Even in the era of streaming, Best Of albums are in rude health, benefiting from both comforting nostalgia and confusing chart rules
Chart-dominating compilations started in 1958, when Columbia Records packaged up the first smashes by Johnny Mathis as Johnny’s Greatest Hits. The label had already paid to record the singles, so the collection offered a mouthwatering licence to reprint money.
It is a trick that continues today. Queen’s Greatest Hits, Legend by Bob Marley & the Wailers and Abba Gold have each clocked up more than 900 weeks on the
UK album charts, and are back in the UK Top 40 alongside newer collections such as Diamonds by Elton John and Timeless by the Bee Gees.