That was the title of Roxette’s greatest hits compilation. Not a fan, but I admired the ESL-ness of that title and indeed any act that avoids the title “Best of…” or “Greatest Hits”.
“Hits out of Hell!” – Meatloaf.
The brilliant pretencieux-ness of Japan’s “Assemblage”.
Any more for any more?
Suede and Supergrass’ “The Beautiful Ones” and “The Strange Ones” (respectively) work well. Originally the subject matter of the songs, as compilation titles they then refer to the included songs (and/or the band themselves).
New Order’s ‘Substance’ was a nice pun: the substance of their recorded output, and a cheeky drug reference. Which i only realised a couple of years ago.
Given that it was the height of her powers, Madonna’s Immaculate Collection was a good one, given the religious allusion.
While I’ve never liked “Greatest Hits’ of “The Best Of” as titles, I’ve always liked the directness of “Singles” as a compilation name. Pretenders are the first to jump to mind. (Oh, and Suede.) A very no bullshit name, with the suggestion that they are all high quality songs with proven form (rather than a band-curated mishmash with album cuts and live recordings thrown in). It feels a little more purposeful and proud, rather than the marketing-speak of “Greatest Hits”.
B Sides compilations often attract slightly more interesting titles given their more modest audience. (Though puns based on ‘aside’ and ‘besides’ are a little tedious, see also “DEMOlition”, “DEMOcrazy” etc). The Cure’s Join the Dots, Doves’ Lost Sides and Crowded House’s Afterglow all seem to hit the mark in alluding to the nature of the compilation without just calling it The B-Sides. Oasis’ The Masterplan was less understated!
Pete Best’s Best of the Beatles is surely a very cheeky exception to the BO/GH rule
^^^^^ 😎
The Cure’s GH compilation was called Standing on a Beach because this was the first line of their first single.
I have never associated Substance with drugs. Not until I read that post anyway.
And on cassette, with a second side of b Sides, it was called Staring at the Sea. That was cool.
The macc lads 20 golden crates.
Drive By Truckers: ‘Ugly Buildings, Whores & Politicians’ although the second part of the comp’s title is ‘Greatest Hits 1998-2009’ which itself is an oxymoron because they definitively have had no US top 40 singles, maybe no top 100.
Although I’ve no idea what it means I always liked “ If The Beatles Had Read Hunter…The Singles “ by the Wonder Stuff
I always assumed it was a reference to Hunter Davies, The Beatles’ first biographer.
Hunter S Thompson surely? That’s what I always thought anyway.
Nah, Davies makes more sense than Fear and Loathing in Quarrybank.
I looked it up and Paul gets a shiny
The title referred to a quote (that) “if the writer Hunter S. Thompson had been a presiding influence over The Beatles, then they might have looked and sounded like The Wonder Stuff”.
Talking Heads “Popular Favorites” largely avoids any accusation that tracks were neither singles or hits.
I quite like the idea of single artist themed compilations too. My favourite is probably the Beach Boys’ ‘Endless Summer’ which predated the massive ’20 Golden Greats’ and didn’t find room for either ‘Good Vibrations’ or ‘God Only Knows’.
The Talking Heads Popular Favorites is sub-titled Sand In The Vaseline. Not sure how that would be popular.
‘The Worst of Jefferson Airplane’ is surely the best album title ever, compilation or otherwise.
Best one: Tom Waits’ used songs
Worst one: The Berry Vest of Gilbert O’Sullivan, with its cover illustrating the unamusing Spoonerism.
12 Gold Bars does the job nicely, I think.
Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen – Lost In Space
I liked the titles of the XTC comps: Waxworks (Some Singles) and Beeswax (Some B-Sides).
Also, Coat of Many Cupboards was a good title…
Rarities rather than Greatest Hits, but still jolly good.
Floored Genius : Julian Cope
The Richard Thompson cassette collection. Doom and Gloom From the Tomb.
And volume 2: Over My Dead Body
I believe it was called that because when Flypaper said they wanted to release a second set that was his reply.
The back page of Record Collector once advertised a Smiths’ compilation – “Hang the D.J.”
12-15 years ago?
While I was in no danger of buying it, I approved of the title.
Someone didn’t, by the time it got released it had gone through a “best of” / “greatest hits” makeover.
Their Louder than Bombs and World Won’t Listen late period comps were both gifted with terrific titles
Pete Wylie always has a good pun
The Way We Wah!
The Handy Wah! Whole : Songs from the Repertwah!
Stiff Lttle Fingers 1983 compo went for double meaning.
All The Best – the singles
All The Best – Goodbye
The Motors Greatest Hit is honest, if nothing else.
A band whose members were so uniformly lacking in pulchritude that their label famously refused to put their mugs on album covers
Q. What was the first “Best of” LP collection to be entitled “Greatest Hits”?
A. I believe it was “Johnny’s Greatest Hits – Johnny Mathis”, released in March 1958. So, for those of you who don’t like the “Greatest Hits” title, you can blame Johnny … or at least his record company.
