studio albums that may just as well be best ofs

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Just heard a so so one hit wonder song. Won't mention names so as to leave out the negative. But it got me to wondering about how there's some bands who only ever get it together for one good song, and then there's some other bands able to record albums like the following ~

Violator, by Depeche Mode. "The World in My Eyes," "Sweetest Perfect," "Personal Jesus," "Enjoy the Silence," and "The Policy of Truth." I mean, fuck.

Who's Next, by The Who. "Baba O'Riley," "Bargain," "The Song Is Over," "My Wife," "Goin' Mobile," "Behind Blue Eyes," and "Won't Get Fooled Again." I think "Love Ain't for Keeping" made it onto one of their 1001 greatest hits compilations, too.

Whatever the difference is--talent, attitude, comaraderie, "genius," some combination, something else--who knows.

― clean halo, Wednesday, 18 May 2005 18:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Fleetwood Mac - Rumors

― PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 18:19 (twenty-one years ago)

janet jackson, control

― cindy williams permafrost (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 18:19 (twenty-one years ago)

The Velvet Underground & Nico

― fandango (fandango), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 18:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Michael Jackson - Thriller & Bad
Huey Lewis & The News - Fore!

― musicjohn73 (musicjohn73), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 18:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Led Zeppelin - IV (almost every song is a classic rock radio staple)

― Dominique (dleone), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 18:29 (twenty-one years ago)

The Doors s/t

― The Sensational Sulk (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 18:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Nevermind: Nirvana (Smells Like Teen Spirit, Come As You Are, etc)

Mott: Mott The Hoople (All The Way From Memphis, Ballad Of MOtt The Hoople)

Excitable Boy: Warren Zevon (Werewolves of London, Lawyers Guns & Money, etc)

Obviously all three have tons of great songs not found on those albums, but each album is packed with hits or should've-been hits.

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 18:37 (twenty-one years ago)

This might not really fit the question (in that it was to all intents and purposes their only album), but the first thing that came to mind when i saw the thread title was Never Mind the Bollocks.

― Richard C (avoid80), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 18:39 (twenty-one years ago)

ABC, "Lexicon of Love"

Actually, isn't there a thread (or several) on albums whose every track is great?

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 18:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Stone Roses S/T (American version)

― rentboy (rentboy), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 18:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually, isn't there a thread (or several) on albums whose every track is great?

I read the title as "what album pretty much contains all the best from and artist" rather than "what album is there where every track is great"

― rentboy (rentboy), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 18:55 (twenty-one years ago)

American Beauty
(which I really did think was a best of for a while)
Moondance
Harvest
Paranoid
Ten
Wonderful Rainbow

― theophilus jones (theophilus), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 18:56 (twenty-one years ago)

The Velvet Underground & Nico

You are so unbelievably wrong it's not even funny.

xpost:
Harvest
Paranoid

And so are you!!!!

― Ian John50n (orion), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 18:57 (twenty-one years ago)

The Cars

― b'angelo, Wednesday, 18 May 2005 18:59 (twenty-one years ago)

U2 - The Joshua Tree

― mrjosh (mrjosh), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 19:02 (twenty-one years ago)

flying burrito bros, gilded palace of sin

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 19:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Huey Lewis & The News - Fore!

Better than Sports, you think? Probably had just as many hits on it.

― Mark (MarkR), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 19:05 (twenty-one years ago)

The Cars = OTM!

― PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 19:06 (twenty-one years ago)

"The Cars" is pretty great. I got it for a $1 from a used CD bin a couple days ago - listened to it - and wow. Too bad I didn't hear it before the '70s album poll.

― o. nate (onate), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 19:08 (twenty-one years ago)

I read the title as "what album pretty much contains all the best from and artist" rather than "what album is there where every track is great"

I read the title as "albums where nearly every track is fairly well known" (Led Zep IV is the perfect example). "Violator" is another good example of this, but obviously they have many other well-known songs on other albums, not just that one.

