Greatest Hits Albums

What’s with bands that have only been in the game for ten years releasing greatest hits compilations? I.e. two Australian bands Living End (whom I love) and Powderfinger are both culprits. A band should follow these 5 rules if they are going to make a ‘best of.’

1. If they are still going must be more than ten years old.

2. Must have had more than one hit.

3. Don’t fill it up with cover songs (come on, put your own work on it).

4. Don’t claim to have a best of double album when the second disk is all just remixes.

5. If the band is old the songs should be remastered.

Two bands (who are both great) that are really bad offenders are U2 and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. They decided that they needed a ‘best of’ for each decade; the Peppers even decided they needed to celebrate one decade with two. And the Guns N Roses greatest hits album was a bit of a joke. Out of fourteen songs it had three cover songs, which were great. The disappointment of the album was all the sappy songs (they are musically OK but not what you would put on a Guns N Roses best of) naturally put on the album by Axl (lead singer). There were a few of the old favourites but not enough of the metal songs that made them so popular, and they are definitely not lacking in these. Better to have just bought their first album, Appetite For Destruction (which I did). So bands, before you release that greatest hits album, think, are you really that popular, how long have you been around and do you have enough original songs to at least get eighteen on one disk?