Entertainment For Lively Minds
Best Of that never was
Posted by Stephen Merrick on 2 February 2012 - 12:37am.
A little timewasting fun.
Choose an act that don't have a "Best Of" compilation (or even one that just doesn't have a GOOD "Best Of") and make one up for them.
Let's say a ten track limit to keep it simple. It's got to be unashamedly populist and has to really sell the act in question. Remember and think about the running order: chronological or hits up front? etc
Anyway, here's mine...
Best Of The White Stripes:
1 - Seven Nation Army
2 - Jimmy The Exploder
3 - You're Pretty Good Looking (For A Girl)
4 - My Doorbell
5 - Hotel Yorba
6 - Fell In Love With A Girl
7 - The Hardest Button To Button
8 - Icky Thump
9 - Blue Orchid
10 - We're Going To Be Friends
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AC/DC
have never had a greatest hits.
One was prepared as early as 1978. It was even given a title - 12 Of The Best - a catalogue number was allocated (Albert APLP 029) and covers were printed, but it was cancelled before release.
I've seen the covers alone (no records were pressed) sell for close to $6,000 online.
In tribute to that aborted release, here's my (rather obvious) track listing for an AC/DC compilation (with 12 tracks):
1) Thunderstruck
2) Back in Black
3) Hell's Bells
4) Let there be Rock
5) Highway To Hell
6) Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
7) TNT
8) It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)
9) Jailbreak
10) Who Made Who
11) Shoot To Thrill
12) You Shook Me All Night Long
And here's the sleeve of the cancelled release:
Iron Man 2 ??
Wasn't the Iron Man 2 soundtrack essentially an AC/DC greatest hits in all but name.....
Tracklisting...
1. Shoot To Thrill
2. Rock 'N' Roll Damnation
3. Guns For Hire
4. Cold Hearted Man
5. Back In Black
6. Thunderstruck
7. If You Want Blood (You've Got It)
8. Evil Walks
9. T.N.T.
10. Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be
11. Have A Drink On Me
12. The Razors Edge
13. Let There Be Rock
14. War Machine
15. Highway To Hell
Your tracklist....
....whilst excellent, is proof itself why AC/DC won't do a greatest hits. Release those and no-one ever needs buy an AC/DC back catalogue CD ever again.
nb - bit of love for their later stuff. I would have added "Stiff Upper Lip" and "Rock and Roll Train" to the end and found a place for "The Jack".
There's a lot of truth in what you say
and the industry view is exactly that: an AC/DC "best of" would kill off the sales their early albums at a stroke, so there will never be one, at least while the band is still operational.
I'm also a huge fan of the Stiff Upper Lip album. Meltdown, Hold Me Back, Can't Stand Still and the title track are all worthy of inclusion on my dream AC/DC compilation.
Apparently AC/DC
have a clause in their contract that states no compilations of their work will be released, hence the Iron Man 2 and Who Made Who collections. No "Best Of's", no iTunes... you'd think they were just a pack of rock dinosaurs. And more power to them.
No Whole Lotta Rosie?
For shame man, FOR SHAME
No Touch Too Much?
or Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution? Who Made Who? Or even It's A Long Way To The Top... tut and indeed tut!
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
All their big hits, plus a few lesser known tracks thrown in there as well.
Black Tongue
Heads Will Roll
Cheated Hearts
Pin
Gold Lion
Zero
Warrior
10x10
Maps
Little Shadow (Acoustic Version)
B A Robertson
There was one, but it wasn't definitive. I'd like a full set.
Mock me, but he's had his finger in many pies.
Baywatch
Didn't he have something to do with the Baywatch theme?
Teenage Fanclub
A little pithier than the real one:
What You Do To Me
Radio
Norman 3
Sparky's Dream
Don't Look Back
(side 2):
Neil Jung
Ain't That Enough
I Don't Want Control Of You
I Need Direction
Accidental Life
I'll happily take...