No matter what the definition, "Welcome To the Pleasuredome" fits just about all of them.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 19:10 (twenty-one years ago)

"Welcome To the Pleasuredome"

OTM

― rentboy (rentboy), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 19:14 (twenty-one years ago)

I think 36 Chambers can almost fall into this category, simply since any other Wu greatness (under the Wu-Tang name only, no solo projects) is pretty scattered. Not to say that I don't love Forever and The W though.

― Roadkill Bingo (Roadkill Bingo), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 19:21 (twenty-one years ago)

The Velvet Underground & Nico
You are so unbelievably wrong it's not even funny.

-- Ian John50n (dr.carl.saga...), May 18th, 2005.

Are we separating 'Best-of's as ILM-er's might compile them from the usual kind of 'Greatest Hits' collections available in shops here?

I've got all the VU albums, and I'm sure I know what you're getting at here, it hardly covers all their progressions but as a bang-for-buck taster it can hardly be beat IMO.

As far as I recall the real Velvets 'Best Of's' I've seen have about 80% VU & Nico tracks and 20% other stuff on. Argue about them if you like but I'm standing by my suggestion here :)

― fandango (fandango), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 19:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Catherine Wheel - Ferment (although I do enjoy Chrome just about as much)

― ... And suddenly Ian Riese-Moraine is a naked man saying, 'Volvo! Volvo!' (Easte, Wednesday, 18 May 2005 19:47 (twenty-one years ago)

I for one know damn well that a Velvet Underground best-of would not have "The Black Angel's Death Song" on it. Or "European Son".

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 19:48 (twenty-one years ago)

"Who's Next" as substitute for The Who's Best Of? Aaaargh!

There is about 30 seconds of Who's Next that deserves any love: The scream at the end of the synth break in Won't Get Fooled Again, and then the guitars and drums coming back in. It's a great, great scream, probably the best ever, and it's a relief to hear the guitars etc. after that interminable affected pseudo-classical synth solo. The rest of the record, hits or no hits, is really an awful lot of bullshit. I could never hear Baba O'Riley or Behind Blue Eyes again, and my life would be happier for it.

Live At Leeds (Deluxe Edition), on the other hand . . . that IS the Best Of The Who.

― Vornado, Wednesday, 18 May 2005 20:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Violent Femmes s/t owns this -- "Blister in the Sun", "Add it Up", "Kiss Off", "Gone Daddy Gone"...all their classics are on their first release.

― mikef-who-mostly-lurks (mfleming), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 21:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Re: Who's Next, I'd weigh in on a more positive note... I'd sure as heck put Baba O'Riley and My Wife on a greatest hits, and the rest of it is a pretty solid if not transcendent rock album, but there are prob. only 4 records that would not contribute to my best of (Who by Nos., Who are You, Face Dances, It's Hard). A best of w/out Can't Explain? without The Kids are Alright? w/out The Real Me? Tatoo? Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere? Sparks? I Can See For Miles? Happy Jack? gimme a break!

― 666, Wednesday, 18 May 2005 22:23 (twenty-one years ago)

and the obvious answer would be an artist that only released one studio album, pref. with a couple hits on it. but I can't think of any.

― 666, Wednesday, 18 May 2005 22:27 (twenty-one years ago)

The Cars

Add "Heartbeat City", and you have a double Greatest Hits album by them.

Also, "Forever Young" by Alphaville.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 23:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Aztec Camera: High Land Hard Rain

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 23:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Strongly disagree with "Violator". A great album by all means, but I was a huge Depeche fan way before its release. Most of their best stuff is fromt he 80s.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 23:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Violent Femmes s/t owns this -- "Blister in the Sun", "Add it Up", "Kiss Off", "Gone Daddy Gone"...all their classics are on their first release.

yeah, this is a good one.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Wednesday, 18 May 2005 23:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Geir, Heartbeat City has some pretty weak songs on it to be considered a whole second greatest hits album, although its highs surely qualify (i.e. "Magic," "Drive").

― Danger Mouse (Dave M), Thursday, 19 May 2005 03:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Close but not quite: Terence Trent D'Arby, "Introducing the Hardline ..."

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Thursday, 19 May 2005 03:41 (twenty-one years ago)

For a year or 2, I thought Back In Black was a best-of album. (Before I owned it.)

