Greatest Hits Album - Criticism and Popularity

Criticism and Popularity

Another criticism has been including one or two new songs with a package of hits. This trend started in the early 1980s, and made it necessary for collectors to purchase the "greatest hits" album if they wished to have the complete catalog of an artist's songs, even if those collectors owned all the albums containing the pre-existing hits. However, with online music stores now available, people can just download the new songs. The Paperboys released Tenure in 2002, which, out of its eighteen tracks, contains six new songs.

Some greatest hits albums are ridiculed as premature releases by young artists. Kenny Rogers and The First Edition, for example, issued Greatest Hits in 1971, three years after their first top 40 pop hit. Jason Donovan had a hits album out in 1991, only two years after he debuted; Ol' Dirty Bastard released The Dirty Story: The Best of ODB after two albums and three singles. Hilary Duff, 'N Sync, and Mandy Moore released greatest hits albums though they might have had only a handful of hit singles in their short careers. The Jackson 5 Greatest Hits was released only two years after the band released their debut album.

The quality of a greatest hits package released early in an artist's career depends upon the artist. Elvis Presley released Elvis' Golden Records in 1958, which only covered 1956–1958, although this album still sells today, remaining in print on Compact Disc, despite the countless Presley hits collections issued since. The Bee Gees released Best of Bee Gees in 1969, only two years after their international debut, yet nine of the twelve tracks were hit singles in America. Sly and the Family Stone released their Greatest Hits album in 1970, after only three years. Ringo Starr's Blast From Your Past and John Lennon's Shaved Fish came out in 1975, after five-year solo careers (both had been in The Beatles). ZZ Top's Greatest Hits was released in 1978, as a contractual obligation with no new tracks, but since its CD release has been popular because of its use of the original mixes of songs (the CD releases of their parent albums have overdubs made in the 1980s). All of these compilations were well received and continue to garner critical kudos. Bob Marley's Legend remains his best selling album despite many more posthumous hits since, and more thorough compilations being released later on.

In Japan, it is common for artists to have "greatest hits" compilations released early in their career. Many acts release a compilation after three albums, which commonly means after only three years of career in the music market. Ayumi Hamasaki, Mai Kuraki, Hikaru Utada, Glay and Greeeen are a few examples (the band McFly, from England, also released a greatest hits album after three albums and three active years). Many times, the decision of having a greatest hits released is due to the popularity of the artist at the moment, which results in bigger sales. It is also common for the Japanese artists to have many compilations throughout their careers.