You better, you better,
you best

This Xmas season sees a bumper crop of
greatest-hits anthologies

by MIRROR MUSIC STAFF

A Tribe Called Quest
Hits, Remixes & Rarities (Jive/BMG)
The once Afrocentric trio of Phife, Ali-Shaeed Muhammad and Q-Tip did much to make jazz/hip hop fusion a production staple, while their Native Tongue lyricism inspired a generation of rappers. This collection of well known A-sides, lesser known B-sides and a few soundtrack cuts might not come as a surprise to anyone who was following their career up until their recent breakup, but it's a nice compilation if you only have a few Tribe LPs kickin' around the CD shelf. "Electric Relaxation" is here, as well as early hits "I Left My Wallet In El Segundo" and "We've Got the Jazz." B-sides like "Mr. Incognito" and "One Two Shit" sit pretty beside bits like "The Night He Got Caught" and "Peace, Prosperity and Paper" from the High School High soundtrack. If this doesn't do it for you, at least you only have to wait a year for the new "re-united" Tribe LP. (Scott C)

Billy Bragg
Must I Paint You a Picture: The Essential Billy Bragg (Billy Bragg/Outside)
While many of the current crop of comps are slapped together too quickly, Must I Paint You a Picture is lovingly assembled and offers a great retrospective on England`s answer to Woody Guthrie. Though Bragg's tweed cap may be tossed in the political ring, his staunch blue-collar perspective never stoops to punk rock volume, angst and negativity. He attacks with all the wit and humour of his idol Mr. Guthrie. Although this includes a great introduction the man, the limted-edition third CD will have most Bragg fans diving into the wallet for this one, too. His versions of Love's "Seven and Seven Is" will take your eyebrows off. (Johnson Cummins)

Chemical Brothers
Singles 93-03 (Virgin/EMI)
From the Manchester duo that made "alternative dance" a household word comes a collection of 13 of their block-rockin'-est beats (including two new ones featuring Toronto MC K-OS and the Flaming Lips). Love 'em or hate 'em, you can't deny that the Chemical Brothers' combination of hip hop's urgency, the euphoric noise of shoegazing rock and relentless pumping dancefloor beats brought something new to the table in the mid-'90s. Included on the comp are essential dancefloor-destroying cuts like the acid tinged "Chemical Beats," the rump-shakin' "Block Rockin' Beats" and the breaky rave anthem "Hey Boy Hey Girl." (Raf Katigbak)

Peter Gabriel
Hit (Geffen/Universal)
Since ditching the flower costumes and glittery greasepaint of his Genesis days, Peter Gabriel has certainly held his own in the adult-pop continuum. While his finest moment might be the founding of his global-grasping Real World label, or perhaps the Last Temptation of Christ soundtrack, Gabriel's certainly had some commendable moments on the pop charts too. This two-disc overview gathers all the hits, perhaps too much recent stuff, and of course his excellent early solo tracks, stuff like "Games Without Frontiers" and the energized "Shock the Monkey." I tell ya, "Solsbury Hill" still gives me goosebumps. Grab your stuff, I'm gonna take you home! (Rupert Bottenberg)

Grateful Dead
The Very Best of... (Rhino/Warner)
Say watcha want about the tie-dyed, dreadlocked horde that followed them around. The Dead accomplished a unique feat, one that established them as the originators of the massive modern jam-band scene and earned them a following that's more a nation that a market niche. Unlike most of their Haight-Ashbury Summer-of-Love contemporaries, Jerry Garcia and the lads were hardly a standard-issue psychedelic rock band. What they did was approach American folk and roots music with the precision and extrapolative inventiveness of jazz. That said, my favourite shit was always the "Space" and "Drums" segments of their bootlegs. Can we get a comp of that stuff? (Rupert Bottenberg)

