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The ordering of songs can be either random or chronological (though for double-disk compilations, [[Distinct Double Album|it can get experimental]]).
{{examples}}
* Sony Music's ''[[wikipedia:The Essential|The Essential]]'' series, which usually uses 2 disks (some have had limited editions with three) to make the moniker worthy. There are those that still fall short, though ([[Iron Maiden (Music)|Iron Maiden]]'s had only two songs from each of their 13 albums; comprehensive, but still has many absences).
** Universal had the ''20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection'' series around the beginning of the 2000's, which were budget greatest hits albums of the artist's big hits packaged in with an essay-style biography by a music critic. Later, they launched the more career-spanning 2-disc ''Gold'' series, to compete with ''The Essential''. They've also launched a second Greatest Hits line, ''Icon'', which is a one disc budget compilation like the ''20th Century Masters'', which they're still producing anyway.
* Several [[Hello! Project]] artists. Most of these include at least one new song.
** Morning Musume had two, as well as a singles collection (even though they're still releasing).
** Goto Maki.
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* ''[[ABBA]] Gold'' is the third best selling album of all time in Britain.
* Anecdotal evidence in British Pop Music suggests when a band releases a greatest hits album, in most cases after three or four studio albums, it is to be taken taken as a sign that the band are about to split up. Examples include greatest hits albums by Atomic Kitten, Steps, S Club 7, Blue and Take That.
* Some bands refuse to release a greatest hits album, notably [[ACDC (Music)|AC/DC]] and [[Metallica (Music)|Metallica]]. [[Radiohead]] also has refused to do such a compilation, but upon their departure from Parlophone Records, ''Radiohead: The Best of'' was released [[Executive Meddling|without their cooperation]].
** On the other hand, Metallica has ''S&M'', which as live albums go, doubles as a greatest hits collection complete with brand new songs
** And AC/DC has two soundtrack albums that double as compilations, ''[[Maximum Overdrive (Film)|Who Made Who]]'' and ''[[Iron Man 2 (Filmfilm)|Iron Man 2]]''.
* Cockney Rejects, Mrs. Miller, Alien Ant Farm, and Graveyard BBQ have had ''Greatest Hits'' as the title of their respective debut albums.
** The Cockney Rejects actually named their first three albums ''Greatest Hits,'' Volumes 1, 2 and 3.
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** As early as 1966, their British label (Parlophone) released one of these: ''A Collection of Beatles Oldies''.
** [[John Lennon]] released one greatest hits album while he was alive, ''Shaved Fish''. That one was infamous for having short versions of songs that never charted. A fair percentage of his post-mortem releases are also greatest hits albums. "The John Lennon Collection" was a bit strange because half the songs on it were from ''Double Fantasy,'' and most of John's half of ''Double Fantasy'' was on that album.
** Paul McCartney has several. There is "[[Wings (Musicband)|Wings]] Greatest Hits," released 1978. There is ''All The Best!'' released 1988; there are significant differences between the British and American versions of that album, as Paul has different hits in each country. (The British version also had a few new songs; the American version didn't, but the hit ratio was high.) In 2001, Paul released ''Wingspan,'' which was half a greatest-hits album from 1970 to 1985 and half "history" (some of which also charted decently). It cost no more than a normal single CD, but Capitol Records had flooded the market with ''All The Best!'' CDs immediately prior), so it wasn't fully appreciated.
** Capitol Records released a greatest hits CD for George Harrison when he left for Warner Bros, which interestingly, contained songs from his days with [[The Beatles]]. This annoyed Harrison, since all the other Beatles, Ringo included, had gotten a compilation devoted entirely to their output as solo artists.
** Ringo Starr has released a couple of these. His first, ''Blast from the Past'', is highly valued because it has a much higher hit ratio than the albums it collected from, as well as a few songs that up to then had been singles-only. He released one called ''Photograph'' in 2007, but it didn't get much publicity.
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* Famed J-rock duo B'z is a interesting case: They had released several "compilations" albums that, in practice, are like Greatest Hits albums since they compiled all their singles... but still hadn't released any ''official'' Greatest Hits Albums yet. To muddle the waters more, some of those compilations feature re-recordings of two of their signature songs, actualized for the year of release.
* Despite the fact they never actually had a hit song, [[The Velvet Underground]] have two of these. [http://www.amazon.com/Best-Velvet-Underground-Words-Music/dp/B000001FR9/ref=sr_1_27?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1231629458&sr=1-27 One] is considered generally inferior due to picking almost all of their most conventional songs; [http://www.amazon.com/20th-Century-Masters-Millennium-Underground/dp/B00004YX3S/ref=pd_sim_m_16 the second] was more well-received.
