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.