...the pith any time, Soupmeister.
Big breaths
And I'm only theventeen etc
Gets coat..
Children
Teenage Fanclub
Perhaps you could put 'Your Love is the Place that I Come From" on a special bonus disc with the first 10,000 copies, or something?
Let's see...
The Best Of Oasis:
Side One: Track 1: 'Rock 'n' Roll Star'.
Side One: Track 2: 'Half The World Away'.
Side One: Track 3: 'Don't Look Back In Anger'.
The world's first 'Best Of' EP.
I know we're supposed to play the point not the man
But....you tool! ;)
The nob who shoots first and only takes the time to read
other postings afterwards says:
(see below)
I get
what you guys are saying, (although it's a little cliched!), but why not tell us about something you do like rather than taking a swipe at Oasis?!
They did call their actual comp.
'Time Flies.....But Not When You're Listening To Oasis' though.
"Try the veal"!
I'm here all week! etc. ;)
Chimney
You really do feel a lot of love for Manc bands who have problems getting out of bed, slapping themselves round the face and actually working don't you :-)
Yeah
Definitely! I like The Stone Roses and the Mondays, but I wouldn't put Oasis in the workshy bracket - they were reasonably prolific and only had the gaps between the albums due to the huge demand on them to do massive world tours.
Only teasing...
I like New Order/Elbow best of the recent Manc bands but the Smiths tower over them all for me - in fact over most bands - and I recall there seemed to be a single, album or tour every month or two - it was very exciting...
Yes I can imagine
one of my favourite bands also, but I only got into them in '92 when I was fourteen and they released the two Best Of compilations. Their workrate was incredible really, but I guess the fact that Morrissey wasn't really given to recreational pursuits ensured his productivity
Heh. Couldn't resist.
I gave you an 'up' for that! :)
The best of These Animal Men
1. Life Support Machine
2. Light Emitting Electrical Wave
3. (This is The) Sound of Youth
4. April 7th
5. Ambulance
6. False Identification
7. Empire Building
8. The High Society
9. Speeed King
10. You're My Babylon
The Best of The Mahavishnu Orchestra
Download size: 0MB
But it takes a long time anyway
(Sorry Colin...)
Black Crowes
There is one incomplete from over 10 years ago I think, but....
Side one:
Remedy
Jealous Again
Wiser Time
Soul Singing
Descending
Side two:
Good Morning Captain
Thorn In My Pride
Oh Josephine
She Talks To Angels
My Morning Song
For The Crowes....
....i'll take all of side one of your best of, jimmyh and none of side 2. How about this:
(1)
Remedy
I Ain't Hiding
Wiser Time
Wounded Bird
Descending
(2)
Soul Singing
Thunderstorm 6:54
Bad Luck Blue Eyes
Sting Me
Jealous Again
Suede
Ill served by the Sony "Greatest Hits", I'd go with
1. The Drowners
2. My Insatiable One
3. Metal Mickey
4. Animal Nitrate
5. Stay Together (Long)
6. My Dark Star
7. New Generation
8. Still Life
9. Killing of a Flash Boy
10. Bentswood Boys
11. Trash
12. Beautiful Ones
13. Saturday Night
14. Everything Will Flow
15. Down
16. Obsessions
17. Astrogirl
Wot,
No The Wild Ones?
'Twas a toss up...
Between that and "Still Life". Went with Still Life for its more 'epic' qualities suited to a Greatest Hits.
*I've spent far too much time thinking about this!*
Oasis: The Definitive Collection
1. Rain
2. I Am The Walrus
3. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
4. Cum On Feel The Noize
5. Metal Guru
6. All The Young Dudes
7. EMI
Groundbreaking!
All The Young Dudes
Needs to be in there at least three times... ;-)
Don't forget...
Merry Christmas Everybody.
The Ramones
1. One
2. Two
3. Three
4. Four
First audible chuckle of the day
Thanks for that.