* Progressive metal band [[Dream Theater (Music)|Dream Theater]] released a compilation to satisfy a contract with their now former label. Since the band only had one radio hit (the rock radio favorite "Pull Me Under") and have built their career without 'hit singles', the album is jokingly titled ''Dream Theater's Greatest Hit (and 21 other pretty cool songs'').
** They also use some [http://www.dreamtheaterarg.com.ar/imagenes/discos/greatesthit.jpg clever red highlighting] to quite literally [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|sneak some crap past the radar]] as to their thoughts on the matter.
* An interesting case: the biggest hits of the [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]]' EMI years (which were not noted for being much of a success) were collected on an album after the success of ''Blood Sugar Sex Magik''; the result was entitled ''[[Lampshade Hanging|What Hits?]]''
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* While all the songs on [[Bjork]]'s 2002 "Greatest Hits" compilation were singles, the track listing was voted for by fans and omitted (amongst others) what was possibly her best-selling - and probably best-known - single in several countries, "It's Oh So Quiet".
** She omitted "It's Oh So Quiet" because she didn't feel that a cover song should be on her greatest hits compilation.
* [[Tori Amos (Music)|Tori Amos]] didn't want to release a greatest hits compilation, so she instead released a "sonic autobiography" ''Tales of a Librarian''. In other words, she chose songs she felt told her life story. The majority of the songs on it were singles, but non-single tracks, two new songs, and two re-recorded B-sides were also added.
* ''The Best of Electribe 101 featuring Billie Ray Martin'' is a straight reissue of their debut (and only) album, ''Electribal Memories'', with the new title covering up the old one on the sleeve. Similarly ''The Best of Flowered Up'' is just their sole album, ''A Life With Brian'', plus one bonus track (albeit a 13-minute one that bumps up the playing time by nearly a third). And ''The Best of Betty Boo'' is her debut, ''Boomania'', in a different order with a couple of 12" mixes thrown in, because the record company didn't own, and couldn't be bothered to license, the rights to her second (and superior) album, ''Grrr... It's Betty Boo''.
* [["Weird Al" Yankovic]] didn't include much previously unavailable material on his "The Essential "Weird Al" Yankovic" two-disc set, only including a couple mixes of songs not on the original CDs (i.e. the extra-gory version of "The Night Santa Went Crazy" and the single release of UHF), but he did manage to nearly jam-pack each completely full.
** Al also had ''The Food Album'' and ''The TV Album'', with his songs into those themes. Also, his Greatest Hits Volume 2 featured his Crash Test Dummies parody "Headline News", which had only been previously released as a single and the long-out-of-print "Al in the Box" compilation.
* Oddly, Chamillionaire managed to have a greatest hits collection '''before he released his debut studio album'''. This is because of the enormous number of mixtapes he released and appeared on before that.
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* Subverted by ex-Beatle Pete Best, who named a nondescript solo album "Best of the Beatles" to confuse record buyers.
* [[Jean Michel Jarre]] had a whole number of these: ''The Essential'' (7" versions from 1976 to 1985), ''Musik aus Zeit und Raum'' (pretty much ditto), ''Images - The Best Of Jean Michel Jarre'' (partly edited, partly re-recorded, partly remixed live versions from 1976 to 1990 + a few unreleased tracks), ''The Essential Jean Michel Jarre'' (1976 to 2000 including some not really Greatest Hits, not released by Jarre himself but by Francis Dreyfus), ''Aero'' (mostly re-recorded material from 1976 to 1997 + a few new tracks).
* [[The Specials (Musicband)|The Specials]] released seven albums, but they had more than twice as many greatest hits compilations, all of which seem to consist of songs from the first two albums, the Special AKA Live EP and the tracks included on the [[Ghost Town]] single (although all of these singles were top ten hits).
* [[Devo]] released two compilations at the same tine: ''Devo's Greatest Hits'' (a compilation of their better-known works) and ''Devo's Greatest Misses'' (a compilation of their weirder stuff).
* [[Jethro Tull]] have plenty. The most notable are: ''Living In The Past'', a double-album selection of singles, B-sides, outtakes, live tracks from a Carnegie Hall concert, and assorted album tracks. The more conventional ''M.U.: The Best Of Jethro Tull'' and ''Repeat: The Best Of Jethro Tull'' followed in 1974 and 1977 respectively. ''Original Masters'' was released in 1985, filling in for a break in action between 1985 and 1987. The band released ''The Best Of Jethro Tull-The Anniversary Collection'', a two-CD collection with remastered hits across their career up to that point, in 1993. 1998 saw a short compilation, ''Through The Years'', an odd assortment of album tracks and live recordings. ''The Very Best Of Jethro Tull'', a single-disc, career-length selection hand-picked by bandleader Ian Anderson, was released in 2001. Finally, the [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|self-explanatory]] ''The Best Of Acoustic Jethro Tull'' was released in 2007.
