I've got about 100 CDs in my collection (well, actually, to be pedantic I've got about 80 CDs and about 20 cassettes - lol). Since getting rid of all my vinyl records (I wonder how many of you younger Kennel members have come acrross terms like "33 and 1/3" and "45"?!) about 3 years ago, I have bought mainly "Best Of", "Greatest Hits", "Gold" etc CD albums to replace my record collection and as such the quality of music that I have now is better than what I had before (eg as a general rule instead of 3 or 4 records by artist X I now have a "Greatest Hits" CD by artist X). While the old vinyl records had a certain "warmth" to them and I some songs I used to have I dont have any more, all in all I'm better off with what I have now (it used to be very annoying having to lift the stylus to bypass songs I was not interested in - flicking a remote control is much easier - and with the better quality of albums I have now on CD I don't have to "flick tracks" anywhere near as much as I used to).
I've selected 10 "must have CDs" from my 100 odd CD collection. The thing I like about these 10 CDs is that I put them on and don't have to worry about pressing the remote control to skip track(s) - just play and listen to the whole album! If you young people want to get "the best of the best" (IMHO) of music predominantly from the late 60s, the 70s and the 80s (most my selection comes from that era), then I can recommend the following (not in any particular order of personal preference)............................
1) The Beatles 1967-1970 by The Beatles. 1967-1970 was when they prduced their best music and this album contains their best from this era (eg Strawberry Fields Forever, I Am the Walrus, Hello Goodbye, Hey Jude, Let It Be etc).
2) Gold (Greatest Hits) by Abba. Contains their greatest hits (eg Dancing Queen, Mamma Mia, Fernando, Waterloo, Ring Ring etc) but with only 19 tracks (and IMHO a "less than ideal" selection of some of the 19 songs) some of their great songs (eg Honey Honey, Nina Pretty Ballerina, Thankyou For the Music, Super Trouper etc) got left out. Still, to be fair, with only 19 tracks available one can only fit in 19 songs!
3) Elton John Greatest Hits 1970-2002 by Elton John (a 2 CD set). The first CD covers 1970-1979 (when Elton's music was at its peak) and are 17 great songs (no need to flip tracks!). The second CD covers 1980-2002 and has 17 good songs (but not as good as the first CD). So many great songs by Elton John over the years and it says how good he is that with "only" 34 songs on this 2 CD set that songs like Little Jeannie, Levon, Kiss The Bride, Too Low For Zero etc are not on there!
4) The Greatest Hits 1966-1992 by Neil Diamond (2 CD set). Great voice, great songs, great music - what more can I say!
5) Greatest Hits by Queen. Gotta have some heavier rock and roll in there - I like variety in my music! Has all Queen's best songs (We Are The Champions, You're My Best Friend, We Will Rock You etc).
6) Saturday Night Fever by Various Artists. Gotta have a disco CD in there - as I say, I like variety in my music! The songs are mainly the best of the Bee Gees songs, but also some good instumentals in the album too.
7) Silk Degrees by Boz Scaggs. Only 10 tracks but the qulaity is there. Quality is more important that quantity!
8) Number Ones by Michael Jackson. Like just about everyone else, I loathe the person Michael Jackson (for various reasons). Yet at the same time I have to admit his music is good!
9) Piano Man (The Vey Best Of Billy Joel) by Billy Joel. 19 songs of which 15 are Billy Joel classics (and the other 4 are OK to listen to).
10) The Very Best of Cat Stevens by Cat Stevens. All his best songs are on this 18 track CD - need I say more!
