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Starting with the best

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Thrillho:
In the recommendations threads, both the general ones and the previous artist-specific ones, we've seen various different methods of recommending where to start on an artist's discography.

But which do you consider to be the best way?

- Do you start at the beginning with the first album, starting where the musician started? The disadvantage here is many artists don't hit their stride for a while into their careers and so the first album may be a turn off.
- Do you start with their best album? The disadvantage here being that it's all downhill after the best...
- Do you start with their worst album and work upwards? Obviously here since you start with the worst you end up with something crap that may put you off...

What do you think is the best starting point for an artist with an extensive discography?

Inlander:
Unless I'm buying an album because it has a specific song on it, I generally start with the album that whatever authority I'm consulting (usually the Oracle) considers "the best": if I'm trying to get into a band I want that band to really show me what it's got. Once I'm committed to the band I'll be in a better position to start digging through their more "difficult" albums, or go looking for albums that might have one or two ace songs on them but a lot of lower-quality material.

october1983:
I think it's really quite context specific, both in terms of the band and the listener. A lot of the time there is something of a discrepancy between a band's "best" work and their most accessible. In that case, sometimes the latter is a safer place to start, but it still depends somewhat on the listener's tastes.

scarred:

--- Quote from: Inlander on 11 Mar 2010, 06:32 ---Unless I'm buying an album because it has a specific song on it, I generally start with the album that whatever authority I'm consulting (usually the Oracle) considers "the best": if I'm trying to get into a band I want that band to really show me what it's got. Once I'm committed to the band I'll be in a better position to start digging through their more "difficult" albums, or go looking for albums that might have one or two ace songs on them but a lot of lower-quality material.

--- End quote ---

This is pretty much exactly my method.

nufan:

--- Quote from: Inlander on 11 Mar 2010, 06:32 ---Unless I'm buying an album because it has a specific song on it, I generally start with the album that whatever authority I'm consulting (usually the Oracle) considers "the best"

--- End quote ---

Again, my exact method. I believe that if you really like a band you can start out with their "best" album, and if you love it, move onto their other albums and still really enjoy them; the best bands normally change their sound from album to album and can stay fresh and entertaining.

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