the appeal of the album – especially to people who already own the previously released material – it is common to include remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
es or alternate takes of popular songs or new material, with new songs often being released as single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
s (and themselves sometimes becoming successful). Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
's The Immaculate Collection
The Immaculate Collection
The Immaculate Collection is the first greatest hits album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on November 9, 1990 by Sire Records. It contains fifteen of her hit singles from 1982 to 1990, as well as two new tracks "Justify My Love" and "Rescue Me"...
is the best selling greatest hits compilation by a solo artist; all of the songs on it are presented in different versions than the original hit versions. The Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) is the best selling greatest hits compilation by a group and also one of the ten best selling albums in history. Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
's Johnny's Greatest Hits (1958) is generally considered the first greatest hits album. It was popular, remaining on the Billboard Top Albums Chart for a then record-breaking 490 continuous weeks.
Greatest hits albums are typically produced after an artist has had enough successful songs to fill out an album release. Some artists, such as The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
, Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
, Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
, U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, Los Tigres del Norte
Los Tigres del Norte
Los Tigres del Norte is a norteño-band ensemble based out of San Jose, California, hailing from Rosa Morada, Sinaloa, Mexico.- History :...
, Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
and Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
, have released multiple greatest hits albums through their careers. Some greatest hits albums are released only at the end of the artist or group's career. Creed
Creed (band)
Creed is an American rock band formed in 1995 in Tallahassee, Florida. Becoming popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the band has released three consecutive multi-platinum albums, one of which has been certified diamond, and has sold over 28 million records in the United States, with an...
released a greatest hits
Greatest Hits (Creed album)
Greatest Hits is a greatest hits compilation album from the rock band Creed. It was released in 2004, soon after the announcement that the band had broken up, and that lead singer Scott Stapp and the other members of the band would go their separate ways . It consists of every one of their U.S...
album after they disbanded.
In British pop music, when a band releases a greatest hits album, in most cases after three or four studio albums, it is usually taken as a sign that the band are about to split up. Examples include greatest hits albums by Atomic Kitten
Atomic Kitten
Atomic Kitten were an English girl group from Liverpool, first established in 1997. Created by Andy McCluskey, the final line-up, and most commercially successful, consisted of Natasha Hamilton, Liz McClarnon, and Jenny Frost...
, Steps, S Club 7, Blue
Blue (boy band)
Blue are an English pop vocal group, whose members are Simon Webbe, Lee Ryan, Duncan James and Antony Costa. Blue originally formed in 2001 before splitting in 2005. In 2009, it was confirmed that the band would reform. In April 2009, the group reunited and a Best of Blue Tour was announced...
and Take That
Take That
Take That are a British five-piece vocal pop group comprising Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams. Barlow acts as the lead singer and primary songwriter...
, although the latter band would reform nine years later. Recent exceptions to this "rule" include Westlife
Westlife
Westlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden . The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one...
, Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud are a British and Irish pop girl group based in London. They were created through the ITV1 talent show Popstars The Rivals in 2002. The group consists of Cheryl Cole , Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. They are signed to Fascination Records, a Polydor...
, McFly
McFly
McFly are an English pop rock band who first found fame in 2004. The band consists of Tom Fletcher , Danny Jones , Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd . They were signed to the Island Records label from their 2004 launch until December 2007, before creating their own label, Super Records...
, Feeder
Feeder
-Technology:* Feeder , any of several devices used in apiculture to supplement or replace natural food sources* Feeder , another name for a riser, a reservoir built into a metal casting mold to prevent cavities due to shrinkage...
and Sugababes
Sugababes
The Sugababes are an English pop girl group based in London, consisting of members Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen. The Sugababes were formed in 1998 with founding members Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan. Their debut album, One Touch, was released in 2000 under London...
, who have released new material after their greatest hits collections.