* Starting with 1995's ''Best of the Beast'', [[Iron Maiden (Music)|Iron Maiden]] releases one every three years. They include ''Somewhere Back in Time'', focusing on the 1980's "golden years" - and in the order the songs would be in a live concert's setlist - and ''From Fear to Eternity'', encompassing the albums between 1990 and 2010 (though the [[Replacement Scrappy|Blaze Bayley]] [[Dork Age|albums]] are represented by live versions with [[Bruce Dickinson (Music)|Bruce Dickinson]]).
** A particularly [[Scrappy]] example is the ''Edward The Great'' compilation. Despite the commendable cover artwork it adds to the Maiden library, the album is severely unbalanced: a full half of the ''Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son'' album is included, yet not a single cut with original singer Di'Anno's voice made it onto the compilation.
* [[Aerosmith (Music)|Aerosmith]] has released ''nine'' so far. Two were released by the recording companies after the band was out (Columbia's ''Gems'' and [[Geffen]]'s ''Young Lust'').
* [[Reba McEntire]], one of the greatest stars in [[Country Music]] history, has released three conventional "Greatest Hits" albums and a three-disc showstopper entitled ''Reba: 50 Greatest Hits''. And that's just for starters. She's also released CDs containing only her #1 singles, and then there was the mandatory "Millennium Collection." This is fully justified, as she has had no less than '''eighty''' Top 40 singles during her career, ''thirty'' of which peaked at #1.
* [[The Residents]] subverted this with ''Our Finest Flowers''. Rather than releasing a standard greatest hits album, they took a long-standing tradition of messing around with existing music, and applied it to their own. The result was an album full of brand new songs that consisted of mashed-up songs from previous albums. [[Word of God]] tells us that this happened because a Resident vomited on a track listing for a greatest hits album that was being planned.
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* [[The Corrs]] have ''three'' ''and'' a complete collection [[Boxed Set]] of all 5 albums which released in 2011. Although once you start adding the high quality live albums and unplugged albums which have their own specific songs it looks far more reasonable. A buyer also gets more value for money from each subsequent release. The first was made after their 3rd album was released and has 18 songs. The second ''Dreams'' contained 21 songs and was released after their 4th and 5th albums were released as well as several unplugged and live albums. ''The Works'' was released as a three CD set with 56 tracks.
* [[Faith No More]] had a few after the band split, with the most recent, done to promote their reunion, mixing all names used for such compilations for parody's sake: ''The Very Best Definitive Ultimate Greatest Hits Collection''.
* [[Elvis Costello]] has ''The Best Of Elvis Costello And The Attractions'' from 1985, the double ''Girls Girls Girls'' in 1987, Rykodisc's ''The Very Best Of Elvis Costello And The Attractions'' double-disc from 1994, ''Extreme Honey'' in 1997 (which compiles his Warner Brothers years (1989-94)), ''The Very Best Of Elvis Costello'' (double-disc, 2001), ''[[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|Rock & Roll Music]]'' (2007), ''The Best Of Elvis Costello: The First Ten Years'' (2007), and ''Pomp And Pout'' (chronicling his stint on Universal Records ((1998-2008))). Not to mention the rarities compilations ''Taking Liberties'' (aka ''10 Bloody Marys And Ten How's Yer Fathers'' in the UK) and ''Out Of Our Idiot'', the boxed set ''2 1/2 Years'', featuring his first three studio albums and a rare live 1979 recording, and three recent boxed sets of his singles.
* [[Starflyer 59]]'s greatest-hits album ''Easy Come, Easy Go'' almost seemed lazy in its track choices. It featured exactly three songs from each of the band's five prior albums--specifically, the first two tracks plus either track 3 or track 4. Fortunately, it also came with a second disc, filled with b-sides and live tracks, and the liner notes had an impressively thorough history of the band.
* [[Jars of Clay]]'s ''Furthermore'' was practically a greatest-hits collection, but it was completely new recordings. Disc one featured stripped-down acoustic versions of the songs, and disc two featured live versions. Five years later, they ended up releasing a more conventional ''Greatest Hits''.
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* Mary Chapin Carpenter mixed hers up; ''Party Doll'' is a mix of live hits, studio versions, and a few of her personal favorites.
* Ladytron released "Best of 00-10" which has two exclusive tracks, Ace of Hz and Little Black Angel (a cover of Death in June).
