What makes a good best-of?

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

You don't have to read the review of the Radiohead best-of which got me thinking about this - the relevant bit is this: "This compilation is dominated by a pair of central ideas of what Radiohead sound like: emotionally nourishing, impressionistic balladeers, or crunchy, tech- and texture-savvy rockers. The outliers, moments when the band has dabbled more in mood, atmosphere, or a love of pure sound...aren't represented at all."

Now admittedly Scott's talking about the 2CD version not the 1CD version, which would have more room to roam, but my reaction was still "DUDE IT'S A BEST OF" - one of the things best ofs are for is to boil down an act to its essence, and with the best will in the world the experimental stuff has always been fringier to Radiohead than some might have you think.

But maybe you think best ofs are for representing a band's entire output, or spotlighting hidden depths, or presenting fan favourites, or or or - what do you look for in a compilation?

Comments

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

Also:

isn't the entire notion of a greatest hits compilation going to be outdated soon anyway?

No, probably not. If you're new to an artist, it's much easier to buy a pre-selected compilation of their Greatest Hits (however those "greatest hits" have been defined) than to try and purchase your own compilation by randomly selecting songs from a list.

I'm amazed though that no band has yet marketed a Greatest Hits album where the fan chooses their own selection of the artist's output, but it comes in a proper case with artwork etc. Or maybe they have and it just passed me by.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I guess the barrier to that is that if the fan is sufficiently informed to select the songs him/herself, they'll probably already own those songs!

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

A few years ago - I remember this from Glenn McDonald's The War Against Silence - the Alarm (!!!) put out a very limited box set, and anyone who bought that box set could request a unique, exclusive acoustic performance of an Alarm song of their choice, which would be included in it. Or some arrangement like that.

Obviously this is not practical for a fanbase of Radiohead or Tori size, though it would keep the band out of mischief.

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Mightn't it also be a bit of a headache as regards royalties?

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I LAUGH in the face of such headaches!

(But not if they're R*d**h**d releated! Wah!)

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

if the fan is sufficiently informed to select the songs him/herself, they'll probably already own those songs!

Not true! I can think of loads of acts that I own next to nothing by where I'm either waiting for the "right" comp to come along or until I get a better handle on what their good stuff allegedly/actually is. Granted, these are mostly acts from the 50s, 60s and 70s. But some current chart acts too - Mariah springs to mind!

So I'm all for bespoke compilations.

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

The closest I can think of is Bjork, where the track list on the released version was chosen by fans in a poll of all her singles, and the tracklisting is in order of popularity (this is essentially why her biggest UK hit, It's Oh So Quiet, is absent). In the boxset made available at the same time, there is a second greatest hits, this time with the track selection chosen by Bjork.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Wire's old compilation "The A List" was chosen in a fan poll too, and this in the pre internet era. I really liked that idea, and it made for a good compilation too!

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

Minutemen did something similar as well. Not that I've heard it.

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Didn't David Bowie let the fans select one bonus song for his best-of, then take his ball and go home when an orchestrated campaign resulted in that song being (early, funny) The Laughing Gnome?

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

IIRC this was for selecting the tracklist of his world tour (I believe a "farewell" tour). So he'd have had to play The Laughing Gnome every night, arf arf.

[credoimprobus]

Not quite the same, of course, but before they broke up for good Curve were offering custom-made cdr's of unreleased tracks to fans. So it's occurred in some incarnation, at least!