History Main / GreatestHitsAlbum

* 1983's ''Attack of the Killer B's (Volume 1)'' was a compilation of singles' B-sides that felt warranted of attention. Among the songs were "You're My favorite Waste Of Time" (Marshall Crenshaw), "Shock Den Offen" (Peter Gabriel, German version of "Shock The Monkey"), "In The Sticks" (The Pretenders), "Babysitter" (The Ramones) and "Love Goes To A Building On Fire" (Talking Heads).

* Music/CamperVanBeethoven have ''Popular Songs of Great Enduring Strength and Beauty'', which covers their career up until their initial breakup in 1990 (meaning nothing was included from ''New Roman Times'', which was their newest album at the time, or their CoverAlbum of Music/FleetwoodMac's ''Music/{{Tusk}}''). The band couldn't license anything from ''Key Lime Pie'' and ''Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart'', the two albums they released while on Virgin, so the album uses brand new re-recordings of four of it's songs.

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* Creator/UniversalMusicGroup: ''20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection'' series were commonplace during the early 2000s. These were budget greatest hits albums of the artist's big hits packaged in with an essay-style biography by a music critic. Some of these are straight reissues of existing greatest hits albums such as Music/{{Squeeze}}'s ''Singles - 45's and Under''. Later, they launched the more career-spanning 2-disc ''Gold'' series, to compete with ''The Essential''. They've also launched a second Greatest Hits line, ''Icon'', which is a one disc budget compilation like the ''20th Century Masters'', which they're still producing anyway.

* Music/{{Rush}} has released several compilations over their career, but the most noteworthy that would be considered "greatest hits" albums are the double album Chronicles released in 1990, and The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974-1987 released in 2003.

* Music/{{Madness}} have released no less than nine different compilation albums, only one less than their ten studio albums of new material. Some of them have virtually the same track listing, though.

* Creator/LapfoxTrax released four compilation albums, each themed around a different persona for people just getting into their music, in order to avoid ArchivePanic. These are ''It's Murder'' for [[MissFanservice Mayhem]], ''Because Maybe!'' for [[MadDoctor Renard]], ''The Killer's Notebook'' for [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Jackal Queenston]], and ''I Knew A Little Bookworm'' for [[LizardFolk Klippa]].

* Music/CamperVanBeethoven have ''[[LongTitle Popular Songs of Great Enduring Strength and Beauty]]'', which covers their career up until their initial breakup in 1990 (meaning nothing was included from ''New Roman Times'', which was their newest album at the time, or their CoverAlbum of Music/FleetwoodMac's ''Music/{{Tusk}}''). The band couldn't license anything from ''Key Lime Pie'' and ''Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart'', the two albums they released while on Virgin, so the album uses brand new re-recordings of four of it's songs.

* Popular NuMetal band Music/{{Korn}} has released two greatest hits albums. First in 2004 the band released one titled ''Greatest Hits, Vol. 1'' which compiled together select songs from all of the band's albums released up to that point, along with a remix of "Freak on a Leash" and two covers (one of Cameo's "Word Up" and another of Music/PinkFloyd's [[Music/TheWall "Another Brick in the Wall"]]). A "Vol. 2" has yet to be released, as instead the band put out ''The Essential Korn'' in 2011 which stuck solely to songs off of the band's output from 1994-2003 (including more songs off those albums, and re-including the covers previously on the other greatest hits album). A possible reasoning for the omissions of songs past 2004 could be due to how fans tend to regard the albums released between ''Take a Look in the Mirror'' and ''Korn III'' as a low point for the band, and ''Korn III'', the band's WinBackTheCrowd album, was still a fresh release at the time.

* Music/PetShopBoys has released four greatest hits albums:

** ''Works'' is 1982 collection featuring Pink Floyd songs from no later than 1973.

**

* Creator/LapfoxTrax released four compilation albums, each themed around a different persona for people just getting into their music, in order to avoid ArchivePanic. These are ''It's Murder'' for [[MissFanservice Mayhem]], ''Because Maybe!'' for [[MadDoctor Renard]], ''The Killer's Notebook'' for [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Jackal Queenston]], and ''I Knew A Little Bookworm'' for [[LizardFolk Klippa]]

* Creator/LapfoxTrax released four compilation albums, each themed around a different persona for people just getting into their music, in order to avoid ArchivePanic. These are ''It's Murder'' for [[MissFanservice Mayhem]], ''Because Maybe!'' for [[MadDoctor Renard]], ''The Killer's Notebook'' for [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Jackal Queenston]], and ''I Knew A Little Bookworm'' for [[LizardFolk Klippa]])