* [[Led Zeppelin (Music)|Led Zeppelin]] avoided releasing one for a number of years, until the 1990 4-CD box set of their greatest hits. They also have the two-volume set ''Early Days'' and ''Later Days,'' which are superseded by ''Mothership,'' which contains a DVD of live performances in the deluxe edition. The tracklists on both these compilations are almost identical, but neither compilation includes songs from ''Coda,'' the band's last studio album. Presumably, this is because ''Coda'' "didn't count" as an album due to it being made up of outtakes and songs rejected from inclusion on studio albums due to time constraints. The comprehensive ''[[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|Complete Led Zeppelin]]'' also exists, which includes several songs not released on the studio albums at all.
* [[Kiss]] is a big believer in this. Eleven Greatest Hits (inc. 2 Japanese-only releases), nine live albums, and 5 box sets. Not bad for a band who's only had 6 top-20 songs.
* [[Motley Crue]] loves this as well. They have released five greatest hits albums as well as three box sets.
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* [[The Police]]'s first greatest hits album, ''Every Breath You Take: The Classics'', got a little bit of a mixed reception for having a few of their hits absent and including a new, drastically different version of "Don't Stand So Close To Me" instead of the original. It got deleted and replaced with the similarly titled ''Every Breath You Take: The Singles'', which was almost identical but included the original "Don't Stand So Close To Me", relegating "Don't Stand So Close To Me 86" to the end of the album alongside [[The Not-Remix]] of "Message In A Bottle". There's been a few more greatest hits albums since, including a two cd collection called ''[[Self-Titled Album|The Police]]'', and ''The Very Best Of Sting And The Police'', which of course mixed Sting solo hits in with his Police material. The original version of that last one featured a remix of "Roxanne" by Puff Daddy (probably to capitalize on Puff Daddy [[Sampled Up|sampling up]] "Every Breath You Take" the previous year), while a later reissue ditched the remix and added more previously released songs - three by Sting and one by The Police.
* The Cult have two official best of albums, ''Pure Cult'' and ''High Octane Cult'', but both are pretty much identical in terms of song selection. The only difference is that ''High Octane Cult'' adds two new songs and "Star", the only single they'd released in the three years between the two compilations. "Star" would later show up on a re-release of ''Pure Cult'', but those two new tracks wouldn't.
* [[Ministry]]'s ''Greatest Fits'' and ''Rantology'': One includes the original or single versions of most of it's songs and also features "What About Us?" (originally from ''[[AI Artificial Intelligence|A.I.: Artificial Intelligence]]'') and a slightly extended version of the [[Black Sabbath (Music)|"Supernaut"]] cover originally credited to 1,000 Homo DJs. About half of the other is new remixes or "updates" of old songs, and at the time "The Great Satan" was an exclusive track, but the same version later appeared on ''Rio Grande Blood''. Neither, of course, include anything from their [[Old Shame]] [[Synth Pop]] period.
* Duck Sauce subverts this by naming their first (and only) EP, ''Greatest Hits''.
* Similarly, Reggie And The Full Effect called their debut ''Greatest Hits 1984-1987''. Part of the joke is also that the album was released in 1999 - the band didn't even ''exist'' in 1984.
* [[Silverchair]]'s ''The Best Of, Volume 1'', which was put out without the band's approval once they left Sony, and thus only covers the first three albums. It came in a couple of different editions - one included a separate disc of b-sides and rarities, while the other crammed the hits and most of those same non-album tracks onto the same cd.
* [[Jaga Jazzist (Music)|Jaga Jazzist]] parodied this: Their alleged "greatest hits" album, ''Jævla Jazzist Grete Stitz'' was the first thing they every released. For extra irony points, they now consider it [[Old Shame]].
* [[Green Day]]'s ''International Superhits'', which covered their singles from 1994 to 2000 - presumably their two pre-major label albums weren't counted because of licensing issues, but those didn't have any proper singles anyway. The album has every song they released as a single during this period in chronological order, and also starts off with a pair of token new songs.
* As a band with many popular non-album singles (as well as hits that ''do'' appear on their albums, but not in the version that became popular), it's no surprise [[New Order]] has a small clutch of greatest hits collections. The first, ''Substance 1987'' - the band's best selling album - contains all of the A and B sides to the group's 12" singles up to 1987 (including the new songs "True Faith" and "1963"). 1994's ''(the best of) New Order'' adds in songs from their two-post ''Substance'' albums and their UK #1 single "World in Motion", but also contained remixes and new re-recordings of some of their songs in place of the popular versions. 2002's ''International'' adds in songs from the one album the band made post-''Best Of'', but it was only released in a few countries. 2005's ''Singles'' contains all of the band's 7" single A-sides (which were either more or less popular than the 12" versions, depending on the single). Lastly, 2011's ''Total'' contains the most popular songs from both New Order and its predecessor [[Joy Division]], but the record was only begrudgingly put together by the then-newly reunited band because [[Executive Meddling|their record label wanted to cash in]] on the aforementioned reunion and as such, it isn't well liked by the band's fans.
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