Quite a few band are coming out with greatest hits albums this year just in time for Christmas. Bands that I never thought would do greatest hits albums are doing them. R.E.M.? Best of? Let’s see the playlist:
# Man on the Moon
# The Great Beyond [from Man on the Moon soundtrack]
# Bad Day [previously unreleased]
# What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?
# All The Way To Reno (You’re Gonna Be A Star)
# Losing My Religion
# E-Bow The Letter
# Orange Crush
# Imitation of Life
# Daysleeper
# Animal [previously unreleased]
# The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite
# Stand
# Electrolite
# All The Right Friends [from Vanilla Sky soundtrack]
# Everybody Hurts
# At My Most Beautiful
# Nightswimming
Ok. Losing My Religion? Check. Everybody Hurts? Check. Reasonable. Never heard of The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite or E-Bow the Letter. Are you sure they belong on this CD?
And I realize that Monster was a huge bomb to many of the fans. An electrified departure from their usual yawning stuff. I have about 3 R.E.M. albums, all of which I rarely listen to. I think I keep Monster and Out of Time lying around just in case. I’m going out on a limb here. R.E.M. puts out too many albums. Every other year another album. And I can’t remember much of them. Rarely are they earth shattering. Mostly they’re just a typical R.E.M. album without much fanfare. Without much change. Monster was the true interesting album. The album that inspired me to see them in concert in 1995 (and a rumor that they’d break up in the year 2000; we weren’t that lucky). Are we experiencing the emperor has new clothes effect with R.E.M.? Just because everyone else says they’re cool, does that mean they are?
Counting Crows. Films about Ghosts. Are we sure they need a greatest hits album yet? They’ve been around for less than 10 years and already a greatest hits album. Man, they are really milking it for all its worth. Let’s see the playlist:
# angels of the silences
# round here
# rain king
# a long december
# hangin’ around
# mrs potter’s lullaby
# mr jones
# recovering the satellites
# american girls
# big yellow taxi
# omaha
# friend of the devil
# einstein on the beach
# anna begins
# holiday in spain
# she don’t want nobody near
Let’s see. Mr. Jones? Check. Round Here? Here also. I guess everything is in order. Einstein on the Beach remains the odd man out. You can only find it on the DCG Rarities CD. And I thought Adam Duritz HATED that song. And I don’t know why they need 2 cover songs to make their album (Big Yellow Taxi and Friend of the Devil).
I guess for me it’s sorta hard to take a band seriously when they put out a greatest hits album only 8 years into their discography. It was kinda like seeing “Creed: Behind the Music” on VH1. August and Everything After was a masterpiece. You couldn’t top that. And they didn’t. I have their next 2 albums and I don’t know why. Guys, wait until you have some more albums before prematurely putting out this. I know Greatest Hits albums are always big sellers, but I thought CC wasn’t in it for the money. I guess I was wrong.
And Finally, Sheryl Crow. Track list, please:
# All I Wanna Do
# Soak Up The Sun
# My Favorite Mistake
# The First Cut Is The Deepest
# Leaving Las Vegas
# Strong Enough
# The Light In Your Eyes
# If It Makes You Happy
# Everyday Is A Winding Road
# Picture (with Kid Rock)
# The Difficult Kind
# Steve McQueen
# A Change Would Do You Good
# Home
# There Goes the Neighborhood
# I Shall Believe
Maybe Sheryl’s favorite mistake was putting out the greatest hits album after only 3 studio albums. I’ll pass on “All I Wanna Do,” which is already overplayed. Doesn’t deserve to be on another album. I have the first 2 albums. I passed on the rest after it started being monotonous.
I should have expected a greatest hits albums soon and very soon from Sheryl. She’s the type to get a singing gig at Las Vegas or Branson 10 years from now.
The bottom line is that Greatest Hits albums are easy to produce (songs are already written and recorded) and are very popular among die hard fans and music lovers who are only marginally interested in the band but never bought their album because there were not enough popular songs on one particular album.