“For some people, a greatest hits album will be the beginning of a journey,” says author, DJ and music guide Daryl Easlea. A lifelong Elton John fan, in 2017 he lived out a fantasy when he curated Diamonds, the “all-killer, no-filler”, career-spanning compilation which hit No 7 on the US Billboard 200 on launch and has spent over 400 weeks on the UK chart so far, lastly hitting No 1 in January 2025.
For Easlea and the remainder of John’s staff, Diamonds was an opportunity to inform a definitive story of the singer-songwriter’s exceptional profession. “Elton’s always been well served by compilations, so the first thought was, does the world need another greatest hits?” Easlea says. “But I think the resurgence of vinyl has been phenomenal and fascinating for the greatest hits market. A lot of those compilations had been done in the CD era – like Greatest Hits 1970-2002, which was full to the brim on both discs. I loved the idea of paring down Elton’s hits to a double LP, thinking what are the kids going to go and buy? Or if people are thinking, ‘oh, I like Elton John, and I’ve got this new record player, what can I get?’ There it is, sitting there – all killer, no filler.”
The Beatles – Purple And Blue
Over time, biggest hits albums have performed a vital position in shaping the best way we see an artist. And as with so many issues in pop and rock, The Beatles led the best way. Although it appears tough to think about in the present day, the simultaneous launch of the double-albums 1962-1966 (‘Red’) and 1967-1970 (‘Blue’) was supposed to fire up curiosity within the band at a degree when then-manager, Allen Klein, was involved that it was flagging, simply three years after their break up. The albums included the Fab 4’s era-defining hits alongside key album tracks to inform their story in all its eclectic, pioneering glory.
The genius transfer was dividing their profession into distinct eras, illustrated by the pictures chosen for the entrance covers, taken by Angus McBeam in the very same spot at EMI Home, London, six years aside. The ‘Red’ album cowl shot was a 1963 outtake from the Please Please Me cowl shoot displaying the clean-cut and suited younger Beatles, whereas the ‘Red’ cowl {photograph}, from 1969, was the supposed cowl of Get Again, by which level the band had been long-haired, mustachioed and now not in matching outfits. The 2 images inform The Beatles’ story in a nutshell, echoed by the elevated sophistication and experimentation of the albums. The ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ albums proved so well-liked that they served as a gateway into The Beatles’ music for tens of millions, turning into beloved in their very own proper.
Queen
Whereas the ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ albums had been compiled with out the enter of The Beatles, Queen’s Best Hits (1981) was a collaborative effort by every of the band’s 4 members – John Deacon, Brian Might, Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor. Moderately than arranging the tracks in chronological order, Queen needed to make sure that the album labored as a listening expertise, taking care to order the songs in a satisfying manner. “We thought ‘yeah, people are going to be putting this on their turntables’, as it was at the time, ‘and they will be listening to it in sequence’,” mentioned Brian Might. “And we want to give them a journey, the tracks have to work in sequence… most people’s Greatest Hits are like ‘yeah, we’ve got a couple but we’re going to throw a few things in which are kind of, could’ve been hits.’ But this is all gold-plated, chart material.”
It actually did the trick. Queen’s Best Hits is the best-selling album of all time within the UK, promoting over seven million copies so far. It has been licensed nine-times platinum within the US and has bought over 25 million copies worldwide. Although the album was a reasonable vendor within the US on its launch, it reached a peak of No 11 on the US Billboard 200 in 1992 when Queen skilled a surge in reputation following the Freddie Mercury Tribute Live performance in April and the discharge of the film Wayne’s World, which used the epic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in an unforgettable and completely wonderful scene. Since then, when Queen’s reputation reaches a brand new era – as with the staging of the We Will Rock You musical or the discharge of Bohemian Rhapsody – it’s Best Hits that individuals attain for.
Elton John
As with Queen, Elton John was hands-on when it got here to finalising the tracklisting of Diamonds, as Easlea confirms, “Elton was always overseeing, everything will go past him. The wonderful thing about Elton is that he is a music person, first and foremost. How many stars in his position would still do an hour-long radio show (Rocket Hour on Apple Music)? You can’t help but admire him.”
Not like Queen’s Best Hits, the tracklisting of Diamonds is organized within the order that the songs had been hits. “I think powerfully, chronological order is my favorite when it comes to greatest hits,” says Easlea, “because – it’s really obvious – but you can hear an artist grow and change.”
A biggest hits album also can mirror a change within the public notion of an artist. Diamonds contains a few songs not included on earlier ‘best of’ units which at the moment are seen as amongst John’s most beloved – “Tiny Dancer” (a Madman Throughout The Water album observe which featured in a pivotal scene within the 2000 film Virtually Well-known) and “Are You Ready For Love?,” a observe from the 1979 EP The Thom Bell Periods which turned a success when remixed in 2003.
For curators of hits collections, there are at all times going to be painful selections with regards to which songs to go away off. Unsurprisingly, contemplating the dimensions and high quality of John’s again catalogue, Diamonds was no exception. “I love this discipline of having five tracks a side; putting it together was like whittling away to get the most perfect sculpture.”
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