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"Best of" albums losing their appeal


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'Best Of' Albums Not So Great These Days By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer

NEW YORK - A greatest-hits album once stood as a watershed — a milestone chronicling a collection of top-rated hits, culturally significant songs or the end of a stellar career.

But in recent years, a flood of "best of" titles from acts with only few years in the business — and performers with even fewer hits — have called into question how great a greatest-hits collection is.

Last fall, Britney Spears released "Greatest Hits: My Prerogative," a retrospective of her chart-topping, multiplatinum recording career — all six years of it. The Backstreet Boys put out "The Hits: Chapter One" in 2001 — just four years after releasing their first album.

"I don't know what you'd put on a record if you've only been making records for five years. I don't know what those greatest hits would be," said veteran rocker John Mellencamp.

At least Spears and the Boys had a steady collection of hits — or can say they have more than just one.

Among the more questionable greatest-hits collections that have popped up in recent years: "Toy Soldiers: The Best of Martika" (with one hit from the 1980s); "The Best of Mandy Moore," from an entertainer who had more success as an actress than she ever did as a singer; and "The Best of O.D.B.," from the late rapper who will best be remembered for his wild behavior and legal troubles than his chart-topping hits (or lack thereof).

And while teen queen Hilary Duff has sold millions of albums, she's only released two discs — the first one in 2003 — and neither spawned a top 10 hit. Her "best of" collection, "Most Wanted," hit record stores Tuesday.

"I guess with music becoming so disposable, things just happen so much faster now," said Collective Soul singer Dean Roland, whose band put out a greatest-hits album of its own in 2001. "The short answer to the whole thing is it comes out to a money issue. The labels can put a greatest-hits album out and it's going to sell."

They can be wildly popular. The Eagles' "Their Greatest Hits: 1971-1975" is the best-selling album in U.S. history, selling more than 28 million copies. They're also cheap to produce and promote.

Sheryl Crow, whose "The Very Best of Sheryl Crow," was a multiplatinum hit in 2003, agrees that in some cases, thoughts of profits weigh heavily. "Part of that is record labels continually try to work their catalog so they always have money coming in," Crow said.

But Kevin Gore, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Rhino Entertainment, which puts out various greatest-hits packages, compilations and boxed sets, says a "Best of Sugar Ray" — which they recently released — is valid, even if some may sneer.

"At the end of the day, there's a larger audience that will buy a greatest-hits collection than might buy the individual albums just because they've chosen not to buy the original albums," Gore said.

"Let's say there's two hit songs on a record from five years ago, and then there's another two hit songs from a record that's three years ago," he said. "You have a greater opportunity to bring in a larger audience because you're putting all the hits in one place."

It's an idea the Backstreet Boys agree with — even though, initially, they balked at the idea of putting one out.

"For me as an artist, like, when I see somebody put out a greatest-hits record, they're either finished, or they need some time (off)," said Brian Littrell. "I kind of felt it was too soon to put those great songs on a CD. I think I wanted our fans to miss them a little bit."

However, Howie Dorough said in many ways, the greatest-hits album — which sold more than 1 million copies and contained a few new tunes — may have drawn the casual fan who had never brought a Backstreet Boys CD.

"We've had, knock on wood, over 12 singles," Dorough said. "But for somebody who's not a truly Backstreet fan, (who) wants to go out and buy five different records? ... To be able to go and buy their greatest hits, I'd do that in a heartbeat."

A more critical issue, record companies say, is the decreasing shelf space to carry an artist's catalog. With the advent of Wal-Mart and Target as major record stores, there are fewer outlets where you might find several different albums from one artist.

"If an artist has five or six or seven albums in his or her catalog, a lot of times many retailers are only carrying two or three. Perhaps songs that were included on albums one, three and five might no longer get the kind of visibility or shelf space that a hits record will provide those particular songs," said Jeff Jones, executive vice president of Sony BMG's catalog division Legacy Recordings (whose catalog releases this year range from Miles Davis to Bob Dylan to ... Martika).

Which brings us back to Martika's "Best Of ..." collection.

At the time, her "Toy Soldiers" was enjoying a resurgence after Eminem sampled it on his song, "Like Toy Soldiers." Fans searching for the original song may have been out of luck, Jones said.

Stores weren't carrying her records anymore, he said, adding: "So without creating a new hits collection, there's no visibility."

Besides, just because the average person can't name more than one Martika song doesn't mean there aren't fans out there.

"A hits collection doesn't necessarily always have to be 16 No. 1 songs," Jones said.

Not anymore.

Which is good news for the PM Dawns, Lisa Stansfields and Color Me Badds of the world — who all have greatest-hits albums.

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Maybe it´s the artists who lose their appeal... I´d rather buy a "Greatest Hits" by The Supremes (not all #1 songs but all great ones) rather than "The best of Martika".

Record companies don´t release albums with just top hits. An artist won´t have 14 Top Hits even in three years, unless it´s Beatles or so... They just put two or three famous songs and the rest is just other songs. But they will never release an album with ALL the top hits because then they couldn´t release another "Best of"... there must be something left... (that´s not my opinion, my boss, an A&R, told me that)

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I think the most ludicrous "greatest hits" album of all has got to be "Snow's Greatest Hits"! (Yes, this was an album that was available, especially through BMG Music Service.) To me a Snow's greatest hits album is a CD single of "Informer," as it was the only hit he ever had!

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I was always a sucker for "Best of" collections. Some of my faves were Hendrix "Smash Hits", Alice Cooper "Best of" The Stones "Hot Rocks", Bowie "Changes One" and of course, The Eagles Greatest Hits. I know you miss the best songs this way, but it was a convenient way to guarantee a straight run of solid tunes.

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I don't agree with the Martika one, or Snow, or someone like that...but I think that Howie Dorough is right (is that a sign of the apocalypse?). If you like a few songs from each album of the artist and would just like to have those, a greatest hits compilation might be the thing.

I have many greatest hits album, from the Stones to INXS to Bowie to No Doubt. It's a great way to get an introduction to the artist and if there's interest in the catalog, you can get it

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Some of my faves were Hendrix "Smash Hits", Alice Cooper "Best of" The Stones "Hot Rocks", Bowie "Changes One" and of course, The Eagles Greatest Hits. I know you miss the best songs this way, but it was a convenient way to guarantee a straight run of solid tunes.

You´re talking about the best compilations, RonJon. :)

It´s like a Creedence Clearwater "Best of"... all the songs are good.

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Ok, please forgive me Jenny, because you are a close-to-home girl, but I can't pass this up....

No Doubt's Greatest Hits? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.

Sorry.

:googly: I have a Genesis one as well that I was listening to the other day....is that worse? :o Actually, the No Doubt compilation is a "Singles" compliation, so I don't know if it qualifies.

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GENESIS!!???

Oh, man. I think I'll let Sammy handle this one. ::

Tell you what...Laurie can head south, stop and pick up Sammy, I'll head north, stop and pick up Unc, and we'll all converge on your house, dressed like Ghostbusters, and purge the place of that stuff. RonJon is already right there in Jersey with you, so he'll be there first to stand guard and make sure no more bad music gets into your home, ok?

we can all be there by 6.

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