Dear Bands I Love: Please Stop Releasing Greatest Hits Packages
Today’s post is from our friend HIM.
I get it. Times are tough. Even solid legacy acts survive on touring and merch these days. But tours get postponed or canceled. Releasing new material? Hit or miss and largely dictated by the interests of those same artists. Kiss? Cold gin and a hard no (but they will keep showing up, landlocked in Vegas, if the price is right and their corporate minders are okay with it). Maiden? Nothing is stopping them except time. Accept? Nothing is stopping them, either, though they might want to take a break and regroup. Priest, onward and upward.
So, why oh why are Judas Priest releasing another greatest hits package? Was this due to fan interest? Were we all clamoring for another redressed set of songs we all own? And, before any of you say this is a sneak move on the part of Sony, it isn’t. Priest had to sign off on it. Proof? This new release contains, for no clear reason, “Lightning Strike” off of Firepower and “Crown of Horns” off of Invincible Shield. Sure, these are good (enough) songs and probably favorites for a few of their (newer) fans. But really? Next to “Electric Eye” or “Painkiller?” Nope. Just nope. And those fans who love these two songs—wait for it—already own them in some form or another!!!
This is also occurring as they, like other legacy acts, continue to trot out rereleases of time-honored chestnuts like Rocka Rolla (full disclosure: I actually dig this album, but I am not sure I needed a new version to remind me where they started . . . all wide-brimmed hats and flared trousers). If they are good (see Megadeth's Killing is My Business, Priest’s Defenders, and Sabbath’s Sabotage . . . all including some nice extras to boot!), those have a better reason to exist than another greatest hit release.
To be clear, I am only picking on Priest because they are the latest band to do this . . . again. Consider: Priest has released no less than seven sorts of these packages previously. And they are in good company, considering other offenders like Motley Crue.
I am happy that Priest continues to exist. I even own a couple of those remastered older albums (see above). But I don’t need a new greatest hits package. The thing is, no one does. And, in terms of optics, it makes you look a little less metal and a touch more needy. Just saying.
The Best of Judas Priest is due June 19, 2026. You can pre-order it now on the Priest website.