Some bands refuse to release a greatest hits album, notably AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
and Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
, (AC/DC, however, has released two compilation albums in the past: Who Made Who
Who Made Who
Who Made Who is a hard rock album by Australian band AC/DC, released in 1986 as the soundtrack to the Stephen King movie Maximum Overdrive...
and Iron Man 2
Iron Man 2 (soundtrack)
Iron Man 2 is a compilation album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released on 19 April 2010 as the soundtrack to Jon Favreau's movie of the same name...
, which are both movie soundtracks). Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Richey Edwards and Sean Moore. The band are part of the Cardiff music scene, and were at their most prominent during the 1990s...
initially refused to do a greatest hits, but in the end Forever Delayed
Forever Delayed
Forever Delayed is a greatest hits album by the Manic Street Preachers, released in October 2002. The album included three singles which had never appeared on earlier albums , the latter being one of the band's two UK #1 hits, along with "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next." Several...
was released. Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
also refused to do such a compilation
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, but upon their departure from Parlophone Records, Radiohead: The Best of
Radiohead: The Best Of
-DVD:#"Creep" #"Anyone Can Play Guitar" #"Pop Is Dead" #"Stop Whispering" #"My Iron Lung"...
was released without their cooperation. This was initially to be the case with Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
, but upon realization that the release was inevitable, the band took direct involvement, selecting the tracklisting, track order, and the artwork. The country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
star Garth Brooks
Garth Brooks
Troyal Garth Brooks , best known as Garth Brooks, is an American country music artist who helped make country music a worldwide phenomenon. His eponymous first album was released in 1989 and peaked at number 2 in the US country album chart while climbing to number 13 on the Billboard 200 album chart...
long opposed the release of a greatest hits collection, but agreed to it in 1994 but only for a limited time (his release, The Hits was quickly deleted, but not until selling well over ten million copies). Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
also resisted releasing a greatest hits album for many years, reportedly fearing that the availability of a greatest hits compilation would lead her record label to take her actual studio albums out of print, but she agreed to release Hits
Hits (Joni Mitchell album)
Hits is a 1996 greatest hits compilation by Joni Mitchell. , it has sold 488,000 copies in the United States. A counterpart album, Misses, was released on the same day as Hits...
in 1996 along with a second album titled Misses
Misses (album)
Misses is a 1996 compilation album by Joni Mitchell. The tracks were chosen by Mitchell herself, and her selections concentrate on her lesser known, more experimental work, including jazz influenced recordings from the late 1970s and electronic music from the 1980s. Mitchell also designed the album...
, which compiled non-hit songs that Mitchell personally selected as being representative of her work.
Greatest hits collections can also boost a falling music career. The Beautiful South
The Beautiful South
The Beautiful South were an English alternative rock group formed at the end of the 1980s by two former members of Hull group The Housemartins, Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway. The duo were initially joined by Sean Welch , Dave Stead and Dave Rotheray , all of whom stayed with the group throughout...
's first greatest hits album, Carry on up the Charts
Carry on up the Charts
Carry On up the Charts: The Best of The Beautiful South is The Beautiful South's fifth album and first greatest hits collection.It was released in the same year as the Miaow album, with the album's only single, "One Last Love Song", was released in October 1994, only two months after "Prettiest...
, was originally strongly opposed by the band. However, upon release it became one of the fastest selling albums in chart history.
Often, a Greatest Hits VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
or DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
collection can be released, which features the music videos to the hits. These are often released concurrently with a Greatest Hits album (a more recent example being the Oasis release Time Flies... 1994-2009). Although sometimes, a Greatest Hits VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
or DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
can be released as a solo release without a companion album (a good example being the Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
VHS/DVD Welcome to the Videos
Welcome to the Videos
Welcome to the Videos is a DVD released in 1998 featuring music videos by the American rock group Guns N' Roses. All the videos featured were made between 1987 and 1994...
, released in 1998. Guns N' Roses would eventually release a greatest hits album in 2004
Greatest Hits (Guns N' Roses album)
-Notes:*"Ain't It Fun" was censored for the compilation: "Ain't it fun when you tell her she's just a cunt" became "Ain't it fun when you tell her she's just a–", with guitar notes at 3:36 instead of the final word in the line. This version had never been officially released before, but had...
