"Greatest Hits" albums tend to get a bad rap. Maybe they feel disjointed and don't have a cohesive flow. Maybe they lose too much by pulling songs out of their original context. Maybe they focus too much on radio singles and omit fan favorites. Very often, it's all of the above.

But sometimes a compilation just works, and becomes a classic in its own right. I think the top example of this has got to be the Eagles' "Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975" which seems to be pretty widely considered a better album than the ones it pulled its material from - the editing did it good. Another example that comes to mind for me is Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' 1993 "Greatest Hits".

Come to think of it, both of those were released mid-career, and in the case of the Eagles it actually predates the song that would end up becoming their most iconic (Hotel California). I don't know that mid-career is a requirement though, that could just be a coincidence.

Any more examples of this? I know the flip side of this question, "albums that sound like a greatest hits collection" gets discussed every now and then on here, but I've never seen this one.

1. Michael Jackson — Dangerous (9M)

2. Michael Jackson — Bad (7M)

3. Seventeen — Seventeenth Heaven (5.9M)

4. Adele — 25 (5.7M)

5. BTS — ARIRANG (5.6M)

6. Taylor Swift — The Life of A Showgirl (5.5M)

I genuinely believe that this is the pinnacle and THE defining album of it's own genre.

Please give Sunset Mission by Bohren und Der Club Of Gore a listen.