# Second Album is their Greatest Hits? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [May 21, 2026, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-album-is-their-greatest-hits/1030297 "2026-05-21T23:53:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-album-is-their-greatest-hits/1030297/21 "2026-05-22T17:03:07Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > There are cases when a band releases non-album singles before and during they release their first album, and those singles with the outstanding tracks from the debut album land on a Greatest Hits album. Sorry, I can’t come up with an example, but I’m sure there are some. I may have an example that fits: the second Smiths album wasn’t called “Greatest Hits”, but “Hatfull Of Hollow”, but it was a compilation of songs from their debut album (in different versions, mostly from John Peel sessions) and early non-album singles from before and after their first album. They later released a second such compilation with “The World Won’t Listen”. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-album-is-their-greatest-hits/1030297/22 "2026-05-22T18:15:42Z")
To be fair, some of these early complilation albums were an effort to get hard to find and not widely distributed tracks to an interested fan base, not _just_ a money grab. Some of those EPs were small printings and geographically restricted. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-album-is-their-greatest-hits/1030297/23 "2026-05-22T18:22:54Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > To be fair, some of these early complilation albums were an effort to get hard to find and not widely distributed tracks to an interested fan base, not _just_ a money grab. No doubt about that. I only got to the Smiths in 1986, and after buying their regular and those two compilation albums, I almost owned their whole catalog without having to search for obscure singles or EPs that probably were out of print or even never had been released here in Germany. It was more of fan service than a money grab, though the label wouldn’t have had anything against it, too. Btw., Belle And Sebastian always had similar release politics with many non-album singles and EPs that get compiled into such albums every few years, besides the regular studio albums. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-album-is-their-greatest-hits/1030297/24 "2026-05-22T21:58:31Z")
_Mothermania: the Best of the Mothers of Invention_ was released after the group had put out three albums ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-album-is-their-greatest-hits/1030297/25 "2026-05-22T22:23:38Z")
Paul Revere and the Raiders **Greatest Hits** was their fourth album for Columbia Records. The Turtles **Golden Hits** was their fourth album, released right after their third album Spanky and Our Gang had five greatest hits and two “best of” albums for a group that broke up after their third album. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-album-is-their-greatest-hits/1030297.md?page=1)