* Despite the fact they never actually had a hit song, Music/TheVelvetUnderground have two of these. [[http://www.amazon.com/Best-Velvet-Underground-Words-Music/dp/B000001FR9/ref=sr_1_27?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1231629458&sr=1-27 One]] is considered generally inferior due to picking almost all of their most conventional songs; [[http://www.amazon.com/20th-Century-Masters-Millennium-Underground/dp/B00004YX3S/ref=pd_sim_m_16 the second]] was more well-received. There is a slight catch with the latter compilation though - since it was released through Universal Music Group, who own the rights to every VU album except for ''Loaded'', songs from that album had to be left out, though performances of "Sweet Jane" and "Rock And Roll" from ''[[LiveAlbum 1969: The Velvet Underground Live]]'' were included to make up for it.

* Despite the fact they never actually had a hit song, Music/TheVelvetUnderground have two of these. [[http://www.amazon.com/Best-Velvet-Underground-Words-Music/dp/B000001FR9/ref=sr_1_27?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1231629458&sr=1-27 One]] is considered generally inferior due to picking almost all of their most conventional songs; [[http://www.amazon.com/20th-Century-Masters-Millennium-Underground/dp/B00004YX3S/ref=pd_sim_m_16 the second]] was more well-received.

** ''Music/{{Changesonebowie}}'' (1976) and ''Changestwobowie'' (1981) were the first compilations that brought together his career-making hits. When a rerelease program of Bowie's 1969-80 catalog was initiated by Creator/{{Rykodisc}} in 1990, ''Changesbowie'' -- the cover of which incorporated the ''Changesonebowie'' cover photo -- arrived; it also included EMI-era songs from 1983's ''Music/LetsDance'' and 1984's ''Music/{{Tonight}}'', and instead of [[Music/YoungAmericans "Fame"]] (his first U.S. Number One) the then-new rearrangement "Fame '90" was substituted. The remix was not well received, and it was replaced by the original when ''Changesbowie'' was reissued in 1996.
** 1989's ''Sound + Vision'' box set covered 1969-1980 with a focus on deeper cuts and originally included a Video [=CD=] (later [=CD-ROM=]) of three live numbers and the "Ashes to Ashes" video on top of three audio [=CDs=]. A 2003 reissue turned it into a four-[=CD=] set with material from 1982-93 and a 1997 live B-side added.

** 2014's 3-disc ''Nothing Has Changed'' presents its songs in reverse chronological order, starting with the set-exclusive single "Sue (or In a Season of Crime)" and working all the way back to his first single, 1964's "Liza Jane", making this the first Bowie-assembled compilation to include pre-"Space Oddity" material. Along the way, remixes, single edits, and other rarities pop up, including three selections from his unreleased album ''Toy''. A 2-disc version, with its tracklist in regular chronological order, is also available

* Music/{{Ministry}}'s ''Greatest Fits'' and ''Rantology'': One includes the original or single versions of most of it's songs and also features "What About Us?" (originally from ''Film/AIArtificialIntelligence'') and a slightly extended version of the [[Music/BlackSabbath "Supernaut"]] cover originally credited to 1,000 Homo [=DJs=]. About half of the other is new remixes or "updates" of old songs, and at the time "The Great Satan" was an exclusive track, but a version later appeared on ''Rio Grande Blood''. Neither, of course, include anything from their OldShame SynthPop period.

** Until 2012, AC/DC took this trope up to eleven by refusing to licence their music to iTunes as iTunes allows individual song purchases and the band wish their music to only be available as complete albums (aside from the two soundtracks previously mentioned), so you couldn't (legally) even compile your own greatest hits collection without purchasing the actual albums.

%%** Music/AlienAntFarm

A specific type of Compilation Album (also known as a "Best of" Album), the Greatest Hits Album consists of earlier hit singles or other successful, previously released songs by a particular music artist or band. It's generally a great way for an artist to make a bunch of money without having to do any actual new work. It is also a great way for a record label to [[ContractualObligationProject get a new album from an artist]] who has left the label or is trying to do so ASAP.

To increase the possible appeal of the album, especially to people who already ''own'' the bulk of the artist's work (and thus likely to both be the biggest fans and already own all the hits), it's not uncommon to include remixes, alternate takes, live versions of popular songs, stand-alone singles that haven't yet appeared on an album (or, in the case of movie theme songs, only on a soundtrack album), and/or even a completely new song or two (which will, inevitably, be released as a single in order to promote the collection, and may or may not become a hit in its own right). Of course, all of this is likely to piss off the completists, who might find themselves being forced to pay full album price for one or two songs (though the rise of digital music distribution has mollified this problem to a certain extent). However, Greatest Hits Albums make good purchases for casual fans of artists they otherwise have no urge to buy complete albums of.

