Worst Greatest Hits Album Mistakes

Audra Lowe: There are so many talented artists with greatest hits albums out there on the shelves, but there are also quite of few scenarios where the word great to just be taken out of the phrase, greatest hits altogether. Kim Davis is here. She’s the Editor of Spinner.com and she’s got some of the worst, greatest hits album mistakes of all times. Good to have you back. Kim Davis: Thank you. Thank you for having me. Audra Lowe: You’ve got a lot input from your readers, right? Kim Davis: I did, yes. We we’re thinking about greatest hits albums. And the beautiful thing about greatest hits albums is that if you’re a new fan, you’re just like, “Okay, cool, pick up the CD. I’ve got it all.” But if you’re an old fan, you have it great, go to album for like a road trip, you have all the hits. So then we were thinking about like the biggest mistakes, like what goes wrong on greatest hits albums. Audra Lowe: There’s a lot of expectations when you hear greatest hits. Kim Davis: Yes. Audra Lowe: Do you have a certain thing in your mind? Kim Davis: Yeah. Audra Lowe: And apparently, there’s a lot of issues there, a lot of artists lead out key songs and you said that The Very Best of Daryl Hall was one of the prime offenders. Kim Davis: Absolutely. Well, fans were disappointed. It almost like going to a concert and you don’t hear your favorite song. And it’s like you pop in the CD and there’s no—she’s gone from Hall’s notes and you’re sitting there like, “This can’t be. I’m going to start it over” and you try it again. But yeah— Audra Lowe: You guys also said that you can have the problem of too many greatest hits albums. Kim Davis: Absolutely. Audra Lowe: Because there should be just a couple, right? Kim Davis: Yeah. I mean unless you’re The Beatles that make sense. But also, I’m okay with like era by era, so 80’s, 90’s but John Mont can actually put out two eras specific greatest hits and another greatest hits album that covered everything. So if you’re a fan, you’re like, “Why am I buying these two when I can just buy one?” Audra Lowe: Well, a lot of labels that a lot of artists will think that they’re giving you an extra added bonus by releasing a previously unreleased single and kind of tricking you into thinking that— Kim Davis: Right. My take on that is that unless if you’re a super fan or a completeness and you want every single thing release by that artist, greatest hits should really stick to the greatest hits. Audra Lowe: And I didn’t realize this, but I guess a lot of artists will use other versions of other artist songs to kind of fill up their— Kim Davis: Yes, Sugar Ray did this and that band included a Cyndi Lauper cover and a Joe Jackson and it’s like— Audra Lowe: Your greatest hits. Kim Davis: Exactly. This is supposed to be your greatest hits and if you don’t have enough to put out greatest hits album, just wait a couple years. Audra Lowe: Okay. Now, the B Sides, the Rarities, Snoop Dogg was not a big fan, you’re a big fan of him? Kim Davis: He and I guess Face no More, they’re the biggest offenders in that category. Audra Lowe: What do they do specifically? Kim Davis: Well, they both released greatest hits albums with these B Sides and Rarities that people have never even heard before. So you pop in the greatest hits CD, you’re expecting to hear the radio hits and the things that they sing at concerts. And all of a sudden you’re like, “Where does this good song come from?” Audra Lowe: Exactly. There has to be a reason why. Kim Davis: Exactly. Audra Lowe: Okay. The late era song, actually really needs to know when they jump the track, you got to know when to stop, right? Kim Davis: Yup. If you’re known for the 70’s sound, like Boston is our example in the feature, then stick to the 70’s songs and their greatest hits album, they included the song from the 90’s, this happy track and I think it really threw people for a loop. Audra Lowe: Yeah. Would also can throw people for loop, it does to me all the time is if you’ve heard the same song twice, just a different version of it, there’s kind of one version you usually want to hear and that’s it. Kim Davis: Yeah. One version which is the greatest hits, the one you hear on the radio. And actually, Sheryl Crow released a greatest hits album with the same song twice and the second version of it was a country version. So I think people were kind of like, “That’s not actually the hit.” Audra Lowe: You’re not expecting that. Kim Davis: Exactly. I mean it might be a bonus for real Sheryl Crow fans. Audra Lowe: Also a lot of -- last but not the least, live version on an album and you might not be expecting a live version especially if you want to hear the studio recording. It sounds so much clearer, so much crisper. Kim Davis: Exactly, exactly, and Hot Blooded, the foreigner song. In their greatest hits album, they released the live version instead of the one that everyone knows and loves. Audra Lowe: Exactly. Alright, well thank you so much. Good to have you back. Kim Davis: Thank you. Audra Lowe: And to see the complete list of the worst greatest hits album mistakes, you can go to our website BetterTv and then click on the link.