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And more importantly, they have some of the best tracks that aren't on any of the studio albums, so you still need them even if you've got all the others.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I was just looking at the track listings, I never actually realised how many of those songs were non-album singles.
When you think about it, they're brilliantly put together - not just the music, but the simple, memorable Red and Blue concept and the corresponding cover pictures. Bloody genius.
My mum was a good singer, a "proper" singer, in fact she was related to the great contralto Kathleen Ferrier. I remember watching OGWT with her once and Hucknall was praising himself as usual, saying that his ambition was to be the greatest white soul singer ever. My mum went hmmm, you've got a long way to go young man.
They're an interesting snapshot of mainstream popular music at the time - there are almost always a couple of classics on each one, a fair number of songs that are likeable enough but you probably wouldn't buy otherwise, and a sizeable amount of crap. The relative proportion doesn't actually change that much over the years - although having nearly completed the set now it's noticeable that the early 90s were a particularly poor era.
I've stopped getting the new ones now though - the kids aren't interested any more because they stream everything, and I just don't recognise enough of the songs... not so much because they're no good. I decided not to bother any more when I looked at the track list for Now 106 and realised that the only songs I actually knew on it were by Harry Styles and Paul Weller. End of an era... I'm now officially old .
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
He said, or at least heavily implied at the time, that Simply red was over and classic soul and blues was his new direction. Obviously Tribute to Bobby didn't sell well enough for that to last .
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This only applies to pop music though. Classical and jazz operate under completely different rules.
I think it's different for rock and metal too. The "greatest hits" - if there ever were any hits - tended to be the most throwaway tracks on the albums, often put there to try to please the record company by getting some airplay and mainstream exposure.
Of course you could do a "best of" rather than a "greatest hits" as such, but even then I don't think the fans would universally agree on the track listings. And if you're talking prog, the "best of" might have to be a triple album... with only six tracks.
I can see why someone listening now to Clapton in his heyday might wonder what all the fuss is about, but to be fair he really did set the bar. And I still think Slowhand sounds best when he's playing a Les Paul or a 335, he's not a Strat player to my mind.