Wilco
1. Wilco (the Song)
2. Can't Stand It
3. Kamera
4. Muzzle of Bees
5. Jesus Etc
6. Art of Almost
7. Outtasite (Outta Mind)
8. Shot in the Arm
9. Impossible Germany
10. Poor Places
11. I'm a Wheel
12. One Sunday Morning
That was far harder to do than I could've imagined
It's good...
... but where's Hummingbird?
Agreed
on the choices from last year...but what no Handshake Drugs, Spiders, I am trying...., Bull Black Noba.....
Tough choices !
But what goes???
They could easily release a double-album 'best of' if you ask me.
But, to be honest, I like them more for the fact that they haven't released one at all.
P.S. tortured slightly by the fact that I forgot 'At Least That's What You Said', now... too many, just too many...
No "Misunderstood"?
Actually my best of Wilco would be Summerteeth with Misunderstood tacked on the front and Outtasite (Out of Mind) tacked on the end
The Mothers of Invention
1. Hungry Freaks Daddy
2. Trouble Every Day
3. Plastic People
4. Call Every Vegetable
5. Brown Shoes Don't Make it
6. Let's Make The Water Turn Black
7. Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance
8. Stuff up the Cracks
9. Holiday in Berlin
10. The Uncle Meat Variations
11. Dog Breath
12. King Kong
13. My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama
14. Oh No / The Orange County Lumber Truck / Weasels Ripped my Flesh
A 60s compilation that would happily duke it out with any other compilation from the decade. Yes, including THOSE ones.
By THOSE ones
Do you mean this one?
Admittedly it only includes Verve material (from the first 3 albums), but of the several Mothers' 60s Verve/MGM compilations, this was the only one actually put together by Frank himself and contains several unusual or rare mixes/edits that are unavailable elsewhere.
It's now available again as a download via the Zappa website.
http://www.zappa.com/zapparecords/2009_mothermania.html
Bugger, forgot about that one
Still, as there's nothing after We're Only in it for the Money on it, I still think they need a new one.
Didn't know it was available as a download, thanks for the link!
Elbow
1. Forget Myself
2. Weather to Fly
3. Puncture Repair
4. Newborn
5. Lippy Kids
6. One Day Like This
7. Leaders of the Free World
8. Grounds for Divorce
9. Great Expectations
10. Powder Blue
Bonus Track: Teardrop
I've changed my mind already, but that's a pretty good start.
Actually, I've missed an entire album off that - I should have Grace under Pressure and Fallen Angel on there really at the very least.
Anyway: http://open.spotify.com/user/richandstrange/playlist/5RiiozVY4DFZ06Lx0eV...
elbow - one I made earlier
1. Newborn
2. Switching Off
3. Great expectations
4. Scattered Black & Whites
5. One Day Like This
6. Asleep In The Back
7. Forget Myself
8. The Bones of You
9. Station Approach
10. Mirrorball
Yours may be more sensible
...as it clearly wasn't compiled by someone obsessed by their 3rd album.
New Order / Joy Division
Top 10 'Best Ofs':
1. Substance (NO)
2. Substance (JD)
3. Permanent (JD)
4. Singles (NO)
5. The Best Of (NO)
6. Total (JD/NO)
7. +/- : Singles 1978-80 (JD)
8. The Best of (JD)
9. Retro - Disc 1 (NO)
10. International (NO)
Over anthologised? No way!
Ditto Roxy
Not enough new stuff. Also see: The Who
The Decemberists
The Infanta
16 Military Wives
We Both Go Down Together
From My Own True Love Lost at Sea
Leslie Anne Levine
Chimbley Sweep
Oceanside
The Crane Wife 3
Yankee Bayonet
Oh! Valencia
A Record Year For Rainfall
The Hazards Of Love 1
Won't Want For Love/Hazards Of Love 2
Everything I Try To do Nothing Ever Turns Out Right
The Crane Wife 1 & 2
The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
The Rake's Song
Annan Water
June Hymn
Rise To Me
The Hazards Of Love 3/ The Wanting Comes In Waves Reprise
The Hazards Of Love 4
*edit* Looking at this again I think I got a bit carried away. Maybe someone else can chop it down a bit?
