Mark's Response

It has recently come to my attention that at least one person on Earth thinks that “best-of” compilations are allowed in your Top 10 Album list for a year or all time. This has left me stunned and compelled to respond to Sara’s blog post of Thursday 25^th October which argued why best-ofs can be included in your Top 10 albums list of all time.

The best-of compilation in question is Crowded House’s Recurring Dream which was released in 1996, and if I’m not mistaken, is the sum of the best songs from Crowded House’s four studio albums (at that stage), plus some additional songs such as Everything Is Good For You. This compilation is certainly a must have in anyone’s CD collection as it profiles a wonderful career from one of Australasia’s greatest bands. There are many other best-ofs which highlight many of the best tracks from other bands that could certainly be the subject of this issue in the place of Recurring Dream. But, these best-of compilations cannot be included in your Top 10 album lists for the following reasons.

Firstly, it should be noted that by compiling your Top 10 albums (i.e. for either a particular year, all time or other genre/purpose), you are essentially undertaking the task of classifying your CD collection into a certain order and raising a certain number of albums (usually 5 or 10) up to a higher pedestal than other valid or worthy albums. Therefore, you must have all albums on an equal pedestal to begin with, or it defeats the purpose of your classification. For instance, a best-of compilation is usually compiled after a band releases a minimum of three to four albums, with some notable exceptions such as Jeff Buckley, whose estate has seemed to release a different compilation or live album each year since his unfortunate death in 1997. Therefore, by including a best-of album in your list, you are severely disadvantaging an artist whose career may have unfortunately been cut short by a death within the band, or dare I say a lack of continued talent over subsequent years/albums. You are also disadvantaging an artist whose career is still going, but whose manager or record company has not released a best-of compilation as yet.

I also remember the ABC’s Top 10 album of all time poll, with Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon voted as the number one album, with Jeff Buckley’s Grace and Radiohead’s OK Computer coming in 2^nd and 3^rd place, respectively. This poll was publicly voted through the internet only and is the reason why the outcome of the poll was weighted towards technically minded males in their 20s, 30s and 40s. If Triple M conducted a Best album poll, you may expect Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet and Meatloaf’s Bat out of Hell to feature more prominently than a poll conducted by Triple J. However, this debate is not a matter of arguing whether some styles, genres and/or musical tastes are better than others, but fairness in the comparison of works by artists across genres. By allowing best-of compilations in your Top 10 album lists you are not providing an equal playing field for all artists.

I do agree with Sara’s statements that your (my, someone else’s) favourite songs can often be omitted from a best-of compilation. These tracks may have found a personal connection and may not have been released as a single, and so can therefore be forgotten by the manager or record company, who in most cases is the chief compiler of best-of compilation. But, this can also be due to best-of compilations being released by record companies who are searching for maximum profit on the work of a successful artist, with very few artists having the ability to stop record companies from releasing a best-of compilation or being able to choose their favourite tracks for inclusion on their best-of compilation. This is because a record company realises that it is pointless to release a best-of compiled from “album” tracks as it will not earn them the same profit as a best-of compilation that includes the artist’s singles or publicly recognized “best songs”. You occasionally hear the expression of horror in the voice of an artist whose record company is releasing a best-of compilation, despite only four albums being released by said artist (e.g. Daniel Johns from Silverchair). This is because some artist’s consider a best-of compilation to be a death-nail for your career, as it suggests a closure to your career.

If you were to make a Top 10 of your favourite best-of compilations, you would essentially be compiling a list of your favourite artists who have released a best-of compilation, therefore focusing on the entire works of an artist over their career (i.e. with the limitations of some personal favourite tracks being omitted from the best-of). There is no doubt that the Beatles are widely recognised as the best band/artist of all time, but there is always strong debate over which album is their best.

It is my strong belief that the selection of a Top 10 (or other number) album list is the recognition of an exceptional piece of work by an artist at a certain point in their career. By including best-of compilations in Top 10 album lists you are being prejudiced towards artists who have released an outstanding piece of work at one point in their career or some artists who have had a short career. Therefore, in the pursuit of fairly selecting your Top 10 albums of all time, you simply cannot include best-of compilations.