24 Comments

Bob Marley & The Wailers- Legend

Linda Ronstadt- Greatest Hits

Al Green - Greatest Hits

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I love Linda Ronstadt and have to agree that her 'best of' is the best way to take it all in.

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I’ve listened to James Taylor’s greatest hits album more times than I could ever count.

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Agree 100% on that one. Great pick!

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When I really started listening to Stevie Wonder it was through a "Definitive Collection" CD, then I branched out and listened to his albums. Greatest hits albums are never enough for me, usually. I always love the deep cuts. And with Stevie it's all gold.

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Stevie Wonder is definitely a tough one to put into a greatest hits compilation because he has such vision for each album experience.

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Steve Miller Band is a definite for me! Had that as long as I can remember. Also a +1 for James Taylor. I’d probably add another three to the list: Abba, America, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. I owned all three and never had another album by any of those artists.

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America is a great example! I've tried their full albums, but you just can't beat the powerhouse that is that History comp. While the Petty best-of is fantastic, ya gotta change that. One of the great album artists!

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Of the three artists it would definitely be Tom Petty because America’s albums don’t do it for me and I only ever could take Abba in small doses. Any recommendations on which Tom Petty album to dive into first?

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Man, what a tough question. I think the debut self-titled is probably the best starter. If you dig that, almost all of the rest are excellent to good. Damn the Torpedoes, Hard Promises, Full Moon Fever, Wildflowers, and Into the Great Wide Open are the heavy hitters. I also love Highway Companion and Mojo for underrated and later work. Highly recommend the 'making of' doc for Wildflowers which you can find on YouTube.

Anyway, start with the debut, ha!

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Thanks, I’ll start there! I was all over Full Moon Fever and Into The Great Wide Open in the late 80s/early 90s. Tom Petty is the one of the three I suggested that probably doesn’t really belong on the list (can I get a takeback? 😆). But that greatest hits album does cover an awful lot of ground and was certainly a go to for me for the second half of the 90s and beyond.

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The Eagles are a no-brainer. I love their entire catalog, but in general, you can’t go wrong with the greatest hits.

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i c o n i c

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RUSH CHRONICLES hahaha but for real. Yes. Rush Chronicles.

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As a massive Rush fan who thinks they are one of the great album bands, ouch. 😂 I do have Chronicles on VHS though!

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Ha, sorry I totally messed up the question. I am also a big Rush fan and owned every single album on CD in middle school/high school up to test for echo. Still love em. I was thinking of Chronicles as a good greatest hits album that could fulfill enough, instead of "that's plenty" But, I guess Rush fans aren't like that!

Real answer... Steve Miller is a great one. Hmm. I think I'll go with Robert Palmer, but maybe I just dunno about Robert Palmer deep cuts.

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Hahahaha okay, this makes so much more sense. Rush fans are the type to ask for it all and more! Btw, finally got to play their newish pinball machine the other night and it was great.

Agreed on Robert Palmer as well, with the exception of Clues, which is just a really cool, low stakes album if you've never heard it.

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I will "Check It Out" have not heard it! Only the hit Johnny and Mary, which is great.

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Queen's Greatest Hits is a great one. Everything mentioned so far is in my collection. I've worn out the Eagles and James Taylor have been worn out.

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The CCR one has to be one of the best. I must have listened to that Steve Miller greatest hits 5000 times, but it’s weird how Ive never really cared to go see him live.

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As you have all of my LP's, I am sure you have quite a few of 'greatest hit albums.' ;)

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A little bit of this, a little bit of that!

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I guess for me the question is whether you miss anything important about a band of you only listen to the GH and not the albums. In that light, for me it would be: Billy Joel, The Doors, CCR.

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That double disc set from The Doors is definitely what opened that world up for me. "I Go to Extremes" better be on any Billy Joel comp!

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