Jonathan Richman...12 but they're short...
1) That Summer Feeling - Original Rough Trade Version
2) Abdul and Cleopatra
3) My Jeans
4) It's You
5) Someone I Care About
6) Vincent Van Gogh
7) The Beach
8) Surrender
9) Corner Store (Original)
10) Chewing Gum Wrapper
11) When I Dance
12) Parties in the USA
That's a nice best Of, Mr Bamber, Sir
... but I don't see "Double Chocolate Malted" on it. Or "The Morning of our Lives"
...Hard to limit it...
To be honest I have two "Best of Jonathan Richman", CDs I've compiled for my own in-car use and they have around twenty-five tracks each. Even then I had to leave many classics off, and I must've picked up at least four more of his albums since making them. As you may detect, I have a fondness for the mid-period stuff. Sadly "Rockin' and Romance", or "It's Time for...", don't seem to have been released on CD. Probably two of his best. I have my vinyl to CD recordings somewhere. I imagine there never will be either a career spanning best of 4-CD set due to his regular label changes, or a definitive live album capturing him at his peak, anecdotes and all - somewhere between '85 and '95.
Anyway Mr. duco01, I'd be interested to see what your top ten would be, given this is a very subjective thread.
Ryan Adams, 10 tracks...
...Not chronological so more fun
Oh My Sweet Carolina
Halloween Head
My Winding Wheel
Lucky Now
To Be Young
I See Monsters
Desire
Rescue Blues
Come Pick Me Up
New York New York
so much to choose....
RA - alternative ten
Firecracker
Magnolia Mountain
Two
Ashes & Fire
Nuclear
This Is It
Easy Plateau
This House Is Not a Home
When The Stars Go Blue
Amy
A worthy volume 2
and we haven't had Answering Bell yet.
Ryan Adams - one I made earlier
1. Halloweenhead
2. Cold Roses
3. La Cienega Just Smiled
4. Do I Wait
5. Everybody Knows
6. Harder Now That It's Over
7. My Winding Wheel
8. Sylvia Plath
9. Magnolia Mountain
10. Oh My Sweet Carolina
So very hard...
And still no
"I Taught Myself How To Grow"
The kid's a pain but he's good. Real good.
Or
Dear Chicago
Have an up for track three - his best
though I see there's no Where The Stars Go Blue.
Carcass: "Pop!" - The First Ten Years
A hard decision, even for the most dedicated fan, but I'm going with:
1. Genital Grinder
2. Regurgitation of Giblets
3. Necrocannibal Bloodfeast
4. Cadaveric Incubator of Endoparasites
5. Crepitating Bowel Erosion
6. Doctrinal Expletives
7. Embryonic Necropsy and Devourment
and of course
8. Face Melt Aaaargh
Cadaveric Incubator of Endoparasites
Bit 'prog' for me
Kinks - the alternative collection
Like the Beatles, Stones and Who, The Kinks have been well served with a Greatest Hits collection. This, however, is my view of their best album tracks - the alternative collection
1 I'm Not Like Everybody Else
2 Don't You Fret
3 Party Line
4 Two Sisters
5 Don't You Remember, Walter
6 Village Green Preservation Society
7 Muswell Hillbilly
8 Celluloid Heroes
9 Scattered
10 Only A Dream
very nice
Allow me to post my version. I've been lisening to nothing else but the Kinks for the past couple of weeks (I'd rate them over HJHM personally, but that's another story)
This Man He Weeps Tonight
Sweet Lady Genevieve
You Do Something To Me
Strangers
You Really Got Me
This Time Tomorrow
Sitting By The Riverside
Till Death Us Do Part
Autumn Almanac
The Way Love Used To Be
Celluloid Heroes
Has to be in any Kinks compilation - wonderful song.