― billstevejim (billstevejim), Thursday, 19 May 2005 03:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm with Geir on the Cars.

I nominate Missing Persons "Spring Session M". I listened to Rhyme & Reason once & chucked in a dusty corner. I heard a few other things off the 3rd, and maybe some b-sides that were OK, but very 2nd rate compared to the first album.

― -rainbow bum- (-rainbow bum-), Thursday, 19 May 2005 03:58 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm not sure if I'm thinking about this correctly, but these all seem like they should fit...

Appetite
Hysteria
Kick
Synchronicity
Purple Rain
Dookie

And then there's like, Never Mind The Bollocks, Elastica s/t, In Search Of, Fantastic Planet

― billstevejim (billstevejim), Thursday, 19 May 2005 04:02 (twenty-one years ago)

What about Jeff Buckley? This is assuming that you like JB. I do. But, then again, I got into JB when I was a junior in high school.

JB in HS = cry cry cry.

― giboyeux (skowly), Thursday, 19 May 2005 04:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Johnny Hates Jazz's Turn Back the Clock might as well be their Best Of album, because, well, they only ever released that one album but it never stopped them from releasing the latter.

Ditto Living in a Box.

― brittle-lemon, Thursday, 19 May 2005 05:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Forever Changes it usually in its entirety in Love Greatest Hits but their only charting single wasn't on it (Little Red Book) and they obviously had a few other great albums. Still, it sort of fits the description.

― Cunga (Cunga), Thursday, 19 May 2005 07:04 (twenty-one years ago)

It would need to be a double with Da Capo really to fit that description.

Anyway, Dare by the Human League and Off The Wall by Jacko (much better than Thriller).

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 19 May 2005 07:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Johnny Hates Jazz's Turn Back the Clock might as well be their Best Of album, because, well, they only ever released that one album but it never stopped them from releasing the latter.

They did release another album. However, singer Clark Datchler left after just one album, so the second album had the weird occasion of producer Phil Thornalley having taken over the lead vocals.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 19 May 2005 07:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Still, brittle-lemon OTM of course, as nothing from that second album was worth saving or putting on a Greatest Hits.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 19 May 2005 07:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Umm, Pulp's "Different Class" seems to fit the concept.

Even though they recorded loads of albums, 99% of people asked to name 5 tracks would pick ones from this album, and so would their cats.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 19 May 2005 07:46 (twenty-one years ago)

99% of people asked to name 5 tracks by Pulp would not be able to name 5 tracks.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 19 May 2005 07:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Marcello probably OTM here. Most people (unless they are either 60 or 10 years old) know "Common People" and "Disco 2000". Some may know "Mis Shapes" and possibly "Do You Remember The First Time". And that's it.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 19 May 2005 17:19 (twenty-one years ago)

However, add "Sorted Out For E's And Whiz", and you have 4 out of 5 "Different Class" tracks. So there you go...

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 19 May 2005 17:22 (twenty-one years ago)

electribe 101's 'electribal memories' was reisued, *in the same sleeve* as a best of.

― piscesboy, Thursday, 19 May 2005 17:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Hysteria

Certainly no Def Leppard "Best Of" without "Photograph"!

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 19 May 2005 17:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Marquee Moon

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Thursday, 19 May 2005 18:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Violent Femmes s/t owns this

I thought about this one, but "American Music" kind of makes it wrong. That, and I love "I Held Her in my Arms" & "Nightmares".

And I'll add: Dig Your Own Hole

― theophilus jones (theophilus), Thursday, 19 May 2005 18:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Umm, I didn't say they'd be able to name five, just if they were asked, they'd name tracks from "Different Class" and then go "umm.. umm.."

That's what I meant anyway.

― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 20 May 2005 07:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't remember that one on Different Class. "umm...umm.." Are you sure you're not mixing up Pulp with Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders?

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Friday, 20 May 2005 07:33 (twenty-one years ago)

'surrealistic pillow'

― N_RQ, Friday, 20 May 2005 07:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Ooh he's as sharp as a mars bar..

― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 20 May 2005 07:43 (twenty-one years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.