What's Your Definition of Compilation Album

Cafe Society
1

I was talking with someone and we had a minor disagreement over the term Compilation Album.

Now to me, such an album would mean various artists. If it was all the same artists I would not call it a compliation album but rather an anthology, or retrospective or “greatest hits/best of” album

So I was wondering what you all think. I realize there are no right or wrong answers, but I was just wondering. I guess you could even say anthologies and teh like are a type of compliation album, but I was just wondering

So what do you all think?

2

I’d agree. A compilation album would take music from many different acts. If it’s a single act, it’s a greatest hits album.

3

All retrospective albums are compilations. Not all compilations are retrospective albums.

4

Wikipedia is strange to contradict themselves. They say a compilation is defined as selections from various artists and then immediately describe a compilation of material from the same artist as a retrospective. So they’re saying you can have a compilation from the same artist.

Also, whenever a group in wikipedia has a large discography it’s broken down into
studio, live, or compilation albums - guess what the compilations are…Best of albums.

5

Your friend’s right and you’re wrong. I don’t think “compilation” is a term of art in the industry. In plain English, it means a pulling together of material from different sources, but doesn’t connote a required level of diversity in the content of the material. Ergo, compiling all the hit singles from an artist’s albums creates a compilation.

–Cliffy