). Another example of a video greatest hits without a companion audio album would be Positive Mental Octopus
Positive Mental Octopus
Positive Mental Octopus is a music video compilation from the alternative rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers and was released in 1990 by EMI. The compilation was only released on VHS and is now out of print though all of the music videos were released two years later on the What Hits!? compilation.The...
by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
, released in 1990.
Radio stations are now emerging that only play Greatest Hits albums as their source material.
Criticism and popularity
A few artists feel that their individual songs should ideally be listened to in context of the other songs in their original albums, and taking out simply the greatest hits of that context would diminish all the work put into the album as a whole.Another criticism has been including one or two new songs with a package of hits. This trend started in the early 1980s, and made it necessary for collectors to purchase the "greatest hits" album if they wished to have the complete catalog of an artist's songs, even if those collectors owned all the albums containing the pre-existing hits. However, with online music stores now available, people can just download the new songs. The Paperboys
The Paperboys
The Paperboys are a Canadian folk music band from Vancouver that formed in 1991. The Paperboys blend Celtic folk with bluegrass, Mexican, Eastern European, African, zydeco, soul and country influences...
released Tenure in 2002, which, out of its eighteen tracks, contains six new songs.
Some greatest hits albums are ridiculed as premature releases by young artists. Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
and The First Edition
The First Edition
The First Edition was a country music/rock band. Its stalwart members being Kenny Rogers , Mickey Jones and Terry Williams...
, for example, issued Greatest Hits in 1971, three years after their first top 40 pop hit. Jason Donovan
Jason Donovan
Jason Donovan is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 million records, and his début album Ten Good Reasons was one of the highest-selling albums of 1989...
had a hits album out in 1991, only two years after he debuted; Ol' Dirty Bastard
Ol' Dirty Bastard
Russell Tyrone Jones was an American rapper and occasional producer, who went by the stage name Ol' Dirty Bastard or simply ODB...
released The Dirty Story: The Best of ODB after two albums and three singles. Hilary Duff
Hilary Duff
Hilary Erhard Duff is an American actress, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, and author. After working in local theater plays and television commercials in her childhood, she achieved fame playing the title role in the Disney Channel television series Lizzie McGuire. She also reprised her role in...
, 'N Sync
'N Sync
N Sync was an American boy band formed in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich, *NSYNC consisted of JC Chasez, Justin Timberlake, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick...
, and Mandy Moore
Mandy Moore
Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore is an American singer-songwriter, actress and fashion designer. Moore became famous as a teenager in the late 1990s, after the release of her teen pop albums So Real, I Wanna Be with You, and Mandy Moore. In 2007, she took an adult pop-folk direction with the release of...
released greatest hits albums though they might have had only a handful of hit singles in their short careers. The Jackson 5 Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (The Jackson 5 album)
Greatest Hits was the first greatest hits compilation for The Jackson 5 released by Motown Records in late 1971, and selling over 5.6 million copies worldwide...
was released only two years after the band released their debut album.
The quality of a greatest hits package released early in an artist's career depends upon the artist. Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
released Elvis' Golden Records
Elvis' Golden Records
Elvis' Golden Records is the fifth album by Elvis Presley issued on RCA Victor Records, LPM 1707, in March 1958, recorded mostly at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, with one session at RCA Studios in New York on January 30, one at 20th Century Fox Stage One in Hollywood on August 24, and three at in...
in 1958, which only covered 1956–1958, although this album still sells today, remaining in print on Compact Disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
, despite the countless Presley hits collections issued since. The Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
released Best of Bee Gees in 1969, only two years after their international debut, yet nine of the twelve tracks were hit singles in America. Sly and the Family Stone released their Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (Sly & the Family Stone album)
Greatest Hits is a greatest hits album by soul/funk band Sly & the Family Stone, released November 21, 1970 on Epic Records. It includes all of the singles from the albums Dance to the Music , Life , and Stand! , and all of their charting b-sides...
