Who would have the best Greatest Hits record from this highly subjective list of 2000s artists?

strokes

QOTSA

xp all the rest I either hate everything or they've only done once decent album

LCD / Spoon / QOTSA, but it's a moot question cos of the nature of singles release in the States / at all these days, and especially with 'indie acts', and ergo wtf IS a "greatest hit" these days.

Stripes, although I'd never listen through an album of their's again.

I like QOTSA and MIA best from that list. I think The Queens probably have more decent albums in them than MIA, so I'll likely vote for them. I reckon TV on the Radio might be up my alley, but I've failed to get into them yet.

White Stripes the only act on there that could do this using only single a-sides?

(i.e. pass the twenty count)

Ugh, our team forgot The Hold Steady. Feel free to write them in.

QOTSA out in front by a fair stretch, although it helps that they've become a plateau kind of band who are also polite enough to release albums at a decent workrate

i vote animal collective cause they have the most albums of anyone here, i think, and a wide variety (quality and style) of material.

no Missy Elliott no cred

but out of this list, White Stripes.

Though LCD might have a ton more hits in another 7-8 years

This list makes this decade seem much crappier than it probably was.

They're not my favourite band out of this lot but the White Stripes would fill a decent greatest hits album. Most of the others just don't have enough singles. Or they suck.

I don't think any of these are really crying out for a greatest hits album, but if there were a White Stripes greatest hits, I might be tempted to buy it, seeing as I don't have any of their albums, but I like some of their songs.

shouldn't the term "best of" be used to describe compilations by bands who have no hits or just a couple?

no Missy Elliott no cred

Though Missy got famous in 97 or so (and already has a greatest hits), it's a good point that there is a lack of hip-hop and rnb here. But, y'know, it says subjective in the title. Maybe another poll?

anyway counting how many bands you own albums by on this list would be a useful index for exactly how much you've bought into the oughties indie lie.

8/26

10/26

But the only Spoon albums I own are from the 90s.

Only 2, ha. Though I've stolen the odd tune by some of the others.

yeah, I'm at 2, too, but then, I invented the criteria.

The list of shame:

The Strokes x1
The White Stripes x3
The New Pornographers x3
Spoon x2
The Hives x3
Death Cab For Cutie xlots (my wife loves them)
Queens Of The Stone Age x1
LCD Soundsystem x1
MIA x2
Yeah Yeah Yeahs x1

I expected better of you, Colonel Poo.

i own albums by 20 of these bands, so i apparently lose. the greatest hits phrasing of the question is really misleading for many of the bands in question who are only 2 or 3 albums in. if we're talking an 80min mix CD of best stuff i would probably say Spoon or White Stripes, although British Sea Power are a contender for me that will not be widely shared.

Do DFA comps that LCD Soundsystem appear on or mixes compiled by them count?

I've let myself down. xposts

If not the answer is 1.

Best Of, Greatest Hits, Millennium Collection, Golden Greats...etc. It's just supposed to be a compilation album survey.

I own albums by these 4: The New Pornographers, Franz Ferdinand, MIA, Yeah Yeah Yeahs - but I rarely listen to the FF or YYYs.

Spoon have a pretty tight single disk of highlights. I voted for them.

Every single one of these bands/artists hovers between passable and mediocre. Perhaps a compilation featuring one track from each would be feasible, but most of them don't even have enough albums to form critical mass for a greatest hits track selection. LCD and QOTSA are the best options, the latter gets my vote.

For sheer stick-to-your brain hooks, gotta go with the New Pornographers. It's a shame we have no idea what the hell they're singing about.

I vote QOTSA...although they've been pretty dull since olivieri was fired. but the first three albums remain pretty solid.

white stripes second. their albums tend to have a scattering of good tracks and a whole lot of samey filler.

2/26, by the way. those two.

3/26 - LCD Soundsystem would win out of these choices.

young jeezy

21/26 - i lose!

white stripes ftw.

Wot no Killers?

Ugh, that's another mistake. So write in Killers and Hold Steady. My research team's gonna pay for that one.

0/26

hurray!

17/26

And I voted for Spoon. I don't think they've ever made an A+ album, but all of their albums have at least a couple of really good tracks.

Ugh. 25/26. No British Sea Power for me.

My vote is with Spoon. White Stripes runners-up. I was thinking about seconding (or fifthing by now) the QOTSA choice, but I don't really think of them as a singles band at all.

Sufjan. Because has been profilic enough to manage to fill an entire disc with 2000s material.

LCD / Spoon / QOTSA, but it's a moot question cos of the nature of singles release in the States / at all these days, and especially with 'indie acts', and ergo wtf IS a "greatest hit" these days.

Download statistics would give a fairly good idea of which tracks are, indeed, the "greatest hits" of said act.

i would thoroughly enjoy an album of the 12 best tracks by the strokes, white stripes, and the hives, possibly lcd, but from there it's very very patchy...

a few could put together a perfect EP

New Pornos or Spoon.

One more album, and Franz Ferdinand have enough material for a really great "Greatest Hits" CD.

What if it is a really bad album?

i personally don't like spoon or the white stripes (i know, i'm a gay retard)
this list makes the decade look pretty horrendous.

as of now, I'd say the New Pornos, but I actually agree with Geir on Franz. Plus I really like their new-ish single so that bodes well.

