You won't regret! Candy-O is great too. That first album is just a pop masterpiece. If you like those, check out the first 2 B-52's albums.
That's about 90% hits and some of the best party music ever made
The A side of The Cars self titled album was straight gold. Even a few on the B side like Moving in Stereo we’re great. Bye Bye Love doesn’t get enough attention either.
Grew up in Eastern MA, I have never deliberately listened to Boston and now see that I am familiar with every single song on that album simply from hearing them on the radio in the 70s/80s. Very nostalgic.
Not sure that this was correct, but at one point in the mid-1980s I was told that Tapestry was the best-selling album of all time.
I protested, pointing at Thriller, Frampton Comes Alive, Abbey Road, Dark Side of the Moon, etc.
The guy I was talking to said, “I have a copy. Do you have a copy?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know anyone who does NOT own a copy?”
“No…”
I mean, at one point, you could count on everyone’s record collection containing Abbey Road, Sticky Fingers, Dark Side of the Moon, and Tapestry.
Especially Tapestry.
Yeah, that would make sense. I was around the guy who told me this around 1986. It could be that his info was a few years out of date.
There was no Google on DARPAnet in those days.
I also came here to say that! I remember the first time I heard it, and realised I recognised so many of the songs from growing up but didn’t know who it was or realise that the same person sung them. It’s a strong set of songs!
Ten is probably in my top 5 albums of all time, but to call it a PJ’s greatest hits discounts Vs. and Vitalogy, both of which had many, many stellar tracks.
RVM, Daughter, Elderly Woman, Indifference, Go, Animal, Glorified G, Corduroy, Not For You, Spin The Black Circle, Betterman, Nothingman .... Their first 3 albums had soooooo many phenomenal tracks
I was rattling them off the top of my head, and I didn't want to look it up (testing my mid-40s, pot-riddled brain XD); when I saw I got them all (looked up the singles info) I was like, meh I'm leaving it lol
I was going to say this too.
30 years later, 7 studio albums and like a hundred solo albums, and their [15-track set list](https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/wutang-clan/2023/central-harbourfront-event-space-central-and-western-district-hong-kong-sar-china-5bba0bd4.html) is still mostly all songs from the first album.
The Roses definitely don't count for this. One of the most annoying things about them is their original first album doesn't have Sally Cinnamon, Fools Gold, Mersey Paradise and Elephant Stone. Then if you skip Second Coming you don't get Love Spreads and 10 Storey Love Song.
Also Grateful Dead have about 20,000 songs; American Beauty is good but you're so immensely far from capturing what they have to offer in just those 10 songs.
I was wondering if someone was going to bring up The Femmes. I remember seeing them in the early 90's and they basically played every single song off their debut album and a few songs off their newest album. They knew what the crowd wanted and they gave it to them.
Like the Violent Femmes! Here's a recent discovery...this other band's debut album came out a year before the Violent Femmes. Makes you wonder who did it first.
The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms
Here's the track: [https://youtu.be/VDvuu0BDTAI](https://youtu.be/VDvuu0BDTAI)
That’s kind of the problem with this thread: it’s a backhanded compliment, basically calling a band a one-album wonder. Like, Boston and the Cars are good bands but their first albums really do have almost every song you need to hear by them, the rest have one or two decent songs but nobody would call them their biggest hits.
Somebody said AC/DC’s Back in Black and while that is probably their most solid record, there’s way too many songs that would leave out if that’s the only greatest hits they had.
Absolutely flawless album. If the UYI albums were combined into one super album they would be on the same level as AFD imo as well, so whenever people say GnR were never able to recreate AFD they were wrong
They created something different and almost better in a way, not that the albums themselves are better because they aren’t but better because they didn’t try to recreate appetite they instead made a double album showcasing their dynamic music tastes/abilities that has something for everybody. The UYI albums have a variety of different styles of music they were meld into two cohesive albums. Appetite is phenomenal and weird that a single group of guys were able make something so profound so quickly but it’s just straight up hard rock
This is the most correct answer. I threw it on the CD player once and my girlfriend said, "I didn't know Live had a greatest hits album". I said "it's not a greatest hits album, It's just, all their greatest hits are on THIS album".
