[big screen satellite]

you have to go a long way to beat:

omd - the singles
the pet shop boys - popart (although the 3 disc set is better)
new order - substance
madonna - GHV2 and perhaps the first one
kylie
embrace - fireworks
the cure - staring at the sea
duran duran - greatest

i think greatest hits albums suit pop bands / artists much better, beacuse you can get a whole bunch of 3-4 minute tracks on one disc and its like a whirlwind ride through their history

as much as i love Underworld and their long tracks, sometimes you just need a few 4 minute fixes of stuff, and a 13 minute mix of skyscraper sometimes doesn't do that...

i personally prefer GH albums to standard LP's because, despite great love of certain bands, even they produces shite tracks for albums and it kinda ruins it for me...(then again some singles can be pretty duff... )

i've always been a singles man, and the greatest hits packages are ideal for that, generally there are reasons why tracks are b-sides or not picked as singles - because they are shite, there are many exceptions, but greatest hits generally do what they say - supply the 'greatest' hits of that artist. And sometimes that is all you need.