5/26 (Stripes, Spoon, MIA, LCD, TVotR, and if you think I'm buying into some '00s indie lie, you can bite me)

Stripes, although MIA & LCD best-ofs might be better once they have more material

queens of the stone age, but white stripes would be close 2nd

gah, 5/26, but two are ancient promos that i never think about, let alone listen to. i don't really hate the white stripes or interpol anyway. obv i'll still rep for LCD/MIA/YYYs, though this would be heavily qualified repping in all cases (great singles, crap albums/is a div/lots of dross).

I voted for the Drive-By Truckers. 2nd would be White Stripes, and 3rd MIA.

Spoon has a killer best-of cd in them, as does the New Pornographers and The Shins.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

White Stripes and MIA's albums are too consistent, and their best tracks often aren't singles; not sure why'd they'd need best-ofs.

The Hives and Drive-By Truckers are less consistent, but I doubt my favorite songs by either of them are the ones that would make a best-of, either.

Spoon and Franz Ferdinand have an album or two each that I like okay without particularly caring about them; not sure why I'd need another one.

QOTSA's albums started pretty great and kept getting worse, so they're a possibility -- their best of might actually be better if they wait a couple years.

I'm going to go with LCD Soundsystem, though, who've never made an album I like much, but who seem to have enough good singles to pull this off.

Most of the others I don't really care about much, for more than a single or so (and usually not even that).

Though Missy got famous in 97 or so (and already has a greatest hits)

She's never had one released in the US.

i would like to vote for Death Cab for Cutie or My Morning Jacket because they probably will not get any votes but i would be lying.

not only does Spoon have the "best" singles but they also have the best overall albums for this decade, imo. my introduction to them was Kill the Moonlight which still ranks as their very best. they happened to follow it up with Gimme Fiction than the even better Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.

I voted for Spoon. I was able to put together a pretty good mix/retrospective of their work three years ago, and they've put out another good disc since then. Electric Six might also be a candidate.

11/26

no Missy Elliott no cred

― Whiney G. Torture Garden (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, October 29, 2008 5:25 PM (4 days ago)

Missy already has a greatest hits and it is the greatest album of the decade so...

17/26

The Newps and Spoon are the two bands that came to mind first when I read this thread title. And there they are. Choosing either would be like a betrayal of the other. And because their individual albums of this decade are so strong, there's not much point in doing comps - if I was trying to turn a friend on to either band I'd rather just give someone Kill the Moonlight or Twin Cinemas and have done with it.

But TVOTR are a band that's gonna need a killer "best-of" two albums down the line. As yet they don't have one great all-the-way-through record, but each one has very high highlights.

Still, that's not the question, is it? Spoon would have the best greatest hits record; they just have more soul than the Newps.

If we're talking "Best Of" rather than strictly "Greatest Hits", then New Pornographers. I base the choice on the combination of bulky enough repertoire with general fabulousness. Others who I like - Arcade Fire, M.I.A. - don't have enough stuff. I guess a Strokes comp with a heavy concentration on the first two albums and the one fantastic song from the third - "Evening Sun" - would be quite strong.

no Missy Elliott no cred

― Whiney G. Torture Garden (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, October 29, 2008 5:25 PM (4 days ago)

stop repeating the stunning lie that missy is a singles artist or that her best of would in some way be better than her first three albums

i always thought the only people who went on about the missy best of were the people who didn't actually like her enough to own any of her albums.

in practice the best of feels far more like a hodgepodge than it should, all her albums have really distinct aesthetics in which the big singles feel far more at home than rubbed up against each other.

The White Stripes.

And 19/26

stop repeating the stunning lie that missy is in any way good.

I went with TVOTR, though I could see 5 or 6 others working.

MMJ would be my personal preference, but the objectively "best" collection would be LCD, Spoon or w. Stripes. Maybe New Porns.

i always thought the only people who went on about the missy best of were the people who didn't actually like her enough to own any of her albums.

Wrong. I like her enough to own three or four, which have always seemed pretty good but way too spotty to ever enjoy all the way through. If she was on the list above, she would have easily been my choice for a best-of, too. (I don't own the import.)

A lot of these haven't released enough albums as several people have mentioned. Still, there's a few that would fall victim to the Radiohead problem, ie who would bother to buy an unfocused Best Of for a not-really-singles band that have already sold all the albums to everyone who cares.

But even then, the White Stripes are way out in front here because they have so many big songs that are so full of character, and kind of rambling and inconsistent albums.

LCD Soundsystem would have the best rarities collection I suspect.

NB I have not heard 12 of these bands and have no interest in doing so, but Bright Eyes are the only one I do know that I would go out of my way to avoid.

Who is gonna be second to white stripes? (I voted qotsa despite owning all their albums, but i have all the white stripes too)

i'm writing in beyonce, including her work in destiny's child

^love this dude

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

oh well I was wrong

Not far wrong though...

0 for arcade fire surprises me

Really surprised at how big the gap between 1&2 and 3 was

who's gonna buy a greatest hits of a band with 2 studio albums (maybe 3 by the end of the decade)?

xpost

that fits LCD too (suspect Arcade Fire don't already have two albumsful of great non-studio-album stuff like LCD do, but just saying)