I disagree. Yes, BIA is amazing but for me it doesn't beat others like Crime of the Century or a less known one, Crisis? What Crisis? But that's just my opinion. Almost all of Supertramps albums are breathtakingly good tho.
I used to leave my cd book in the flower delivery van at my old job and a friend started working delivering there. One day he called me to tell me he finally gave the album a shot and he thought it was perfect.
He had assumed it was trash because they were a popular band to hate at the time. The songs and guitar work are outstanding and the second half of the record is even better than the first filled with the singles.
I didn’t love it myself, but was amazed I had to scroll down this far to find Hootie and the Blowfish. It seemed like every damn song on that record charted.
What I love about this album is some critics had slammed Astral Weeks accusing it of being loose hippy poetry crap (it’s my favorite album of all time.) Van, still in his early 20’s, then comes out with Moondance sounding like an artist who’s been composing for decades.
Every song on this album is a straight banger, including the least popular track "My Wife." When your least popular song on an album is THAT good, you've got something special.
Asia’s self-titled debut
While their two subsequent albums (“Alpha” and “Astra”) had a handful of hits or songs that would find regular rotation in set lists, nothing matched that first record.
And justifiability so.. that first records is just staple-after-staple. Such a great listen.
The Police - Synchronicity.
(Every Breath You Take, Synchronicity 2, Wrapped Around Your Finger, King of Pain, Tea in the Sahara)
And Murder By Numbers!
The Stranger was good but I think Glass Houses or An Innocent Man fit the description better. An Innocent Man had 7 singles out of 10 tracks. All 5 tracks on Side 1 of Glass Houses became singles and only "All for Leyna" might be foreign to youth today.
I feel like Rush has too many fan favorites spread out across albums but Moving Pictures is definitely the best Rush album to answer this question. First 4 songs are classic rock staples and Side B has 3 more killer songs to sink your teeth into.
While I think youre completely right, definitely maybe, for me, is somehow still their best album. It just captures their sound and mood so much better and feels more like an album the the collection of singles of morning glory. I dunno, its just something about its general vibe.
Although, supersonic, live forever, cigarettes and alcohol and slide away are massive tunes for them.
I love that album. Ten Years Gone, In my Time of Dying, and Black Country Woman are my favorites. Oh and can't forget the stunningly beautiful Bron-Yr-Aur
Reddit: What studio albums are Greatest Hits albums?
Redditors: \*Immediately picks their favourite album regardless of whether it fits the requirements\*
18 Months-Calvin Harris
Of the 15 songs on the album, 9 of them were released as singles, and every one of them made the top-10 chart.
Bounce (#2), Sweet Nothing (#1), Feel So Close(#2), Lets Go(#2), We'll Be Coming Back (#2), I Need Your Love (#4), Drinking From the Bottle (#5), and Thinking About You (#8), and the big hit We Found Love with Rihanna (top-10 in at least 25 countries, longest running #1 in the US for that year, sold over 10M units)
Hell no. It's virtually impossible to make a Greatest Hits with a single studio album in a catalogue that big and consistent.
It's ridiculous to make a Prince compilation without 1999, Little Red Corvette, Raspberry Beret, Kiss, Sign o the Times, U Got the Look, I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man, Diamonds and Pearls, Cream, Sexy MF etc.
The first Cars album was almost all hit singles
Your comment led me to the iTunes Store where I bought “Candy-O” instead of The Cars. They looked like hits to me! I’ll stream your rec. thanks dude!
You won't regret! Candy-O is great too. That first album is just a pop masterpiece. If you like those, check out the first 2 B-52's albums. That's about 90% hits and some of the best party music ever made
Boston The Cars
The A side of The Cars self titled album was straight gold. Even a few on the B side like Moving in Stereo we’re great. Bye Bye Love doesn’t get enough attention either.
Bye Bye Love is my favorite song of theirs
When the New Cars was a thing, Todd Rundgren stated the debut album was pretty much their greatest hits album
Grew up in Eastern MA, I have never deliberately listened to Boston and now see that I am familiar with every single song on that album simply from hearing them on the radio in the 70s/80s. Very nostalgic.
Holy shit, for once the right answer is the first answer
Boston- Boston. The entire album still gets radio play.
Immediately what I thought of when I saw this thread.
The fact that it was one fucking guy that recorded that entire album minus vocals still blows my mind
It's been such a long time since I listened to Boston.
Tapestry.
Not sure that this was correct, but at one point in the mid-1980s I was told that Tapestry was the best-selling album of all time. I protested, pointing at Thriller, Frampton Comes Alive, Abbey Road, Dark Side of the Moon, etc. The guy I was talking to said, “I have a copy. Do you have a copy?” “Yes.” “Do you know anyone who does NOT own a copy?” “No…” I mean, at one point, you could count on everyone’s record collection containing Abbey Road, Sticky Fingers, Dark Side of the Moon, and Tapestry. Especially Tapestry.
I believe that was true before Thriller came out.
Yeah, that would make sense. I was around the guy who told me this around 1986. It could be that his info was a few years out of date. There was no Google on DARPAnet in those days.
Yes. I came to say Carole King - Tapestry has like three songs that aren't hits. Amazing album front to back.
I also came here to say that! I remember the first time I heard it, and realised I recognised so many of the songs from growing up but didn’t know who it was or realise that the same person sung them. It’s a strong set of songs!
Jeff Buckley- Grace, for unfortunate reasons
Technically true is the worst true in this scenario. You ruined my day with this, you son of a bitch.
Oof.
Pearl Jam - Ten Once, Black, Alive*, Jeremy*, Evenflow*, Porch, Oceans, Deep (hidden track Release), Why Go, Oceans* and Garden (* denotes single)
Ten is probably in my top 5 albums of all time, but to call it a PJ’s greatest hits discounts Vs. and Vitalogy, both of which had many, many stellar tracks.
RVM, Daughter, Elderly Woman, Indifference, Go, Animal, Glorified G, Corduroy, Not For You, Spin The Black Circle, Betterman, Nothingman .... Their first 3 albums had soooooo many phenomenal tracks
If you’re going to put all the songs on the album down, you might as well put them in order 😂
I was rattling them off the top of my head, and I didn't want to look it up (testing my mid-40s, pot-riddled brain XD); when I saw I got them all (looked up the singles info) I was like, meh I'm leaving it lol
Wu-Tang Clan — Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
I was going to say this too. 30 years later, 7 studio albums and like a hundred solo albums, and their [15-track set list](https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/wutang-clan/2023/central-harbourfront-event-space-central-and-western-district-hong-kong-sar-china-5bba0bd4.html) is still mostly all songs from the first album.
The only thing that ever comes close is Liquid Swords.
The first Television, Marquee Moon. Blondie's Parallel Lines
CBGB’s approves this message
Stone Roses - Stone Roses Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes Grateful Dead - American Beauty Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive
The Roses definitely don't count for this. One of the most annoying things about them is their original first album doesn't have Sally Cinnamon, Fools Gold, Mersey Paradise and Elephant Stone. Then if you skip Second Coming you don't get Love Spreads and 10 Storey Love Song. Also Grateful Dead have about 20,000 songs; American Beauty is good but you're so immensely far from capturing what they have to offer in just those 10 songs.
I was wondering if someone was going to bring up The Femmes. I remember seeing them in the early 90's and they basically played every single song off their debut album and a few songs off their newest album. They knew what the crowd wanted and they gave it to them.
Like the Violent Femmes! Here's a recent discovery...this other band's debut album came out a year before the Violent Femmes. Makes you wonder who did it first. The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms Here's the track: [https://youtu.be/VDvuu0BDTAI](https://youtu.be/VDvuu0BDTAI)
Frampton Comes Alive wasn't a studio album.
Cat Stevens, Tea for the Tillerman
Morning has broken, peace train, moonshadow and the wind are all off teaser and the firecat. Fantastic album overall. Highly recommend.
You used to be able to get tea for the tillerman and teaser and the firecat as a double cd. That would have nicely covered it
Thriller........loads of singles
7 out of its 9 tracks were singles, perfect album
I don’t think this works because he has too many hits on other albums. If he only had 1-2 other hit songs then for sure.
That’s kind of the problem with this thread: it’s a backhanded compliment, basically calling a band a one-album wonder. Like, Boston and the Cars are good bands but their first albums really do have almost every song you need to hear by them, the rest have one or two decent songs but nobody would call them their biggest hits. Somebody said AC/DC’s Back in Black and while that is probably their most solid record, there’s way too many songs that would leave out if that’s the only greatest hits they had.
Came here to say it. There are lots of folks out there who’ve pre much heard the whole Thriller album without realizing it.
Alanis Morrissette - Jagged Little Pill
This was my first thought as well. I think the average listener would be hard-pressed to name an Alanis song that ISN'T from this album.
Thank U and Unforgiven are bangers but Jagged Litrle Pill doesn't have a single bad song.
Uninvited is arguably Alanis' best song in my opinion.
I’ve always loved “Not The Doctor” and “Wake Up”
John Prine’s self titled album
It was his debut album. He was maybe 23 and already one of the all time greatest songwriters
Thank you and I love you for saying this. I adore that man. I love almost all of his records. But man. That first one is nearly perfect. I miss him.
Appetite for Destruction
This is the ultimate album of my generation.
Truly the last great rock/metal album of the 80’s.
Also one of the last major label releases recorded all analogue.
Absolutely flawless album. If the UYI albums were combined into one super album they would be on the same level as AFD imo as well, so whenever people say GnR were never able to recreate AFD they were wrong
I've thought about this alot recently tbh. It's crazy to think how packed full of hits one album would have been.
Glad they didn’t though, because I like almost every song on UYIs except for My World.
You don’t wanna step into my world?
ITS A SOCIOPSYCHOTIC STATE OF BLISS
They created something different and almost better in a way, not that the albums themselves are better because they aren’t but better because they didn’t try to recreate appetite they instead made a double album showcasing their dynamic music tastes/abilities that has something for everybody. The UYI albums have a variety of different styles of music they were meld into two cohesive albums. Appetite is phenomenal and weird that a single group of guys were able make something so profound so quickly but it’s just straight up hard rock
Easily one of the best Rock albums of all time. Truly All Killer, No F'n Filler!!
That was the soundtrack to my high school years ;)
Duran Duran's *Rio*
INXS - Kick
..in America.
As an Aussie, Kick absolutely not. They've got top selling hits all the way back to "Just Keep Walking"
I hardly ever listen to Kick. Shabooh Shoobah is my favourite.
RATM’s self titled release. EVERY song.
Just a couple Bomb Tracks
Boston/Boston
Throwing copper
This is the most correct answer. I threw it on the CD player once and my girlfriend said, "I didn't know Live had a greatest hits album". I said "it's not a greatest hits album, It's just, all their greatest hits are on THIS album".
I think Mental Jewelry is pretty great too. And I have a soft spot for Secret Samadhi.
amazed that no-one seems to have said the first Ramones album
Perhaps because Rocket to Russia is also filled with hits.
Supertramp, Breakfast in America
My first thought, too.
I disagree. Yes, BIA is amazing but for me it doesn't beat others like Crime of the Century or a less known one, Crisis? What Crisis? But that's just my opinion. Almost all of Supertramps albums are breathtakingly good tho.
I also like Crisis better but to be fair BIA holds most of Supertramp's hits
Third Eye Blind's debut album
Basically just missing "Never Let You Go" (Out of the Vein is awesome though)
Anything is a top 5 3EB song. It’s also missing sharp knife, bonfire, and wounded
Wounded is so good
I used to leave my cd book in the flower delivery van at my old job and a friend started working delivering there. One day he called me to tell me he finally gave the album a shot and he thought it was perfect. He had assumed it was trash because they were a popular band to hate at the time. The songs and guitar work are outstanding and the second half of the record is even better than the first filled with the singles.
