Digging up an old thread...I've played Rush's 'Chronicles' for the first time in years and I really like that one. If 'Xanadu' and 'Marathon' had been on it, this would have been truly definitive IMHO. Very well chosen. This was one I heard via a library copy early in my appreciation of the band, and it definitely worked back then. After spending a few years away from their music, it's gotten me back into them again.
I also really love Man's 'Keep On Crinting'...not only is the track selection superb but it has a few live rarities not easy to find/completely unavailable elsewhere.
Porcupine Tree - Stars Die is a pretty good overview of the band's output up to and including Signify, with some "rarities" not found on the original albums. Being Porcupine Tree, naturally there are many gems that it doesn't have, Burning Sky being a notable example.
There was a Joni Mitchell box set advertised recently that seemed to be incredibly good value - think it had the first ten albums. Of course if you already have the albums, the only advantage would be the possible saving of shelf space.
Dunno if the band America are your bag, but if so there is a "20 greatest hits" compilation that will probably satisfy anyone but the diehard fans.
The problem with "Best of"s is that they usually aren't.
The Doors: Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine
Rod Stewart: Reason To Believe (The Complete Mercury Studio Recordings) <-- not sure if counts... it's a box set.
Elmore James: King of the Slide Guitar
Better Shred Than Dead: The Dick Dale Anthology
Rockabilly's Gravest Hits (3 discs)
Ultra Lounge comp series
Shots in the Dark: Del-Fi Does Mancini
Chess Blues 4-disc box comp
Back From the Grave (60's garage/punk) comp series
Evil Fuzz: Davie Allan Tribute
Lost Legends of Surf Guitar, Vol. 1-4
Rockin' Bones: 1950s Punk and Rockabilly 4 discs
Vintage Sex Songs 2-disc comp
Reefer Blues comp series
Marijuana Madness comp
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Stars Die is indeed a very good summary of the early PT years.
I picked up that Joni Mitchell box set too, it was so cheap, and with the mini replica sleeves, a lovely addition to my collection, not that you can actually read anything with aged eyes. There are quite a few of these mini replica career spanning compilations out there, which definitely save shelf space over the plastic jewell cases.
A couple of other box sets that I really love include VDGG "The Box" and Joy Division "Heart & Soul".
Genre spanning various artists collections that I love are few and far between as they always miss something I consider vital. If you like a bit of Punk / New wave then one I bought years ago "1-2-3-4" is a must have.
Quote Originally Posted by davis View Post
The Doors: Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine
it was my first Doors album, given to me by my sister's then-boyfriend/now husband. Now that it's available again, I'd recommend it to anyone who doesn't know their music but is interested. I have nearly 50 Doors bootlegs at this point. For me, they mean as much as The Beatles or Dylan.
I agree on Rush “Chronicles” although the 3 “Retrospective albums cover a bit more ground.
I also agree on “Stars Die” as a very nicely done comp collection.
“Weird Scenes inside the Gold Mine” was also my first Doors album. I have it on vinyl, but never replaced it on CD.
Actually since I started this thread, back whenever it was, I have been moving more towards live albums.
This Is The Moody Blues is one of the best ever comps that I have heard. Not only does it cover most of the best form "The Classic Seven", it is also produced in a manner that flows much like their albums during that period.
I don't currently have a whole lot of compilation cds but I enjoy the ones I do have:
BOC- The Essential Blue Oyster Cult
Uriah Heep-the millennium collection
Ambrosia-Anthology
Squeeze- Singles 45's and under
Moody Blues-best of the Moody Blues (this one has "blue guitar" and "forever autumn" on it)
Anthrax-Return of the killer A's (hey you said you like metal). I have a Pantera compilation too somewhere.
The Beatles- Love Not really a compilation(at least not in the usual sense) but a very fascinating album that is a must hear if you like the fab four.
Cream- The very best of A really good single disc compilation of their career
Asia- Then and Now I'm pretty sure they have better and more complete compilations but this is the only one I have.
Used to own or have heard:
The Moody Blues- This is the Moody Blues (always thought of this as their version of KC's "a young person's guide..")
Yes- Classic Yes (probably others as well)
Jethro Tull- MU and repeat
Deep Purple- Deepest Purple
King Crimson- The compact King Crimson (I also had "the young person's guide" on tape when I was a teen which I still maintain is one of the best compilation albums ever)
The Beatles- Red and Blue (My family had them when I was a kid on vinyl)
The Doors-best of
Grateful Dead- Skeletons from the Closet
Probably a bunch of others I can't think of right now.
Last edited by Digital_Man; 10-13-2014 at 10:17 PM.
Best anthologies? Those made by me on CDR. Remember the 2 years when it was "a thing" to make a mix on CDR? The tiny heyday between cassette mixes and iPods? How quickly it passed
Things like that Joni Mitchell box and Joy Division's 'Heart And Soul' are different because they aren't really compilations as such- they contain a significant amount of those artists' output with whole albums in their entirety.
I love the three Elvis decade box-sets, because they sadly represent the one and only time that any order has been given to his material for 'Joe Public' to buy. But again, these aren't really 'compilations'. With Elvis, I think the one I still like best is 'The All Time Greatest Hits'- 'Don't Be Cruel' isn't on it, one or two 70s songs are not in the hit versions (though the version of 'An American Trilogy' is arguably better and remains the best version I've ever heard) and much better tapes have been located for some songs now, but there was always a magic about it nevertheless.
With Ange, I could probably get by with the live album Tome IV.
Juicy Lucy anthology
Happy The Man-Retrospective
Electric Flag-Anthology..(American Band)
Spooky Tooth on Esoteric
The very best of Badfinger
Jade Warrior-Reflections
The Best of Billy Cobham
Jan Hammer-The Early Years
Ron Geesin-Hystery
Ron Geesin-Land Of Mists
Steely Dan's Greatest Hits.
From that album I went on to buy the rest of the catalog (at that time)
Heavy Cream (RSO release)
Weird Scenes as well
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Van der Graaf Generator - First Generation - Second Generation (2 cd)
It has Theme One but I don't know if it is the only such one. I bought it when it was released because at the time I did not think any more VDGG albums would be released.
Deborah Harry and Blondie - The Complete Picture is a very good collection of most of the well-known songs from her career with the band and solo. It also has a few songs that perhaps deserve to be better known.
It does have one glaring omission: "In the Flesh" is not on it.
- Beatles red and blue
- This Is the Moody Blues
- The Compact King Crimson / A Young Person's Guide to King Crimson -- the former was my introduction to KC, and the latter took me even deeper into the pre-Discipline era.
- 20 Years of Jethro Tull -- my intro to the Tull back catalog
- probably not many Gordon Lightfoot fans here, but Songbook was a great box from Rhino. Just about every popular Gord song, plus some previously unreleased tracks.
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