For some reason (well, sale prices helped) I’ve gone on a compilation-buying binge lately, having grabbed the following greatest hits/best of collections:
- Elton John, Diamonds
- Madonna, The Immaculate Collection
- Neil Young, Greatest Hits
- Elvis: 30 #1 Hits
- Don Henley, Actual Miles: Henley’s Greatest Hits
A bit of an eclectic mix and my first purchases of anything by Madonna, Elvis or Don Henley (if you exclude The Eagles). The songs collected on these albums span 60 (!) years, from 1956 to 2016. All of Elvis’s output alone is more than 40 years old, what with him having died in 1977 and all.
I suppose I truly became a gay man when I bought the Madonna collection. I’d come across both “Live to Tell” and “Papa Don’t Preach” on YouTube recently and remembered how catchy those old songs were and then I suddenly owned them. The whole album is a confident, concise set of well-crafted pop songs. Even “Like a Virgin” doesn’t sound as dirty as I remember it. Maybe I’m thinking more of the video, where Madonna writhes around on the floor in a wedding dress. She’d probably put her back out doing the same thing now.
The Elvis collection is a paean to how short singles used to be, with the majority of the songs clocking under three minutes and some under two. The delivery, especially on some of the earliest tunes, is still delightfully saucy more than half a century later.
Neil Young’s collection is alternately beautiful, angry and heartfelt. The ending tracks of “Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World” and “Harvest Moon” is like getting punched in the gut, then being gently kissed after.
Henley’s music is a bit disappointing in how much it’s a product of its time, with the tracks heavy on the 80s synths. Some genuinely good work, though, even if the sound is dated (does not include “The Garden of Allah”).
John’s collection is massive and sprawling, covering 46 years on its own. That he is still able to write solid songs nearly five decades later is kind of amazing. I wonder if he ever goes, “Neener neener” to Billy Joel when they tour together (Joel released less than half as many albums over his career).
Anyway, maybe I’ll buy something this year that is actually recorded this year. In the meantime I’ve got nostalgia up to the armpits.