They apparently called it “Do the Mathis” for the US market
My Life Story`s a sides, Sex and Violins and b side collection, Megaphone Theology!
While suppose the pun is a tad obvious, Sparks beat MLS to the title by a year (1994 vs 1995) with Gratuitous Sax and Violins
Ahead of their time as always, Talking Heads did a song called S and V (their last ever) in 1991
both absolutely brilliant collections from a very underrated band … new material coming soon i believe
The Beatles 1962-1966 and The Beatles 1967-1970. Simple, factual and also maybe because trying to compile a “Best of” would lead to complaints about what was left off.
And pretty peerless really. Many peoples gateway drug. I’m sure we all have favourite songs from other albums, but these compilations really are excellent.
The Beatles compilations were a response to a bootleg set that had been released (& tv advertised) the previous year. The mix of tracks looks a bit odd, but the title would have been ideal for a definitive chronological set “alpha omega”
https://aboutthebeatles.com/beatles-alpha-omega
There’s a VdGG collection (not sure Greatest Hits is quite the mot juste) called “I Prophesy Disaster”…great title!
Also – a Gong compilation called “A Storm in a Teapot” – superb!
While not a greatest hits as such, The Who’s Odds and Sods was rather good
As someone who grew up in the same Lanarkshire suburbs as the band, I like Mogwai’s Central Belters.
Arf!
Through The Past, Darkly. Inspired, whoever came up with that. Better than Grrrr! I guess it’s not so easy with names after so many best ofs.
Yes, though I did like Forty Licks.
Posthumous GG Allin compilation. Rest in Piss.
Deep in the Shallows by the Church. (Sorry) Singles AND other classics…
Their ‘Hindsight” is very good. Both in title and in no-nonsense chronological run through of bangers.
@danp
You are of course correct! Great title. And stops before the “hit.”
The best is Carry On Up The Charts by the Beautiful South. Belter of an album too
A very well-played compilation at chez BC is the Squeeze comp “45s and Under”. I love it.
However- I have never understood the title. I know singles run at 45rpm but that’s about it.
I think it was referring to chart positions in a secondary way
Oh I see. That makes sense.
Also, given the full title is ‘Singles – 45’s and Under’, it is a pun on the signs you used to see outside pubs (on quiet nights of the week) saying things like ‘Over 25s singles night’.
Now made redundant by ‘speed dating’ nights and apps like Tinder, of course.
I can see that too.
Buzzcocks – Singles Going Steady.
“Singles” cos that’s what they are.
“Going Steady” could be chart placings, or maybe a twist on “I’m single, and staying that way”
(Son, you be a bachelor boy …)
I thought Ladies and Gentlemen by George Michael was quite clever. And though a bit less clever, I’ve always liked Sladest.
Sladest of course belongs to that select category of Greatest Hits albums where half the songs weren’t actually hits. ABBA’s Greatest Hits is another (though not Vol 2). In both cases they made the band seem bigger than they were at the time.
Four Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-Six Seconds – A Short Cut to Teenage Fanclub
Not just a great title, a great collection.Play it more than the Fannies’ regular albums
Great record altogether. Did I Say (one of the three songs not on other releases) is one of their finest.
I think the worst Greatest Hits title was “New Music for Amnesiacs” which was a comp by Sparks about 15 years ago or so. Sometimes lads, you can be a bit too clever.
I always liked the simple “Nothing Has Changed” Bowie posthumous collection. Nice nod to ‘ChangesBowie’ too.
Madness had
Complete Madness
Utter Madness
Divine Madness
Total Madness
Good titles – Ultimate Madness. Not so good as a title
‘Discography’ may be uninspired, but in the hands of the Pet Shop Boys it works.
I prefer PopArt, in every sense. Have just read their interview in Classic Pop mag re. the new comp Smash. They originally toyed with Discography 1-3 but concluded that the title had already had its moment. They also rejected Hit Music, which I think is pretty cool. They settled on Smash partly as a call-back to Neil’s pre-Pet employers.
PopArt is a wonderful compilation – but obviously lacks some great songs they have released since then.
In a PSB book I read a long time ago, they were set on recording an album under the title “Golf” – simply because they like the word.
Given the fact that there’s nothing new on Smash, I found myself wondering if Chris has impishly suggested Pointless as a title?
I’ve pre ordered obvs.
Hitless Dave Graney called his compilation…
The Baddest
Tom Waits – Orphans, Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards.
Don’t get much better than that.
REM – Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage
Was the grouping of 4 first done with “Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy”? Which although referring to the band members, summed up the sound.
The Undertones had “Cher o’bowlies”. I think this is a Derry version of the saying “bowl of cherries”.
Shirley it’s The Fall with their take on Elvis’ 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong.
It’s the same cover but with Mark E Smith instead of Elvis & is brilliantly titled 50,000 Fall Fans Can’t Be Wrong. It was also my introduction to this wonderful band so I have a soft spot for it
The Housemartins’ singles/b-sides compilation was called Now That’s What I Call Quite Good. Rather self-effacing – I think it’s very good.