album in 1970, after only three years. Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
's Blast From Your Past
Blast from Your Past
Blast from Your Past is a compilation album by Ringo Starr, released on Apple Records in 1975. It is both his first compilation LP and his final release under his contract with EMI, It was also the last album to be released on The Beatles' Apple label until it was revived in the 1990s...
and John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
's Shaved Fish
Shaved Fish
The year the album was released, a Creem magazine reader's poll included it among the top five "Best Reissues" of 1975, placing fourth, behind two Rolling Stones compilations, Made in the Shade and Metamorphosis, and The Basement Tapes....
came out in 1975, after five-year solo careers (both had been in The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
). All of these compilations were well-received and continue to garner critical kudos.
In Japan, it is common for artists to have "greatest hits" compilations released early in their career. Many acts release a compilation after three albums, which commonly means after only three years of career in the music market. Ayumi Hamasaki
Ayumi Hamasaki
is a Japanese singer-songwriter, record producer, model, lyricist, and actress. Also called "Ayu" by her fans, Hamasaki has been dubbed the "Empress of Pop" because of her popularity and widespread influence in Japan and throughout Asia. Born and raised in Fukuoka, she moved to Tokyo at fourteen to...
, Mai Kuraki
Mai Kuraki
is a Japanese pop and R&B singer-songwriter and producer from Funabashi, Chiba. Kuraki debuted in 1999 with the single, "Love, Day After Tomorrow". In 2000, she released her debut album, Delicious Way, which debuted at number-one and sold over 2,210,000 copies in its first week...
, Hikaru Utada, Glay
Glay
Glay is a rock/pop band from Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan formed by guitarist Takuro and vocalist Teru in high school in 1988. Glay primarily composes songs in the rock and pop genres, but they have also composed songs using elements of different styles such as reggae and gospel...
and Greeeen
GReeeeN
is a Japanese pop/rock/hip hop/breakbeat vocal group from Kōriyama city in Fukushima Prefecture, comprising the all-male four members Hide, Navi, 92, and Soh. They made their debut with Universal Music in 2007. Their logo image is of a mouthful of teeth, and the four Es indicate the number of members...
are a few examples (the band McFly
McFly
McFly are an English pop rock band who first found fame in 2004. The band consists of Tom Fletcher , Danny Jones , Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd . They were signed to the Island Records label from their 2004 launch until December 2007, before creating their own label, Super Records...
, from England, also released a greatest hits album
All the Greatest Hits
- Chart performance :...
after three albums and three active years). Many times, the decision of having a greatest hits released is due to the popularity of the artist at the moment, which results in bigger sales. It is also common for the Japanese artists to have many compilations throughout their careers.
Gaming and television
A recent trend is for television shows to release compilation DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
's of their most well-regarded and highest-rated episodes to drive new viewers to watch a program. Two examples of this are the Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
s Freakin' Sweet Collection and South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
: The Hits. Several video game companies have game rereleases after they have sold a certain number; Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
's PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
has a "Greatest Hits" banner; Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
has the Player's Choice
Player's Choice
Nintendo Selects is a marketing label used by Nintendo to promote video games on Nintendo game consoles which have sold well; Nintendo Selects titles are sold at a lower price point than other games...
label; and Microsoft has the Xbox Platinum Hits
Platinum Hits
Platinum Hits is a term used to refer to a line of select Xbox games that were considered by Microsoft to have sold considerable units on the platform in the nine months after release, and have dropped in price from their original MSRP to a newer, lower price, generally that of US$19.99, although...
label. The European title (and original North American title) for Guitar Hero: Smash Hits was Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits. The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
released Greatest Hits on VHS in 1998.
See also
- List of greatest hits albums
- Grandes Éxitos (disambiguation) - The Spanish languageSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
equivalent of the concept - The Best Of (disambiguation) - another title
- Compilation albumCompilation albumA compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...