Landon

I've loads of Greatest Hits compilations that I bought when I was younger and just getting into music, but I sort of regret having them now. I never buy them now because I think it sort of ruins listening to the album because you'l have heard the hit songs many times before. For instance I had the Red Hot Chili peppers Greatest Hits for ages and when I got Blood Sugar Sex Magik it wasn't that good because I heard Under the Bridge etc. so many times. So now i generally stay away from them and prefer to get the debut album of what I'm interested in.

Tea Supremacist

Kind of the same. If I hear a few bits and pieces of a band and like the sound of them I'd rather get a couple of their albums first or, at the very least, get on Spotify/Last FM etc rather than buy a greatest hits. I'm in complete agreement with Goblin Tears and his point about the Cure, there's no way you can judge the capacity of the Cure on their Greatest hits. The only thing I like about compilations is the b-sides/remixes/previously unreleased material etc.

Saying that... I have bought greatest hits from a few my favourite Artists (namely Bjork and The Cure :S) purely because it completes my 'hard copy' back catalogue of albums and makes the slightly OCD side of me smile seeing them there, all lined up in order of release... Ahem.

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instereowhereavailable

If i'm on the fence about aq band, I usually pick up a best-of. For example, I wasn't sure if I wanted to invest much time into Helmet. I picked up the best-of and I loved it. With Faith No More, I had loved the band for years but their Who Cares Alot? compilation had a whole CD of unreleased stuff.

Sometimes it's a matter of loving a band but it being nice to have all the greats in one place like The Doors, the Beatles, etc.

Upton

I'm not against them - it depends on the band. Like with The Fall I have no idea how to tackle their discography and right now I'm not even interested in exploring much past 50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong