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"Greatest Hits" and "Live" albums.


Greatest Hits and Live albums  

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I'm not big on greatest hits or live albums (or for that matter, box sets) in general, but there are times when I'll buy one. I was just curious what everyone else's take on them is?

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kind of according how much I like the band. for example, I'm not a huge GnR fan so all I own of them is a greatest hits package. I have no need for any studio albums. On the other hand I love .38 Special and have all the studio albums and most live and greatest hits albums. then there are bands like Dokken that I don't need studio albums, live albums or greatest hits because they do nothing for me.

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... "only if it has rare or unreleased material". Correct ! :headbanger:

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I never buy Live stuff, I hate them. I only buy Greatest Hits of bands that I have a passing interest in, or it would simply be too expensive to buy all the band's releases, so I stick to the Greatest Hits.

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I never used to buy live albums but in the last few years I've started to pick them up here and there. I'll buy a greatest hits album if it has rare tunes like Scorpions - Deadly Sting that had the Freejack tune on it or Great White's with "Wasted Rock Ranger" on it. I'll also buy a greatest hits cd if it's by a band I'm only lukewarm for and don't own many of their albums like Ugly Kid Joe.

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I like live albums alot, so If my fave bands release one I generally get it. Hit's packages I only usually get if they have unreleased stuff on them.

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I own quite a few live albums, but only classics like 'Live & Dangerous', 'Captured', 'One Night In Budokan', 'No Sleep....' etc etc. I probably wouldnt go mad for more recently released stuff unless I read reviews that they were really excellent.

 

Re greatest hits/best ofs.....I would only purchase if they contained rare or unreleased tracks or it was a band I wasnt familiar with and couldnt be arsed to buy their whole discography.

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Some bands I feel a best of package is the only thing you need.

Also, sometimes a best of package is the best album to buy if you want to hear a band for the first time, to see if their discography is worth buying.

 

Some bands I will pretty much buy anything of, although you have to draw the line with a band like Motley Crue or Kiss, who have more best ofs than they have studio albums.

With these bands, I tend to only buy the ones with new tracks or previously unreleased stuff on them.

 

With live albums, as a rule I dont bother unless its a band that I want a complete discography of, or like Kiss or Poison, includes new studio cuts as well.

 

Live albums for the most part, suck, IMO!

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I went with "other".

 

I don't buy either BUT, for a bargain price I will buy a live disc or a best of, if the best of has rare or unreleased songs. But both would have to be under au$5... probably under au$3.

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I've bought both over the years but have slowed down on both.

 

I used to buy every live album by my favorite bands but anymore it's only Iron Maiden that gets my $ on live albums and also Kiss, although I don't know why. I used to listen to live albums all the time but lately I've found myself not playing them much really one exception and that's Whitesnake "Live in the Heart of the City", which I still find incredible all of these years later. Of course I play my Kiss, Dio, Maiden and few others here and there but not near as much as I once did.

 

The only greatest hits albums I'll buy is when they have unreleased or new tracks. For instance the Black Sabbath Dio years had 3 new great songs so that was worth it IMO. Also those cool "Gold" 2 disc compilations that many labels have been putting out are usually cool enough to have some unreleased tunes on them as did the Whitesnake one that had some different mixes, live and the Coverdale solo tune from Days of Thunder movie. Also the Tesla "Gold" release had a few b-sides and cover tunes that I had heard before and all of the songs were remastered and sound way better than the original cds IMO.

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I always try to buy live albums of my favorite bands because I like to hear them live. But as regards as "greatest hits" or "best of" packages, I only buy them in three cases : 1) if it belongs to a band I've never heard before (as an introduction) 2) if I only like a couple of songs of the band and I don't want to spend my $ on an entire discography, and 3) if they have rare or unreleased material. That's why I chose the "Other" option.

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Not a real big live album guy. There are some exceptions (Raven's LIVE AT THE INFERNO, Savatage's GHOST IN THE RUINS, Priest's UNLEASHED IN THE EAST, Halford's LIVE INSURRECTION, etc.) but for the most part I don't bother with live albums, or in the case of a band that has numerous live releases (i.e. Iron Maiden, Kiss, Judas Priest, etc.) I may only bother with one...after all, how many live versions of the same songs do you really need??

 

"Greatest Hits" are mostly unnecessary in my book as well, because in most cases, I'd rather have a collection of the original studio albums, rather than a boiled down compilation of what some record label schmuck thinks is a band's "best." I have bought them in the past, and what usually happens is if I like the band enough, I end up tracking down all the studio albums, making the hits comp obsolete anyway!

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I like live albums alot, so If my fave bands release one I generally get it. Hit's packages I only usually get if they have unreleased stuff on them.

 

Agreed mate :tumbsup:

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couldnt be arsed to buy their whole discography.

That's me with Greatest Hits, in fact I just bought a Loverboy Collection CD for that very reason.

 

Live albums no like much although there are a couple exceptions: Live at Budokan, Song Remains the Same, and Extra Terrestrial Live come to mind... :woot:

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Live albums are a great way to actually know how talented a band really is. If they can't pull off the songs live then they aren't very talented. On the other hand alot of bands go the lame ass route of rerecording stuff, putting a crowd sound on it, and label it live. I love live albums if they are authentic. I have never had time for hits packages, unless there are demos, or unreleased material. To me, if I can't get into more than a few songs off of an album, there is no point in owning it. That was the whole concept of album oriented rock.

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It depends with me.

Sometimes to get into a band I get the greatest hits - especially if they have a HUGE discography.

If they have onlt a few albums then I start with the first album.

I love live albums but only if the set list is good.

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