To increase the possible appeal of the album, especially to people who already ''own'' the bulk of the artist's work (and thus likely to both be the biggest fans and already own all the hits), it's not uncommon to include remixes, alternate takes, live versions of popular songs, stand-alone singles that haven't yet appeared on an album (or, in the case of movie theme songs, only on a soundtrack album), and/or even a completely new song or two (which will, inevitably, be released as a single in order to promote the collection, and may or may not become a hit in its own right). Of course, all of this is likely to piss off the completists, who might find themselves being forced to pay full album price for one or two songs (though the rise of digital music distribution has mollified this problem to a certain extent). However, Greatest Hits Albums are good purchases for casual fans of artists they otherwise have no urge to buy complete albums of.

A variation is a compilation of various artists by time period, genre, style or any combination of criteria. So you get albums with titles like ''Best Rock Ballads Ever'', ''Biggest Hits of 2004'', ''Best of the Sixties'' etc. Due to licensing issues, these can often omit iconic songs and/or artists. For example Sixties compilation albums don't include anything by Music/TheBeatles, Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}} or Music/ElvisPresley (who was still popular in the 1960s despite his focus on film) for this reason making an album called ''Best of the Sixties'' a bit of letdown when it doesn't include anything by three of the decades biggest artists.

Despite the rise of digital music distribution largely making compilation albums obsolete, the trend has gotten worse over time. It used to be a general rule that an artist would have around four albums and/or ten years worth of material before they would release a compilation but this is no longer the case. Now "best of" albums can be released after two or even a ''single'' album. There is also a trend towards releasing multiple best of albums, often with only a single original album in between releases. Some artists or record companies will even release a repackaged best of album as the follow up to the previous best of album without any original material being released in the interim. The "vinyl revival" of the 21st century has also revived the popularity of compilation albums, as they're among the best-selling vinyl albums and remain mainstays of Billboard's catalog chart.

A specific type of Compilation Album also known as a "Best of" Album, the Greatest Hits Album consists of earlier hit singles or other successful, previously released songs by a particular music artist or band. It's generally a great way for an artist to make a bunch of money without having to do any actual new work. It is also a great way for a record label to [[ContractualObligationProject get a new album from an artist]] who has left the label or is trying to do so ASAP.

To increase the possible appeal of the album, especially to people who already ''own'' the bulk of the artist's work (and thus likely to both be the biggest fans and already own all the hits), it's not uncommon to include remixes, alternate takes, live versions of popular songs, stand-alone singles that haven't yet appeared on an album (or, in the case of movie theme songs, only on a soundtrack album), and/or even a completely new song or two (which will, inevitably, be released as a single in order to promote the collection, and may or may not become a hit in its own right). Of course, all of this is likely to piss off the completists, who might find themselves being forced to pay full album price for one or two songs (though the rise of digital music distribution has mollified this problem to a certain extent). Greatest Hits Albums are good purchases for casual fans of artists that they otherwise have no urge to buy complete albums of.

Artists are of mixed feelings about these albums as well. Many artists resist releasing one for fear that once they do, their regular albums will begin to be ignored. (Music/JoniMitchell refused to release compilation albums for many years for this very reason.) Yet they are viewed as a necessary evil, as these provide an easy starting point for new fans who are curious about a particular artist's work but can't afford to buy the artist's entire recorded output (which, in some cases, can be [[ArchivePanic extensive]]). Popular music was mainly single-oriented until after the mid-1960s, and non-album singles were still common in Britain for longer than they were in the U.S. through the 1980s, with many of these singles only getting a stateside release on compilations. Musicians and bands don't always get to decide when to release a Greatest Hits Album. A label that acquires another artist's back catalog will often issue a new compilation to drum up sales, or to kick off a reissue/remastering campaign. If an artist is leaving the label and does not own his own back catalog, and if he is successful at all, the label ''will'' release a Greatest Hits Album -- sometimes [[ExecutiveMeddling explicitly against the artist's wishes]].

A specific type of Compilation Album (also known as a "Best of" Album), the Greatest Hits Album consists of earlier hit singles or other successful, previously released songs by a particular music artist or band. It's generally a great way for an artist to make a bunch of money without having to do any actual new work. It is also a great way for a record label to [[ContractualObligationProject get a new album from an artist]] who has left the label or is trying to do so ASAP.