Playing With My Memories

The 2nd re-release of Al Green's 1975 LP, Greatest Hits, has just been put out under the title, Definitive Greatest Hits. The first re-release came out in 1995 with 5 bonus tracks upping the total to 15 songs. The 2007 version adds 6 more, making it 21 total. The 1975 LP was one of those definitive statement LP's that most artists never get. These are albums released at the height of an act's career, not at the decline.
Some other ones:
Elvis' Golden Records
Byrds Greatest Hits
Dolly Parton Best of (1975)
Sly & The Family Stone Greatest Hits
Carpenters Singles 69-73
Eagles 71-75
The last one has alternated with Thriller as the biggest selling album ever.
Those are ones I can think of at the top of my head, there are others.
The thing is that all went on to chart many more hits. And all released followup sets. But those above were pinnacle sets.
And the CD age has demanded that skimpy 10 song LP's be padded out with 20 song ones. The Elvis and Byrds ones were redone. The Carpenters, Dolly and Sly were left alone. Although the latter may be redone by this spring.
So, is the new Green better than the 1995 one? It's 6 new songs are okay, but none are definitive. Most sounded bettter on his 2CD set from a few years back. But the original 10 songs are still in there, conjuring up fine memories from buying the original LP in '75. And in the digital age, LP memories are all the above albums will have in common with the newer buffed up versions.