Comments on: Greatest Greatest Hits

By: Ben Milam

Ben Milam — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:09:49 +0000

there’s a tom t. hall collection that a buddy of mine just got that i need to pick up. i didn’t see a song on the liner notes that wasn’t stellar. i buy cds a lot of them. but i also download quite a bit too. i’m a nerd. i like to read about production, engineers and the studio where it was recorded etc. but again, i’m a nerd. most people these days don’t give a shit where it was recorded or how for that matter.

By: Karl

Karl — Sat, 23 May 2009 04:11:35 +0000

I don’t know anything about Tom T. Hall besides Storyteller, Poet, Philosopher. But that is good enough for me. There is probably more incredible material, but I am content for now.

By: Soul Miners Daughter

Soul Miners Daughter — Thu, 21 May 2009 00:57:53 +0000

Kathy Mattea “A Collection of Hits”.
I really love her earlier recordings, it all seemed more “genuine” (perhaps?). Her next studio releases were too Celtic-influenced or Music Row-influenced, then eventually I guess I just lost interest.
But it’s those earlier recordings that I still enjoy.

By: Erik North

Erik North — Sat, 16 May 2009 01:04:30 +0000

Mine would be Linda Ronstadt’s 1976 GREATEST HITS VOLUME 1, which covers the hits she had from “Different Drum” in late ’67/early ’68 to “That’ll Be The Day” in late 1976. It is her biggest-selling album, compilation or otherwise, in her career, at 7.5 million copies sold since its release in December 1976.

By: Sheldon

Sheldon — Fri, 15 May 2009 02:33:08 +0000

Just bought Ricky Van Shelton’s 16 Biggest HIts…man, I forgot how much I like his voice. Also bought David Allan Coe, Crystal Gayle and Vern Gosdin’s greatest hits CDs

By: Chris N.

Chris N. — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:55:41 +0000

Hank Williams’ ’40 Greatest Hits’ turned my head around as a kid.

And I’ll second highwayman3′s remarks about Martina’s best-of, which is really rock-solid.

By: Paul Dennis

Paul Dennis — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:47:51 +0000

Good question – I tend to wait for greatest hits collections for artists I don’t like well enough to buy their individual albums. So whereas I have nearly everything by artists like Charley Pride, Ernest Tubb, Buck Owens, Connie Smith,Brad Paisley, etc for artists like Tim McGraw , Jo Dee Messina, Faith Hill, Kenny Chesney I tend to wait for the compilations. As they say in boxing, pound for pound the best greatest hits album ever issued was The Best of Buck Owens Volume 2 issued back in the mid-1960s. The twelve songs on it and the sequencing of the songs, make it the gold standard by which I judge all hits compilations

By: highwayman3

highwayman3 — Thu, 14 May 2009 03:30:52 +0000

I dont generally buy greatest hits albums, as I usually have most of the songs from the artists studio albums. However, one that stands out for me as a great greatest hits album is Martina McBride’s Greatest Hits released in 2001.
Most artists greatest hits packages are just a way to buy time and money from fans and the new songs are forgettable, and just stuck on the end. This album actually elevated Martina’s career, and all 4 of the new songs became big hits and she still performs them in concert. And all the previous hits showcase what a great artist she is.

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:41:55 +0000

It’s definitely a singles/mp3 market now. Reba is one of the few artists I will still automatically buy a studio release from. (Garth Brooks is not anymore. I think the last one I purchased was Scarecrow.) I was almost going to mention the Tanya Tucker box set. An awesome collection with older classics (re-recordings and not including one of my favorites, “Lizzie and the Rainman” though), the big 80s & 90s comeback hits, rare unreleased tracks, almost the entire What Do I Do With Me album, and excellent photos. I wish the liner notes had been more extensive though.

By: J.R. Journey

J.R. Journey — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:46:18 +0000

Recently, I’ve acquired box sets from George Jones (his entire United Artists recordings), Tammy Wynette’s Tears of Fire and the self-titled Tanya Tucker 4 disc box set (a must-have for Tanya fans). Box sets are the best way of encompassing an artists catalog into one set IMO. It also allows for more background information and photos if the packaging is done up right.

I used to have lots and lots of artists I would buy every studio album they released. That list has gotten shorter and shorter over the past few years. I would still buy any studio album Garth Brooks releases though – and Reba too. For contemporary artists, Sugarland are about the only act that I will automatically buy their album – and then listen to the content.

In this day and time of streaming music, an artist really has to do something special to get people to buy the physical product.