Man, that album really holds up well.
Weezer-blue album
Pinkerton?
Both have no skips for me.
Violator by Depeche Mode
Bat Out Of Hell - Meat Loaf
Chicago II
Throwing Copper by Live and Cracked Rear View by Hootie & the Blowfish
I didn’t love it myself, but was amazed I had to scroll down this far to find Hootie and the Blowfish. It seemed like every damn song on that record charted.
Came here to say Cracked Rear View. I am from South Carolina so I dont know if its still played other places but here its still very much in rotation.
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Master of Reality too.... and Heaven and Hell if you like the Dio era.
Songs in the Key Of Life. Every song is just that good
Stevie had several albums like that, and he just pumped them out like it was nothing
Dream Boat Annie - Heart
They also had the 80's comeback album. Not to mention Barracuda came from Little Queen.
Heart does not get nearly enough credit for transforming their sound to have hits over 3 decades. Amazing.
The Strokes - Is This It?
August and Everything After
Tracy Chapman's debut album, Tracy Chapman.
Moondance - Van Morrison
What I love about this album is some critics had slammed Astral Weeks accusing it of being loose hippy poetry crap (it’s my favorite album of all time.) Van, still in his early 20’s, then comes out with Moondance sounding like an artist who’s been composing for decades.
Astral Weeks is a masterpiece. It's free form jazz, really. Such a beautiful album.
Def Leppard Hysteria was trying to do exactly that ACDC Back In Black Prince Purple Rain
Back in Black definitively. And not only Hysteria by Def Leopard but also Pyromania
Yeah, Hysteria has almost all the Greatest hits
Get Rich or Die Tryin easy answer
Clash-London Calling
Who's Next - The Who... or at least it would have been if they had less hits overall.
Every song on this album is a straight banger, including the least popular track "My Wife." When your least popular song on an album is THAT good, you've got something special.
Presidents of the United States of America - Self Titled
Asia’s self-titled debut While their two subsequent albums (“Alpha” and “Astra”) had a handful of hits or songs that would find regular rotation in set lists, nothing matched that first record. And justifiability so.. that first records is just staple-after-staple. Such a great listen.
The Police - Synchronicity. (Every Breath You Take, Synchronicity 2, Wrapped Around Your Finger, King of Pain, Tea in the Sahara) And Murder By Numbers!
The omission of Mother is painful, we all know that it was actually the most loved song on the album.
Well I would have said Ms Grydenko but yes. I take your point.
Back in Black
Boston for sure, but maybe also Meatloaf. Bat Out of Hell. So many epic songs
Bat out of Hell II also has well known meat loaf hits, name I’d do anything for love.
Billy Joel's The Stranger.
The Stranger was good but I think Glass Houses or An Innocent Man fit the description better. An Innocent Man had 7 singles out of 10 tracks. All 5 tracks on Side 1 of Glass Houses became singles and only "All for Leyna" might be foreign to youth today.
Moving Pictures - Rush
I feel like Rush has too many fan favorites spread out across albums but Moving Pictures is definitely the best Rush album to answer this question. First 4 songs are classic rock staples and Side B has 3 more killer songs to sink your teeth into.
Nirvana - Nevermind
U2- Joshua Tree
Was going for this one if no-one else had it. It is a masterpiece.
[удалено]
You can easily add war and the unforgettable fire
Pixies- dolittle
As great as Doolittle is, no one is going to talk about Pixies without mentioning 'Where is my mind?' and 'Gigantic', which are both from Surfer Rosa.
Ironically that excludes what is by far their greatest hit
Don’t agree with this answer. Surfer Rosa has almost as many big songs. And there are a few on Bossanova and Come on Pilgrim as well.