The Blue Nile
1. Saturday Night
2. Because of Toledo
3. Stay
4. Let's Go Out Tonight
5. From A Late Night Train
6. A Walk Across The Rooftops
7. Happiness
8. I Would Never
9. Easter Parade
10. Tinseltown In The Rain
Aaaah
A very good choice. Good running order too.
Low
not that they should ever do a best of, but if they did...
1 - Violence
2 - Transmission
3 - Like a Forest
4 - Coattails
5 - Sunflower
6 - Monkey
7 - Canada
8 - In the Drugs
9 - Just Like Christmas
10 - Silver Rider
11 - Whitetail
12 - Laser Beam
13 - Over the Ocean
14 - Two Step
darnnnn...
10 track limit - didn't read the fine print....here it is:
1 - Violence
2 - Like a Forest
3 - Coattails
4 - Sunflower
5 - Monkey
6 - Canada
7 - In the Drugs
8 - Just Like Christmas
9 - Laser Beam
10 - Over the Ocean
You could always
keep your first attempt as the delux CD version with bonus tracks? I think that would be allowed, after all everyone else seems to be doing it nowdays
Richard D James AKA The Aphex Twin
needs a decent twenty seven years of career overview album compilation by now. There are a two excellent Ambient volumes and some Aussie effort with four mixes of Ventolin but nothing comprehensive
I wouldn't know where to begin for the tracklisting but needless to say, Ventolin, Come To Daddy, Windowlicker and Power Pill's Pac Man would obviously be on it.
Morrissey solo 10
Now My Heart Is Full
Interesting Drug
Suedehead
I Have Forgiven Jesus
Hairdresser On Fire
I've Changed My Plea To Guilty
Every Day Is Like Sunday
First Of The Gang To Die
Late Night, Maudlin Street
Disappointed
alternate who
As with the Kinks,here's an alternative who top ten
1 - Acid Queen
2 - How Many Friends
3 - Baba O'Riley
4 - Tattoo
5 - Behind Blue Eyes
6 - The Good's Gone
7 - I've Had Enough
8 - Cousin Kevin
9 - The Real Me
10- Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand
Predictably...
1. Everyone In Anal C**t Is Dumb
Seth Putnam considers the lineage of Anal C**t, both past and present, and finds much at fault:
“Fred had his hair in those stupid fucking braids
Tim has a kid, but he never gets laid
John dyed his hair, so we kicked him out of the band
Scott's got a dumb tattoo on his hand.”
2. I Noticed That You’re Gay
In the world of Anal C**t, a great many things are considered “gay.”
3. I’m Not That Kind Of Boy
From the album Picnic of Love which dropped the 30 second blasts of ultra-offensive grindcore in favour of songs that dwelled on chastity and platonic love, delivered in a shrill falsetto to an acoustic backing.
4. Hot Girls On The Road
If you can look past the racism, misogyny, homophobia and the casual approach taken towards violence, drugs laws and the age of consent, then Fuckin A is one of the greatest cock rock albums ever made. A truly diabolical, yet life affirming record.
5. Rancid Sucks (And The Clash Sucked Too)
An attack on corporate ska and punk bands. Notable for the line “London’s calling and they’re calling you gay” and the astute observation: “If Liberace sounded like The Clash, he wouldn’t be punk.”
6. I Got Athlete’s Foot Showering At Mike's
If the Muppets formed a Diana Ross tribute act it would sound something like this.
7. If You Don’t Like The Village People, You’re Fucking Gay
Seth Putnam genuinely loved The Village People. Here he describes their influence on the music and stage costume of Black Metal bands.