Guided By Voices
The Best of Guided By Voices: Human Amusements at Hourly Rates (Matador/Select)
From their murky mid-'80s treasures to the sturdy indie rock of recent years, this compilation packs in 32 great tunes from the gargantuan catalogue of Dayton, Ohio's Guided By Voices. It's a blessing for those of us who either don't want or can't afford all 19-or-so of their albums, and an excellent introduction to Bob Pollard and co., who've yet to climb aboard the workaholic wagon. Strangely, this release coincides with Hardcore UFOs (also Matador), a six-disc GBV box set featuring this same comp, sequenced differently. Check the fandom-to-budget ratio and decide. (Lorraine Carpenter)

Michael Jackson
Number Ones (Sony)
This set should probably have been called Top Tens since not all of these tracks were number ones, at least not in North America. Regardless, this collection boasts some legitimate chart-toppers like "Billie Jean" and "Rock With You." It's a good collection, but except for more recent tracks like "You Rock My World," most of these songs are already available on his History set. The one new track here, "One More Chance," was written by none other than R. Kelly. It's something they both could use right about now. (Gerard Dee)

R. Kelly
The R. in R&B Collection Vol. 1 (Jive/BMG)
Kelly must be a little relieved that, since Michael stole his thunder, he's no longer at the top of the most-wanted-artist list. Not that it's been all drama - his Chocolate Factory is one of 2003's best soul albums, and this little compilation isn't bad either. Collecting many of Kelly's most memorable moments - "Bump n Grind" and "I Wish," to name two - it sums up his career nicely. Mind you, he made sure to leave off enough of his essential material for there to be plenty of tracks for a Volume 2. (Gerard Dee)

Pet Shop Boys
PopArt (Parlophone/EMI)
Though divided into dubious halves - CD one is Pop, CD two is Art - this compilation is as complete as any casual Pet Shop Boys fan would want it to be. A limited edition features a third CD of remixes, and there's a DVD (sold separately) for more avid aficionados, but the two-disc CD includes all the singles, remastered, from 1986's Please through 2002's Release plus two new songs, "Miracles" and "Flamboyant." The recent tunes don't quite live up to synthpop classics like "Rent" or "It's a Sin," yet Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe have clearly stayed afloat while their '80s contemporaries floundered. (Lorraine Carpenter)

Red Hot Chili Peppers
Greatest Hits (Warner)
Never has a band like The Red Hot Chili Peppers crossed colour and music lines, paying homage to both rock and funk, so consistently for 20 years. Twenty years! This is a collection of the Peppers' chart-toppers over the past 13 years. It starts from their transitional fourth album Mother's Milk with the cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" and runs through every album since, including the tunes "Suck My Kiss," "Give It Away," "Scar Tissue," "My Friends," "Soul To Squeeze," "Breaking the Girl" and plenty more. Greatest Hits is a great way for new fans to feel what the seasoned fans liked about these guys, and a great way for seasoned fans to recollect old memories. (Lateef Martin)

Suede
Singles (Sony)
On the heels of a heinous fifth album, and timed to coincide with this career-capping disc, Suede have called it a day. A decade ago, their intoxicating brand of retooled glam rock fueled the U.K.'s Britpop frenzy, and despite their recent, rapid decline, the bulk of this material is nothing less than classic. The comp features all 20 of their singles, including non-LP tracks "Stay Together" and "Attitude," as well as an exclusive song, "Love the Way You Love." But don't forget the other Suede comp, arguably their best release, 1997's B-side feast Sci-fi Lullabies (also Sony). (Lorraine Carpenter)

Underworld
1992-2002 (V2/BMG)
Most people will know Underworld from the blistering spoken-word (or is that shouted word?) B-side turned Trainspotting anthem "Born Slippy." Thing is, Underworld were dropping hits in the underground dance scene long before people were snatching up that soundtrack. Finally their past successes (including the rave build-up classic "Rez" and Depeche Mode-y "Dirty Epic") have been put together on this double CD. 1992-2002 serves not only as a great retrospective of this influential dance band's career, but as a look at the evolution of alternative dance music over the last decade.(Raf Katigbak)