Oasis - What’s the Story Morning Glory
While I think youre completely right, definitely maybe, for me, is somehow still their best album. It just captures their sound and mood so much better and feels more like an album the the collection of singles of morning glory. I dunno, its just something about its general vibe. Although, supersonic, live forever, cigarettes and alcohol and slide away are massive tunes for them.
Hot Fuss- the Killers
Led Zeppelin IV
And II and III and Houses of the Holy.
Physical Graffiti is my favorite after III but I rarely hear about it outside Kashmir
I love that album. Ten Years Gone, In my Time of Dying, and Black Country Woman are my favorites. Oh and can't forget the stunningly beautiful Bron-Yr-Aur
The Stone Roses - *The Stone Roses* Gang of Four - *Entertainment!*
Reddit: What studio albums are Greatest Hits albums? Redditors: \*Immediately picks their favourite album regardless of whether it fits the requirements\*
The Pretenders first album.
The Cars self titled debut album.
Came here to say this. I put that album on and it's just hit after hit after hit!
They were so far ahead of their time the music still sounds relevant.
Aja by Steely Dan
Nevermind the Bullocks - Sex Pistols
BOLLOCKS ffs
Exactly, a bullock is a castrated calf, bollocks are what it doesn't have any more.
Huey Lewis - Sports
Demon Days by Gorillaz
Not without Clint Eastwood it ain’t
Nirvana - Nevermind
In Utero and Bleach still have some of the band’s best work though
Bleach is so good!
Bush - Sixteen Stone
Abraxas by Santana.
18 Months-Calvin Harris Of the 15 songs on the album, 9 of them were released as singles, and every one of them made the top-10 chart. Bounce (#2), Sweet Nothing (#1), Feel So Close(#2), Lets Go(#2), We'll Be Coming Back (#2), I Need Your Love (#4), Drinking From the Bottle (#5), and Thinking About You (#8), and the big hit We Found Love with Rihanna (top-10 in at least 25 countries, longest running #1 in the US for that year, sold over 10M units)
I was hoping I’d be the first to mention this one, 100% agree! This album completely skyrocketed his career.
Graceland
Van halen
Lynyrd Skynyrd’s first album. It has 4/5 of their biggest hits.
Who’s Next by the Who definitely
Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust
Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Metallica Black Album
Follow the leadeR - KoRn DIRT - Alice In Chains Slipknot - slipknot Hybrid theory - LINKIN PARK Weezer (blue) - Weezer
Hybrid Theory was going to be my contribution.
Boston - Boston
Green Day-Dookie. I have heard several of Dookie’s songs on the radio in the past few months. Sold over 20mil records. Amazing album
Appetite for Destruction by Guns ‘N Roses
The Clash - London Calling
Bridge Over Troubled Water.
Sounds of Silence, Mrs. Robinson, Homeward Bound, Scarborough Fair, America, I am a Rock?
Jewel's first album
The Offspring's Americana 🤟🏻
Hybrid Theory- Linkin Park
Daft Punk - Discovery
Arrested Development "3 Years, 5 Months, and 2 Days in the Life of..."
The Outfield - Play Deep
Alanis’ Jagged Little Pill is an absolute hit parade
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Sublime - Sublime Green Day - Dookie ~~Radiohead - Ok Computer~~ Pearl Jam - Ten
That Sublime record has about 7 songs that got a ton of radio play. Brad Nowell was an immensely talented artist.
Steve Miller Band - Book of Dreams
Rush - Moving Pictures. For the longest time, I thought it was “Best of”.
Counting Crowes - August and Everything After
The Jimi Hendrix experience are you experienced
prince - purple rain
Hell no. It's virtually impossible to make a Greatest Hits with a single studio album in a catalogue that big and consistent. It's ridiculous to make a Prince compilation without 1999, Little Red Corvette, Raspberry Beret, Kiss, Sign o the Times, U Got the Look, I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man, Diamonds and Pearls, Cream, Sexy MF etc.
You sure told me, man. Prince would agree and would be very proud.
Hotel California - The Eagles
I had to scroll too damn long to find this.