8. Dictators Are Cool
Begins with potted biographies of Idi Amin and Papa Doc before drifting off on a tangent that describes the time Dick Manitoba, from the punk band The Dictators, grabbed Seth Putnam’s girlfriend’s tits.
9. The South Won’t Rise Again
A lot of people don’t regard Anal C**t as a political band. I think their opinions would change if they heard this track:
“What could you possibly gain
by breaking the country in two?
Your overalls are gay.
Let go of your sister’s tit.”
10. Crankin’ My Band’s Demo On A Box At The Beach
Another song from Fuckin’ A. This is what AC/DC would probably sound like if they were obnoxious dicks.
If this compilation isn't greenlighted
With a massive promo budget - there ain't no justice
A Ween singles chronicalogical Best of Top Ten
I'm Fat
Push th'Little Daisies
Freedom of '76.
Voodoo Lady
Piss Up A Rope
Mutilated Lips
Ocean Man
Even If You Don't
Stay Forever
Friends
Laura Nyro
Wedding Bell Blues
And When I Die
Eli's Coming
Poverty Train
Stoned Soul Picnic
You Don't Love Me When I Cry
Gibsom Street
Brown Earth
Been On A Train
To A Child
So hard to boil it down to just ten.
And as the official custodian...
Of all things Christine Collister on this blog, here's a ten song primer to this wonderful singer:
Warm Love Gone Cold
Starting All Over
Love Me Like A Man
Always There
Waiting For My Prayer
Can't Cry Hard Enough
Moon River
Ashlands
Quiet
Lighter Than Air
No...
...Blessing in Disguise?
Ah!
I haven't included Gregson and Collister songs. In fact, off the top of my head, here's a Clive 'n' Christine best-of
All Because Of You
I Will Be There
No Word Of A Lie
Blessing In Disguise
Talent Will Out
For A Dancer
One Step Up
Beguiling Eyes
This Broken Home
Could This Be The One?
Which..
does include my favourite, when my ship comes in.
From your Love correspondent
1. My Little Red Book
2. Seven And Seven Is
3. She Comes In Colours
4. Que Vida
5. Alone Again Or
6. The Daily Planet
7. Maybe The People Would Be The Times
8. Your Mind And We Belong Together
9. Laughing Stock
10. August
See? Only 10. Compiled by the record company, obviously.
Elliott Smith
"An Introduction To..." is totally unbalanced towards "Either/Or"
So, I offer this:
1 Roman Candle
2 Last Call
3 Needle In The Hay
4 Coming Up Roses
5 Angel In The Snow
6 High Times
7 Between The Bars
8 Angeles
9 Say Yes
10 Miss Misery
11 Waltz #2
12 Independence Day
13 I Didn't Understand
14 Son Of Sam
15 Everything Means Nothing To Me
16 Happiness
17 Can't Make A Sound
18 Let's Get Lost
19 King's Crossing
20 Memory Lane
21 The Last Hour
22 True Love
Slip in "Division Day" and
it'll be perfect...
Except
Except it would 2.3 times longer than the 10 tracks specified in the OP...
Okay
Then it would have to be...
1 Needle In The Hay
2 Between The Bars
3 Angeles
4 Miss Misery
5 Waltz #2
6 I Didn't Understand
7 Son Of Sam
8 Can't Make A Sound
9 Let's Get Lost
10 True Love
Rufus Wainwright
1 April Fools
2 California
3 I Don't Know What It Is
4 Natasha
5 Beautiful Child
6 The One You Love
7 The Art Teacher
8 Gay Messiah
9 Tiergarten
10 Going To A Town
Kristin Hersh
I have mixed feelings about Kristin - about half of her albums are incredible and the other half are pretty terrible. Tried to give a fairly balanced overview with this best of though.
Your Dirty Answer
Aching For You
I Will Never Marry
Silicia
Snake Oil
Gazebo Tree
Your Ghost
Ruby
In Shock
Beestung