Non-chronological, specially-sequenced career overviews: C/D/S/D

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Prompted by the "Gone to Earth" thread, I've been listening a lot to David Sylvian's "Everything and Nothing" collection, his two-disc career overview which flows as well as - if not better than - many of his albums. Segues are seemless and well thought out. The sequencing is impecccable.

Another winner is Pink Floyd's double-disc "Echoes," which is designed to flow from song to song as well, even though older tracks rub shoulders with newer material.

I'd say an example of a failure is Richard Thompson's "Watching the Dark," which is fun in spurts but a maddening, messy whole.

Other examples of winners and losers? I'm not counting boxed sets.

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 23:18 (twenty years ago)

"Legend" by Bob Marley is absolutely ace.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 14 September 2006 01:18 (twenty years ago)

There's that Roxy Music best-of which goes pretty much in reverse chronological order, from Avalon to Remake/Remodel, and which I think works well.

― Daniel Peterson (polkaholic), Thursday, 14 September 2006 15:03 (twenty years ago)

That's my very favourite method of programming, the strict a-chronological. Gives the happy illusion of a performer actually improving, rather than deteriorating. (That is, if you're a curmudgeon like me and believe the opposite to be true 80% of the time.)

I wish there were more of those forward-into-the-past comps out there. I only own a few I can think of at the moment. (MX-80 Sound, Chilliwack, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Prism.)

― M. Agony Von Bontee (M. Agony Von Bontee), Thursday, 14 September 2006 20:03 (twenty years ago)

classic, The Faces boxset sequenced like a setlist not chronlogical, is brilliant

― chris besinger (chris besinger), Thursday, 14 September 2006 20:33 (twenty years ago)

whoops, I guess yr not counting boxset...

― chris besinger (chris besinger), Thursday, 14 September 2006 20:36 (twenty years ago)

Those two Devo comps "Greatest Hits" and "Greatest Misses" are pretty unique. Dunno if any other band has put out a retrospective of their uncommercial, unpopular stuff to accompany a best-of package.

Of course with Devo the misses are way better than the hits.

― everything (everything), Thursday, 14 September 2006 20:45 (twenty years ago)

Dunno if any other band has put out a retrospective of their uncommercial, unpopular stuff to accompany a best-of package.

No, but The Beatles should have put out "2" - containing the rest of the singles plus some of their most famous "artistic" material not included on "1".

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 14 September 2006 21:36 (twenty years ago)

Joni Mitchell did "Hits" and "Misses" as well.

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Thursday, 14 September 2006 21:40 (twenty years ago)

And I think "Wingspan" was supposed to accomplish something similar as a 2-CD set.

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Thursday, 14 September 2006 21:40 (twenty years ago)

Sonic Youth's Screaming Fields of Sonic Love comp of their 80's pre-Geffen material is chronologically reversed, going backwards from "Teenage Riot."

― Alex in Baltimore (Alex in Baltimore), Thursday, 14 September 2006 22:06 (twenty years ago)

sequencing on ramonesmania is v. bad. jumps all around the catalog. it at least disproves the idea that all of it sounds exactly the same, but it just feels patchy.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Thursday, 14 September 2006 22:25 (twenty years ago)

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