If organized and curated in the correct way, compilation albums may surpass original releases in some cases, or at least be enjoyable. However, their shelf life has nearly run out.
After a beloved band or artist passes their creative prime, they will historically make one of two decisions; they will press on with mediocre studio releases until their fan base abandons them and they fade into the abysmal obscurity of time or they will release a compilation album.
Sometimes both.
However, the latter option’s shelf life seems to be running out.
In an era before iTunes and Spotify — apps through which you can cherry-pick your favorite tracks and disregard the context of the original listening experience — compilation albums might have been cool and useful. They offered an avenue to have all of an artist’s hits in one place. But nowadays, with the digital tools out there, the frequency of compilation albums appears to have decreased, aside from the never-ending stream of Nirvana re-releases. And I say, good.
The function compilation albums served has essentially been replaced and, to me, it’s good news that bands and record labels can no longer push the same content to consumers with the promise of the songs sounding a little better thanks to a modern remaster. And although I’m cynical in saying that compilation albums are merely a cash-grab, nearly all of the songs on them — minus the sub par bonus material tacked on — are already available in the context of the full album they were meant to be heard with.
You released it, and now you want to release it again? Why not just remaster the albums themselves, how you created them?
However, this is not to say that all compilation albums are lackluster. If the material is curated in a new and thoughtful manner, some greatest hits releases do possess the potential to surpass original albums, but they are definitely in the musical minority.
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For example, Bob Marley’s most well-known album, Legend, is in fact a compilation. With its songs remastered in an identical fashion, the tracks on Legend form a better listening experience than his individual albums because of the similar themes throughout his entire discography. In short, with its subject matter, it works, but it’s definitely an exception.
In terms of punk rock, compilation albums act as a necessary vehicle since they often bring together bands’ 7”, 12”, and EP releases into one full-package product such as Fugazi’s 13 Songs, Dead Kennedys’ Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables and Minor Threat’s self-titled release. It would have been much easier to buy the album than find the individual vinyl/cassette releases at the time.
Yet, although compilation albums can be made well in some cases and have served a valuable purpose in the past, in modern times there is ultimately a better method to re-release songs in a way that displays them in a new and different light: live albums.
Although compilation albums are coming to their appropriate death, live albums seemed to have remained steady in their function and popularity over the transition from analog to digital. Hearing a song live gives it a new energy unmatched by the perfectionism of a recording studio. And although the sound quality suffers a bit, the charisma, banter, subtle structural differences and crowd provides an exclusive experience superior than something expected and regurgitated with slightly better equalization and compression.
Through this practice, rather than compilations, musicians have the ability to show they can still entertain an audience instead of a bunch of sound engineers and a manager. With the amount of effort and preparation, live albums are an active performance that doesn’t allow the group to passively sell something an engineer spruced up, no matter how many good songs are on it.
Hopefully in the next few years, we’ll hear more live performance of those mediocre studio albums a band continued to make passed their prime rather than a compilation of them.
Luke Furman is a sophomore studying journalism and a reporter for The Post. What do you think of compilation albums? Tweet him @LukeFurmanOU or email him at lf491413@ohio.edu.
